Proving Common-Law Relationship
Aug 16th 2019, 8:28 am
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 30
Proving Common-Law Relationship
Hey everybody,
So one of the biggest barriers to getting a Canadian PR is proving that my common-law relationship is real. As some of you may know, I've been living in South Korea for a few years and I've been living with my partner for over 2 years.
Since my partner is Korean, everything is in her name, out of pure ease. I can (and have had) my own place in my name, but even then, utilities were in my landlord's name. When my partner and I moved in together, she put only her name for everything because we never knew we'd end up applying for Canadian residency. Luckily, my driver's licence and national ID card both show my address (and our previous one) and they have some time stamps on them. Also, when I get my work visa renewed, my partner signs a document to say I'm allowed to stay at her place, which IF I can find (sometimes immigration takes these docs) it gives another layer of security, but how can that prove that we're anything other than roommates?
All utilities are in her name. I've been sending her money for the past 2 years, so we can get bank records, but again, that doesn't prove a relationship. We're not married because we didn't want to rush it for immigration purposes, though marriage is something we've both suggested we want to do.
I posted on here that I could use various Instagram photos (because Insta has time stamps) showing us together in many countries around the world. We have photos with my family, spaced a few years apart, but I didn't post them to Insta so there's no time stamp.People have suggested that images are not enough, so I'm not sure of what else to say. I read that I can prove that I've paid for things for her, but honestly how could I do that? I have a sea of credit card transactions with vague descriptions of store names, so how could I ever prove that some things were for her? I've bought countless of gifts too but they could've been for me.
I also saw something about proving trips together and this is one whole big Pandora's box that I feel could be tricky to deal with. So we've been to over 10 countries together, and we've both had multiple trips by ourselves. One trip that we took together involved 10 flights, and because we did it on the cheap, we were not always seated together. Some hotels etc were in her name and some in mine. I'm getting a headache just imaging trawling through my email for 2-3 years worth of trips and having to remember the details and explain/justify them to our immigration overlords.
Then we have bank accounts; Koreans don't really do joint bank accounts (even when married). We finally made one today, which is super rare (the bank teller didn't know how to do it) and my full name couldn't physically be printed on my bank book because they don't have middle names in Korea. Actually, 99% of Korean names are 3 syllables/characters long and the family name goes first, so I would be 'Smith John'. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's another thing to explain to immigration. Anyway, that means I have to wait a few months before even making an EE profile. We also don't know if we need our $13,000 (the minimum that the gov requires) in that joint account, or just in our separate accounts. We actually did have a 'joint' account for paying rent and joint things, but of course it's in her name.
At this point I don't know what to do. I feel like we just have to get married to skip this process, but that ruins the romantic side of things. Should I just give her the power of attorney or something? (not that I know anything about that), or write a will and name her my beneficiary? Send in our sex tapes?? I don't know how else to distinguish us as being in a romantic relationship and not just roommates.
I've thought about hiring a Canadian immigration lawyer who deals with Koreans specifically, so perhaps they might be aware of certain forms etc, but I was quoted $4,000 CAD, which is a lot considering I might be able to figure it out myself. The general advice online is that immigration lawyers are unnecessary and I could really do with that extra cash for actually moving to Canada.
So one of the biggest barriers to getting a Canadian PR is proving that my common-law relationship is real. As some of you may know, I've been living in South Korea for a few years and I've been living with my partner for over 2 years.
Since my partner is Korean, everything is in her name, out of pure ease. I can (and have had) my own place in my name, but even then, utilities were in my landlord's name. When my partner and I moved in together, she put only her name for everything because we never knew we'd end up applying for Canadian residency. Luckily, my driver's licence and national ID card both show my address (and our previous one) and they have some time stamps on them. Also, when I get my work visa renewed, my partner signs a document to say I'm allowed to stay at her place, which IF I can find (sometimes immigration takes these docs) it gives another layer of security, but how can that prove that we're anything other than roommates?
All utilities are in her name. I've been sending her money for the past 2 years, so we can get bank records, but again, that doesn't prove a relationship. We're not married because we didn't want to rush it for immigration purposes, though marriage is something we've both suggested we want to do.
