Hi All!
So I will be doing a Masters next year in Canada. My plan was to go to Canada with my girlfriend so I started looking into ways she could come with me. My girlfriend and I have lived together for just over a year now so I thought maybe we would qualify as Common Law. However, the more I read into it, the more I got worried that we wouldn't be able to clear that Common-Law bar. We are very independent financially (I don't even know how much she makes every month as she doesn't want me to know), we don't have a shared lease nor a joint bank account. All expenses are shared equally. Added to that, I kinda asked her to move in with me quite soon after we met (as her lease was expiring) so I don't think we were even a serious couple for the first few months after she moved in - I have no idea when it moved from just having fun to being serious.
Anyway, since I think we don't qualify as Common Law, I asked her to get a Working Holiday visa which she promptly did. She applied with the relationship status "Single" as again I don't think we would be considered common-law. I also plan on applying for my study permit as "Single". As we would then move to Canada together, live together over a year, support each other financially (she would work while I study), I figure I can add her as my common-law partner on my PGWP application and hopefully sponsor (provided I get a skilled job) her later. Is this ok? Should I be doing something differently to ensure that we don't have trouble down the line?
Thanks!
So I will be doing a Masters next year in Canada. My plan was to go to Canada with my girlfriend so I started looking into ways she could come with me. My girlfriend and I have lived together for just over a year now so I thought maybe we would qualify as Common Law. However, the more I read into it, the more I got worried that we wouldn't be able to clear that Common-Law bar. We are very independent financially (I don't even know how much she makes every month as she doesn't want me to know), we don't have a shared lease nor a joint bank account. All expenses are shared equally. Added to that, I kinda asked her to move in with me quite soon after we met (as her lease was expiring) so I don't think we were even a serious couple for the first few months after she moved in - I have no idea when it moved from just having fun to being serious.
Anyway, since I think we don't qualify as Common Law, I asked her to get a Working Holiday visa which she promptly did. She applied with the relationship status "Single" as again I don't think we would be considered common-law. I also plan on applying for my study permit as "Single". As we would then move to Canada together, live together over a year, support each other financially (she would work while I study), I figure I can add her as my common-law partner on my PGWP application and hopefully sponsor (provided I get a skilled job) her later. Is this ok? Should I be doing something differently to ensure that we don't have trouble down the line?
Thanks!