polar25 said:
Yes im married in philipppines. We dont have any fomal separation agreement. One of the reasons why they declined my visitors visa is financial matters
thank you
You don't need a formal/legal separation agreement. You can simply be separated from your previous spouse for at least 1 year, and then you can apply again for any new partner under common-law or conjugal application, even though you are still registered as married to another person. You just can't marry someone else, without getting divorced first.
If you do go forward with a common-law or conjugal app while still married to previous spouse, then you can just write a simple affidavit that you are formally separated from them for X years, and have it notarized/certified. The other person does not need to sign or agree to anything.
See here for more. You can see formal separation documents can help, but they are not mandatory and obviously you can't get them if the other party isn't willing to participate:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
5.49. What happens if the conjugal partner (principal applicant) is married to another person?
Persons who are married to third parties can be considered conjugal partners provided their marriage has broken down and they have lived separate and apart from their spouse for long enough to establish a conjugal relationship with another person. In this case, they must have separated from the legally married spouse and established a conjugal relationship with the conjugal partner and been in that relationship for at least one year. A conjugal relationship cannot be legally established where one or both parties continue in a conjugal relationship with their spouse.
Establishing a conjugal relationship takes a period of time; it is expected that the date from which the conjugal relationship exists will be some reasonable time after separation from the legally married spouse has occurred. Although a couple in a conjugal partner relationship might have known one another while one or both was still with their legally married spouse, they could not be in a conjugal relationship until there was a separation from the legally married spouse and the new conjugal relationship established. See also What happens if a common-law partner (principal applicant) is married to another person, Section 5.38 above.
The conjugal partner must satisfy an officer that they are separated from and no longer cohabiting with the legal spouse. Evidence may be in the form of a signed formal declaration that the marriage has ended and that the person has entered into a conjugal partner relationship. An officer may require that the person produce other written evidence of a formal separation or of a breakdown of the marriage. Acceptable documents include a separation agreement, a court order in respect of custody of children identifying the fact of the marriage breakdown, documents removing the legally married spouse(s) from insurance policies or will as beneficiaries (a “change of beneficiary” form)
