How to qualify for Conjugal Sponsorship

[thomasjvankampen@hotmail.]

I'm a citizen of Canada living in Halifax and my girlfriend is a US citizen in Texas . We're quite serious and are actively talking about a plan to move her up to live with me in two years. One of the challenges of course is immigration and we are exploring all potential avenues to allow her to stay with me long term.

The primary thing we're exploring is conjugal status. From what I understand, we could potentially qualify for a conjugal sponsorship if we are able to prove that we have been in a conjugal relationship for a year or longer. The hope is that conjugal status would allow her to live with me for a year full time which would then qualify us for common law.

I have read the requirements for conjugal status on the official government of Canada website and it sounds like my girlfriend and I are well on our way to qualifying. We are already offering financial assistance to one another such as myself assisting her paying off her credit card debt and her offering to fly me out to Texas for a few months to house and feed me during a period of unemployment (I do contract work). We spent two months in January and February together when she came to stay with me for a while and we're making plans to see each other frequently throughout the year: as much as visiting law will allow us. She is selling many of her personal belongings to pay off her debt quickly so it won't be an obstacle for us and I am changing my investment strategies to save for a future with her. We spend hours video calling each other every day and are seeing each other again in Toronto this April.

I read in another thread in this section that another guy had a similar situation and people were saying he won't be approved for conjugal because there's nothing stopping him from getting married or becoming common law. I don't understand this latter bit because I thought the maximum amount of time a foreign national could stay in the country was six months. How can somebody qualify for common law with this stipulation if they HAVE to live together for a full year?

Note: we're exploring this instead of simply getting married because we both mutually share a disbelief in the sanctity of institutional marriage and as I read on the official government of canada website, while it's true Conjugal sponsorship is made primarily for couples who are not legally able to marry, There have been exceptions for couples who have personal objections to the institution of marriage, such as the Wegner v Canada case in 2021.

Mainly I'm just confused about how achieving common law status before conjugal sponsorship is possible when at the moment we're only legally allowed to stay in each other's countries 6 months each year.

 

[Edmegbc]

Not a chance if you are Canadian and American. There is no reason you cannot get married, borders, fear of prosecution etc
Your ‘perisnal belief’ is irrelevant. Same as your financial or economic status.
Sure you can try but be prepared for a LONG process and a PFL before refusal.
Your girlfriend can enter as a visitor and then extend her visitor status. Hundreds do this every year.

 

[scylla]

I'm a citizen of Canada living in Halifax and my girlfriend is a US citizen in Texas . We're quite serious and are actively talking about a plan to move her up to live with me in two years. One of the challenges of course is immigration and we are exploring all potential avenues to allow her to stay with me long term.

The primary thing we're exploring is conjugal status. From what I understand, we could potentially qualify for a conjugal sponsorship if we are able to prove that we have been in a conjugal relationship for a year or longer. The hope is that conjugal status would allow her to live with me for a year full time which would then qualify us for common law.

I have read the requirements for conjugal status on the official government of Canada website and it sounds like my girlfriend and I are well on our way to qualifying. We are already offering financial assistance to one another such as myself assisting her paying off her credit card debt and her offering to fly me out to Texas for a few months to house and feed me during a period of unemployment (I do contract work). We spent two months in January and February together when she came to stay with me for a while and we're making plans to see each other frequently throughout the year: as much as visiting law will allow us. She is selling many of her personal belongings to pay off her debt quickly so it won't be an obstacle for us and I am changing my investment strategies to save for a future with her. We spend hours video calling each other every day and are seeing each other again in Toronto this April.

I read in another thread in this section that another guy had a similar situation and people were saying he won't be approved for conjugal because there's nothing stopping him from getting married or becoming common law. I don't understand this latter bit because I thought the maximum amount of time a foreign national could stay in the country was six months. How can somebody qualify for common law with this stipulation if they HAVE to live together for a full year?

Note: we're exploring this instead of simply getting married because we both mutually share a disbelief in the sanctity of institutional marriage and as I read on the official government of canada website, while it's true Conjugal sponsorship is made primarily for couples who are not legally able to marry, There have been exceptions for couples who have personal objections to the institution of marriage, such as the Wegner v Canada case in 2021.

Mainly I'm just confused about how achieving common law status before conjugal sponsorship is possible when at the moment we're only legally allowed to stay in each other's countries 6 months each year.

Conjugal is a non starter. You face no immigration barriers to marriage or common law. It is incorrect to say that you can only legally come to Canada for six months. She can come for the initial six months and then easily legally extend her stay by another six months. Of course you can still apply under conjugal but the chances of success will essentially be nil. Either get married or live together continuously for a full year to become common law.

 

[thatstupiddeer]

As the others have said, conjugal partner sponsorship will not work for you and your girlfriend.

Conjugal partner sponsorship exists so that people who have complicated circumstances can be together. That generally means one spouse is unable to travel to Canada or another country to get married, one partner lives in a country where divorce is illegal (but are separated from their spouse), they are in a same-sex relationship and from a country where that is illegal/unable to marry AND unable to travel to a country where they can legally marry (but they need to show proof that they can't, like a visa denial).

I will also offer a personal anecdote: my now wife and I thought we could do the conjugal partner route as well because we wanted to wait before we got married so that we could save money for a wedding. We were engaged at the time, and thought that would be enough. It was not, and it was a very long, exhausting process that almost ended in refusal in November. We got a Procedural Fairness Letter, which I now know means there is an intent to refuse the application. We sent what we could, and then didn't hear back.

