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Jordan17

Member
Mar 5, 2019
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Hello,

I feel I have a very unique situation and need some advice. I'm a Canadian Citizen living in Dubai. I live across the street from my girlfriend and we've been inseparable for almost 2 years. We cannot live together in Dubai as we are unmarried. We do not want to get married but we want to move to Canada and live together.

I want to sponsor her. We are not common-law as we technically do not live at the same address on paper, so I want to sponsor her as a conjugal partner. We live together unofficially.
I seem to be in a gray area for sponsorable relationships.
 
There is nothing stopping you from getting married so you dont qualify for conjugal
 
I was afraid that would be the answer.

I guess my next question would be, would they ever agree to us being common-law? We've lived together for over a year, but have 2 separate apartments on paper due to our work.
 
I was afraid that would be the answer.

I guess my next question would be, would they ever agree to us being common-law? We've lived together for over a year, but have 2 separate apartments on paper due to our work.
No, given that you don't have any real proof of living together (as you said, you're living together unofficially so there's no paper trail whatsoever).

There's nothing stopping you from getting married so you don't qualify for conjugal.
 
Hello,

I feel I have a very unique situation and need some advice. I'm a Canadian Citizen living in Dubai. I live across the street from my girlfriend and we've been inseparable for almost 2 years. We cannot live together in Dubai as we are unmarried. We do not want to get married but we want to move to Canada and live together.

I want to sponsor her. We are not common-law as we technically do not live at the same address on paper, so I want to sponsor her as a conjugal partner. We live together unofficially.
I seem to be in a gray area for sponsorable relationships.
wer on a same boat im in dubai.. we applied conjugal sposorship.. APril 2018
 
You need a full year of cohabitation .in the same apartments not separate with concrete proof you live together im afraid
 
Last edited:
yes, got PFL and submitted our depense ;ast March 22, 2019 asking for further explanation,.....
i will be glad to have PFL than interview or rejection...
Unfortunately you're likely to get rejected since you do not qualify for conjugal sponsorship, which is why everyone here is telling the OP to just get married. You do not qualify for conjugal as there is no immigration barrier, and you do not qualify for common-law as you are not cohabitating.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies.

Every is saying "just get married". I really cannot believe this is the only solution. Not everyone believes in marriage, nor is it a requirement for most other sponsorship applications. Common-Law for example has nothing to do with marriage, nor does conjugal sponsorship.
I cannot believe a country would force a couple to get married just to apply for a visa, as I believe doing so is illegal.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies.

Every is saying "just get married". I really cannot believe this is the only solution. Not everyone believes in marriage, nor is it a requirement for most other sponsorship applications. Common-Law for example has nothing to do with marriage, nor does conjugal sponsorship.
I cannot believe a country would force a couple to get married just to apply for a visa, as I believe doing so is illegal.

Your belief is incorrect in law.

You can qualify for a conjugal sponsorship only if you cannot get married (you can, you're living in the same country, and you just don't want to) and the other person cannot travel to Canada.

You can qualify for a common-law sponsorship only if you have cohabited at the same address for a period of at least one year and can prove it. (you cannot, living across the street from each other does not count)

Since you do not qualify for conjugal, nor common-law, your only option if you want to sponsor your spouse is marriage.

There are other things you can do, like attempt to get your partner a travel visa to Canada, have her enter there and live without work for six months with you at the same address, apply for a tourist visa extension for another six months, and demonstrate common-law status in Canada. But that requires her to get a TRV and live with you in Canada without working. She could qualify for economic immigration and apply, and it would take a few months to a year to get it if she qualifies.

But you cannot sponsor a non-spouse without qualifying for conjugal partnerships or common-law partnerships.

It's illegal to marry just for a visa. But it's the law to require that you meet one of the categories to qualify for spousal sponsorship. It's ridiculous to think that you would qualify for spousal sponsorship if you are not spouses in the eye of the law.
 
An example of a valid conjugal relationship is:
  • A previously married person in the Philippines who cannot get re-married because of a previously existing marriage that cannot be divorced and who was denied entry to Canada.
  • An LGBT couple who are not legally allowed to marry in country of residence and who have been denied a tourist visa to Canada for the non-Canadian.
An example of a valid conjugal relationship is not:
  • A couple who could get married but don't want to because they don't believe in marriage.
 
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