Conjugal v Common-law

[sazzer]

Info on here is very helpful - thanks to those contributing. I am just starting to go through the process of applying. My case is probably not dissimilar to others...
My partner and I have been dating around 5 years. We have letters, photos, travel docs etc to show this. But we have not lived together in a permanent setting before now. We didn`t live together because we neither of us had a visa to work in the other person`s home country. Both of us have been traveling a lot and moving around so we did not have a perm home. Last year we spent all year together, mostly traveling through foreign countries ( I have the passport stamps) or staying for a month at a time at eachother`s family homes.
Now I have a working holiday visa for Canada and am able to live with my partner and have a permanent job here. We want to apply for my visa as soon as possible but have only been living in this house (therefore joint rent, bills etc) for 6 months.
My question is whether I can apply for common law considering this history, or whether to apply for conjugal (even though I am already here). I feel like I am between the two categories. My concern is to apply and get the visa through by May or June when my 1 year working holiday visa runs out. I don`t want to lose my job because I have to go back to the UK and wait for the visa there.
My 2nd question is, if I didn`t have the visa by the time my temp visa runs out, can I come back to Canada as a visitor (not working) and not re-do my application
Thanks in advance for any advice

[RobsLuv]

Hi - You are, in fact, caught between two categories.  Conjugal will never work for you because you are together.  Simply put: the conjugal partner category was created to give people who will never have the opportunity to marry or live together (because of immigration barriers or persecution) the ability to qualify as common-law partners by waiving the requirement of living together.  We were in a similar situation.

You guys, basically, have proof of a long-term, ongoing relationship, which will help you prove your "genuine relationship" as far as being approved - but in order to qualify to apply in the first place you've got to either get married or establish a common-law relationship by "cohabitating" for at least one year.  So, none of the time you spent together previous to you coming to Canada with your holiday visa and moving in together will count towards your qualification to apply.

You can apply for an extension to your status without having to leave, asking to stay as a visitor - as long as you file the application, by mail, so that it's received by CIC before your holiday visa expires.  That will give you "implied status" to stay in Canada until they make a decision on the extension.  What's going to be a little "dicey" is figuring out which type of extension to file, and in conjunction with which type of PR application . . . and that all depends on whether or not your holiday visa expires before you meet the one-year-cohabitation requirement for sponsorship. 

What I'd like you to do is email me at robsluv @ us2canada.com with the particulars of your situation - on exactly what date did you enter Canada and start living with your sponsor, when did your working holiday visa start and when does it expire, etc?  Based on that info, I can give you what I'd consider to be a "best case scenario" for how to apply to stay in Canada while your PR visa is pending, and what type of PR application to file, and what information to include in your extension request.  Hopefully that'll clear things up for you and get you on your way  Regardless of whether or not you qualify to apply right now, it is not too early to start preparing.