The only reason we weren't refused was because we got married during the process at my local city hall, and I sent our marriage certificate as soon as we had it both by email and we asked our MP's office to forward it as well.

In January, we learned that our application had been marked as refused in November '23, but had been reopened in Dec '23. From what I can see, they have marked our application under the regular spousal sponsorship now, since my wife and I are now legally married.

Now, I want to make it very clear that we got exceedingly lucky. Someone took pity on us at IRCC--and it's entirely possible that my MP reaching out put pressure on them--and just moved the application to the correct desk, so to speak. I would not expect this sort of thing to easily repeat.

Your girlfriend is from the USA, and thus, has the luck of not needing a visa to enter Canada. She can come to Canada, stay for six months, and get an extension for another six months (ideally, apply for the extension well before the first six months is up). That way, you can be considered common-law, and apply under that. There's really no other way.

 

[armoured]

We are already offering financial assistance to one another such as myself assisting her paying off her credit card debt and her offering to fly me out to Texas for a few months to house and feed me during a period of unemployment (I do contract work). We spent two months in January and February together when she came to stay with me for a while and we're making plans to see each other frequently throughout the year:

Others have provided correct response on basis that you won't get approved as conjugal (no immigration barrier, no marital or common law barrier).

I would note in addition that to establish as common law (assuming you stick to your guns on the marriage-bad thing), one of you will not be able to work for at least the year in which you reside together in Canada (or I presume in USA if you decide to work out cohabiting there somewhere). There are no special work permit programs for that period in which you are establishing common law. Count on more like 18 months in reality before she could work in Canada, best case perhaps 16 months.

Unless you're both very well off (doesn't sound like it), you will find this to be a serious stressor on your relationship.

Also note: you are required to cohabit continuously for 12 months. If any emergency or whatever comes up that detains her abroad (for example), or you need to leave somewhere else for contract work or whatever for a lenghty period - start over on the common law thing. (Short periods apart like days or a week, perhaps two, would probably not be a problem. But at your own risk if IRCC decides it's too long)

Up to you. But you do have an alternative - marriage - that would significantly reduce the risks and stresses.

Note: we're exploring this instead of simply getting married because we both mutually share a disbelief in the sanctity of institutional marriage

I'll try to put this politely, but a government sanctioned marriage is not 'sanctified' in any way - made holy - that is a term reserved for religious marriages. So have a civil marriage instead of a religious one. No-one's asking you, telling you or forcing you to believe that marriage is holy, nor obtain such sanctity to sponsor your partner. (Canada doesn't even recognize such purely religious marriages anyway - only the civil part matters).

The government does not 'sanctify' in any way your marriage: you enter into a civil relationship with each other which is recognized by government in certain contexts to provide each of you benefits and protections. The government recognizes a common law relationship in very similar respects to marriage (certain benefits and protections), but by a different mechanism (it is recognized automatically - by the common law - instead of by going to city hall).

In this context, the primary difference of relevance between those two is that forgoing a civil marriage in favour of common law delays eligiblity for a significant benefit, being able to sponsor your partner, by about 12 months. Either way you are entering into a civil relationship.

To me, that's a very poor trade-off indeed for a rather abstract belief (or disbelief) where you refer to a function (sanctity) that is not the province of the government at all.

But up to you.

 

[Copingwithlife]

“because we both mutually share a disbelief in the sanctity of institutional marriage”

If that’s the hill you’re willing to die on …gods speed

 

[YVR123]

I'm a citizen of Canada living in Halifax and my girlfriend is a US citizen in Texas . We're quite serious and are actively talking about a plan to move her up to live with me in two years. One of the challenges of course is immigration and we are exploring all potential avenues to allow her to stay with me long term.

The primary thing we're exploring is conjugal status. From what I understand, we could potentially qualify for a conjugal sponsorship if we are able to prove that we have been in a conjugal relationship for a year or longer. The hope is that conjugal status would allow her to live with me for a year full time which would then qualify us for common law.

I have read the requirements for conjugal status on the official government of Canada website and it sounds like my girlfriend and I are well on our way to qualifying. We are already offering financial assistance to one another such as myself assisting her paying off her credit card debt and her offering to fly me out to Texas for a few months to house and feed me during a period of unemployment (I do contract work). We spent two months in January and February together when she came to stay with me for a while and we're making plans to see each other frequently throughout the year: as much as visiting law will allow us. She is selling many of her personal belongings to pay off her debt quickly so it won't be an obstacle for us and I am changing my investment strategies to save for a future with her. We spend hours video calling each other every day and are seeing each other again in Toronto this April.

I read in another thread in this section that another guy had a similar situation and people were saying he won't be approved for conjugal because there's nothing stopping him from getting married or becoming common law. I don't understand this latter bit because I thought the maximum amount of time a foreign national could stay in the country was six months. How can somebody qualify for common law with this stipulation if they HAVE to live together for a full year?

Note: we're exploring this instead of simply getting married because we both mutually share a disbelief in the sanctity of institutional marriage and as I read on the official government of canada website, while it's true Conjugal sponsorship is made primarily for couples who are not legally able to marry, There have been exceptions for couples who have personal objections to the institution of marriage, such as the Wegner v Canada case in 2021.

Mainly I'm just confused about how achieving common law status before conjugal sponsorship is possible when at the moment we're only legally allowed to stay in each other's countries 6 months each year.

She can apply to extend her stay as visitor to achieve common law with you.