I posted on here that I could use various Instagram photos (because Insta has time stamps) showing us together in many countries around the world. We have photos with my family, spaced a few years apart, but I didn't post them to Insta so there's no time stamp.People have suggested that images are not enough, so I'm not sure of what else to say. I read that I can prove that I've paid for things for her, but honestly how could I do that? I have a sea of credit card transactions with vague descriptions of store names, so how could I ever prove that some things were for her? I've bought countless of gifts too but they could've been for me.
I also saw something about proving trips together and this is one whole big Pandora's box that I feel could be tricky to deal with. So we've been to over 10 countries together, and we've both had multiple trips by ourselves. One trip that we took together involved 10 flights, and because we did it on the cheap, we were not always seated together. Some hotels etc were in her name and some in mine. I'm getting a headache just imaging trawling through my email for 2-3 years worth of trips and having to remember the details and explain/justify them to our immigration overlords.
Then we have bank accounts; Koreans don't really do joint bank accounts (even when married). We finally made one today, which is super rare (the bank teller didn't know how to do it) and my full name couldn't physically be printed on my bank book because they don't have middle names in Korea. Actually, 99% of Korean names are 3 syllables/characters long and the family name goes first, so I would be 'Smith John'. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's another thing to explain to immigration. Anyway, that means I have to wait a few months before even making an EE profile. We also don't know if we need our $13,000 (the minimum that the gov requires) in that joint account, or just in our separate accounts. We actually did have a 'joint' account for paying rent and joint things, but of course it's in her name.
At this point I don't know what to do. I feel like we just have to get married to skip this process, but that ruins the romantic side of things. Should I just give her the power of attorney or something? (not that I know anything about that), or write a will and name her my beneficiary? Send in our sex tapes?? I don't know how else to distinguish us as being in a romantic relationship and not just roommates.
I've thought about hiring a Canadian immigration lawyer who deals with Koreans specifically, so perhaps they might be aware of certain forms etc, but I was quoted $4,000 CAD, which is a lot considering I might be able to figure it out myself. The general advice online is that immigration lawyers are unnecessary and I could really do with that extra cash for actually moving to Canada.
Aug 16th 2019, 10:19 am
#2
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Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 1,706
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
What you need to show is that you have taken steps to combine your finances in a similar way to married couples. The joint account is a good start in this. Other things that might help:
1) do you have insurance (auto/home)in both names
2) do either of you have life insurance policies where the other is names as the beneficiary
3) do you have any work place benefits packages where you have each names the other as your partner
4) do you file taxes jointly or name the other as your partner in the tax return (not sure on Korean system)
5) do you each have wills naming other as beneficiary
whilst not romantic a short formal wedding could be a way round all this. I know someone who did and didn’t even tell their families for 10 years untill the day of their ‘wedding’.
1) do you have insurance (auto/home)in both names
2) do either of you have life insurance policies where the other is names as the beneficiary
3) do you have any work place benefits packages where you have each names the other as your partner
4) do you file taxes jointly or name the other as your partner in the tax return (not sure on Korean system)
5) do you each have wills naming other as beneficiary
whilst not romantic a short formal wedding could be a way round all this. I know someone who did and didn’t even tell their families for 10 years untill the day of their ‘wedding’.
Aug 16th 2019, 3:04 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 30
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
What you need to show is that you have taken steps to combine your finances in a similar way to married couples. The joint account is a good start in this. Other things that might help:
1) do you have insurance (auto/home)in both names
2) do either of you have life insurance policies where the other is names as the beneficiary
3) do you have any work place benefits packages where you have each names the other as your partner
4) do you file taxes jointly or name the other as your partner in the tax return (not sure on Korean system)
5) do you each have wills naming other as beneficiary
whilst not romantic a short formal wedding could be a way round all this. I know someone who did and didn’t even tell their families for 10 years untill the day of their ‘wedding’.
1) do you have insurance (auto/home)in both names
2) do either of you have life insurance policies where the other is names as the beneficiary
3) do you have any work place benefits packages where you have each names the other as your partner
4) do you file taxes jointly or name the other as your partner in the tax return (not sure on Korean system)
5) do you each have wills naming other as beneficiary
whilst not romantic a short formal wedding could be a way round all this. I know someone who did and didn’t even tell their families for 10 years untill the day of their ‘wedding’.
We don't have wills, but this is something that we could actually do.
Also, it looks like there are many things I can't do until Express Entry is up and running (like the whole ECA process - because results are sent directly to the gov). As I'm the primary applicant, my partner only needs a low score, so we could do IELTS ASAP and then get my application underway (my girlfriend's application as the primary applicant will take a long time as she has to study for IELTS for a high score), but the one point that's slowing me down is that we only made our joint bank account today. Does the 6 months history have to be in the joint account? If not, I'm hoping we can just use the 6 months history on our regular bank accounts.
