ManchesterDez

Hi everyone my name is Darren and am new to this site, thanks in advance for any advice. I am currently here on an IEC visa which I activated 2 weeks ago. I am a qualified bricklayer in a Skill level B job. I am just wondering if anybody knows if my common law partner of 9 years and her 3 teenagers would be able to live here with me in Toronto and if so how do I go about making it happen. I would be extremely grateful for any advice or even to be told to hire an immigration lawyer. Thanks.

Former Lancastrian

Short answer is yes provided you can show you meet common law and she has permission to take the teens out of the UK either by consent of the other parent or by virtue of a court order. If skill level B she can also apply for a spousal open work permit with proof you are in a skill level B job as you will still have more than 6 months left on the work permit.
She will have to pay $155 for the work permit and $100 processing fee for the open work permit.

ManchesterDez

Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. Do you mind if I ask how I might go about getting them over as in can they just land here or do I need to apply before they come over?

mikelincs

Your first job is to ensure that the children can be taken out of the UK, for that you will need legal consent of the other parent, or a court order. Once that is sorted then you can worry about the specifics.

christmasoompa

+1. But once that is sorted, then they can turn up to the airport and apply at POE. They'll need proof of your visa, your job, and payment, plus it would be a good idea to take plenty of proof of the common-law relationship and stepfather/stepchildren relationship.

Good luck.

ManchesterDez

Guys thanks so much for your responses I really appreciate it. Proving common law will be pretty straight forward for us I was reading up about the kids and it say on the cic website that you only need permission if the father has any legal right. His name was not even on birth certs nor has he ever went to court to see them he actually very rarely makes contact so hopefully that will be pretty straight forward too. Once again thanks so much for your help I really appreciate it.

Almost Canadian

He has parental responsibility for the children by virtue of being their biological father. CIC will need to see a document that shows that your partner has legal authority to remove them from the UK. As stated above, this will require either a Court Order or a Statutory Declaration declared by their father.

adele

One other thought: If you have moved to Canada without your partner I would think you may also be at risk of not being considered common law if you spend too much time living apart.

ManchesterDez

We intend to make this happen pretty quick and I have only been here for 2 weeks. Her brother also lives here, he is a permanent resident and luckily for him he's also married to a Canadian. I really appreciate the advice from everyone thanks.

christmasoompa

You need to make it happen as a matter of urgency if you're apart now, CIC have been known to consider common-law status abandoned after as little as 2 weeks. Cohabitation has to be continual.

Her brother has no bearing on anything btw, other than getting you a few extra points if you decide to apply for PR.

Can you give us a link to where CIC say that you don't need written permission to remove the kids from the UK? It would be useful to add it to the Wiki as CIC normally require permission no matter what.

Amy1807

Just to comment on the parental responsibility...fathers only have parental responsibility if they are on the birth certificate, or they were married to the mother when the child was born.
So you're saying he's not on the birth certificate, if they weren't married when any of the children were born, he has no rights/responsibilities...even if he is the biological father.

ManchesterDez

Hi Amy thanks for the reply. Yes this is what I read somewhere on the government website and is the exact situation we are in. I am just having trouble finding it. My partner was never married and the fathers name is not on the birth certificate if I can find the link I will post it.

SchnookoLoly

I don't know for sure one way or another, but you need to make 100% sure that you have this correct when you arrive in Canada - and that you are making the call based on Canada's rules, not the UK's rules.

ManchesterDez

Thanks yeah I think my best bet is going to be to confirm 100% with a lawyer because I don't want to leave anything to chance. I don't suppose anyone could recommend a good consultant or lawyer as there seems to be quite a lot of dodgy ones around.

christmasoompa

That's absolutely correct, but there are many instances on the forum of people being told by CIC that they need permission or a court order despite an absent parent not having parental responsibility. CIC love their bits of paper! And the UKs rules of parental responsibility usually mean nothing when it comes to Canadian immigration.