Hello! I'm a Female, Citizen of Canada. I have a girlfriend who currently lives in the Philippines. We have been together for almost 2 years now and would like to sponsor her through the conjugal partnership program. She was granted TRV last Feb 2020 because she was supposed to come visit me last April 2020 but the border closed for visitors due to Covid-19 so it was cancelled. We're currently filling out the papers for the conjugal partner sponsorship but it's asking for proof of join ownership. We do not have any joint ownership, I do have her in one of my paperwork as beneficiary because I work for the Department of Defense. We have records of remittances, proof of visits when I visited her last Dec 2019, photos, and a bank account we consider as joint account. Would we still qualify for the program, or will the evidence we have enough? Thanks in advance.
Conjugal partner - no joint ownership
- Thread starter justforquestions
- Start date
If her TRV is still valid for entry, you may wish to consider her coming under the new extended family exemption (see the bullet point 'in an exclusive relationship for more than one year'):
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...vid19/visitors/immediate-family.html#extended
Obviously if she comes to visit you may not be able to file as conjugal but you could marry or establish common law. (Applying as married or common law probably preferable to conjugal)
Joint ownership is not required, although would serve as more proof of the joint household. The other parts you mention are decent, but the more proof the better. Is dec 2019 the only time you have physically visited? That's the weakest part of your description, if so (in my opinion).
Yes, because of my profession, I don't have the opportunity to visit the Philippines as often as I'd like which is why we processed her TRV early 2020 so she can visit me this year. Under the new extended family exemption, if we go through that route and we get approved and we get married when she's here, she's still required to go back to the Philippines and wait there until her PR through the spouse sponsorship gets approved, right?
She would be able to apply inland and can apply to extend the visa as well. She'd mostly be expected to remain in Canada though while being processed.
But first biggest hurdle is to apply for the authorisation under extended family. It's not guaranteed and it's quite new so not much in the way of reported experiences here.
Note, although technically fine to enter with intent to apply for PR status (search for dual intent), officers at border can refuse entry if convinced the visitor 'intends to overstay.' (But applying to extend is not overstaying). Main thing, it's a visit, will respect terms of entry, and return as required by law. Don't volunteer info, but don't lie either.
You can continue to prepare the docs and supporting info for the conjugal app, to a large degree the applications require the same info and documentation (with exceptions of course specifically related to the conjugal aspect).
I agree with don't volunteer info, but don't lie. Sounds good. Thank you for your help!
