Do we qualify as conjugal? Please help

[jddd]

Thanks for this. We could not get married cos same-sex marriage is not legal in our country. We could also not be together as a common law cos we are catholic and catholic discriminate same-sex relationships. Are religion and not having Anti Discrimination Bill (ADB) not considered as barriers?

IMO, religion and not having a bill are not legal or immigration barriers. I personally know a whole lot of same sex couples who cohabitate and none of them are discriminated on. They are also all Catholic. What I am trying to say is, the officer who will be reviewing your application lives in the Philippines and will know how same sex couples are viewed and will be aware that cohabitation is highly prevalent between the LGBTQ. I’m obviously speaking only from what I personally know about the many LGBTQ couples my spouse and I know who are well known and successful fashion designers and BPO executives (further proving no discrimination because they have flourishing careers). I obviously do not know you and the situation but am only giving you a view of how a visa officer will see it. I think that if you want your partner to be in the application with you, you will need to start living together and apply after 1 year of cohabitation. Your other option is what scylla said and that is to apply, become a PR and then sponsor your partner while you live in Canada which is not a sure thing either as conjugal sponsorships are the most difficult to prove but certainly possible.

 

[Bomer]

IMO, religion and not having a bill are not legal or immigration barriers. I personally know a whole lot of same sex couples who cohabitate and none of them are discriminated on. They are also all Catholic. What I am trying to say is, the officer who will be reviewing your application lives in the Philippines and will know how same sex couples are viewed and will be aware that cohabitation is highly prevalent between the LGBTQ. I’m obviously speaking only from what I personally know about the many LGBTQ couples my spouse and I know who are well known and successful fashion designers and BPO executives (further proving no discrimination because they have flourishing careers). I obviously do not know you and the situation but am only giving you a view of how a visa officer will see it. I think that if you want your partner to be in the application with you, you will need to start living together and apply after 1 year of cohabitation. Your other option is what scylla said and that is to apply, become a PR and then sponsor your partner while you live in Canada which is not a sure thing either as conjugal sponsorships are the most difficult to prove but certainly possible.

Thank you. I didn't know that the officer who will be reviewing the application lives in the Philippines. In the Philippines, it is a case to case basis. I have known Filipinos who were able to cohabit or live together with support from their families and they are the lucky ones and others who discriminated by their parents and ask to separate, unfortunately, we are on this side.

 

[Bomer]

I wouldn’t say that you do not have a chance since a. I am not an immigration officer, b. If you would apply now, you CAN NOT claim a common-law relationship - since you can’t prove one, making you “single” in their eyes. Who knows, maybe you’ll be allowed to cohabitate, and qualify as common-law partners a year from now.

It is under the subarticle The conjugal partnership category in IRPA

Thank you. I read it already. The chance is very slim we need to prove to them the reason why we cannot live together and what makes it more difficult is that we are in the same situation but you were able to cohabit cos you are lucky to have a supportive family.

 

[brentmrcs]

Thank you. I didn't know that the officer who will be reviewing the application lives in the Philippines. In the Philippines, it is a case to case basis. I have known Filipinos who were able to cohabit or live together with support from their families and they are the lucky ones and others who discriminated by their parents and ask to separate, unfortunately, we are on this side.

I guess it will depend on the PR visa classification that you are applying. If you are interested to apply in Express Entry, your/our documents will be sent to and handled directly by the IRCC in Canada, and not by a Filipino immigration officer based here in the Philippines. The decision will be coming from IRCC too.

 

[brentmrcs]

Thank you. I read it already. The chance is very slim we need to prove to them the reason why we cannot live together and what makes it more difficult is that we are in the same situation but you were able to cohabit cos you are lucky to have a supportive family.

Me and my partner know of a few friends who were able to successfully migrate to Canada via EE (same-sex common-law too). Since the IRCC already has a number of successful same-sex applicants, you are right that it might give your application a hard time. Don’t lose hope, I suggest that you still apply as a single person. There’s no harm in trying.

 

[Bomer]

Me and my partner know of a few friends who were able to successfully migrate to Canada via EE (same-sex common-law too). Since the IRCC already has a number of successful same-sex applicants, you are right that it might give your application a hard time. Don’t lose hope, I suggest that you still apply as a single person. There’s no harm in trying.

Thank you. Yes, exactly then the immigration officer will view it as a personal/family issue cos other catholic applicants with the same situation able to cohabit. As for your advice," I suggest that you still apply as a single person" you mean to proceed with the application without my partner? My other concern as well is that, if we proceed and worst the visa will be denied. Can we re-apply?

Our documents for conjugal are only the following:
Joint bank account
Join residential lot property
Join investment under UITF
Photos and conversation since 2015
Notarized letter from friends and siblings.
Itinerary and hotel bookings.

