Canagirl

Hello guys,

Thanks in advance to those nice enough to take the time to help me!

I am finding it tricky to obtain clear and consistent info/resources online regarding the best routes for my boyfriend and I to live together permanently in Canada, whether by application for a permanent visa, citizenship (or equivalent) or another route altogether.

I thought perhaps some of you might have a better idea of the best routes available to us, based on our situation.

-I am Canadian who lived previously in UK where we met, but returned home to Vancouver in 2016.
-Boyfriend Mark is British and currently lives in London UK, but visits me every 4-7 months.
-We are very committed to each other and want to live together here in Vancouver.
-My boyfriend is ready to leave UK. He would be very happy to become an official Candian citizen/resident with permanent permission to live and work here.
-We are prepared to be married if a spousal visa/sponsorship turned out to be the only/best route, but I am happily divorced so would be interested in other routes first

To keep it as short as possible, I thought it might be helpful to provide some bulleted facts, supplied below. Sorry if any info is overkill, figured too much info would be better than too little! Please let me know if other info would be useful, or if I would be expected to perform other steps before posting here.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it and will respond to any posts asap.

Rachel x

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Citizenship is a good few years off, no way to get that until he's lived in Canada as a PR for several years first.

That can be Plan B then! How old is Mark, what is his highest level of education, and what does he do for a job? There are over 50 route to Permanent Residency, so he may well qualify for one of those without getting married, but it's hard to say without knowing a lot more about him.

Maybe get him to start with this eligibility test on the CIC website and let us know what it says..........https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...814.1504684497

​​​​​​​HTH.

Vulcanoid

In case you don't know, so far as the Government of Canada are concerned (ie for immigration and Federal taxes and programs) you are considered a 'common law couple' once you have lived together as a couple for 12 months. If you have done that already in the UK, then so far as Ottawa are concerned, you are already as good as married (and should be filing taxes on that basis), and can sponsor him, without formal paperwork of marriage. If you have not, then that will apply once you have lived together for over a year in the future.

The rules for Provinces vary by each one (eg Quebec only recognizes common law relationships for certain purposes); in BC once you have lived together as a couple for 2 years, the Province automatically assigns you all the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as you would have if you were married.

As Christmasoompa says there are federal immigration streams he might qualify for, or the BC Provincial Nomination Program is at https://www.welcomebc.ca/immigrate-t...ominee-program

PMM

Hi

1. Note it is 12 consecutive months, not just 12 months as well you have to have "merged" you lives.

Siouxie

Not quite, sorry. You need to have not only lived together 'as if married' for a minimum of 12 consecutive months, without any break, but ideally also continue to reside together, apart from short breaks - such as a couple of weeks. If the OP returned to Canada in 2016 then they likely would no longer be considered 'common-law' for immigration purposes as the break in residing together would be too long - and as PMM says, they would need to have 'merged their lives' - as if married. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...ons_of_this.3F

Unfortunately, also, it's no longer the simple matter of coming over as a visitor with the intention to stay here for a year or more so they can apply for sponsorship and PR 'down the line' - as they have clamped right down - now you need to be a genuine visitor - with ties and obligations to the home country or if trying to arrive with the intention of staying long term, risk refusal of entry. Visiting Canada under Dual Intent / Intending Inland sponsorship - please read

Alternatively, the OP could return to the UK and live with the boyfriend 'as if married' for the minimum of a year and then sponsor him 'outland' as the common-law partner - then once sponsorship approval was given, they could legitimately return to Canada and enter under Dual Intent. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...d:_Dual_Intent

Hopefully the OP will be able to post back a few facts such as age, profession, qualifications, CRS points etc., so they can receive guidance on which routes may be most available to them. If the OP's boyfriend is under 31 IEC may be an option for them to get here initially which would give them the opportunity to live together for the minimum of a year to become common-law for immigration purposes quite legitimately, with a work permit - whilst also gaining Canadian work experience which could help with PR applications for other routes.

Canagirl

Hi all, thank you so much for your responses!

We lived together in England from 2013 until I moved back to Canada to help care for family in 2016. Since then he has visited me every 4-7 months. Do you know whether this counts as common law? Or does common law have to be consecutive and unbroken?

Vulcanoid

Going to have to disagree with that. Breaks can only be short and temporary when establishing the qualifying CL period (of living together as couple for 12 months). However, after that, they can live apart for longer periods, so long as they intend to live together in the future, and consider their relationship ongoing. It's certainly possible that they have not established CL status, or that it has ceased, but merely no longer living together does not mean that it cannot be the case. The only thing we know from the initial post is that since OP moving back to Canada, they have had regular visits and contact and consider their relationship ongoing.

