So confused about common law sponsorship!!

[eford33]

Hi There,

Im a Canadian citizen currently living in Australia as a Perm Resident with my partner. We are interested in applying for common law sponsorship from within Aus. I have read on line ages ago that you are meant to live in Canada for at least 2 years after being granted PR? I haven't been able to find this again and I cant seem to get much info on the CIC website. Just wondering how to go about doing it all and what needs to happen once granted.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[CharlieD10]

If you decide to apply to sponsor your Australian partner for permanent residence in Canada, you will need to submit evidence of your plans to re-settle in Canada if he/she is granted PR.

At present, the two-year conditional status legislation is still pending and has not been finalized. This legislation would require sponsored spouses to prove they remain in a relationship with their sponsor two years after their arrival in Canada, in order to have conditional status removed. Conditional status means they would be subject to reporting and deportation procedures if they do not remain in the relationship with their sponsor a minimum of two years following landing.

For information on how to get started, read Leon's first post in the first thread at the top of the forum.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Hi There,

Im a Canadian citizen currently living in Australia as a Perm Resident with my partner. We are interested in applying for common law sponsorship from within Aus. I have read on line ages ago that you are meant to live in Canada for at least 2 years after being granted PR? I haven't been able to find this again and I cant seem to get much info on the CIC website. Just wondering how to go about doing it all and what needs to happen once granted.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Hello, and welcome!

To be eligible as common-law sponsorship, you and your partner need to be able to show you've lived together for at least a year and that you are in an interdependent relationship and have intertwined your affairs. As a citizen, you can sponsor him/her even if you are living outside of Canada but will need to sign a commitment that you intend to move to Canada once the application is approved and show evidence of that intent. The application and instructions are available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp - the instructions walk you through the application question by question. You'll need to plan out time to complete the forms, collect proof of your relationship (photos, letters, e-mails, phone records, etc as well as affidavits from folks on your relationship), explain your intent to move to Canada, get police certificates from every country your partner has lived in since age 16 or 18 (depending on country), and do a medical exam. Time the police certificates so you get them right before mailing your application since they expire after a year. Same thing for the medical exam - make the appointment for shortly before you mail the application in.

Once PR is granted (you can see processing times at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp) your partner will land (be sure to declare anything you'll be importing as a returning Canadian and your partner as a settler so you are eligible for the duty free allowance) and can live in Canada.

PRs usually need to be in Canada two years out of every rolling five years to retain their PR Card (with some exceptions which allow you to also count the days spent outside of Canada to meet the residency obligation - including accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada - see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445ETOC.asp#appendixA). To become a Citizen, your partner will need to have been physically present in Canada 3 out of 4 years.