Spouse or conjugal partner?

[rainydaychai]

Hi all, I have a question about sponsoring your spouse vs. conjugal partner. I'm a Canadian citizen by birth and hoping to sponsor my fiance (UK citizen, US PR). We've been together almost five years, have an enormous amount of documentation to prove it, and even lived together for two years while he was on a student permit studying in Canada. What I'm wondering is this: are spousal applications more likely to get approved than conjugal partner applications? We have already set our wedding date for next year, but as it's a symbolic ceremony abroad, we have no issue getting legally married in Canada before that if it makes immigration smoother. This being said, I'm on the fence as 1) I'm worried the government might somehow think we got married solely for immigration, even though we've been engaged for almost a year now and 2) I thought the spouse checklist form (imm5533) stated you must live together in Canada to apply through that category, which we do not. I'm seeing people on the forum talking about bringing spouses to Canada who live in different countries - are you applying through the spousal category or the conjugal partner category?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

 

[scylla]

Hi all, I have a question about sponsoring your spouse vs. conjugal partner. I'm a Canadian citizen by birth and hoping to sponsor my fiance (UK citizen, US PR). We've been together almost five years, have an enormous amount of documentation to prove it, and even lived together for two years while he was on a student permit studying in Canada. What I'm wondering is this: are spousal applications more likely to get approved than conjugal partner applications? We have already set our wedding date for next year, but as it's a symbolic ceremony abroad, we have no issue getting legally married in Canada before that if it makes immigration smoother. This being said, I'm on the fence as 1) I'm worried the government might somehow think we got married solely for immigration, even though we've been engaged for almost a year now and 2) I thought the spouse checklist form (imm5533) stated you must live together in Canada to apply through that category, which we do not. I'm seeing people on the forum talking about bringing spouses to Canada who live in different countries - are you applying through the spousal category or the conjugal partner category?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

You have zero chance of being approved as a conjugal couple. You need to apply as common law based on having lived together continuously for at least one full year.

Conjugal is for those who face real immigration barriers to getting married or becoming common law. As a Canadian / UK couple, you face no such barriers. Consequently, a conjugal application has no chance of succeeding.

 

[rainydaychai]

You have zero chance of being approved as a conjugal couple. You need to apply as common law based on having lived together continuously for at least one full year.

Conjugal is for those who face real immigration barriers to getting married or becoming common law. As a Canadian / UK couple, you face no such barriers. Consequently, a conjugal application has no chance of succeeding.

Okay, that's good to know - however, I'm a little confused, as I understood that applying as a common law couple meant that you must be currently living together. We cannot, as he must live in the States as a PR there with no immigration status in Canada, and I cannot live in the States with him, having no immigration status in the USA. We currently maintain separate residences and have not lived together since December 2018, when his student permit expired.

Are you saying that for the spouse or common law application, you do not have to be currently living together?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Okay, that's good to know - however, I'm a little confused, as I understood that applying as a common law couple meant that you must be currently living together. We cannot, as he must live in the States as a PR there with no immigration status in Canada, and I cannot live in the States with him, having no immigration status in the USA. We currently maintain separate residences and have not lived together since December 2018, when his student permit expired.

Are you saying that for the spouse or common law application, you do not have to be currently living together?

No, it doesn't require that you be currently living together. Once common-law is established, the couple can live apart. Do you have solid proof of cohabitation for at least one year?

 

[Wolfpmd3]

Hi all, I have a question about sponsoring your spouse vs. conjugal partner. I'm a Canadian citizen by birth and hoping to sponsor my fiance (UK citizen, US PR). We've been together almost five years, have an enormous amount of documentation to prove it, and even lived together for two years while he was on a student permit studying in Canada. What I'm wondering is this: are spousal applications more likely to get approved than conjugal partner applications? We have already set our wedding date for next year, but as it's a symbolic ceremony abroad, we have no issue getting legally married in Canada before that if it makes immigration smoother. This being said, I'm on the fence as 1) I'm worried the government might somehow think we got married solely for immigration, even though we've been engaged for almost a year now and 2) I thought the spouse checklist form (imm5533) stated you must live together in Canada to apply through that category, which we do not. I'm seeing people on the forum talking about bringing spouses to Canada who live in different countries - are you applying through the spousal category or the conjugal partner category?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Read this:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...lass-determining-spouse/assessing-common.html

You need to be married, in your case is the only option. you should be able to easily prove that your relationship is genuine.

 

[Wolfpmd3]

No, it doesn't require that you be currently living together. Once common-law is established, the couple can live apart. Do you have solid proof of cohabitation for at least one year?

You are completely wrong. Read this from the official webpage:

"While cohabitation means living together continuously, from time to time, one or the other partner may have left the home for work or business travel, family obligations, and so on. The separation must be temporary and short "

 

[canuck_in_uk]

You are completely wrong. Read this from the official webpage:

"While cohabitation means living together continuously, from time to time, one or the other partner may have left the home for work or business travel, family obligations, and so on. The separation must be temporary and short "

You are the one who is completely wrong. That sentence refers to separations during the one year of cohabitation needed to establish common-law. As I said, once common-law is established, the couple can live apart and remain common-law provided the relationship is ongoing. Couples who have lived apart for years have successfully applied for sponsorship.