VM-BASIC said:
Reason for not marrying was I was still seperated and my divorce had not come through,it now has.
Does this mean I have to make an honest woman out of her?
We are able to provide a lot of proof of ongoing relationship, we have met each others family and friends etc, have lots of call logs,plane ticket receipts photos from time spent together etc. I assume these will help
Those are all proofs of your genuine relationship, and they're good proofs. But they are not what qualifies you to be sponsored. What qualifies you to be sponsored is that you either marry a Canadian or you become the common-law partner of a Canadian. If you are unable to do either of these things because of fear of persecution due to the nature of your relationship, or immigration barriers that
prevent you from staying with each other for long enough to establish a common-law partnership, you can apply as conjugal partners. Examples of conjugal partners would be same-sex partners where the foreign national lives in a country where same-sex relationships are illegal and the foreign national is also from a non-visa-exempt country and cannot get a visa to enter Canada so that they can marry here. Another example would be a previously married foreign national from a country like the Philippines where divorce is not allowed. Such a couple would not be able to legally marry, and because the Phils is non-visa-exempt, the FN partner would probably not get a visa to come to Canada to visit a partner. If the Canadian partner can't go to the Phils either, they're also prevented from co-habitating and this is seen as discrimination by the Canadian government.
VM-BASIC said:
Thanks for the heads up.Will have to discuss this with my good lady and see what options it throws up
Edited to add.. I am having to stay in UK until early next year as this is when I finish time in Army. Dont think anyone wil be too impressed if I go AWOL and try to emmigrate
So you have time to get this worked out - no rush. If you were to apply now for permanent residence, you'd be receiving a Confirmation of Permanent Residence document upon approval and that COPR has an expiration date that coincides with the one year anniversary of your medical exam or the expiration date of your passport, whichever comes first. You'd have to travel to Canada to "land" and finalize your PR before the expiration of the COPR. If you can't do that until you are released from military service, you'll need to be careful about your timing.
VM-BASIC said:
OK guys, and Gals, many thanks for the advice received so far.Obviously there are a lot of things I havn`t considered in all this, it`s my first time at emigrating so bear with me. At the risk of sounding like I`m very dense, why is Conjugal so frowned upon
In truth, I don't think the conjugal route is "frowned upon" - it's just been "created" for special circumstances to protect the Canadian gov't from discrimination lawsuits.
VM-BASIC said:
. . . and I was under the impression, that UK citizens are not visa exempt, as I can only stay as a guest/tourist for a limited time before I have to leave. Is going to Canada as a tourist and then applying an option? Does sound a bit "Back Door " so as to speak. I am wading through the CIC site again, but still seems vague.
Am trying to resist the temptation to curl into the foetalposition and wimpering softly.....
Believe me, we all have to resist that temptation - and the CIC site
is vague. Being visa-exempt means that you don't have to apply in advance of travel for a visa to enter Canada. As a citizen of the UK, you can fly to Canada and apply to be admitted at a Canadian port-of-entry. Non-visa-exempt nationals can't do that. Once you're admitted to Canada, you're authorized to remain for up to six months and, if you received documentation of your entry (like a stamp in your passport), you can apply from within Canada to extend your stay. Whether or not the extension is approved depends on your circumstances, your means of support, etc., but you could conceivably extend from six months for another six months and thereby qualify as common-law partners. This isn't usually encouraged, though, because it's a whole year in Canada as a visitor (no healthcare, no work, no school) before you even qualify to apply, and only then do you begin the wait for permanent status. You could expect to be approved through London in less than six months, but it can be tough on a relationship - especially financially. In addition, wanting to remain in Canada for another six months so that you can qualify to apply for permanent status is not a valid reason for extending your status. You have to come up with something better than that. Once you're qualified, then you can submit another extension application to continue your stay based on your c/l qualification and a PR ap in process. You can probably begin to see now why it's easier just to get married if that's what you're already planning anyway because it makes you immediately qualified to apply for permanent status and get on with life.
