Conjugal Partnership Gone Wrong!!!

[yaf2015]

Hi everyone!


I apologize in advance for this long post but I'm really hoping that someone could shed some light on my situation.


My boyfriend and I met back in 2013 when he was in Canada on a student visa. Also to note I am a Canadian Citizen.


We officially started dating in '15 and because of school and me living at home practically at no cost, we eventually moved in just for the sake of it and lived together for 7 months in total. He completed two programs and ended up overstaying his visa because we just weren't ready to let go of eachother. In January '17 he decided to go back to his home (Nigeria) and for us to apply for a sponsorship application. We were too dumb to consult with an immigration lawyer to know that he really didn't have to leave the country but anyways, that's past us.


We put the application through as conjugal partners as on the cic website it says that if you have been living with someone for at least a year then you're common laws, and if not then you are conjugal partners.

We have joint bank accounts and lots of pictures taken over the years as well as our families being involved and approving of our relationship which is as genuine as it gets.


The application was put through in March and we have submitted both the Schedule A and the medical (which has been passed as per ECAS). Now that I'm going crazy and have started actually following some threads, I've noticed that we have pretty much no chance of getting approved because this category is only for those who really cannot get married (and we can, nothing is stopping us except that we just never wanted to rush into it).

I am now desperately trying to get some info on whether or not our application could be a case of misrepresentation if we do decide to just fudge it and get married.


I work a corporate job so its very hard to get vacation but I am willing to just literally fly out to Nigeria just to get married and have this thing go through. Just to note that I am well aware of the relationship fraud that is going on in Nigeria but I can assure everyone that this is not a case of fraud.


I spoke to a consultant recently and he suggested that we set a date and let CIC know that our situation has changed (should I be honest that we misunderstood the the category?) and ask for suspension of our file until we send in the marriage certificate. I just hate to have to withdraw since we've invested both our money and TIME into this.


Please please, if anyone can lend some of their expertise and help us, we would oh so greatly appreciate it!

 

[jennyu]

Hi everyone!


I apologize in advance for this long post but I'm really hoping that someone could shed some light on my situation.


My boyfriend and I met back in 2013 when he was in Canada on a student visa. Also to note I am a Canadian Citizen.


We officially started dating in '15 and because of school and me living at home practically at no cost, we eventually moved in just for the sake of it and lived together for 7 months in total. He completed two programs and ended up overstaying his visa because we just weren't ready to let go of eachother. In January '17 he decided to go back to his home (Nigeria) and for us to apply for a sponsorship application. We were too dumb to consult with an immigration lawyer to know that he really didn't have to leave the country but anyways, that's past us.


We put the application through as conjugal partners as on the cic website it says that if you have been living with someone for at least a year then you're common laws, and if not then you are conjugal partners.

We have joint bank accounts and lots of pictures taken over the years as well as our families being involved and approving of our relationship which is as genuine as it gets.


The application was put through in March and we have submitted both the Schedule A and the medical (which has been passed as per ECAS). Now that I'm going crazy and have started actually following some threads, I've noticed that we have pretty much no chance of getting approved because this category is only for those who really cannot get married (and we can, nothing is stopping us except that we just never wanted to rush into it).

I am now desperately trying to get some info on whether or not our application could be a case of misrepresentation if we do decide to just fudge it and get married.


I work a corporate job so its very hard to get vacation but I am willing to just literally fly out to Nigeria just to get married and have this thing go through. Just to note that I am well aware of the relationship fraud that is going on in Nigeria but I can assure everyone that this is not a case of fraud.

I spoke to a consultant recently and he suggested that we set a date and let CIC know that our situation has changed (should I be honest that we misunderstood the the category?) and ask for suspension of our file until we send in the marriage certificate. I just hate to have to withdraw since we've invested both our money and TIME into this.


Please please, if anyone can lend some of their expertise and help us, we would oh so greatly appreciate it!

Hello, yes you are correct. Conjugal relationship is a category for people who cannot get married due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g country doesn't approve same sex marriage, etc). CIC cannot suspend your file. The best option will be for you to withdraw your application and state the reason why. Get married and then apply to sponsor him as your spouse. CIC will most likely refuse your application as they will state that you both are not in a conjugal relationship. And you might be eligible to get some money back if you withdraw the application - depending on the stage of application.

 

[spousalsponsee]

You are very unlikely to be banned, or told you've misrepresented yourselves - people are refused frequently for not meeting the basic criteria (which will certainly happen to you - as you've identified, you don't qualify as conjugal). You can withdraw the application, or wait until you're refused, but you can't switch from one track to another (if you could, loads of people would apply as 'conjugal' while engaged, then get married, then switch tracks, in order to jump the line on applying after marriage).

 

[JulianaAndrew]

Don't worry, you won't get banned for five years, nor they will think you've committed misrepresentation. The worst thing that will happen (which I think is very much likely) is that they will refuse the application, and that will be it. Your relationship is genuine, and it looks like you have not lied about anything. You have no risk of getting a 5 year ban or being denied on basis of misrepresentation. If your boyfriend can go back to Canada on a tourist visa, then get married with you there, you could apply inland and even get an open work permit while the application is going through. I believe that most likely you will have to apply again, once you have gotten married with your boyfriend. What I would suggest to you when you apply is that you attach with your application a letter that would describe the timeline of your relationship, I am sure that would help a lot. Would you share your status and timeline so we can have a better idea of how things are going? If the application takes a long time, you could also go to Nigeria, get married with your boyfriend and then contact the visa office to tell them that you are now married to the principal applicant. Of course, you would have to do everything you can to make the whole thing like a customary wedding according to the culture of your boyfriend's family and yours.

 

[Buletruck]

I doubt there would be any misrepresentation for filing conjugal, so need to worry about that. Just withdraw the application. It's doubtful he will get a visa with his overstay, so, marriage, at this point would likely be the best option.

 

[yaf2015]

Thank you everyone for helping out!! I think we are going to have to withdraw after all the effort but no one but us is to blame. We are planning on hopefully try living in another country and become common laws and just go from there. I appreciate all the help