Hope someone can help here...my boyfriend has had HRDC approval now and applied for his work permit and today received a letter from the embassy saying that his ex-wife ( which she isnt, only ex girlfriend) needs to sign a declaration to show that she is happy for him to leave the county and is happy that he will continue to support his 2 children. Surely as he was never married to this person and as he has no guardian or custodial rights whatsoever other than with the CSA then this shouldnt be an issue?

Can anyone give any info on anything they have been through similar to this and let me know who this will affect our chance or how long the delay could be for ?

cheers

Depending on the time they spent cohabiting together they may be considered “common law� married under Canadian law, I believe its six months.

YEAH THEY WERE TOGETHER 14 YEARS...SHE IS REFUSING TO SIGN THE FORMS THOUGH, THEY DONT HAVE AN AMICABLE RELATIONSHIP AND ARE NOT ON TALKING TERMS. HOW CAN THEY EXPECT EVERYONE TO BE IN CONTACT WITH THERE EX PARTNERS. AS FAR AS I SEE IT SHE IS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM ANYMORE - HE PAYS FOR HIS KIDS AND THERE IS PROOF OF THAT. I HOPE THIS DOESNT AFFECT OUT CHANCES NOW, WE WHERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE HAD THE PERMIT AND VISAS THRU IN 10 DAYS AND THEN WERE GOING, SOLD HOUSE AND EVERYTHING.

Are they in the Uk now though? I didnt think that the "common law" ruling exsisted anymore. I was always led to beleive that if you werent married but living together then you were still classed as separate...if that makes sense.

I think in this case the woman concerned had a relationship of 14 years that involved children, I think it highly likely that a case of implied common law status would be considered in this situation and she be given all the rights normally given to a divorced spouse

To quote
In Ontario, a common law province, the Ontario Family Law Act specifically recognizes common law spouses in sec. 29 dealing with spousal support issues; the requirements are living together for three years or having a child in common and having "cohabitated in a relationship of some permanence.

[Married or not married. it is the FATHERS right to support his children, no matter what the circumstances, by law. is if he is paying through CSA. As they do not have any system to collect payment from UK citizens overseas, that are not working for British companies. ( They can from forces personel)

When he is in Canada. All payments cease via them. If there is an existing court order in the UK, then the mother can apply back to the court to try and get payment through a Canadian Court for maintenance for the child. If not she will have to go to court to apply for payment thorugh canadian system. It will then be worked out on the Canadian System, not British. This could take a long time.
Fathers could leave the Uk and stop paying for children. He was with her for 14 years then they were no accident!
The immigration wants to ensure that by him leaving the children will not suffer any hardship . I also suspect that as they were not married, and if his ex has not re-married they may be concerned she may not be able to support them solely on her own. I think things change if the mother were to marry.

Unless you have told immigration all your background then they do not know anymore than you tell them.

I am surprised they did not ask your partner for a letter saying that he would continue to support the children and he is comfortable about leaving them?? Not that his ex minds??

She obviously is glad to see the back of him, but I would have thought, she is worried she may not see any more money.




QUOTE=SAZZLED]Hope someone can help here...my boyfriend has had HRDC approval now and applied for his work permit and today received a letter from the embassy saying that his ex-wife ( which she isnt, only ex girlfriend) needs to sign a declaration to show that she is happy for him to leave the county and is happy that he will continue to support his 2 children. Surely as he was never married to this person and as he has no guardian or custodial rights whatsoever other than with the CSA then this shouldnt be an issue?

Can anyone give any info on anything they have been through similar to this and let me know who this will affect our chance or how long the delay could be for ?

cheers[/QUOTE]

I see what you're saying Mike, but aren't they in England? The reason I say this is because a friend of mine was with her now husband for 10 years before they got married. They had a child together but by law it means nothing that they lived together and were engaged. If something was to have happened to her even though he is the father, the son wouldnt go to him unless she stated it in her will. I know this is a fact because she actually writes wills for other people in the Uk and she was the one who finally decided to get married because of this. Common Law means nothing nowadays in the Uk.

I understand that in the UK its not recognized, but I’m betting that Canadian immigration rules are written around Canadian law..

So I imagine from an immigration stand point if you want to move to Canada then you will be impacted by the difference between the two legal systems and will more than likely be judged under Canadian law rather than the UK law which your accustomed to.

This is "parental responsibility" law isn't it? From Dec 03 in England/Wales unmarried fathers share responsibility with mothers if they register the birth together. If born before that, you can declare that you wish to share parental responsibility and you file an agreement stating so. No need to get married if you don't want to.

Living in sin, aka common-law sponsor,

Biiiiink

Yes, this could affect your chances of acceptance. Your boyfriend has to demonstrate under Canadian law (in most provinces) that he will continue to support his kids financially. If his ex doesn't marry - he can also be liable for spousal support for her if she indicates that she is not able to be "self sufficient" if they split less than two years ago. Gooding gave you a clear and comprehensive answer. 14 years is a very long time in a relationship and she has way more rights than you do in terms of assuring her children are provided for by your boyfriend. They are his kids and his joint responsibility, until they are adults, regardless of his plans to start a new life. Canadian Immigration look at the possibility of his dependants being left without financial support (and his kids are classed as his dependants here, no matter what description you want to give his ex).The kids always come first in Canadian law. Immigration policy piggy-backs this to some extent. Your boyfriend does have rights - but he could (and many do) walk away once he is outside the clutches of the CSA. As he was involved with the CSA , there was an issue with him paying what he should anyway at some point. They also look at why the CSA had to be involved with the case. Either way, his ex is the mother of the children he is leaving behind. I wouldn't sign the papers either in her position.

well cheers dingbat for presuming that there was a problem for him to go to the CSA, she demanded he go to the CSA because she thought £400 per month wasnt enough, now she has gone to them she gets 150 less per month so the problem was that he was overpaying her and she thought he was underpaying he. the csa are there for both the parents involved here, not just the 'poor' single mother.

Hear hear. The CSA arent there just to cause trouble. It is only the fathers who try to get off lightly that think that.

It doesn't really seem fair that she could spoil his chances of moving to Canada. After all, if he has paid her all along - why would he stop now? He obviously acknowledges that they are his children and he probably has no argument with the fact that they need to be supported. I would go to an immigration lawyer and get advice.

Not all men try to get out of paying child support. My friend's daughter had two children. She died of a heart attack when the kids were 15 and 16. Their father had always paid child support into a bank account. When my friend phoned the father and told him her daughter had died and he could not continue paying the child support into the daughter's bank account, he said he wanted to continue paying and arranged to put the money into my friend's bank account instead.

Kind of restores your faith in human nature when that kind of thing happens.

"well cheers dingbat for presuming that there was a problem for him to go to the CSA....,"

Try reading the post.

And mother's who have dealt with cross jurisdictional red tape for years and know how utterly useless they and their Canadian equivalents are.