Do You Have A Common Law Partner?
Are you and your partner hoping to live together permanently in Canada someday? Have you and your partner already been living together for more than a year? If so, you may qualify as a common-law partnership. If you legally qualify as common-law partners, you may be eligible to apply for spousal sponsorship as common law partners, and achieve your dreams of living together permanently. Oftentimes, people believe that because they are not legally married, they do not have the option of applying for spousal sponsorship, however, this is not the case. As mentioned, if you meet the requirements of a legal common-law relationship, you may be eligible to sponsor your significant other, and help them achieve permanent residency. This article will help you understand the legal requirements of a common law relationship, and what you can expect the process of sponsoring a common-law partner to look like.
What Is a Legal Common Law Partnership?
To officially be considered to be in a common-law relationship, you and your partner must have been living together for at least one full year, and be engaged in a conjugal relationship. To be living together and have both you and your partners affairs taken care of together, is considered cohabitating. Cohabitation is the legal requirement of a common law relationship. You cannot claim legal common law status if you and your partner have lived together intermittently for periods of time which add up to one year. The key is that you have lived together continuously for a full year. If you must spend time living apart, it must be short and justified by the circumstances; such as a family or business obligation. The relationship between you and your partner must also meet the standards of a legal marriage. For example, your relationship must be monogamous, and both individuals must be over the age of 18. If you and your partner began living together before either of you turned 18, the one year period you must live together does not begin until you are both 18 years old.