Public notary common-law

[oziguy86]

Hello,

I've lived in Canada for 3.5 years having moved from Australia and am currently on an Open Work permit with a NOC B permanent job. I am also in the process of applying for Express Entry having only just completed my English test.

I want sponsor my girlfriend who is currently living in Spain. We have been in a relationship for 2 years in which time she has lived in Canada for 7~ months on a visitor or study visa. I have also travelled to Spain many times.

In Spain we're able to get a notary of common-law status. Would this be worthwhile and seen as strong evidence for common-law status in Canada when we go to the notary together?

I would like to know so that we're not paying a lot of money for the notary in Spain if the document won't mean anything in Canada.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

 

[scylla]

In order to qualify as common law for Canadian immigration purposes you must have physically and continuously lived together for a period of at least 12 months. You must also be able to prove this through shared rental agreements / leases, shared utility bills, bank accounts / credit card statements with the same address etc. Simply stating you are common law in front of a notary won't be sufficient and won't be accepted as proof by CIC.

Have you lived together for at least 12 months straight and can you prove it?

 

[oziguy86]

Thank you for the information.

Unfortunately we haven't lived together that long. So I guess our only other option is for her to apply for her own separate open work permit through IEC and try our luck there with the small amount of visas they offer people from Spain.

 

[scylla]

Yes - you could certainly go the IEC route. It's possible it may be another six months or more before the program reopens - so you may be in for a bit of a wait. Also, the IEC for Spain has a residency requirement attached to it. This means she needs to make sure she is living in Spain when she applies. I'm sure you're aware of how quickly the IEC spots are taken.

Or you could get married. That's the other option if your relationship is serious.