Conjugal Partnership vs. Marriage

[aserrano]

I'm hopping someone could help shed some light on something I've been wondering regarding my conjugal partnership process.
My partner and I have been together for 3yrs however, just recently have moved in together the past 6 months. We discussed marriage and agree we both want to marry however, not simply to obtain citizenship, we want both our families there, plan, etc... That said, does it make sense to continue the conjugal partnership application knowing we're going to marry within the next year, or should we simply obtain a marriage license and file a spousal application. I don't want to add more time to the process and I would like to focus our efforts. Any suggestions?

 

[scylla]

It sounds like you have no barriers to marriage or living together for one year to become common law. If that's the case, then you should expect a conjugal application to fail. Conjugal is for those who cannot get married and/or cannot live together for a year to become common law.

 

[QuebecOkie]

As scylla said, a conjugal application is very likely to fail in that not wanting to get married yet is no barrier to marriage. The conjugal class is for those who do not have the option to live together long enough to establish a common-law relationship and who cannot get married (for instance, same-sex couples in countries where same-sex marriage is not legal). Your only real options are filing the application after marriage, or after you have lived together for at least 12 consecutive months.

 

[fumbler1983]

I'm hopping someone could help shed some light on something I've been wondering regarding my conjugal partnership process.
My partner and I have been together for 3yrs however, just recently have moved in together the past 6 months. We discussed marriage and agree we both want to marry however, not simply to obtain citizenship, we want both our families there, plan, etc... That said, does it make sense to continue the conjugal partnership application knowing we're going to marry within the next year, or should we simply obtain a marriage license and file a spousal application. I don't want to add more time to the process and I would like to focus our efforts. Any suggestions?

I would get a marriage license and just go get married at the city hall. You can always have a bigger reception later. For my spouse and I being together was more important than a huge wedding right away. Good luck!

 

[aserrano]

Thank you everyone, I hope this didn't come across as though I just want a big wedding. I'm more concerned with which is the correct process in order to expedite the process and not receive a declination. Reading through all the material led my to think that conjugal partnership is the application that I would need, because at the time we weren't living together, just dating, where I would travel to Canada once a month. It's just within the past few months that I moved here however, am still considered a U.S. citizen traveling in Canada. I know I am able to be here legally up to 6 months.
However, from what everyone has said so far, obtaining a marriage license and filing a spousal application is the correct course of action.

 

[scylla]

If you have not yet submitted a sponsorship application, then get married and submit the application as a married couple.

If you have already submitted an application as a conjugal couple, withdraw the conjugal application, get married and then submit a new application as a married couple.

Since you are from the US, there are no barriers to marriage / common law and a conjugal application has extremely little chance of succeeding.

FYI - towards the end of your six month visit you can apply to extend your stay if you don't wish to leave Canada.

 

[keesio]

Thank you everyone, I hope this didn't come across as though I just want a big wedding. I'm more concerned with which is the correct process in order to expedite the process and not receive a declination. Reading through all the material led my to think that conjugal partnership is the application that I would need, because at the time we weren't living together, just dating, where I would travel to Canada once a month. It's just within the past few months that I moved here however, am still considered a U.S. citizen traveling in Canada. I know I am able to be here legally up to 6 months.
However, from what everyone has said so far, obtaining a marriage license and filing a spousal application is the correct course of action.

Agree with everyone's advice here.

As a US citizen, you will get declined for conjugal. Having a small wedding or even a city hall wedding is not a big deal for an applicant who is a US citizen as long as you have good relationship proof (which I assume you do since you have been dating for 3 years). Also you can live together for 1 year and apply for common-law as scylla explained (extend your visa after 6 months) if you don't want to get married ASAP.