Q & A: Common Law Marriage

Q. I'm hoping someone will be able to answer this question for me. I've been dating my girlfriend for the past 2 1/2 years, and we've been living together in the US for the last 9 months while I've been down here on contract. However, I'm going to be returning to Canada in the very near future, and it suddenly occurred to me that the fact that we've been living together might affect her status in the eyes of Canada Immigration... then again, it might not. :-)

Answer: In cases of common-law marriage, the individual will typically be considered in the independent category first. In the event that she does not qualify as such, the application would be considered under Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds.