Quick question about civil status and documents

[anthone0]

I have 4 months to go to send my application for spousal sponsorship.
But I have a some questions:

1. my partner is already one year separated from her ex, and has been living with me for 8 months. but they are just about to process their divorce.
my partner is the one that's going to sponsor me. but she has no divorce paper yet and no separation paper. i read before that a statutory declaration, stating that she has been living separately from her ex is enough in lieu of separation/divorce paper?

2. how early should I start collating my documents? I still have 4 months to go to qualify the one year of living together.
Should I start getting police clearance etc. do these papers have validity? Is 4 months too early to get these documents?

thanks!

 

[rhcohen2014]

1. i've read that a person can still be legally married to 1 person and be legally commonlaw with another at the same time. so I don't *think* it will matter if the divorce is official. Perhaps explaining the situation in your application will be helpful. i am also sure those who are more familiar with the legality of commonlaw will confirm whether or not this is an issue.

2. it depends on where the applicant is from. right now for US citizens, the processing time for an FBI record jumped dramatically from 30ish days to 3 months, so considering it takes that long to process, it's recommended for new US applicant to apply for it early. if your country of residence doesn't take that long to process the record, it's best to time receiving it with when you plan to send your application. Police records can NOT be more than 90 days old when CIC receives the package, so the record MUST be received within 3 months of it being issued.