egelorie

Hello,

I am a female UK citizen with a 7yr old son (both living in UK) and have a partner who is a Canadian citizen (living in Alberta,Canada)

He will be eventually sponsoring us under the family class category as common law for PR, but we understand we need to provide more evidence of our relationship by living together for 1 year alongside collecting various proofs....

I have been searching for as much info as possible as to how to do this and the only way that seems possible is if we go on the 6 month visit and get an extension on that before it runs out. But, im sure it isnt as simple as that to want to stay a further 6 months from that extension so i as i can become common law, for eg, i would have to explain as to what my reasons are to customs and who ever else may be involved, and its obviously not wise to say exactly what my intentions are i presume...anyway...my head is in a state of confusion as to all of this, i fear for getting there and being made to return back to the UK, as i will have no home or income just a small amount of savings)

Please can anyone help to fill in the gaps as to what can be likely to happen when going down this route, or does anyone know of any other way around this.(other than marriage as that would be a last resort at this moment in time)

Many thanks

Waltzing Matilda

As far as I am aware your options would be, 1) get married 2) have him come to the UK to live with you for a year to get your common-law requirements 3)have a look at visa requirements and see if you can get a visa on your own. I'm sure other people can chip in with more options!!

Check out the wiki in the blue bar at the top of the page to see if you could get a visa without going down the sponsorship route.

Also if your partner isn't the father of your child then you have to get permission from the child's father to remove him from the country. There are plenty of threads about this, and there are lots of people on here that have had to do this.

I got my PR via common-law sponsorship so any questions about that then just ask!

I can't see you being able to get in for a year on a visitors visa. Your son would be off school for a year, not to mention you'd need some form of medical insurance.

Good luck

WM

egelorie

Hi,
Thanks for that advice, firstly marriage isnt an option as my partner is still married and hasnt started divorce proceedings yet, it would be impossible for him to come to the UK, due to his life there and a very good job that he has,and we both gonna need all the money we can save as i am low income.
My sons father has signed passport form and i go to the lawyers next week with his permission to get the sole custody of my son and all the legal paperwork i need for that.


Could you tell me more about how you went about getting the common law status as far as visas etc are concerned.
Thanks

el_richo

First, he would need to be divorced, i believe.

Secondly you would need to accumulate a consecutive 12 months of living together, with proof including joint rental/mortgage info, joint bank accounts, historical evidence of your relationship (photo's, emails, letters, phone bills, flight details, etc)

Thirdly, once you can prove the above, he can then begin the sponsorship process which could take upwards of 8 months or so i believe.

So if all goes well, you'd be a permanent resident within 2 years.

Still, since i believe he needs to be divorced for the common law application, you may as well go down the marital route for simplicity and quickness.

Common-law partner

You are a common-law partner—either of the opposite sex or same sex—if:

you have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least one year in a continuous 12-month period that was not interrupted. (You are allowed short absences for business travel or family reasons, however.)
You will need proof that you and your common-law partner have combined your affairs and set up a household together. This can be in the form of:

joint bank accounts or credit cards
joint ownership of a home
joint residential leases
joint rental receipts
joint utilities (electricity, gas, telephone)
joint management of household expenses
proof of joint purchases, especially for household items or
mail addressed to either person or both people at the same address.

Waltzing Matilda

I came to Canada as a visitor and then managed to get a 2 year TWP. After we had lived together for a year we applied for my PR. I don't have any children so I was prepared to take the risk of moving over here with no job. I knew if I didn't find anything I had a job waiting for me in the UK, so I could always have gone back to that.

I'm not sure how wise it would be moving over here with no job and with a 7 year old child. Even if you did get to stay for a year, what would you do about your son's education and could you afford medical costs if the need arose?

Waltzing Matilda

I agree with El_richo here. Best to wait until your boyfriend gets divorced, then get married.

el_richo

Plus that goes some way to show his commitment AND once he sponsors you, he's legally bound to support you for at the first 3 years........just in case

egelorie

omg we didnt even begin to think that he needed to be divorced to start the common law status and i bet it takes a year to get divorced too

Waltzing Matilda

I'm not sure if he has to be divorced. What El_richo and I were saying was that it would be easier for you guys to be married and apply for sponsorship.

It's not certain that you can be in Canada for a year as a visitor, so as you can't live together for the year needed to be common-law the only option is you guys get married.

Or, you could try and get a TWP. But if you are coming with your son, it would have to be in a certain catagory so your son could get a study permit.

egelorie

hi again,
how does getting married change the whole PR thing compared to the common law status?

Pengy

El_Richo

I've PM'd you about this .. hope you don't mind !

Peng

Waltzing Matilda

If you are married you don't have to live together for a year before you can apply. As soon as you are married you can apply. I believe you still need to send in proof of your relationship though.

el_richo

I'm not 100% certain that he would need to be divorced but i do believe the application asks that married persons (sponsor or otherwise) has to provide marriage certificate. I take that as, you must provide the certificate whether it's you or his "ex" who he is currently married to. If that's the case, i'd have thought it could turn the process into a more difficult one.

I just think him being married to somebody else could flag your application into the "potentially naughty pile".

Hopefully somebody will clarify my accuracy.

If you're married, it's much simpler. You don't have to prove 12 months living together, you don't have to provide as much evidence of the relationship. A marriage certificate, his Canadian birth certificate, copies of your passports, and a couple of photo's (including wedding) will suffice.

This route, my process took 3 months from posting the forms to receiving the visa.

egelorie

so, how much proof would they need of our relationship, after the marriage

el_richo

Wedding Certificate, a couple of pictures of the wedding, and a small number of assorted pictures throughout your relationship to seal the deal.

Nothing major.