Conjugal Partner - Family Class

[shelleydalyce]

Hello...
Please help (inbox responses accepted)...
I am a Canadian citizen whose boyfriend is American. He came to the East Coast to look for work but was unable to find anything and ended up staying illegally since he could not find work. He is currently back in the States and border officers have told him that he can re-enter with a work permit (or sponsorship I assume).
I have been on the CIC website and find the information hard to comprehend.

What are my requirements to sponsor him?
What are his requirements?
I guess I am interested in the financial aspect of this moreso... and red flags and the sort.

What is the process, and the time line?

Also, if he has a drug paraphernalia charge in the US would this hurt our chances of being together?

Please help.. I am so lost and confused.

 

[mitamata]

I think the first thing you need to do is read the guide. It really makes no sense for us to type out all of this when most is in the guides.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

For the sponsor details, check this:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900E2.asp

As long as you're not bankrupt or receiving social assistance, then you can sponsor him. For application fees, you're looking at $1040 assuming he doesn't have any children he's bringing to Canada with him. There cost of the medical exam can be quite substantial as well (ranges between $100-$400 that I've heard).

As for the criminal part... are those charges still there? If they were dropped, then it shouldn't be an issue. If he was ever convicted of something, then they could be.

And, one more thing... the "conjugal partner" category is mainly intended for people who for some reason can't marry or live together. The processing rules aren't really clear on this, so the immigration officer reviewing your case can either approve it or reject it - some would reject you right away because you're not married when clearly you could be, some would approve because you are in a relationship and nobody says you have to get married if you don't want to. It's a dicey category that is better to be avoided, if you can I would suggest you marry the man and make it easier on yourself.

When applying, you will have to provide evidence of your relationship (letters, phone bills, evidence you've lived together, photos of you together,...) so best start collecting that now.

 

[shelleydalyce]

"You can sponsor a person as a conjugal partner(1) if

* that person is of the opposite or same sex,
* that person is residing outside Canada (that is, has, for legal purposes, a fixed, permanent and principal home outside Canada), and
* you have maintained a conjugal relationship with that person for at least one year, that is you have been in a committed and mutually interdependent relationship of some permanence where you have combined your affairs to the extent possible.

(1) This last category is intended for partners of Canadian sponsors who would ordinarily apply as

* common-law partners but cannot meet the definition, that is were not able to live together continuously for one year with their sponsor, or
* spouses, but marriage to their sponsor is usually not an available option to them, usually because of marital status or sexual orientation, combined with an immigration barrier (for example, rules preventing partner and sponsor of long stays in one another’s countries)."



Wouldn't this count if he is an American citizen and has been unable to relocate to Canada and had failed attempts at finding work in Canada? I have attempted to find work where he is located also but have had very little success in doing so. This would be a common-law partner that cannot meet the definition.

 

[mitamata]

If you are seriously considering the conjugal partner route, read up here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
This is the manual for immigration officers that work on permanent residency applications.

Also, there's a discussion on the subject here:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t26493.0.html

The decision is up to you. We're just here to inform you of what you're getting yourself into. You might come across an IO that will approve you or you could be "lucky" and come across one who'll say "oh, they could marry but chose not too, obviously they're not commited enough".

 

[ariell]

It's highly unlikely that you would be approved with a conjugal application.

You don't need a visa to visit him, he doesn't need a visa to visit you. You have NO immigration barrier which precludes you from meeting the 12 month cohabitation requirement of a common-law partnership. This is one of the main requirements of a conjugal application. The fact that you or he cannot find work is not a reason to apply conjugal. I would suggest that you read through the guidebooks in the links that were provided above to learn more about the process.

I would suggest that you either live together and apply as common-law partners or marry and apply as spousal.
Good luck.