pls help, common law - 1 year without interruption ?

[canadianwoman]

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.

I would just say yes if we had been living together for one year, even if the province or country we were living in would not consider it common law. It is not a bad thing, so why not admit it? Plus this way there is no chance of the visa officer wasting time trying to figure out if you misrepresented yourself by saying no.

 

[steerpike]

I would just say yes if we had been living together for one year, even if the province or country we were living in would not consider it common law. It is not a bad thing, so why not admit it? Plus this way there is no chance of the visa officer wasting time trying to figure out if you misrepresented yourself by saying no.

Then they would have to waste time figuring out if you misrepresented yourself by saying yes

 

[Rob_TO]

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.

This is CIC's logic:
If being common-law will benefit you, such as being eligible to sponsor a spouse for PR, then you need to prove it.

If being common-law will hurt you, such as in cases where CIC says someone landed as single but they should have declared a common-law partner while living in their home country... well then it's assumed you were common-law with no proof, and if you disagree you have to prove you weren't common-law.

 

[ghunter]

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.

This isn't fully true. At least in Alberta, 'common law' is called and 'adult interdependent relationship'. This required you to be interdependent with the other party. So I don't think saying that living in an apartment with other people for over three years would constitute that. Sure, it could constitute that, but it isn't just an automatic thing after living in the same residence with anyone after 3 years, it requires shared "emotional and economic responsibilities", which I am pretty sure most roommates do not have. While provinces don't have the same hurdles that the CIC does have, but I am pretty sure if your roommate decided to move out after 3+ years you would not necessarily have to go through a divorce-like separation...

 

[steerpike]

This isn't fully true. At least in Alberta, 'common law' is called and 'adult interdependent relationship'. This required you to be interdependent with the other party. So I don't think saying that living in an apartment with other people for over three years would constitute that. Sure, it could constitute that, but it isn't just an automatic thing after living in the same residence with anyone after 3 years, it requires shared "emotional and economic responsibilities", which I am pretty sure most roommates do not have. While provinces don't have the same hurdles that the CIC does have, but I am pretty sure if your roommate decided to move out after 3+ years you would not necessarily have to go through a divorce-like separation...

Roomates are not considered commonlaw no matter how many years they live together, that is true. But for couples who are living together, they are autonmatically considered common law after a set period of time. For example, for CRA tax purposes it is after 1 year and you are required to file your taxes as commonlaw partners. You dont get a say in it, and you may in fact have to pay more tax as a result (for example not qualify for the GST rebate anymore).

In practicle terms, CRA probably isnt going to know. But if you have a child then they will know and you could get in trouble for filing your taxes wrong.

 

[sunny2710]

Hello again,

i am somehow lost in all that papers and documents i am right now gathering for cic ???

i just would like to ask you, if i am doing it right .... so in April this year we gonna live together for 1 year without interruption, then we can go in April to our notary and AFTER the notary we send in our common law declaration ? And do i send the declaration separately or WITH the PR application ?

thank you so much in advance for any answers

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello again,

i am somehow lost in all that papers and documents i am right now gathering for cic ???

i just would like to ask you, if i am doing it right .... so in April this year we gonna live together for 1 year without interruption, then we can go in April to our notary and AFTER the notary we send in our common law declaration ? And do i send the declaration separately or WITH the PR application ?

The Stat Dec of Common-law Union is not actually required. You show you are common-law by proving that you have lived together for a year.