Conjugal or not?

[pinman]

Hello everyone,

I have been getting very mixed messages regarding my relationship's classification (on this site and off), so I thought I would seek some clarification.

Sponsor (me): Male, Canadian citizen, born in Ukraine,
Applicant (girlfriend): Female, Ukrainian citizen, born in Ukraine

I visit her every two months in Ukraine. She knows my family (who still reside in Ukraine) and frequently visits them, even when I'm not around. I would like to sponsor her. We are both unmarried/single. Our relationship is not hidden, our families and friends are aware, and we have vacationed together. It is over one year in duration. There is ample proof of our commitments to one another. I called the CIC help line and they said we seem to qualify, but we are having our doubts.

Is this conjugal? As per the CIC definition, a conjugal partner is:

"a person who is living outside Canada,
in a conjugal relationship with a sponsor for at least one year, and
could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (e.g. immigration barrier, religious reasons or sexual orientation.

In most cases, the foreign partner is also not able to legally marry their sponsor and qualify as a spouse. In all other respects, the couple is similar to a common-law couple or a married couple, meaning they have been in a bona fide (genuine or real) conjugal relationship for a period of at least one year.

A significant degree of attachment and mutual interdependence between both partners must be shown. The couple must submit proof of the obstacles or restrictions that are preventing them from living together or getting married."

I have read enough examples that point to this relationship NOT being conjugal. People suggest marrying each other and submitting an application for spousal sponsorship, or getting a TRV and having her live with me for a year. However, we cannot do either of those other two options. I do not make enough money at this point to sustain both her and I (I am a new grad), so having her living in Canada as a visitor without a work permit is out of the option. It will put us under. It is an obstacle being our control. We are also unmarried, so spousal applications don't apply. With this said, is our only option to get married, and then submit a spousal application?

If so, where do we get married? Ukraine? Or Canada? She wont even be able to live with me after the marriage until the application goes through...

Suggestions?

 

[JulianaAndrew]

You would not meet the criteria as a conjugal couple because there are no legal or immigration barriers that keep you from getting married or living together continuously for a full year. Your only option would be to get married. You can do it wherever you want, where you find it more convenient. If you have to live apart after the marriage, you should both prepare for it. It will be very hard for you two, so plan around it. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

 

[pinman]

You would not meet the criteria as a conjugal couple because there are no legal or immigration barriers that keep you from getting married or living together continuously for a full year. Your only option would be to get married. You can do it wherever you want, where you find it more convenient. If you have to live apart after the marriage, you should both prepare for it. It will be very hard for you two, so plan around it. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

Hypothetical timeline:

We get married in February.
Spousal application submitted in March.

Could she apply for a TRV and live with me while the spousal application is being processed?

 

[JulianaAndrew]

Hypothetical timeline:

We get married in February.
Spousal application submitted in March.

Could she apply for a TRV and live with me while the spousal application is being processed?

It would be better to apply for it now. Having a spouse in Canada would make it really hard to get a TRV. They would think your soon-to-be wife won't go back to Ukraine at the end of her stay, unless she can prove that she has significant ties to her home country. The visitor visa is only for visitors, so they would not issue it if they think she'll be staying there living with you. You would have better chances of getting it now, before you get married.

 

[kcward7]

It would be better to apply for it now. Having a spouse in Canada would make it really hard to get a TRV. They would think your soon-to-be wife won't go back to Ukraine at the end of her stay, unless she can prove that she has significant ties to her home country. The visitor visa is only for visitors, so they would not issue it if they think she'll be staying there living with you. You would have better chances of getting it now, before you get married.

We got two while my husband was already here as well as before we were married with no issues. Just a side note.

 

[Rob_TO]

I do not make enough money at this point to sustain both her and I (I am a new grad), so having her living in Canada as a visitor without a work permit is out of the option. It will put us under. It is an obstacle being our control. We are also unmarried, so spousal applications don't apply. With this said, is our only option to get married, and then submit a spousal application?

This is NOT a legitimate barrier to getting married/becoming common-law. Conjugal app must show a valid legal or immigration barrier to getting married/common-law. So conjugal does not apply to you at all, and any app submitted under this category would be practically guaranteed to be rejected due to this.

If you can't become common-law, then you must get married. If she can get a TRV to come to Canada, then after getting married and if you apply for PR using INLAND method, she can also apply for Open Work Permit at the same time and would get this approx 3-4 months later.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We got two while my husband was already here as well as before we were married with no issues. Just a side note.

You are in the minority. The vast majority of TRVs in this situation are refused, so it is better to tell people the reality upfront.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello everyone,

I have been getting very mixed messages regarding my relationship's classification (on this site and off), so I thought I would seek some clarification.

Sponsor (me): Male, Canadian citizen, born in Ukraine,
Applicant (girlfriend): Female, Ukrainian citizen, born in Ukraine

I visit her every two months in Ukraine. She knows my family (who still reside in Ukraine) and frequently visits them, even when I'm not around. I would like to sponsor her. We are both unmarried/single. Our relationship is not hidden, our families and friends are aware, and we have vacationed together. It is over one year in duration. There is ample proof of our commitments to one another. I called the CIC help line and they said we seem to qualify, but we are having our doubts.

Is this conjugal? As per the CIC definition, a conjugal partner is:

"a person who is living outside Canada,
in a conjugal relationship with a sponsor for at least one year, and
could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (e.g. immigration barrier, religious reasons or sexual orientation.

In most cases, the foreign partner is also not able to legally marry their sponsor and qualify as a spouse. In all other respects, the couple is similar to a common-law couple or a married couple, meaning they have been in a bona fide (genuine or real) conjugal relationship for a period of at least one year.

A significant degree of attachment and mutual interdependence between both partners must be shown. The couple must submit proof of the obstacles or restrictions that are preventing them from living together or getting married."

I have read enough examples that point to this relationship NOT being conjugal. People suggest marrying each other and submitting an application for spousal sponsorship, or getting a TRV and having her live with me for a year. However, we cannot do either of those other two options. I do not make enough money at this point to sustain both her and I (I am a new grad), so having her living in Canada as a visitor without a work permit is out of the option. It will put us under. It is an obstacle being our control. We are also unmarried, so spousal applications don't apply. With this said, is our only option to get married, and then submit a spousal application?

If so, where do we get married? Ukraine? Or Canada? She wont even be able to live with me after the marriage until the application goes through...

Suggestions?

Zero chance of conjugal. Get married or live together for a year to become common-law.

 

[kcward7]

You are in the minority. The vast majority of TRVs in this situation are refused, so it is better to tell people the reality upfront.

Interesting. I know many get refused, but really didn't think our situation was minority. Good to know.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Interesting. I know many get refused, but really didn't think our situation was minority. Good to know.

Without serious proof of ties to the home country, IRCC usually sees the spouse in Canada as the strongest tie and considers the applicant to be too high of an overstay risk.

 

[kcward7]

Without serious proof of ties to the home country, IRCC usually sees the spouse in Canada as the strongest tie and considers the applicant to be too high of an overstay risk.

Yeah, it's interesting, we never had to prove any of that. We just applied and it was all good and fine, I assume some of that is based on the country he's from?