pls help, common law - 1 year without interruption ?

[sunny2710]

hello everybody,

i was here in Canada in 2012 for 6 months and whent back to europe, since 2013 i am here since April and got a visa extension till April this year. I thought me and my partner can submit a Common Law Statutory this week, but now i found on the internet, that to submit an Common law application you must be for 1 year without interruption with your partner. That would be in my case this April. So does that mean i have to wait till April or does the year 2012 also count for the 1 year neccessery time for Common law ? ???

thanks a million if anybody could answer me that question.

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately you can't count the time from 2012 since you lived separately for such a long time. You will have to wait until April 2014 until you can officially call yourselves common law.

 

[Rob_TO]

Here is the CIC manual that explains this: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/RESOURCES/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
To be considered common-law partners, they must have cohabited for at least one year. This is the standard definition used across the federal government. It means continuous cohabitation for one year, not intermittent cohabitation adding up to one year

So as Scylla mentioned, you will only become common-law on the specific day in April 2014 that corresponds to exactly 12 full months/365 days from when you first moved in together.

 

[sunny2710]

thank you very much for your answers!

Well, i was already making an appointment at the notary, guess i`ll have to wait now. The problem is now that i requested an visa extension for the purpose of living the necessery time togeather to apply for common law. My visitor record is valid till 9th of april but we gonna live only on 20th of April for 1 year togeather. Will CIC understand that i just did not knew that the year must be without interruption ??? i will explain that in my next visa extension- and sponsorletter. And is it better when i apply now only for 6 months and not for a full year, for purpose of starting and waiting for the results of our PR application ?

thanks a million again in advance for your answers !

 

[Rob_TO]

Will CIC understand that i just did not knew that the year must be without interruption ??? i will explain that in my next visa extension- and sponsorletter. And is it better when i apply now only for 6 months and not for a full year, for purpose of starting and waiting for the results of our PR application ?

Absolutely not. CIC does not care whatsoever of any reason people couldn't reach common-law status. If you lived together even a day less than 365 days, you will be rejected for common-law. There is no negotiation with them as this is a legal requirement to be common-law.

If you can't maintain visitor status to get to the 12 full months, then your partner can go back with you to your home country to finish the qualifying time.

 

[sunny2710]

thank you Rob, well i will apply for an other extension (2nd extension).

I apply in March (30 days before my visitor record ends), then i will be on implied status till a decision is made and in the time i am on implied status we gonna be togeather for 1 year. I would like to ask if its better for me to ask for 6 months or for 1 year to complete the sponsor- and PR application process.

Thank you !

 

[Alurra71]

thank you Rob, well i will apply for an other extension (2nd extension).

I apply in March (30 days before my visitor record ends), then i will be on implied status till a decision is made and in the time i am on implied status we gonna be togeather for 1 year. I would like to ask if its better for me to ask for 6 months or for 1 year to complete the sponsor- and PR application process.

Thank you !

I would ask for the full 12 months, if it were me and include the necessary documents to prove your partner can/will take care of you for this time frame and such. The reasoning is, that you will need a few months to get all of your paperwork together, get PCC and medical done, get all the paperwork filled out properly and check check and check again to ensure it's all correct and satisfactory, then send it in and begin the waiting game. If you are sending an inland application when ready, the BEST you can hope for is to get AIP in roughly 11 months or so, then if you are very lucky, you could get a DM about a month or so after that. That still puts the entire process at roughly 12 months ONCE the paperwork is actually received by Missisauga. I would say it is going to take roughly 3-4 months to get all your little ducks in a row and ensure you have all the proper stuff to file the application.

In short, yes, it would be wise to get the maximum amount of time on your extension.

 

[Pippin]

What I've never figured out is.....Why do people tie themselves in knots trying to make 365 days living together? What is wrong with actually making a "commitment" and getting officially married if your intention is to be together for life?

 

[sunny2710]

thanks a million Pippin for your reply. I will try to get a full year and we gonna put again paystubs, health insurance etc. in the application, as we did the 1. time.

and cause of your other question....well actually my partner is already my fiance since 3 months, it was not planed when i arrived here last year, the plan was that we going trough common law, but my partner now wants to get married. BUT we putted as reason why i want a visa extension, that we need the necessary time living together for a common law-union....and cause of that we think its better now to follow the plan and get married after the PR process is done. We dont know if thats a good idea...

thanks again !

 

[steerpike]

I agree Pippin. As far as the government is concerned, common-law and marriage is the same thing. You have to file your taxes like a married couple. You have to divide your assets if you split up, just like a married couple. You are responsible for eachothers debts just like a married couple. When you sponsor sopmeone you are also responsible for paying back any social assisstance they use, so sponsoring someone is a BIGGER committment than marriage. Its like a super-marriage.

 

[Rob_TO]

You have to divide your assets if you split up, just like a married couple.

This isn't quite true, as the CIC and CRA definitions of common-law are ONLY for immigration and tax purposes.

Each province then has their own legal definitions (in most cases it's 3 years living together to be qualified as common-law) and this is what a couple needs to follow when it comes to spousal rights, splitting assets etc etc.

 

[steerpike]

This isn't quite true, as the CIC and CRA definitions of common-law are ONLY for immigration and tax purposes.

Each province then has their own legal definitions (in most cases it's 3 years living together to be qualified as common-law) and this is what a couple needs to follow when it comes to spousal rights, splitting assets etc etc.

True. But once classified as commonlaw, its the same as being married.

One thing that just occured to me, on the sponsorship app it asks somewhere about if you have been previously married, divorced, or in a commonlaw relation. If you had lived with someone for a year (two canadians), would you say yes? Even tho the province wouldnt consider you common law for 2 or 3 years.

 

[Ponga]

True. But once classified as commonlaw, its the same as being married.

One thing that just occured to me, on the sponsorship app it asks somewhere about if you have been previously married, divorced, or in a commonlaw relation. If you had lived with someone for a year (two canadians), would you say yes? Even tho the province wouldnt consider you common law for 2 or 3 years.

Why would it be limited to `two Canadians'? A person could have lived with their partner anywhere in the world and may have been common-law.

I suspect that this question has stumped more than one applicant.

 

[Rob_TO]

True. But once classified as commonlaw, its the same as being married.

Yes but as i said, you need to go by the provincial definitions here.
For example in Quebec I don't think common-law status even exists, so even though Quebec residents are claiming common-law on their taxes or for immigration, when it comes to splitting assets they don't have any rights as spouses like married couples do.

One thing that just occured to me, on the sponsorship app it asks somewhere about if you have been previously married, divorced, or in a commonlaw relation. If you had lived with someone for a year (two canadians), would you say yes? Even tho the province wouldnt consider you common law for 2 or 3 years.

Since it's CIC asking the question, you need to follow CIC definition which is 1-year for common-law. The provincial definitions here are irrelevant.

 

[steerpike]

Since it's CIC asking the question, you need to follow CIC definition which is 1-year for common-law. The provincial definitions here are irrelevant.

But CIC doesnt consider you automatically common-law. For CRA and provinces, its automatic. They dont care about your chat logs and vacation photos. They dont care if you are in love or not, how you met, or what your age difference is.

But for CIC it's not automatic. You need to apply, submit proof and be judged. If you are not in love and dont have lots of vacation photos then CIC can rule your relationship not common-law even if you've lived together for years.