Conjugal Sponsorship - Do I Qualify?

[JFSJoey]

I would like to know if my partner and I can go through the conjugal sponsorship route and if so, what the steps would be. (i.e. get your IELTS ready, prepare your police records, fill out forms 'A' and 'B', etc)

I live in the UK. My girlfriend is a Canadian living in Toronto, Canada. We met during my time spent studying in Canada in 2014 and have been dating since late 2014. I moved to the UK in December 2014. I haven't kept most of my flight tickets but every time I return to Canada (I've travelled every year since) I have to go through immigration and give my reason for entering Canada (due to overstaying my welcome back in 2014 when my study permit expired) and I always state my girlfriend as the reason (with her contact details). In fact, my Canadian bank account opened in 2019 shows that I've been using her address for bank statements since then. I work in the UK while my Girlfriend is currently on employment insurance due to the pandemic and is working on becoming a certified real estate salesperson. I help her with certain expenses while she is working on her career. My recent statements show monthly interact payments back and forth between our accounts.

The reason we haven't been able to live together is due to the immigration barrier. We would have been engaged by now if it wasn't for this.

 

[armoured]

I would like to know if my partner and I can go through the conjugal sponsorship route and if so, what the steps would be. (i.e. get your IELTS ready, prepare your police records, fill out forms 'A' and 'B', etc)

I live in the UK. My girlfriend is a Canadian living in Toronto, Canada. We met during my time spent studying in Canada in 2014 and have been dating since late 2014. I moved to the UK in December 2014. I haven't kept most of my flight tickets but every time I return to Canada (I've travelled every year since) I have to go through immigration and give my reason for entering Canada (due to overstaying my welcome back in 2014 when my study permit expired) and I always state my girlfriend as the reason (with her contact details). In fact, my Canadian bank account opened in 2019 shows that I've been using her address for bank statements since then. I work in the UK while my Girlfriend is currently on employment insurance due to the pandemic and is working on becoming a certified real estate salesperson. I help her with certain expenses while she is working on her career. My recent statements show monthly interact payments back and forth between our accounts.

The reason we haven't been able to live together is due to the immigration barrier. We would have been engaged by now if it wasn't for this.

If you can enter canada, you don't have an immigration barrier. And in fact could marry while in Canada. Or she could visit you in UK and marry there.

So no, you would not qualify and should plan instead on marrying to qualify. If you klmarry while in Canada, you could potentially apply inland and remain while processing.

 

[JFSJoey]

If you can enter canada, you don't have an immigration barrier. And in fact could marry while in Canada. Or she could visit you in UK and marry there.

So no, you would not qualify and should plan instead on marrying to qualify. If you klmarry while in Canada, you could potentially apply inland and remain while processing.

That makes sense, thank you.

We're not ready to get married just yet. We want to live normally for a bit before doing so.

That brings me to my next question,

My girlfriend currently has a housemate and is looking to move out. Since we're already together financially, we want to rent a condo together so we're both on the tenancy agreement and we have a place of our own for whenever I visit. I would not be there all year round but we would now have a financial paper trail due to the bills and tenancy agreement we would share. Would a year of that make us eligible for common-law sponsorship or would I also need to show that I am physically with her all year round?

 

[armoured]

That makes sense, thank you.

We're not ready to get married just yet. We want to live normally for a bit before doing so.

That brings me to my next question,

My girlfriend currently has a housemate and is looking to move out. Since we're already together financially, we want to rent a condo together so we're both on the tenancy agreement and we have a place of our own for whenever I visit. I would not be there all year round but we would now have a financial paper trail due to the bills and tenancy agreement we would share. Would a year of that make us eligible for common-law sponsorship or would I also need to show that I am physically with her all year round?

You would have to reside together a full year, continuous,to qualify as common law.

You can't just sponsor a girlfriend. It is spousal sponsorship,whether by marriage or common law, often called common law marriage.

It's not meant to be sponsorship for those that are not-quite-ready.

 

[armoured]

A small additional note: when you ARE ready, marriage may make more sense from the PR-application process and timing because common law apps do get more scrutiny on some aspects and get caught up not-infrequently on technicalities.

 

[jddd]

That makes sense, thank you.

We're not ready to get married just yet. We want to live normally for a bit before doing so.

That brings me to my next question,

My girlfriend currently has a housemate and is looking to move out. Since we're already together financially, we want to rent a condo together so we're both on the tenancy agreement and we have a place of our own for whenever I visit. I would not be there all year round but we would now have a financial paper trail due to the bills and tenancy agreement we would share. Would a year of that make us eligible for common-law sponsorship or would I also need to show that I am physically with her all year round?

agree with armoured.

to qualify for common-law, you have to live together, physically of course, for at least one continuous year. you can't just create a paper trail to make it seem like so, that is called misrepresentation.

if you do not want to get married, you can actually go to Canada, apply to extend your status before reaching 6 months and apply for sponsorship once you reach 1 continuous year of living together. if you do not want to do this or unable to, your only option is to get married.

you and your girlfriend may also opt to live together alternately between Canada and the UK. you stay in Canada with her for 6 months and she stays with you in the UK for 6 months if that is allowed (I don't know how long Canadian visitors are allowed to stay there). doesn't the UK have a fiancee visa? can she not live with you in the UK through that if the goal is to "live normally for a bit" before getting married? just a thought.

 

[scylla]

That makes sense, thank you.

We're not ready to get married just yet. We want to live normally for a bit before doing so.

That brings me to my next question,

My girlfriend currently has a housemate and is looking to move out. Since we're already together financially, we want to rent a condo together so we're both on the tenancy agreement and we have a place of our own for whenever I visit. I would not be there all year round but we would now have a financial paper trail due to the bills and tenancy agreement we would share. Would a year of that make us eligible for common-law sponsorship or would I also need to show that I am physically with her all year round?

No - this would not qualify you for common law. You would just be classified as dating and visiting her. You need to live together continuously for one full year to qualify as common law. As others have said, conjugal is a non-starter.