TRC

I will be applying for common law with my Canadian gf next month whilst in the UK. I am currently coming to the end of a 1 year IEC visa

Looking over the proof that we are together all we have is a 1 year lease together, we didn't do shared accounts, and our hydro ect was included in our apartment. We also assigned the apartment out for the last month of our term.

So my questions are will they check to see we saw out our lease, or will a copy of the lease be enough, if not we can get her mother to confirm we stayed with her for the final month of my year in Canada? and do I have enough evidence to apply for spousal sponsorship?

orly

So you're leaving Canada and going back to the UK?

Your girlfriend will presumably be joining you in the UK and living with you there?

TRC

She is yes, we will be going back to the UK for a year or so then moving to Canada. I was hoping to start the application process next month.

Siouxie

Is your girlfriend a Canadian Citizen? If she is, then you can make an application whilst you are in the UK; if she is a PR instead then you would not be able to.

You will need to prove that your relationship is genuine and that you have lived together for a minimum of 12 months. You can read more here about what is looked for. (sections 5:34 onwards)

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc...p/op02-eng.pdf



Edited to say, sorry! It helps to include the link, lol.

TRC

She is Canadian citizen, but I was just wondering if we have enough evidence to support our application.

Also is a copy of our lease enough, or do they check to see if we broke it?

SchnookoLoly

Your lease may not be enough. May not.

When you apply as common-law, you are basically applying with the attitude of "we are practically a married couple - we have combined finances, we have been together for awhile, we have joined our lives, we just don't have a marriage certificate."

So you will need to give enough evidence to convince CIC that you a) aren't just roommates, and b) are in a relationship that mimics that of a married relationship.

As a result, there is no "de facto" list of evidence that CIC asks for, but generally, you want to be providing evidence that shows you are living together as though you were a married couple, and not just as roommates. The lease on it's own does nothing to tell CIC you aren't just roommates.

They often want to see things like joint bank accounts, joint bills, joint insurance coverage, you being named on each other's insurance policies, that sort of thing - roommates tend not to have that level of combined finances and life affairs. You've said you don't have joint bills, but there's nothing stopping you from having a joint bank account. WHat about joint house purchases like furniture, pets, etc?

THen they will also ask you to provide evidence if your relationship, so that's where you do things like photos, evidence of trips together, pictures with family members, copies of birthday/engagement cards, all that sort of thing that paints the picture that you are a couple and have been together for awhile.

Hope that helps...

TRC

Ok thanks, we will be opening a bank account next month together. We have plenty of photos of us together, all the furniture we have was already hers. We have flight tickets together also for our trip back to England next month. I have bank transfers to her each month for rent and cable bills too.

orly

-flight tickets/trips/photos
-the lease
-and evidence of combining your affairs more closely (joint bank account, paying bills) should suffice.
-a letter or two from family or friends attesting to your relationship being genuine wouldn't hurt. If you go down that route make sure you get a copy of the passport information page of the person writing the letter for verification (anyone could write and sign a letter)

TRC

Perfect, thanks. So they wont check I saw out my lease? as I assigned the final month to someone else.

SchnookoLoly

Did you continue living together in that final month? WHat's your actual history of cohabitation?

TRC

Ok so our entire history together.

Met in June 2011 in Australia
Moved in together October 2012
Moved out of apartment as of 1st September 2013 assigned lease to someone else, whilst we lived with her family who she wanted to see before coming to England for 1 year.
Next week we will get joint bank account.
Also have flight details to England leaving Sept 10th 2013.

Siouxie

So now you need to start gathering evidence of your relationship from the start - you need to show that your relationship is genuine and ongoing.

I forgot the link to the OP2 manual earlier but have posted it in my other post - take a read and it will give you an idea of what they will be looking for. You should read 5:34 and 5:47 in particular.

TRC

Thanks, will a joint bank account opened next week for an October/Nov application be ok? Do you think the assignment of my apartment will hinder us or should I not mention that as I have a lease for 1 full year.

orly

They'll want to know that you were living together for the entire time, regardless of where. They'll expect evidence proving it.

TRC

Ok cool thanks, I'll get her mother to fill out a form with that too, to prove its her a photo copy of her drivers license would be ok?

Also my gf never updated her drivers license address to our apartment just used her home address for banking, health card ect for the entire year, will that be a problem?