Separated & New Common-Law Relationship -Question

[sammas]

Hi,

Can a legally married man (but wife staying separately in another country and no contacts either physically or emotionally exists between the two) get into common law with another woman in Ontario and would that be considered as illegal and tantamount to legal proceeding against the married man?

My second question is from the immigration point of view can the above married person sponsor his live in partner.

Any insight will be helpful.

Thanks
Sam

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi There,

Thanks for sharing your question and situation with us. We can appreciate that this is a confusing situation.

According to the CIC website:

Common-law partner

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

you have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least one year in an ongoing 12-month period (you are allowed short absences for business travel or family reasons).

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 proof of:

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

However you may not be eligible to sponsor if you:

-did not meet the terms of a sponsorship agreement in the past,
-did not pay alimony or child support even though a court ordered it,
-get government financial help for reasons other than being disabled,
-were convicted of
-an offence of a sexual nature,
-a violent crime,
-an offence against a relative that resulted in bodily harm or
-an attempt or threat to commit any such offences, depending on the detailss of the case, such as
-the type of offence,
-how long ago it occurred and
-whether a record suspension was issued (see Sponsorship bar for violent crime below),
-were sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner in the past and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago
-did not pay back an immigration loan, made late payments or missed payments,
-are in prison or
-have declared bankruptcy and have not been released from it yet.

Other things not on this list may stop you from being able to sponsor a relative.

You may want to contact the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Call Centre for more information regarding your specific situation and to confirm the information provided above.

You can also contact a lawyer or immigration consultant for help with your sponsorship application.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

=====
Theresa
Information & Referral Specialist, CIRS
Your Settlement.Org Team