Sponsorship of a Conjugal Partner living outside Canada

[Clothilde]

Hi everybody,

I am starting the application to get sponsored to Canada by my Canadian boyfriend using the conjugal sponsorship application. I am a US citizen and resident; I am "single" and so is my boyfriend (no kids, never been married). The application is just for me (no other family member of mine will immigrate to Canada).

There seem to be separate checklists to prepare the forms and documents for both the sponsor and applicant. I am using both "Appendix A Document Checklist - Immigrant" and "DOCUMENTS CHECKLIST" (IMM 5287).

So my questions are:

- With both links combined, do I have ALL the required forms and documents needed to apply? Can we send the 2 applications (Sponsor and Immigrant) in the same envelope, or does my boyfriend need to apply to be a sponsor before I start?

- " Schedule A - Background/Declaration (IMM 5669) - You and each of your family members 18 years of age or older must complete their own copy of this form" I filled this form out for myself; but I am not sure what they mean by "each of your family members". Does this include my parents, brothers and sisters? And sponsor?

- "Additional Family Information (IMM 5406) - You and each of your family members 18 years of age or older must complete their own copy of this form" Same goes for this question: I filled it out, but does EVERYONE in my family, plus my sponsor need to fill their own version of this form too?

- Spouse/Partner Questionnaire (IMM 5490): We are a conjugal couple for at least 3 years and have extensive proof of that for every year since 2011. However, my boyfriend lives in Toronto Canada, and I live in USA. We have never lived together officially because I was never "legal" to live in Canada, and neither was he able to live in the USA. So the only way we maintain our relationship is by me flying to Toronto about once a week. (I am a flight attendant so I fly to Toronto on my off days). All the proof we have is our photos, personal stories, our family and friends to testify, and phone bills. Is that going to be enough? Plus, must I provide my exact entry dates to Canada- or is the photocopy of my stamped passport pages enough? Beyond that, do they still expect me to have purchased some furniture with him or other such investments?

- "IDENTITY AND CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS : Provide birth certificates [...] confirming relationship for you and each of your family members". Do I need to provide a birth certificate if my sponsor is my boyfriend? If so, does he need to provide one too?
What other documents should I provide them? (i.e. other/ expired passports, drivers license, social security, etc. ?) Does my sponsor need to show those too?

- "POLICE CERTIFICATES AND CLEARANCES" : Again: does my family and boyfriend need to provide their own copy of this statement too?
As for me, I spent a few years residing in Israel in the past ten years, and the Israeli consulate can ONLY send the police statement directly to the third party (i.e. CIC). They also provide an official English translation, but require a specific contact to mail the documents to. Is there a name and address I can use for this purpose? Is it problematic if this document arrives separately/later than the rest of my application?

- "Statutory Declaration of Common Law Union (IMM 5409)": do we need to fill this form out too? We are in a conjugal relationship for now, but is my immigration to Canada going to render us official "common law" partners?

Last questions:
- So can we apply for both sponsorship (IMM 1344, IMM 1238, etc.) and generic application (IMM 0008, IMM 5669, etc.) in the same application/ envelope?

- Can anyone tell me what the total price of the CIC fees are for both applications? (NOT including extra fees, i.e. photos, notarized docs, etc.)

- Last but not least, I will try to keep my job as a flight attendant in the USA as long as I can. I have not found any sources on the internet claiming that I "cannot" work for a US company while immigrating to Canada. Has anyone else had the experience of working abroad while immigrating to Canada? (I do intend on spending more time on Canadian soil than anywhere else, and will pay my income taxes to the Canadian government).


Thank you for all input and best of luck to all!

Clo

 

[Rob_TO]

You will not qualify as conjugal, as there is no legal barrier to you getting married or becoming common-law (living together a total of 12 months) as US and Canadian citizens are visa-exempt to each others country. CIC does not consider personal choices (like leaving work, finances, etc) a valid barrier. I wouldn't even attempt a conjugal app as it will most likely be rejected. It doesn't matter how genuine your relationship is.

