Does USCIS care about Ontario common law relationships?

[Klam 24]

I'm actually not too worried here but I just wanted to get some opinions and experiences.  I am a USC and my fiance is a Canadian citizen living in Toronto.  We will be getting married at city hall next month and filing and I-130 to start the CR-1 process.  Prior to meeting me, she was engaged to a different partner which she eventually separated from.  The two were never legally married, never had any form of ceremony, and always filed their taxes separately and as "Single".  However, they did jointly buy an apartment which they lived together in for over 3 years.  I recently learned that under Ontario law, this is establishes a "common law relationship" which apparently means that parties can be entitled to alimony (among other things).  When things fell apart, she got a lawyer involved to draft a separation which didn't end up with any alimony or ongoing issues (she just sold her equity in the property to her ex). 

 

My question is whether or not USCIS/DOS will consider this a form of marriage in anyway (i.e., do we need list as a former spouse on I-130A?  Do we need to show proof of separation?).  Based on my reading of USCIS guidelines, the answer is no.  Furthermore, it seems Ontario doesn't even consider common-law relationships to be full marriages (the rights granted are not the same between a legal marriage and a common-law relationship).  Any Canadians here have any further insight on the matter?

[debbiedoo 2,339]

it was not a legal spouse so no, it wouldnt be listed as such and you would not list the person as a spouse.

[NikLR 13,227]

No they dont.  I was common law with my ex for just under 9 years.  Alberta gives common-law partners the same rights as married ones too.  Because you can get married, common law doesn't even cross the USCIS thought process. In the USA, most common-law partners need to actually divorce vs just separate like we can in Canada.  

[acidrain 325]

I had a past common law relationship and filed taxes jointly. To be honest I never even thought about it until you mentioned it. We never drafted up any sort of separation agreement or saw a lawyer. We just sat down and figured out how to split up our assets and went our separate ways.

 

The only thing I was asked in the interview was whether I was married before and whether I had gone by any other names. I think one of the only times they care about past relationships is if you have kids with someone else. I think it has more to do with the custody arrangement.

[NikLR 13,227]

On 6/24/2018 at 12:45 PM, acidrain said:

I had a past common law relationship and filed taxes jointly. To be honest I never even thought about it until you mentioned it. We never drafted up any sort of separation agreement or saw a lawyer. We just sat down and figured out how to split up our assets and went our separate ways.

 

The only thing I was asked in the interview was whether I was married before and whether I had gone by any other names. I think one of the only times they care about past relationships is if you have kids with someone else. I think it has more to do with the custody arrangement.

And only if the children are moving to the USA. 

 

I wasn't asked any questions about my child.  She never moved here.  Chose to stay with dad and since I refuse to put my child through the courts for the rest of her childhood, I said ok. 

[iffat.hassan 0]

i quiet agree with this