Ludders91

So me and my girlfriend currently live together in Alberta Canada and have been for a year now. During this previous year though my job has had me working back in the UK and other countries for weeks and even a couple of months at a time. I was British Army posted to Canada working with the Canadian army I left the forces just a couple of months ago now and am currently residing in Canada with my girlfriend under "visitor" status. Do you think CIC will take into consideration my job and the fact it has had me working away from our home? Or would it be best to extend my stay as a visitor so that we can actually spend the full 12 months together without having to be separated by work or factors out of our control before applying for PR?

We've had shared finances, utility bills and car insurances for the year that we have been living together. Also she's a Canadian citizen by birth and wants to sponsor me as a common law partner.

Former Lancastrian

From the IRCC website
has been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months, meaning:
you’ve been living together continuously for one year, without any long periods apart
if either of you left your home it was for:
family obligations
work or business travel
any time spent away from each other must have been:
short
temporary

IMHO wait till you have 12 months uninterrupted less maybe a 2 week period. Extend your stay if you can then submit.
Its a guessing game if they would accept a couple of months away.

Ludders91

Yeah I read they do sometimes allow periods away but it seems like such a grey area. Especially as me working away was out of my control but having spent a couple of months away because of it is a long time. I think you're right with playing it safe and just extending my stay until we reach such a point that we have had a full 12 months undisturbed. Would you recommend getting a consultant's help when it comes to doing the application?

I've read up on what forms and supporting documents I need and the process itself but I don't want to drag things out longer than they need to be just because of a mistake I made on the forms or something just as minor.

Former Lancastrian

Depends on how much a consultant would charge you and if you think its worth it. Practice filling out the forms but don't submit them. read the instruction guide as most are pretty straight forward and if not ask on here.

Hurlabrick

No.

Unless you are 'time poor / cash rich' and don't mind paying a couple / few thousand for someone to walk you through what you could figure out anyway.

Siouxie

As the above posters have said, no need for a consultant unless you have a complex background, multiple marriages or health /criminal issues.

There's lots of help available in our wiki and any questions you have there will be someone who can help with it here - for free!

Spousal Sponsorship-Canada/FAQ - New Application Forms : British Expat Wiki

Aviator

Not all at the same time though!

Dorothy

Even with multiple marriages between us we figured it out with the help of this forum and by reading and rereading things.

Engineer_abroad

I am going to differ from others and my normal advise on this one. If you choose to put an application in now, i.e. before 12 months of continual cohabitation but on the basis that you were away for work, I would recommend an attorney or someone to represent your interest. As you say this is a grey area of the law and open to interpretation, therefore I see benefits to having someone to act on your behalf and present an interpretation of the law which benefits you.

Me and my wife did something similar in the UK when applying for her ILR after we spent 13 months of the 2 years outside of the UK, although we were living together.

plasticcanuck

Watch out for those common-law relationships

TORONTO STAR Wednesday Feb7/2018
Woman sues former live-in boyfriend after he bolted with winning $6.1-million Lotto 6/49 ticket

Ludders91

Thanks for all the feedback and help everyone, much appreciated. Are there any common reasons why applications get postponed or returned? Or any common mistakes that anyone here knows of?

Former Lancastrian

Mandatory fields not filled out or missed. Insufficient evidence of proof of common law, documents missing from checklists.
Read the guides before filling out questions its fairly simple. Do not misinterpret questions being asked or 2nd guess what they mean. Double sometimes triple check before sending off.
Read the wiki located on the blue banner or this link
Spousal Sponsorship-Canada : British Expat Wiki

Ludders91

Me again... Another question for everyone. Looking for opinions on having a holiday during our year together.

So me and my girlfriend were thinking of a holiday to the uk to stay with my family for about 3-4 weeks. We will be going together and staying together during the visit. Will this still count as cohabiting? So as not to disturb our 12 month continous cohabitation. Also if we did go on this holiday would that take out the neccissity for me to "extend" my visitor status as I would have left and re entered Canada. Or would it be better to send the application of anyway?

Any opinions or help is greatly appreciated.

christmasoompa

A holiday together is no issue at all and will still count as common-law time. But you would definitely be better off applying for PR before you go, remember that you can be refused entry as a visitor at any time, and that's far more likely if you have no ties to the UK and are effectively 'living' in Canada without a visa allowing you to do so.

However, once you've applied for PR and got sponsor approval, you can enter Canada under 'dual intent', meaning you can stay there until you get PR and won't be subject to the same scrutiny when you enter. See the Wiki for full info on dual intent.

HTH, good luck.

Joepottinger

Hey Ludders,

I was in a similar situation to you. Merchant naval officer travelling back to Scotland for work because Canada doesn't allow non-residents to work for their merchant naval fleet.

I liked it enough here in Canada to want to stay when my work permit was due to expire so decided to go into full time study here and now me and my common law partner have filed for PR together and it even though it is a lot of hassle to get the application together without assistance, the people on here are fantastic at helping you through it. There's a great wiki on how to do everything and if after that you still aren't sure the guys and girls that run this forums are actually probably a safer bet than a consultant as you don't have to fork out a tonne of money and they have a lot of experience with it.

Good luck when it comes around.