Read the conjugal sections of this manual extensively: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

5.45. What is a conjugal partner?
This category was created for exceptional circumstances – for foreign national partners of
Canadian or permanent resident sponsors who would ordinarily apply as common-law partners
but for the fact that they have not been able to live together continuously for one year, usually
because of an immigration impediment. In most cases, the foreign partner is also not able to
marry their sponsor and qualify as a spouse. In all other respects, the couple is similar to a
common-law couple or a married couple, i.e., they have been in a bona fide conjugal relationship
for a period of at least one year.
Because of Supreme Court decisions, the choice not to marry is a constitutionally protected
choice. Thus, CIC cannot require couples to marry in order to immigrate. However, if they are not
married, they must be common-law partners. There is NO provision for fiancé(e)s or “intended
common-law partners” in IRPA. If a Canadian and a foreign national can get married or can live
together and establish a common-law relationship, this is what they are expected to have done
before they submit sponsorship and immigration applications.

 

[Clothilde]

Read the conjugal sections of this manual extensively:

5.45. What is a conjugal partner?
This category was created for exceptional circumstances – for foreign national partners of
Canadian or permanent resident sponsors who would ordinarily apply as common-law partners
but for the fact that they have not been able to live together continuously for one year, usually
because of an immigration impediment. In most cases, the foreign partner is also not able to
marry their sponsor and qualify as a spouse. In all other respects, the couple is similar to a
common-law couple or a married couple, i.e., they have been in a bona fide conjugal relationship
for a period of at least one year.
Because of Supreme Court decisions, the choice not to marry is a constitutionally protected
choice. Thus, CIC cannot require couples to marry in order to immigrate. However, if they are not
married, they must be common-law partners. There is NO provision for fiancé(e)s or “intended
common-law partners” in IRPA. If a Canadian and a foreign national can get married or can live
together and establish a common-law relationship, this is what they are expected to have done
before they submit sponsorship and immigration applications.

This clause seems to say two things at once:
" 5.45. What is a conjugal partner?
[...]
In the immigration context, there are some exceptional circumstances where a Canadian is in a conjugal relationship with a foreign national partner and would ordinarily sponsor that person as a common-law partner, but the two have not been able to live together continuously for one year, usually because immigration rules prevent them from long stays in one another’s countries."

 

[Rob_TO]

This clause seems to say two things at once:
" 5.45. What is a conjugal partner?
[...]
In the immigration context, there are some exceptional circumstances where a Canadian is in a conjugal relationship with a foreign national partner and would ordinarily sponsor that person as a common-law partner, but the two have not been able to live together continuously for one year, usually because immigration rules prevent them from long stays in one another's countries."

What immigration rule is preventing you?? US citizens can easily stay in Canada, and Canadians can easily stay in the US. You could live in Canada 6 months then apply to extend your visitor status another 6 months to make 12 months... your partner could do same thing in USA, or you could split time 6 months Canada/6 months USA to become common-law.

There are many ways to do it... hence why conjugal won't work.

 

[Clothilde]

So I can apply to be the "Common Law partner" of my boyfriend now, although I have not legally immigrated to Canada? (I will be on a visitor's visa, and will continue working in the US.)
And a year from this application, we will be able to proceed to the Sponsorship/Immigration application?

Thank you.

 

[Rob_TO]

So I can apply to be the "Common Law partner" of my boyfriend now, although I have not legally immigrated to Canada? (I will be on a visitor's visa, and will continue working in the US.)
And a year from this application, we will be able to proceed to the Sponsorship/Immigration application?

Thank you.

To be common-law, you must first live together for 12 consecutive months, with no breaks (a break being anything around 3 weeks or longer where you are not living together, for any reason). You don't "apply" to be common-law, you just become common-law automatically after 12 months (and if you have the evidence to prove it).

Quickest way if you want to apply for PR is to get married.

 

[Clothilde]

Ok. We will need to focus on becoming Common Law partners and fill out form IMM 5409, before proceeding to the immigration application.

Thank you!

 

[Rob_TO]

Ok. We will need to focus on becoming Common Law partners and fill out form IMM 5409, before proceeding to the immigration application.

Thank you!

Form 5409 is not needed in common-law family class apps. It's only required when there is a co-sponsor, which is not applicable in spousal/partner applications.

CIC is looking for proof/evidence you lived together for 12 continuous months. So you need to show a joint lease/rental agreement, letters from friends/family/landlord saying you lived together, mail to both of you delivered to same address, joint bank account or credit card, joint utility bills, shared home purchases/receipts, etc etc. All of this is included in the PR application, and serves as proof of your common-law status.