Common Law Marriage in the Canadian Forces - Mega Thread

[Michael OLeary]

Go to the Recruiting Centre and ask them what you need to do to have the change made on your file. You may have to swear a statutory declaration regarding your status and may be asked to provide documents (such as bills with matching addresses, lease with both names, etc.) showing you have been resident together for the requisite period of time.

 

[CFR FCS]

When you get an official job offer from your CFRC your marital staus will be requested. At that time you will be told what documents to bring in to prove your status.  Doing so before you get an offer is counter productive as the CFRC are not allowed under the privacy act to ask about your marital status, religion and dependants until you accept a job offer.  If you bring it in when it isn't required it might get misplaced.

Bottom line: wait for it.

 

[Lare]

When I swore in, we were asked our relationship status. I put common-law, the Cpl. brought out a form, I brought the form home with me, my girlfriend and I signed it, and when I came to St. Jean I brought a bill with both of our names on it, her birth certificate and drivers licence, our daughters birth certificate, and all my ID. As long as the addresses on your photo ID's match with the address on the bill with both your names on it your good to go. A rental agreement or mortgage with both your names on it is required as well, and if you want to get medical coverage for you spouse bring her medical card or a photo copy of it.

The only problem I ran into was the CFRC only giving me one page of the statutory declaration, that was easy enough to fix though.

In short, when you go to St. Jean, bring everything you can that will assist in proving you two have lived together for over a year and you'll be good to go.

 

[Ice97]

Changing to status to Common-Law doesn't look bad...no matter when you change it.  They can't really do anything about the fact that you're common-law....if you're able to change it...then do it ASAP so you can not only get benefits....but separation expense as well. 

 

[PMedMoe]

Changing to status to Common-Law doesn't look bad...no matter when you change it.  They can't really do anything about the fact that you're common-law....if you're able to change it...then do it ASAP so you can not only get benefits....but separation expense as well.

Depending on your individual situation and don't forget the old Chinese proverb "Be careful what you wish for." 

 

[fauntania]

I've tried a few searches on this and come up empty-handed, so I thought I would ask.  Hopefully this is the right place! 

My boyfriend and I have been living together for over five years.  We live in BC, near the US border.  He is an American citizen, working whatever jobs he can shake up on the US side of the line, and I work in Canada, being a Canadian citizen.  For all intents and purposes, this is a marriage relationship - we have a joint bank account, a joint tenancy agreement for our home, etc.

Will the CF consider him my "common law spouse" and move him along with my kids and I to wherever I am posted?  Or is the fact that he is an American a potential issue?

We plan to get married once I can get the divorce done with my ex-husband. 

Any input you may have, or any experience with this would be appreciated.  Thank you so much!

 

[Pusser]

Is he a landed immigrant in Canada?  If he's not legally resident in Canada (the fact that he spends most of his time here and goes back to the US often enough - at least every six months - in order to not violate his permission to enter Canada, is irrelevant), I don't see how you can be considered common-law.  How can you "live together," if he's not allowed to "live" in Canada (i.e. if he's only visiting for long periods of time).

On the other hand, if he is a landed immigrant (complete with appropriate paperwork) and you meet all the criteria for common-law status, then yes, the CF will move him, if you and when you are entitled to a move at public expense.

 

[Zoomie]

When you join the CF - put him down as your common-law spouse.  If you don't do this before you join - you will have a bit more difficulty proving that he is indeed your common-law spouse.

 

[Spring_bok]

If your still legally married to someone else then you are not common law.

 

[Occam]

If your still legally married to someone else then you are not common law.

Not true at all.  QR&O 1.075 deals with this.

I know service members who jumped through the hoops to declare a common-law relationship and end the same common-law relationship before they were successful in obtaining a divorce agreement for a pre-existing failed legal marriage.

 

[aesop081]

Common-law status is besides the point, the guy is a visitor to Canada and thus he is not "living with her". Unless that changes, i don't seem him being moved from anywhere at public expense.

 

[Occam]

QR&O 1.075 doesn't care about his nationality or immigration status, it merely says if you've been cohabitating in a conjugal relationship for one year (or had a child within the relationship), then you are common-law in the eyes of the CF.

 

[aesop081]

it merely says if you've been cohabitating in a conjugal relationship for one year

Ok but he is not a resident here. How can he be cohabiting if he's not even legally residing in Canada ?

 

[Pusser]

QR&O 1.075 doesn't care about his nationality or immigration status, it merely says if you've been cohabitating in a conjugal relationship for one year (or had a child within the relationship), then you are common-law in the eyes of the CF.

However, you cannot be cohabitating if one of the persons is not legally living in Canada.  If the guy is just a visitor (which he is if he's not a landed immigrant) then his residence is in the US, while her's is in Canada.  Unless the house is one of those that straddles the border....

 

[Retired AF Guy]

QR&O 1.075 doesn't care about his nationality or immigration status, it merely says if you've been cohabitating in a conjugal relationship for one year (or had a child within the relationship), then you are common-law in the eyes of the CF.

I think the operational phrase here is, "if you've been cohabitating in a conjugal relationship for one year."  I would take that to mean that that the two people in question have to be living together continuously. In this case, that's not happening because he is spending a significant portion of the years living in the U.S.

 

[Occam]

You guys ought to know that the CF doesn't involve itself in matters which don't concern them.  The guy's immigration status is between him and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.  There's a stat dec that has to be filled out when claiming common law status - I'm nearly certain that there are no questions pertaining to the citizenship and immigration status of the spouse.  The CF doesn't get involved with civil matters, either - such as having one legal spouse and one common-law spouse at the same time.

 

[ModlrMike]

We may be reading too much into this. My take on her question is that her partner works in the US. It may be that he travels daily across the border and comes home at night. To do so, he would have to be legal in Canada otherwise CBSA would tag him. This is fairly common practice in other border cities, like Windsor, St Stephen NB, etc.

To answer the question. IF he's legally in Canada, and IF you have a demonstrated common law relationship, then there's likely no problem.

 

[medicineman]

You guys ought to know that the CF doesn't involve itself in matters which don't concern them.  The guy's immigration status is between him and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.  There's a stat dec that has to be filled out when claiming common law status - I'm nearly certain that there are no questions pertaining to the citizenship and immigration status of the spouse.  The CF doesn't get involved with civil matters, either - such as having one legal spouse and one common-law spouse at the same time.

They might not be too worried about immigration status until there is a red flag about it while doing your security clearance...just tossing that out there.

MM

 

[fauntania]

To clarify, he is sleeps in Canada at our place every night, and travels across the border for work during the day.  With the exception of one six month period where we split up and he returned to he US during that time, we have been cohabiting in Canada for five years. 

We've looked at every avenue to for filing immigration paperwork, but the only one he will qualify for is common law spouse once I can get the ex-husband dealt with.  I really didn't want to rock the boat by filing divorce papers so soon before I leave for basic training, because my ex can be volatile and I could see him getting the bright idea to file for custody of the kids while I'm "indisposed".  Plus, the expense to file is difficult to come up with at the moment.

 

[Occam]

They might not be too worried about immigration status until there is a red flag about it while doing your security clearance...just tossing that out there.

That might well be, but that affects the security clearance issue, and has no bearing on the common law status.

What some seem to be getting caught up on is that you can't read something into the QR&O that isn't there.  The QR&O is pretty clear and unambiguous.