We are also in the process of making an affidavit from our Attorney as to why we could not cohabit.

 

[jddd]

I guess it will depend on the PR visa classification that you are applying. If you are interested to apply in Express Entry, your/our documents will be sent to and handled directly by the IRCC in Canada, and not by a Filipino immigration officer based here in the Philippines. The decision will be coming from IRCC too.

IRCC in Canada will confer with IRCC in Manila to verify any claims made that they (Canadian) are not familiar with. I know because of GCMS notes that a friend ordered for his express entry application.

 

[jddd]

Thank you. Yes, exactly then the immigration officer will view it as a personal/family issue cos other catholic applicants with the same situation able to cohabit. As for your advice," I suggest that you still apply as a single person" you mean to proceed with the application without my partner? My other concern as well is that, if we proceed and worst the visa will be denied. Can we re-apply?

Our documents for conjugal are only the following:
Joint bank account
Join residential lot property
Join investment under UITF
Photos and conversation since 2015
Notarized letter from friends and siblings.
Itinerary and hotel bookings.

We are also in the process of making an affidavit from our Attorney as to why we could not cohabit.

I think you have a good chance of success in sponsoring your partner after you become PR. As scylla mentioned, you cannot include your partner in your EE app. You can only include a spouse or common-law spouse. A letter from a lawyer with an opinion of why you cannot live together will only put a focus on the fact that you are not married or common-law. It is your money and time of course and we can only wish you well. Good luck.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for this. Are you saying that adding my partner for my EE application as conjugal is impossible? In your case, it is good that you were able to cohabit or live together considering the Philippines is a catholic country and it does not support same-sex relationships.

Correct. It is impossible to add a conjugal partner to an economic immigration application like Express Entry. You can only add a common law partner or spouse.

Based on what you have said, you do have a strong case for conjugal. But again, this doesn't allow you to add your partner to your Express Entry application. You have to sponsor him through family sponsorship (as your conjugal partner) AFTER you have already received PR through Express Entry and are living in Canada.

 

[Bomer]

Hi! Just to share my current EE application, I am processing our documents to claim a common-law relationship. I think you have to revisit the IRCC’s definition of common-law “In the immigration context, a common-law partnership means that a couple have lived together for at least one year in a conjugal relationship [R1(1)]. A common-law relationship exists from the day on which two individuals can provide evidence to support their cohabitation in a conjugal relationship. The onus is on the applicant to prove that they have been living common-law for at least one year before an application is received at CPC-M.”

They made it clear that cohabitation is a must to establish the common-law relationship. In the IMM 5409E fom (Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union), they ONLY count the number of years that you have COHABITATED without regard to the date that you two officially became together.

I uploaded a notarized IMM 5409E, life insurance certificates indicating each other as beneficiaries, utility bills with same address, proof of residency from our village, driver’s licenses with same address, and photos.

Hello, how did you get the proof of residency is there a format for that? Thank you

 

[brentmrcs]

IRCC in Canada will confer with IRCC in Manila to verify any claims made that they (Canadian) are not familiar with. I know because of GCMS notes that a friend ordered for his express entry application.

That’s interesting to know. Thanks for this.

 

[brentmrcs]

Hello, how did you get the proof of residency is there a format for that? Thank you

I just requested one from our barangay office.

 

[DRbaker]

I just requested one from our barangay office.

Is it sufficient enough? I mean certificate from barangay? I own the house year 2015 and all the bills are solely under my name, so basically no tenancy agreement cos its mine. We met 2 years after which is 2017. We do not have bills showing our names or anything like that. I read that they ask proof of billing showing your names together that would cover at least 1 year.

 

[brentmrcs]

Is it sufficient enough? I mean certificate from barangay? I own the house year 2015 and all the bills are solely under my name, so basically no tenancy agreement cos its mine. We met 2 years after which is 2017. We do not have bills showing our names or anything like that. I read that they ask proof of billing showing your names together that would cover at least 1 year.

Aside from this, we submitted several utility bills and our driver’s licenses with OR (same addresses). Our licenses were issued in 2017 and 2018, more than enough to cover the 1 year requirement.

Other supporting documents submitted were our joint bank account opened in 2018, and life insurance certificates specifying each other as beneficiares.

 

[Bomer]

Correct. It is impossible to add a conjugal partner to an economic immigration application like Express Entry. You can only add a common law partner or spouse.

Based on what you have said, you do have a strong case for conjugal. But again, this doesn't allow you to add your partner to your Express Entry application. You have to sponsor him through family sponsorship (as your conjugal partner) AFTER you have already received PR through Express Entry and are living in Canada.

Hi, if he proceeds as single application. Should he needs to declare me in his application? I read some posts that you need to declare your partner as spouse or common law so it will be easier to sponsor them somehow. But the option is spouse or common law and we are not both. Im confuse.