Registered partnership during the permanent residence process

[happyrobbie]

Hi every one. I've been here for quite a while and have learned a lot of useful information... Now I have a question and hope someone can make some clarification...

Basic situation:

I live in Switzerland. I applied and got my CSQ two years ago, sent my application for Canadian permanent residence several months ago. Now the dossier is in process. In all my papers submitted to the Canadian side, I am single (never married).

Recently, I registered partnership with my same-sex partner (Swiss nationality) in Switzerland. This changes my legal marriage status in Switzerland to "registered partnership (partnenariat enregistré)".

What I want to do now is to immigrate to Canada with my partner, who is not yet included in my dossier.

First, It seems to me that in the Canadian terminology, any union not a marriage can only be considered as common-law partner. Since registered partnership is not a marriage, my partner will appear in my dossier (if ever) as my common-law partner. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Now, about what to do, I imagine two possibilities:

1. I inform CIC immediately that I am now in a common-law partnership. What I understand is that after this CIC will inform me to fill in additional documents (common-law partner supporting materials, relevant forms of my partner...) and pay additional fees. Certainly this will delay the process but the delay is totally acceptable for me.

My question of this path, however, is: how this will affect the possibility that the whole case be accepted finally? I surely understand that if there is some serious problem about the medical exam of my partner, the whole case will be rejected. However, as my partner has a clean police statement and in a good health, I would say this possibility is really low and I am willing to take this risk. My concern is, however, about the eligibility of the CSQ itself. I got CSQ as a single person. If I now add my partner in this stage, will the immigration eligibility of CSQ be re-scored and reconsidered using the the system for a couple? If yes then this can be a real problem.

2. I do not inform CIC anything. After I land in Canada, I register a marriage with my partner in Canada and sponsor him to be in Canada. I do not think that this is a feasible way. Our partnership is already registered in Switzerland. Unless CIC does not know anything about this forever (but I doubt this, because even a simple inquiry into Switzerland authority will reveal that I am no longer single), otherwise this would be a problem. Although I am not obliged to inform CIC immediately after the partnership registration (as it is not a marriage and the registered partnership itself does not change the marriage status in the CIC side), the fact that I am with my partner for more than 1 year DOES oblige me to inform CIC. And with a partnership registration record, I probably cannot explain it why I did not inform CIC anything about my common-law partner. This will make the future sponsor of my partner impossible.

So I am quite confused about what I should do...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

You said you've been with your partner for more than a year but you didn't actually say whether you have lived with your partner continuously for at least a year. If you haven't, then you are not common-law, regardless of your registered partnership.

If you had already been living together for a year when you submitted your PR app, then you were already common-law and committed misrepresentation by saying that you were a single person.

Assuming that you are actually common-law:

1. Yes, you need to inform CIC about your partner and add him/her to your PR app. This will cause delays.

I am unsure of whether it will affect your CSQ; I suggest you contact Quebec Immigration directly.

2. This is misrepresentation. You might get away with it but if CIC ever did find out that you lied, they could revoke your PR.

 

[happyrobbie]

When I submitted my PR application, we had not been living together continuously for 1 year.
But by the time when my PR will be approved (the process takes averagely 15 months in my visa office Paris according to the CIC website), we will have been living together for more than 1 year.

Does this mean that technically I am obliged to inform CIC in the middle of my PR process once the time we live together reaches 1 year and to add him in my application?

However, can I just don't tell CIC and play with the definition of common-law partner? If in the future there is some doubt I just say that although we are registered partners we do not continuously live together? And after, I marry with him in Canada and sponsor him?

 

[zardoz]

When I submitted my PR application, we had not been living together continuously for 1 year.
But by the time when my PR will be approved (the process takes averagely 15 months in my visa office Paris according to the CIC website), we will have been living together for more than 1 year.

Does this mean that technically I am obliged to inform CIC in the middle of my PR process once the time we live together reaches 1 year and to add him in my application?

However, can I just don't tell CIC and play with the definition of common-law partner? If in the future there is some doubt I just say that although we are registered partners we do not continuously live together? And after, I marry with him in Canada and sponsor him?

The current ban for misrepresentation is two years. It's likely to be increased to five years soon. By not declaring your change of circumstances, you are headed that way. You can lose your PR status and/or never sponsor your partner.
In other words, you MUST declare that you are common-law according to CIC definition, as soon as you have cohabited for 1 year or more. You have no choice.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

When I submitted my PR application, we had not been living together continuously for 1 year.
But by the time when my PR will be approved (the process takes averagely 15 months in my visa office Paris according to the CIC website), we will have been living together for more than 1 year.

Does this mean that technically I am obliged to inform CIC in the middle of my PR process once the time we live together reaches 1 year and to add him in my application?

However, can I just don't tell CIC and play with the definition of common-law partner? If in the future there is some doubt I just say that although we are registered partners we do not continuously live together? And after, I marry with him in Canada and sponsor him?

As zardoz explained, not informing them of your change in status could land you in a world of trouble.

