Spousal Sponsorship for Same Sex

[ShinLee]

Hello!!!! I read a lot of posts here in this forum and it really helps me in our application. Here is my story:

My partner and I have been together for 10 years. We just got married 2 months ago here in Canada for our 10th year anniversary as boyfriend and boyfriend. I met my boyfriend in Taiwan. Actually, we were in the same company. I came first in Taiwan in 2003 and he came in 2005. Our contract was until 3 years only. We became couple 2006. Same sex relationship in Taiwan and also in our country is not acceptable so we kept it. But later on, we decided to disclose with our 4 close friends only. At first, they were shocked, but they accepted us wholeheartedly. Nov 2006, I went back to my home country because my contract ended. We entered long distance relationship. Feb 2008, he came home. April 2010, we entered again LDR because he got a work permit here in Canada. April 2012, he became Permanent Resident.

When we became couple, we are already talking our futures.... living in Canada, getting married, own a house. adopt a kid etc. It is Canada because same sex relationship is legal and you can live freely, no discrimation etc.

My questions are:

1. Ever since he was here in Canada, he was sending me money, not regularly or monthly. Since he's sending me money, we decided to open a bank account together to put all the money he sent here. Can we include this in our proof of relationship? even though we are bf/bf on that time.

2. In 2014, he opened an account in one of the banks here in Canada. He also applied RRSP and I am his beneficiary and the relationship that he indicated there is common law. Is this not red flag to CIC? CIC might think that we became common law? Even in his insurance, I am his beneficiary.

3. One of my insurances in my country, he is also my beneficiary because we are paying both that insurance.

Appreciate any answer. Xie Xie!!!

 

[canadianwoman]

Did you two live together for one continuous year before April 2012? If you did, then you should have been declared as his common-law partner in his PR application, and when he landed. You then would have been added to his application, and would have had to fill in forms and get a medical. If you did not do all that, and you had lived together for one year before April 2012, then he cannot sponsor you now.

If you did live together, but you were not included on his PR application, then you should try to immigrate to Canada on your own.

 

[cocozion]

as conjugal you can , but you will need a proof picture together , join account,remittance, history phone calls , im in the same sex relationship too 5 years LDR with my partner hopefully this month or next month my partner will be here because Canada immigration ( Philippines request for passport n ) and its decision made already were just waiting for the result.. may last year i decided to sponsor my partner..you just to be carefull if you guys leave together more than 1 year use common law - but if you guys are together but cannot leave together but ldr for more than 1 year or 2 years use conjugal

 

[Decoy24601]

as conjugal you can , but you will need a proof picture together , join account,remittance, history phone calls , im in the same sex relationship too 5 years LDR with my partner hopefully this month or next month my partner will be here because Canada immigration ( Philippines request for passport n ) and its decision made already were just waiting for the result.. may last year i decided to sponsor my partner..you just to be carefull if you guys leave together more than 1 year use common law - but if you guys are together but cannot leave together but ldr for more than 1 year or 2 years use conjugal

For one, they're already married. If they have lived together they will not be able to apply as conjugal. Conjugal is for cases where there are serious legal barriers preventing the applicant to marry the sponsor and for the applicant to establish common-law by living with the sponsor for a year and vice versa. They are married so they will have to apply as married. However, if they had already lived together for a year when ShinLee's landed as a PR and did not declare ShinLee in his application, ShinLee would have to apply to immigrate on their own. If at any point before ShinLee's partner landed as a PR in April 2015 they lived together for a continuous year, they won't be able to apply for her under family class sponsorship.

 

[vaya]

Hi ShinLee,

I think your plan sounds very sound. With your questions, I would recommend to add a letter explaining that you were common law when you opened your bank account, but you are now married (shouldn't be a problem). Definitely add copies of the insurance benefits papers and a copy of the joint bank account!
We share a phone plan and I think my husband took the first page of one of our bills to show that we share the account.

I also wrote a letter with the history of our relationship (7 years long distance, because we wanted to finish our education in our home countries first before deciding to settle down, and explained that our families couldn't attend our wedding because of health issues on both sides, etc.).

If your application gives a sense of what your relationship is like, that you have shared goals (starting a family), similar values (want to live your live and relationship freely, have a similar background, etc.) plus serious stuff like bank/insurance, that's a good start.

 

[ShinLee]

We didn't live together. Sometimes, I sleep over to their house.

 

[canadianwoman]

The shared bank account is good evidence, so mention it in the application. It doesn't matter that you were just boyfriends then. Being the beneficiary on each other's insurance is also good evidence. The RRSP is good, but claiming that you are his common-law partner is a problem. The visa officer might not notice. If he or she does, you or he will have to explain that you were very close, but that you did not in fact ever live together and so were not really common-law partners. He should change it now to 'spouse' since you are married.