Conjugal Partner Sponsorship:

[CanadaKorea]

Hi!

My girlfriend and I have been living together for over a year. Unfortunately, this has not been consecutive as we are from Korea and Canada, respectively, and thus cannot stay beyond six months in one-another's home countries. However, we have been together for over three years, and would have lived together consecutively otherwise.

We believe that this qualifies us to apply for permanent residency sttus in Canada as conjugal partners. Can anyone confirm this?

We would also like to know, if anyone has had any experience with this sort of thing, if she is able to take the medical exam (for the application) while in Canada, or, if it is something (like the criminal record check)that must be obtained from her home country. She is currently in Canada, but will be returning home soon.
She and I plan to apply "from outside" as opposed to "from inside."

Thanks for your help!

[thaiguy]

The conjugal partner category really isn't an option for you because you have the option of getting married.  Conjugal partner is intended for people who can't live together and can't get married due to extraordinary circumstances.  The operative term is "and."

To apply under the common law partner category, you'd need to live together for 12 consecutive months and consolidate your affairs.  You could have done so in both Canada and Korea, though - 6 months in each location - as long as you were living together the whole time.  You can move around as long as you were together and you can prove it.

So I see your choices as either common law partner (if you meet the requirements) or marriage.

[TaaDow]

Actually it's an "OR" not an "AND" (see below).
As for the medicals, you can have them done in any country as long as it's done by an approved DMP as per the guidebook, a complete list of approved medical practitioners is available on-line at http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medical.aspx.

This is cut and paste directly from the sponsorship guide:

You can sponsor a person as a conjugal partner(1) if
• that person is of the opposite or same s e x
• that person is residing outside Canada (that is, has, for legal purposes, a fixed, permanent and principal home outside Canada), and
• you have maintained a conjugal relationship with that person for at least one year, that is: you have been in a committed and mutually interdependent relationship of some permanence where you have combined your affairs to the extent possible.

(1) This last category is intended for partners of Canadian sponsors who would ordinarily apply as
• common-law partners but cannot meet the definition, that is were not able to live together continuously for one year with their sponsor, or
• spouses, but marriage to their sponsor is usually not an available option to them, usually because of marital status or *censored word*ual orientation, combined with an immigration barrier (for example, rules preventing partner and sponsor of long stays in one another's countries).

If your sponsorship is successful, your conjugal partner becomes a permanent resident of Canada but cannot exercise any rights or privileges associated with common-law status until you have cohabited for at least one year.


Hope all this helps a bit...

[thaiguy]

• spouses, but marriage to their sponsor is usually not an available option to them, usually because of marital status or *censored word*ual orientation, combined with an immigration barrier (for example, rules preventing partner and sponsor of long stays in one another's countries).

"combined"

In think he'll be wasting his money applying as conjugal partners.