Conjugal Partner
Conjugal Partner
Canadian immigration law and policies recognize the importance of helping families stay together and offer multiple programs for Canadians wishing to sponsor their relatives and family members.
What sets Canada apart from many other countries with family sponsorship programs is that you can sponsor your romantic partner even if you’re not married to them, and, in some cases, even if you’re not living together.
The latter is called conjugal partner sponsorship, and as per IRCC, it applies to exceptional situations when your romantic partner can neither live with you in their country or in Canada due to significant barriers of legal or immigration-related nature.
These significant legal and immigration reasons can include situations when your partner:
- is already married and cannot divorce due to it being illegal in their country;
- their sexual orientation makes it dangerous or illegal for them to marry you or be in a relationship with you due to local laws and persecution.
In addition to this criterion, the conjugal partner definition states that your romantic partner can be either sex, 18 years or older, living outside of Canada, and your relationship must have existed for at least a year.
So if you’re trying to choose a sponsorship program, the difference between conjugal partner and spouse is pretty obvious. However, finding out if your partner is common law or conjugal partner is less straightforward.
According to Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations section 1(2), if you cannot live with your romantic partner because of persecution or penal control in any form, your relationship would also be considered common law.
So, if you are wondering if you can apply for a conjugal partner in Canada sponsorship category, or your relationship is a better fit under the common law definition, you can read more about the requirements on the government website. It also outlines the difference between conjugal partner vs common law relationship.
Another common question that applicants ask is: “is a girlfriend a conjugal partner” – and the answer is no. Dating is not considered a conjugal partnership, unless local laws prevent you from getting married or living together.
Once you determine the eligibility, you will need to find out if you are eligible to sponsor. You must understand that sponsoring someone means being financially responsible for them for several years, so you need to show that you’re capable of supporting your partner financially. There are also bars created to prevent non-genuine sponsorships – so if you were recently sponsored to become a permanent resident, or you recently sponsored another person – you may have to wait.
Once you establish that you can become a sponsor, you need to complete your application according to the conjugal partner Canada checklist. The application to sponsor heavily focuses on evidence that shows that your relationship is genuine, and it’s been happening for at least 12 months. The checklist provides examples of documents to guide you, and the more evidence you can produce, the stronger your application.
Once you have all the documents, make sure you double-check that your application is complete before you mail it. Even if you’re missing one signature, your application would be returned, which would cause significant delays. The conjugal partner sponsorship processing times vary, but the average application takes 12 months, so make sure you take your time and pay attention to the instructions.
Overall, while the sponsorship application is not very complex, it requires a lot of documents, the processing times are quite long, and you might be impatient to be reunited with your partner as soon as possible. Contact our team of registered immigration consultants for assistance with your application and to determine the best strategy for your situation.
Regards,
International Experience Club.
