Canadian resident or not? Sponsor temporarily outside of Canada on Working Holiday Visa

[loeleo]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen and my boyfriend is Japanese. We want to both live in Canada together, so we're in the process of filling out the sponsorship paperwork (qualifying as conjugal partners).
Where I' m confused is on the question on the form that says, "do you reside in Canada and in no other country?" See I'm currently using a Working Holiday Visa in Japan, and could stay here for up to (but no more than) 1 year. I don't know if this technically qualifies me residing out of Canada, since I still technically have an address in Canada. I also still have my Canadian health care.
I will possibly be back living in Canada before we hear back about the application.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[DollyM]

If you and your boyfriend are both in Japan and there is no legal impediment to you marrying then your conjugal application is very likely to be denied.

As for the residence, yes, you do live outside Canada. And, no, you don't still have your Canadian health care if you are going to be outside Canada for a year.

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen and my boyfriend is Japanese. We want to both live in Canada together, so we're in the process of filling out the sponsorship paperwork (qualifying as conjugal partners).
Where I' m confused is on the question on the form that says, "do you reside in Canada and in no other country?" See I'm currently using a Working Holiday Visa in Japan, and could stay here for up to (but no more than) 1 year. I don't know if this technically qualifies me residing out of Canada, since I still technically have an address in Canada. I also still have my Canadian health care.
I will possibly be back living in Canada before we hear back about the application.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

You either need to get married or live together for a full year continuously and go the common law route. A conjugal application will be refused since you face no real immigration barriers to marriage or common law.

 

[loeleo]

You either need to get married or live together for a full year continuously and go the common law route. A conjugal application will be refused since you face no real immigration barriers to marriage or common law.

Thanks for the speedy reply!!

I didn't realize that.. It's confusing because the governments website reads:

"If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you can sponsor your:

• spouse,
• common-law partner,
• conjugal partner,
• dependent child.

You must show that you’ll live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident."

Is what they're saying then that it's ok to be living alone outside of Canada when applying, but not outside of Canada with your conjugal partner?

If we can't qualify as conjugal partners in our current situation and we don't get married, could we qualify as conjugal after I return to Canada?

Thanks for your help!

(And regarding the healthcare, BC allows you to maintain your health coverage during an "extended absence" for up to 2 years, once every 5 years. So I still pay my premiums and don't lose my coverage).

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the speedy reply!!

I didn't realize that.. It's confusing because the governments website reads:

"If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you can sponsor your:

• spouse,
• common-law partner,
• conjugal partner,
• dependent child.

You must show that you’ll live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident."

Is what they're saying then that it's ok to be living alone outside of Canada when applying, but not outside of Canada with your conjugal partner?

If we can't qualify as conjugal partners in our current situation and we don't get married, could we qualify as conjugal after I return to Canada?

Thanks for your help!

You don't qualify for conjugal period. It doesn't matter if you are outside of Canada or inside of Canada. Conjugal is reserved for situations where it is literally impossible to either get married or become common law.

There is nothing stopping you from getting married or living together for a full year continuously to become common law. If you want to sponsor your partner for PR, you either need to get married or live together for a year first.

As a Canadian citizen, you can certainly sponsor your partner while living outside of Canada. You just don't qualify under conjugal.

 

[russ6970]

You can't qualify as conjugal, that is not an option. You will never qualify as that because (already been said) that there are no impediments to you getting married. Conjugal is only for people that cannot get married due the laws and such. I don't know if you are a same sex couple, but co njugal would apply if you are same sex and you are somewhere that it's against the law to marry. Your only options are to become common-law (live together for a year) or marry.

 

[scylla]

You can't qualify as conjugal, that is not an option. You will never qualify as that because (already been said) that there are no impediments to you getting married. Conjugal is only for people that cannot get married due the laws and such. I don't know if you are a same sex couple, but co njugal would apply if you are same sex and you are somewhere that it's against the law to marry. Your only options are to become common-law (live together for a year) or marry.

Even if they are same sex, conjugal won't apply. OP's partner is from Japan and visa exempt. Extremely easy to obtain an eTA and get married in Canada (or live here a year to become common law).

 

[russ6970]

Oh i know that, just pointing out a scenario to get the OP to understand

 

[loeleo]

You don't qualify for conjugal period. It doesn't matter if you are outside of Canada or inside of Canada. Conjugal is reserved for situations where it is literally impossible to either get married or become common law.

There is nothing stopping you from getting married or living together for a full year continuously to become common law. If you want to sponsor your partner for PR, you either need to get married or live together for a year first.

As a Canadian citizen, you can certainly sponsor your partner while living outside of Canada. You just don't qualify under conjugal.

But actually I can't see how we would be able to live together for a continuous year. Apart from if I literally stayed in Japan until the final day my working holiday permits me to, and then of course we would cease to live together the very next day when I'd need to exit the country. Once this working holiday ends, my understanding is that we can only visit each other's countries under visitor visas (i.e. 3-6 months).

 

[scylla]

But actually I can't see how we would be able to live together for a continuous year. Apart from if I literally stayed in Japan until the final day my working holiday permits me to, and then of course we would cease to live together the very next day when I'd need to exit the country. Once this working holiday ends, my understanding is that we can only visit each other's countries under visitor visas (i.e. 3-6 months).

Your partner can easily get an eTA and come to Canada as a visitor - then extend that visit within Canada to achieve a year of living together. Again, very easily done. Or you could get married in Canada.

 

[loeleo]

Your partner can easily get an eTA and come to Canada as a visitor - then extend that visit within Canada to achieve a year of living together. Again, very easily done. Or you could get married in Canada.

Wow ok that's news to me. On what grounds is he allowed to extend in Canada? Is it really that easy?

And thanks for all of this information!

 

[scylla]

Wow ok that's news to me. On what grounds is he allowed to extend in Canada? Is it really that easy?

And thanks for all of this information!

He would apply to extend his status and specifically state that he is requesting an extension in order to achieve a year of living together to become common law and so that you can sponsor him for PR. Note that he won't be able to work during that year or qualify for provincial health care coverage. So that's something to factor into your plans.

 

[loeleo]

He would apply to extend his status and specifically state that he is requesting an extension in order to achieve a year of living together to become common law and so that you can sponsor him for PR. Note that he won't be able to work during that year or qualify for provincial health care coverage. So that's something to factor into your plans.

Ok understood.
God it really does all seem way simpler to just get married...

Anyways thanks again for taking the time to help!