UmbrellaBoy said:
And yes, a mortgage sounds like it would be good evidence. Do you think, if possible, it would be good for us to make a down payment on a condo together and for me to keep sending up my half of the mortgage while living in the US? It would be tight, but might be more doable (and maybe I could even convince my parents to let me live there during that time...though I'd hope it was under a year rather than nearly two!)
Don't get a mortgage just for the sake of the PR application. It is merely one possible proof you can provide, out of many. In our case, we didn't have a mortgage or a shared rental agreement (since I already had a mortgage in my name only and it's impossible to change midway through), yet we were still approved for common-law.
Just be able to show SOME shared finances. Things you can include (so can get immediately if you don't have them yet) are:
- joint bank account
- joint credit card. Or just have one person, get a supplementary card for the other on their existing credit card account
- life insurance with each other listed as beneficiary
- after 1 year living together, your bf should immediatley change his status with CRA to common-law. You can do this online and print out the page for proof
- if your bf has employee benefits, he should add you as common-law spouse and print this as well
All this is in addition to actually proving the 12 months cohabitation with your shared lease/mortgage/rental agreement, mail to both of you being delivered to the address, and any utilities (cable, internet, gas, hydro, phone etc) done in both your names.
-I go up on one year working holiday, live with him, get on the lease, get shared bank account
-after 12 months, apply right away via common law
-stay a couple months not working, in savings, until step 1 goes through
-go back and live and work in the US for employment reasons while awaiting Step 2, visiting frequently
There is no particular need to wait until stage 1 approval before going back to the US so work. Once you reach the 12 months cohabitation, you could then go back to the US immediately and submit the application while you're in the US, you could submit it while still a visitor in Canada and stay during stage 1, or during stage 2. There is no rule here.
Of course you should visit each other as much as possible during this time apart, and document each trip.
