andruth

My girlfriend and I are doing a snowboard instructors course from January until mid April 2009 in BC. She has applied for and been granted a Canadian working holiday visa. We have think we would like to stay on in Canada after the course finishes and work the summer before trying to find work as snowboard instructors the following winter. We have been together for 1 year, living together for 7 months. I believe we need to have been cohabiting with the principal applicant in a conjugal relationship for at least one year prior to the application order for me to be considered a common law husband (which will be fulfilled come April 2009). does anyone know what documentation is need to substantiate this? and am i able to apply in April while in Canada?

any guidance is much appreciated.

Thanks

christmasoompa

Firstly, hi and welcome!

Can you just confirm - you are a Canadian citizen? If you want to sponsor your girlfriend under the common law sponsorship, then yes, you have to have lived together for at least a year. To prove it, get as much paperwork as you possibly can i.e. both names on a lease, bills, joint bank account etc, etc. I believe it takes about 9 months to get PR as a common law partner, and you are best applying via London as it can take double that time if you submit an 'inland' application.

You say she's already been granted a visa? (hope so as she wouldn't be eligible with a Canadian partner i.e. once you've lived together for a year). So presumably her Bunac visa is for 2009? If so then how is she planning on doing the snowboarding course? Does she have a study permit as well?

Finally, where are you both now?

Sorry for all the questions but if you can clarify things a bit then people will be able to give you accurate advise.

andruth

Hi there,
Thanks for your reply.
i am a british citizen, she has dual nationality british/australian. She has applied for and received a working permit for canada. When she applied for the visa she listed she has a partner. We both live in london.
In terms of the snowboard course, its is run by a british company and we do not need visas for the course (it runs from jan 2009 until april 2009). My girlfriend is able to look for employment after the course, i would like to stay on in canada with her. Unfortunately our co-habitation only dates back to March 2008. Therefore the criteria of 1 year of co-habitation will only be fulfilled once we are already in Canada.
from what you say it sounds like the processing might take too long to be granted defacto for April 2009.
again, thanks for any advice you can offer.

christmasoompa

Sorry, but one more question - you say she has 'applied for and received a working permit for Canada', is that via Bunac? Or is it a TWP?

Either way, I'm not sure you have any way of staying in Canada with her I'm afraid. Only a PR can sponsor a common-law partner, the only way you could go with her is if she was going on a TWP and had added you to her application. But presumably that's not the case as you haven't yet been living together for a year?

Your only option is to try and get your own visa to enable you to stay with her.

Best of luck.

andruth

She has a TWP, and added a 'partner' on her visa, though didn't give details at the time.
Alas i am over 30, and thus not eligable for a Canadian TWP. We have sent an email to the CHC in Sydney explaining our situation, but as yet have heard nothing back.
thanks for your input christmasoompa

christmasoompa

I think you are confusing things - a TWP (Temporary Work Permit) is something that is linked to a specific job (i.e. you get offered a job as a surveyor for example, the TWP would be specifically for that job and you would not be allowed to work elsewhere on it) and has no upper age limit.

So I'm guessing she's got a working holiday visa which is a completely different thing - a max of 1 year, open working visa when she can do any job, with an upper age limit of 30. Is that the visa she has?

Regardless, her adding you as a partner to a working holiday visa application will not help you gain your own visa, it's valid for her and her alone, you need to figure out a way to get your own visa if you want to stay with her after your course has finished I'm afraid. There is no way she can add you to her application, or sponsor you, or do anything else, even after you have lived together for a year if she's on a working holiday visa. They are meant for young, free and single people and not for couples or families so are only for one person. Common-law sponsorship is not an option for you if she's there on a working holiday visa.

You need to concentrate on trying to find a job and then applying for a TWP - the good news is that once you've lived together for a year, she could stay in Canada with you on a TWP!

Good luck.