The only problem is that my sayings are quite low (tbh a lot of it is in Bitcoin - risky, I know) so most of the money is in my partner's account. When she's the primary applicant, it's no problem, but when I'm the primary applicant it could be an issue. Is there any thing we can do? I'd rather not wait for 4 months or so before we even open an Express Entry account.
Aug 16th 2019, 5:02 pm
#4
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Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 1,706
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
I don’t think you have to have it in the same account for 6 months but would need to show the principal applicant had ready access to the money for 6 months. In your case this would mean showing different accounts for the primary.
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months I.e. you can’t show your partners accounts. Note that funds must be in a readily accessible form I.e. cash. You cannot show investment statements/shares etc to meet the proof of funds.
You will I’ll need to proceed carefully with proof of common law status, if you cannot show the proof you are likely to be rejected. Strongly recommend you get married in your case as the level of evidence you have is lacking IMO.
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months I.e. you can’t show your partners accounts. Note that funds must be in a readily accessible form I.e. cash. You cannot show investment statements/shares etc to meet the proof of funds.
You will I’ll need to proceed carefully with proof of common law status, if you cannot show the proof you are likely to be rejected. Strongly recommend you get married in your case as the level of evidence you have is lacking IMO.
Aug 16th 2019, 5:24 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 30
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
I don’t think you have to have it in the same account for 6 months but would need to show the principal applicant had ready access to the money for 6 months. In your case this would mean showing different accounts for the primary.
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months I.e. you can’t show your partners accounts. Note that funds must be in a readily accessible form I.e. cash. You cannot show investment statements/shares etc to meet the proof of funds.
You will I’ll need to proceed carefully with proof of common law status, if you cannot show the proof you are likely to be rejected. Strongly recommend you get married in your case as the level of evidence you have is lacking IMO.
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months I.e. you can’t show your partners accounts. Note that funds must be in a readily accessible form I.e. cash. You cannot show investment statements/shares etc to meet the proof of funds.
You will I’ll need to proceed carefully with proof of common law status, if you cannot show the proof you are likely to be rejected. Strongly recommend you get married in your case as the level of evidence you have is lacking IMO.
She has well over the minimum funds in her bank account, but I don't (well, in cash). She would add my name to her account, but the bank won't let her. We can only make the joint account from scratch. Even that is limiting. Internet banking is not allowed and both account holders must be present to do any kind of banking.
Aug 16th 2019, 9:20 pm
#6
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Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 1,706
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
So if we did get married, having cash in her account won't be a big deal?
She has well over the minimum funds in her bank account, but I don't (well, in cash). She would add my name to her account, but the bank won't let her. We can only make the joint account from scratch. Even that is limiting. Internet banking is not allowed and both account holders must be present to do any kind of banking.
She has well over the minimum funds in her bank account, but I don't (well, in cash). She would add my name to her account, but the bank won't let her. We can only make the joint account from scratch. Even that is limiting. Internet banking is not allowed and both account holders must be present to do any kind of banking.
Aug 16th 2019, 10:42 pm
#7
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Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 432
Re: Proving Common-Law Relationship
I don’t think you have to have it in the same account for 6 months but would need to show the principal applicant had ready access to the money for 6 months. In your case this would mean showing different accounts for the primary.
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months
This is is to check that you have not suddenly borrowed money to get the required funds. If you are applying as primary you must be able to show you had access to the money for 6 months
Sorry to but in/thread hijack - from my reading (and a question i asked on here) i was led to believe that you didn't need ready access to the money for 6 months, just that you have to have it when you apply and when you arrive (as per the wording on the government website).
The funds must be available both when you apply and when (if) we issue you a permanent resident visa. You must prove to an immigration officer that you can legally access the money to use here when you arrive.
i.e someone holding 13000 dollars in savings 6 months ago, then 14000 5 months ago, 15000 4 months ago, 16000 3 months ago - and regularly saving from their wages would be no issue. but if you had nothing 6 months ago, then suddenly got 19000 dollars dropped in your account last month and couldn't prove where it came from then it would cause issues.
Last edited by Stumpylegs; Aug 16th 2019 at 10:45 pm. Reason: adding example
