Conjugal partner question

[Stums]

Hi all,

I (male) am a Canadian citizen and have been with my girlfriend for about 6 months now. We just started living together. She is currently on a working holiday visa from Korea since March 2017 but it ends in March 2018. We plan on having her apply for a visitor visa which would last 6 months and apply for an extension which would last another 6 months and then I can sponsor her as common law.

We talked to an agency and they said that she will probably get declined for the visitor visa extension because she was already here for 1 year on the working holiday visa.

I was hoping that if she gets declined and had to go back to Korea then I can sponsor her as a conjugal partner since we would have been together for 1 year and reason is her visitor visa being declined (immigration barrier preventing us from becoming common law).

I am an engineer and have my own house, so I can support her financially until she can get her permanent residence and start working.

But I was reading some posts here regarding conjugal partner and it seems like it's very hard to get. So I was wondering if anyone go of give advice on our specific situation.

Would immigration officers just tell us to get married because there aren't any religious reasons for not getting married? Reason why we aren't getting married: we love each other but it would be irresponsible to get married at 6 months.

A lot of posts about conjugal partner are giving advice that people should just live together for a year and become common law. How are foreigners able to stay in Canada consecutively for a year?

Thank you and I hope I provided enough information.

 

[jordo]

Choosing not to marry and creating the barrier yourself won't qualify you for conjugal.

Conjugal is typically used as a last resort by couples where one person has been previously married but in their country divorce is illegal or if cohabiting is illegal or impossible.

(immigrationbarrier preventing us from becoming common law). This would only apply if you were denied entry into her home country and she were denied entry into Canada and that there was not a 3rd country that would allow you to visit long enough to become common law

 

[scylla]

Agreed with the above. You don't meet the requirements for conjugal. Either get married or live together for a year continuously to become common law. These are your only options for sponsorship.

When she applies for her extension she should specifically state that she is applying for this extension to live with you for a full year to become common law so that you can sponsor her. If she says this, the extension will almost certainly be approved. She should include evidence to show you have a shared address and you should include your bank statement / employment slips as proof that you are supporting her while she's here as a visitor.

 

[Elanigana]

What Scylla said.

Extend and state she wants to be common-law.

 

[Rob_TO]

We talked to an agency and they said that she will probably get declined for the visitor visa extension because she was already here for 1 year on the working holiday visa.
.

This is not true at all. Many people get approved for visitor extension after completing working holiday visa.

However even if it's rejected, you need to find a way to become common-law or get married. Conjugal is 100% not an option for you, so you should not even be looking at this category.

 

[Stums]

Thank you all for the informative replies.

Are there any other things that we can include with the application for the visitor visa? Do you think that we would need to include my bank statements for her initial visitor visa? She has around $8000 CAD in her bank at the moment.

This is not true at all. Many people get approved for visitor extension after completing working holiday visa.

However even if it's rejected, you need to find a way to become common-law or get married. Conjugal is 100% not an option for you, so you should not even be looking at this category.

What are some other ways to get common-law? If she gets declined for the extension she would have to return to Korea and the whole common-law 1 year requirement resets right? Other ways we thought of:

• Student visa
• Working visa

Thank you very much.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you all for the informative replies.

Are there any other things that we can include with the application for the visitor visa? Do you think that we would need to include my bank statements for her initial visitor visa? She has around $8000 CAD in her bank at the moment.

You can definitely include that.

What are some other ways to get common-law? If she gets declined for the extension she would have to return to Korea and the whole common-law 1 year requirement resets right? Other ways we thought of:

• Student visa
• Working visa

Thank you very much.

You can also move to Korea as a visitor to continue the cohabitation and not have it reset.

 

[Stums]

You can definitely include that.





You can also move to Korea as a visitor to continue the cohabitation and not have it reset.

Would there be anything else she should include in her initial visitor visa? Should she state that she is planning on getting an extension and is working towards her common-law status in her first visitor visa application?

Also, we were looking at eTA application but she was told she cannot apply though eTA because she already got a working holiday visa. Is that true?

Thanks

 

[Rob_TO]

Would there be anything else she should include in her initial visitor visa? Should she state that she is planning on getting an extension and is working towards her common-law status in her first visitor visa application?

Yes, as per the post from scylla above.

Also, we were looking at eTA application but she was told she cannot apply though eTA because she already got a working holiday visa. Is that true?

An eTA is only use to board an airplane to Canada. Once one gets an eTA linked to their passport, it's valid for 5 years. So if she got one already as part of her WHV (sometimes they apply the eTA automatically with certain permits), then she wouldn't need one again for a while.

To be certain she can check her eTA status here: https://onlineservices-servicesenligne.cic.gc.ca/eta/applicationQuery

She won't need to worry about an eTA though until she actually leaves Canada and wants to return by air.

Note an eTA does not give any status in Canada, it solely for the sake of boarding an airplane and that is it.

 

[Stums]

Yes, as per the post from scylla above.

Hi, I would like to confirm, just want to be sure. Scylla's post says to include that for the extension. So just to clarify.

Initial TRV/Visitor Visa (month 0-6)

• Purpose of visit > other > live with boyfriend for full year to become common-law so boyfriend can sponsor
• Her bank statements
• Evidence of shared address

We've been together for about 6 months already but the agency told her it's not good to put that she wants to live with me for a full year and become common law on the initial visitor visa and that she should just put tourism.

Extension TRV/Visitor Visa (month 6-12)

• Purpose of visit > other > live with boyfriend for full year to become common-law so boyfriend can sponsor
• Her bank statements
• Evidence of shared address
• My bank statements & employment slips

Couple of more questions
1) is it better to apply online or in-person? Does it matter?
2) South Korea is a visa exempt country. Is the visa exemption only if she is outside of Canada and traveling to Canada? She is currently in Canada because of working holiday visa

Sorry for all the questions, this is my first time doing something like this and she is getting conflicting advice from multiple agencies.

Thank you very much

 

[Rob_TO]

She is NOT applying for a visitor visa/TRV. As you noted, Koreans are visa-exempt meaning there is no such thing as a visa to apply for. A visa is issued only for the purpose of travelling to Canada for citizens from countries not visa-exempt.

She would be applying to extend her visitor status in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/extend-stay.html

You can apply online or by a mailed paper application. Both ways are fine, with the online method you may get your response a bit quicker. Note that even if approved, there is no guarantee it will be for 6 months. Some visitor status extensions are given for much less time (just a month or two), and some are given for much longer (have seen some for 1 year). Hopefully her passport has a long way before it expires.

Also note that if at anytime she leaves Canada (even for a day trip to USA), her status in Canada is gone and she will basically be getting a brand new visitor status when she re-enters at discretion of the CBSA officer she talks to. Some people choose to do this instead of the request for extension to save the application fee, although most feel the extension app is safer.

You have been given advice here on how to proceed with the request for status extension, it's up to you if you want to follow it or go with the advice from the agency.

 

[Stums]

I think I understand now. She is still considered a visitor while under Working Holiday Visa, so she would be extending her stay. Assume she gets 6 months, will she be able to extend again after 6 months so we can be common-law? Is there a limit on how many extensions she can get?

 

[Rob_TO]

I think I understand now. She is still considered a visitor while under Working Holiday Visa, so she would be extending her stay. Assume she gets 6 months, will she be able to extend again after 6 months so we can be common-law? Is there a limit on how many extensions she can get?

No limit, if she gets 6 months she can apply for another extension when that is almost up. Or as mentioned if she leaves/re-enters Canada that also resets status.

 

[Stums]

Thank you very much, I think that answers all my questions!