I don't know about the law in 2010 but now you wouldn't qualify for conjugal if the only reason is that you DONT want to get married. It's a pretty much 0 chance you would get approved
Guidance concerning a Conjugal Partner Application Please
- Thread starter ash82
- Start date
Right, so what you are suggesting is we get married to obtain a visa. I believe this is called a "Marriage of Convenience" and would result in our rejection of a Spousal application. Why would we get married under these conditions?
This is lifted directly from the government website:
A conjugal partner is:
3 points. All 3 apply to us. So how can they refuse our application?
This is lifted directly from the government website:
A conjugal partner is:
- a person who is living outside Canada,
- in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor for at least one year, and
- could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (e.g. immigration barrier, religious reasons or sexual orientation).
3 points. All 3 apply to us. So how can they refuse our application?
If you are in a genuine relationship, and can prove that, they won't consider it a marriage of convenience. They're trying to prevent people from using marriage as a loophole to get permanent residence, not keep out people in a real relationship who got married to expedite the process (what we did, I have been with my husband for 10 years but we got married last year so we could start sponsorship).
It doesn't sound like there is a barrier that is beyond your control, you just don't want to be married. Which is fine, but it does mean that without living with your partner you won't be able to sponsor them.
Its not that we don't want to get married down the road, its just that we don't want to be rushed into it. But we do want to move to Canada as soon as possible.
I guess my next question would be, why does Common-Law sponsorship exist?
I don't understand your question. Why wouldn't it exist? Common law is a recognized de facto status in Canada when it comes to immigration.
As others have said - You don't qualify for conjugal.
It is not a marriage of convenience if you have a genuine relationship.
I understand what you are saying, but I suppose you might want to think about why you are willing to make the commitment of moving to another country together and taking on the responsibility of sponsorship (you will be financially responsible for this person for 3 years), but feel like getting married in this situation is rushing into something. That's probably a bit outside the scope of an immigration forum though, and more something personal you need to figure out for yourself.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/non-economic-classes/family-class-determining-spouse/assessing-conjugal.html
The conjugal partnership category in IRPA
R2 defines a conjugal partner as a foreign national residing outside Canada who is in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor and has been in that relationship for a period of at least one year. Although the word “conjugal” is not defined in legislation, there are a number of factors that are used to determine whether a couple is in a conjugal relationship.
The key to assessing the conjugal partnership category is that neither common-law partner status nor marriage is possible, usually because of marital status or sexual orientation, combined with an immigration barrier. It applies only to the family class and only to a foreign national abroad who is sponsored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada. It does not apply to applicants in the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class.
A foreign partner may be from a country where divorce is not possible or where same-sex marriage is not recognized. Such partners may not be able to obtain long-stay visas in order to live together and meet the cohabitation requirement for common-law partners. When the option of marriage is not available, such couples could be permanently separated. In all other respects, conjugal partner couples are similar to a common-law couple or a married couple.
Bold emphasis is in the original.
The conjugal partnership category in IRPA
R2 defines a conjugal partner as a foreign national residing outside Canada who is in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor and has been in that relationship for a period of at least one year. Although the word “conjugal” is not defined in legislation, there are a number of factors that are used to determine whether a couple is in a conjugal relationship.
The key to assessing the conjugal partnership category is that neither common-law partner status nor marriage is possible, usually because of marital status or sexual orientation, combined with an immigration barrier. It applies only to the family class and only to a foreign national abroad who is sponsored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada. It does not apply to applicants in the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class.
A foreign partner may be from a country where divorce is not possible or where same-sex marriage is not recognized. Such partners may not be able to obtain long-stay visas in order to live together and meet the cohabitation requirement for common-law partners. When the option of marriage is not available, such couples could be permanently separated. In all other respects, conjugal partner couples are similar to a common-law couple or a married couple.
Bold emphasis is in the original.
Farther down is this paragraph:
"Although the intention of the conjugal-partner category is to accommodate those few Canadians with foreign partners who can neither marry nor live together, inability to marry cannot be an absolute requirement, since this could have the effect of “forcing” those couples to marry who may have chosen not to do so. Persons who have established and maintained a conjugal relationship for one year and who do not intend to marry might be conjugal partners if they have been unable to cohabit because of an immigration impediment or other serious barrier. The key to determining whether an individual is a conjugal partner is whether they are in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor and whether there is a compelling barrier to continuous cohabitation."
Which I would argue applies to my situation. There does seem to be a gray area here which I want to explore.