CIC needs only the suspicion that you were already common-law when you landed as a PR. CIC doesn't need any proof; the onus is on you to prove that they wrong. If you can't provide any evidence showing you weren't living together (which I imagine you wouldn't be able to, since you ARE living together), then CIC will consider that suspicion confirmed.

If, for example, this happened when you were trying to sponsor your partner for PR, CIC would refuse the app and declare your partner to not be a member of the family class and therefore ineligible to ever be sponsored by you. They could also then start proceedings against you for misrepresentation, resulting in the loss of your PR status.

Just avoid that and do everything the legal way. Declare your partner when you become common-law.

 

[ang_]

Dear happyrobbie,

A month ago I contacted Quebec Immigration in regards to a similar situation. The officer on the phone explained to me the following:

1) If you want to add a spouse/conjoint de fait to your application before getting the PR visa, you should submit your spouse/partner's docs to Quebec Immigration for review. Your CSQ will be invalidated and your application will be reassessed as a couple now. You also may have to go to an interview again as well. Your dossier will be evaluated as per the criteria valid at the time you obtained your CSQ. If you do not meet the required points as a couple you can get your CSQ back and decide whether 1) you want to further proceed with the PR application without your partner or 2) get the procedure terminated.

2) You may get married/enter into a registered partnership before getting the PR visa, inform the Immigration about it but declare that you won't add your spouse/partner to your application (which is not your case as far as I understand); and

3) You get your PR visa, go to Canada, get your PR status activated, then get married/enter into a registered partnership and sponsor your spouse/partner.

I hope this helps a bit.

 

[happyrobbie]

Thanks ang for this useful information.

Yesterday I reflected a little on the definition of common-law partner and have some new thoughts.

We registered partnership and officially live together since March 2014. Before that, although we had relation, we did not officially live together. This can be easily proved by our respective "attestation de domicile" issued by the Swiss government, which clearly shows that before March 2014 we were registered at two different addresses at two different cities.

So, technically speaking, he will be considered as my common-law partner by CIC only in March 2015. Before that, I cannot declare him in my dossier.

On the other hand, my PR application was sent out some months ago. By checking the average processing time of the Paris visa office, my PR decision will be made somewhere around March 2015.

Although the second estimation (the PR process time) is very uncertain. I would say that the two timestamps in the future (1 year for common-law, and my PR decision) will more or less be at the same time period and it is highly uncertain which will come first. I do not know if this can make the problem more complex (At the time when I can declare him, either my PR dossier is almost finished, either it is already finished and I even already get the PR visa, but in any way it will be before my actual landing in Canada)

As in anyway I cannot declare him before March 2015, I can do nothing to my dossier already submitted. I will wait and see what happens later (specially the progress of my PR dossier).

 

[happyrobbie]

Hi again ang,

With regard to your point 2.

2) You may get married/enter into a registered partnership before getting the PR visa, inform the Immigration about it but declare that you won't add your spouse/partner to your application (which is not your case as far as I understand);

I think it is valid for marriage, but not registered partnership.
Because CIC only considers marriage (which is defined by the civil marriage itself) and common-law partner (which is defined by the length living together). Registered partnership does not belong to either one.

This means that I cannot inform CIC about any change just because I registered the partnership, because it changes nothing on the dossier. Actually in forms sent to CIC, the marriage status item has no "registered partner" choice, so I will just keep being "single" until the day when my partner becomes my common-law partner by the definition of CIC (one year living together).

Am I right?

 

[ang_]

My mistake, you are right about 2) It's valid for marriages. Sorry for this.

Well, I think you are right with your assumption. The thing is in my country we do not have things like "registered partnership" or "common-law partner" and it was a bit weird to me at first when I started the procedure.

Good luck.

 

[happyrobbie]

Update:
I got the letter from CIC today that my PR visa is ready to be issued and they ask me to send my passport. My visa will be expired in one year (July 2015). This is way faster than I imagined.
In the letter CIC asks me to reply within 30 days and also asks if there has been a status change of my family composition.

Now the situation:
- Since March 2014, I have been in same-sex registered partnership (not marriage) and I started living with my partner.
- So, in March 2015, we will have been living together for 1 year, thus be "common-law partner" as defined by CIC.
- Until now CIC knows nothing about this situation.

My question: do I have to inform this (that in March 2015 I will enter in a common-law partnership) to CIC? What will happen then?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Update:
I got the letter from CIC today that my PR visa is ready to be issued and they ask me to send my passport. My visa will be expired in one year (July 2015). This is way faster than I imagined.
In the letter CIC asks me to reply within 30 days and also asks if there has been a status change of my family composition.

Now the situation:
- Since March 2014, I have been in same-sex registered partnership (not marriage) and I started living with my partner.
- So, in March 2015, we will have been living together for 1 year, thus be "common-law partner" as defined by CIC.
- Until now CIC knows nothing about this situation.

My question: do I have to inform this (that in March 2015 I will enter in a common-law partnership) to CIC? What will happen then?

Congrats on the visa. No, you don't need to inform CIC that you will become common-law next year.