A lengthy excerpt from the operating manual on "Processing Members of the Family Class" (https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ir...p/op02-eng.pdf) discusses this in some detail:

Vulcanoid

The initial 12 months must be consecutive and unbroken. After that, it becomes foggier - see the excerpt from processing manuals just above. If you have strong evidence of visits, communications, and intent to live together again, you may have retained the CL status that you probably established between 2013 and 2016.

Siouxie

I'm very well aware of the manual, however, that's a lot to risk on an Immigration Officers opinion going the way you hope. There have been cases of refusals when couples have applied after being separated for just a few weeks or months, after the initial qualifying period.

There would need to be a lot of documentary evidence supporting an application where the couple have not lived together for about 2 years and some of the first questions that may well be asked will be 'why have you left it this long to sponsor and what is the reason for no longer residing together as if married; is this the first opportunity for you to do so, since 2016? '

The burden of proof will be on the couple. Of course they could make an application on the basis of having lived as common-law partners (presuming they can produce documentary evidence that they did live 'as if married' and not just residing in the same apartment.) but it has risks unless they have a rock solid background and can back it all up with leases, joint bank accounts, wills, etc., going back to 2015 - and ongoing financial support and 'combining lives' since her return - not just popping over for a couple of weeks every 7 months.

MAY being the operative word.
“an individual who is (ordinarily) cohabiting”. Is she still on the lease.. does she still pay towards the bills, do they call each other every few days or more, do they celebrate birthdays / anniversaries / take vacations together, still keep in contact with each others friends and family, was she expecting to return to the UK sooner than has happened..... are they still behaving and acting - both emotionally and fiscally, as if married? You see where I'm going?

Sorry .. I'm not meaning to appear contentious but the OP should be aware that there is a risk of refusal, unless they have excellent corroborating documentary evidence to support their claim. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...anada#Scrutiny

Vulcanoid

I'm not seeking to be contentious either; however, I would consider there equally to be a risk in applying on a basis of being 'single', and IRCC later determining that they had lived together, and continued to visit subsequently; although I've not seen any cases that you speak of of people being denied after spending time apart after establishing the initial period (of course it happens if they never actually made 12 continuous months), I've read many people online crying that 'they said we'd committed immigration fraud because our address history showed we lived together for years in the past".

The burden of proof is always on the applicant; they can attempt to make an application and may be refused. If they claim singledom, this may be questioned. In either case, they would need to buttress the decision they had made. It's certainly not clear cut that they are not officially a couple, any more than it is that they are. (Indeed, this is where the grey area in Canada's view of common-law appears - it has a clear way of jumping into existence, but much less so for when it ceases).

christmasoompa

I'm with Siouxie on this one, if they haven't lived as man and wife for 2 years and haven't made any attempt to resume living together since then, spousal isn't realistically an option. They could certainly try, but IMO it could be a waste of quite a lot of time/money, and if he has another option open to him i.e. via an economic route then I'd look at that first. There will be no issue with him applying and putting his status as single, as he's not *currently* common-law, and that's what is applicable, not what happened in the past.

Canagirl

That's incredibly helpful thanks!

Regarding CL sponsorship; My ex husband and I had stopped living together in 2013 only shortly before I met my current boyfriend, and the marriage didn't end until late 2017.
Until then, there was no legal acknowledgement of separation or breakdown of the marriage, just the mutual understanding that our relationship was over, and that we would make it official in due course.

Legal records indicate we agree 2013 was the year the marriage irretrievably broke down, and our divorce was ultimately granted on that basis.
My concern is that CL would apply to people who were "single" partners when they met/got together/cohabited, and not those married to other people at the time. Is this not the case?

christmasoompa

No, that's not the case. The OP Manual says the following:

5.24 Sponsor or common-law partners still married to someone else

Persons who are married to third parties may be considered common-law partners provided their marriage has broken down and they have cohabited in a conjugal relationship with the commonlaw partner for at least one year.

Cohabitation with a common-law partner must have started after a physical separation from the spouse.

Evidence of separation from the spouse may include
 a separation agreement;
 a signed formal declaration that the marriage has ended and that the person has entered into a common-law relationship;
 a court order regarding custody of children; and
 documents removing the legally married spouse(s) from insurance policies or wills as beneficiaries.

But you will need at least one of the documents mentioned above. And as above, even if you did have that, I think applying as common-law is a long shot at best, and could just be a waste of a year and a couple of thousands dollars. If you are going to give that a go, do make sure you consult with an immi lawyer, we don't normally recommend them on BE but that wouldn't be a straightforward application.

And as above, if there is another way for him to apply, that would be far easier/more straightforward IMO.

neilcumming

My wife and I looked at the common partner route and it was too much of a hassle so we got married and it was so much easier having that marriage cert./ status.