Conjugal Visa

[peesh]

Hi!
I am new to this forum, but have found so much helpful information. I just have a questions about conjugal visa partnerships.
I am Canadian and my boyfriend is American. We have been in a relationship for two years now. For the last two years, we have visited each other every 4-6 weeks, we have been on vacation together, we are a big part of each others family's (he has spent the last two Christmas's here with me), but we have never been able to live together in the same country. I understand that he is able to come here for a period of 6 months at a time, but without having a work-permit, that is not financially feasible. I know in Canada you are not obligated to get married and this is a choice. In our situation, we wanted to apply for a conjugal visa, as we have not been able to live together, and both of us have applied to jobs which we have not be able to get. I originally considered moving to New York in order to be with him, but after being turned down by companies who do not sponsor, he is willing to come here to be with me.
- Would this be considered an immigration barrier?
-If we have sufficient evidence to prove we have been together, would this be good enough?

Thanks so much

 

[JulianaAndrew]

Hi.
Considering that your boyfriend is American, there is no legal nor immigration barrier preventing you to either become common-law or getting married. Not wanting to get married nor what's financially doable to establish your common-law relationship are not barriers that would make you qualify for the conjugal application. That stream is specifically for people who absolutely cannot get married nor establish a common-law relationship. You can easily go to the U.S and get married there, and your boyfriend can do the same by just going to Canada. Also, your boyfriend could stay in Canada for more than a year as a visitor, considering he'd be extending his visitor status, to become common-law with you. That being said, your relationship does not qualify as conjugal and therefore applying under that stream is a futile exercise. You will need to either get married or become common-law if you wish to sponsor your boyfriend for permanent residency in Canada.

 

[spousalsponsee]

Hi!
I am new to this forum, but have found so much helpful information. I just have a questions about conjugal visa partnerships.
I am Canadian and my boyfriend is American. We have been in a relationship for two years now. For the last two years, we have visited each other every 4-6 weeks, we have been on vacation together, we are a big part of each others family's (he has spent the last two Christmas's here with me), but we have never been able to live together in the same country. I understand that he is able to come here for a period of 6 months at a time, but without having a work-permit, that is not financially feasible. I know in Canada you are not obligated to get married and this is a choice. In our situation, we wanted to apply for a conjugal visa, as we have not been able to live together, and both of us have applied to jobs which we have not be able to get. I originally considered moving to New York in order to be with him, but after being turned down by companies who do not sponsor, he is willing to come here to be with me.
- Would this be considered an immigration barrier?
-If we have sufficient evidence to prove we have been together, would this be good enough?

Thanks so much

From what you have said, you would definitely not qualify for a conjugal sponsorship. As you have identified, not getting married is for you a choice, not an immigration barrier. You will need to either choose to get married, choose to live together on visitor status for a year in either country, or choose not to go through sponsorship - but for any of those you have the free choice, meaning conjugal is not an option.

 

[scylla]

What others have said - you face no immigration barrier to becoming common law or getting married. A conjugal application will be refused.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi!
I am new to this forum, but have found so much helpful information. I just have a questions about conjugal visa partnerships.
I am Canadian and my boyfriend is American. We have been in a relationship for two years now. For the last two years, we have visited each other every 4-6 weeks, we have been on vacation together, we are a big part of each others family's (he has spent the last two Christmas's here with me), but we have never been able to live together in the same country. I understand that he is able to come here for a period of 6 months at a time, but without having a work-permit, that is not financially feasible. I know in Canada you are not obligated to get married and this is a choice. In our situation, we wanted to apply for a conjugal visa, as we have not been able to live together, and both of us have applied to jobs which we have not be able to get. I originally considered moving to New York in order to be with him, but after being turned down by companies who do not sponsor, he is willing to come here to be with me.
- Would this be considered an immigration barrier?
-If we have sufficient evidence to prove we have been together, would this be good enough?

Thanks so much

In general US citizens (in fact any citizens of visa-exempt countries) are automatically ineligible for conjugal, since legal/immigration barriers to marriage or common-law do not exist.

Even if you didn't want to get married you could easily stay in each other's countries 6 months or longer as visitors to make up the 12 months required for common-law. The fact you would be unable to work, is not considered a barrier.

 

[peesh]

thank so so much everyone for the information! In regards to extending a visitors stay, if he were to come here, is it possible to get an open work permit without having a job offer. From what I understand you need to have a job offer in order to get a working visa. I understand common law is an easier root, that being said, from what I understand we need to be living together for one year, and have proof (ie. lease) but leases require a proof on employment and income statement and he would not have that on a visitors visa. Because in Canada being married is not required. We would be more than happy to live together for a year in order to apply for common law, but falling under that category seems hard to prove if one of us does not have a job in the country we are visiting. I’ve read a lot about conjugal and I had assumed because we cannot technically live together without any stipulations (as per my comments above) that would play a part in the barriers. I had assumed our “barriers” would be the fact that neither of us can get a job in another country without getting a visa, and a job offer and a lot of other requirements. We can’t just easily live together like people of the same citizenship can

Thanks so much

 

[bieber123]

thank so so much everyone for the information! In regards to extending a visitors stay, if he were to come here, is it possible to get an open work permit without having a job offer. From what I understand you need to have a job offer in order to get a working visa. I understand common law is an easier root, that being said, from what I understand we need to be living together for one year, and have proof (ie. lease) but leases require a proof on employment and income statement and he would not have that on a visitors visa. Because in Canada being married is not required. We would be more than happy to live together for a year in order to apply for common law, but falling under that category seems hard to prove if one of us does not have a job in the country we are visiting. I’ve read a lot about conjugal and I had assumed because we cannot technically live together without any stipulations (as per my comments above) that would play a part in the barriers. I had assumed our “barriers” would be the fact that neither of us can get a job in another country without getting a visa, and a job offer and a lot of other requirements. We can’t just easily live together like people of the same citizenship can

Thanks so much

Just get married and apply for inland PR + OWP. No, you don't need a job offer.

 

[spousalsponsee]

thank so so much everyone for the information! In regards to extending a visitors stay, if he were to come here, is it possible to get an open work permit without having a job offer. From what I understand you need to have a job offer in order to get a working visa.

Once you are either married or a common-law couple (have lived together for 12 months+), you can apply to sponsor him. If you apply "inland" route (processed in Canada) you can apply for an open work permit at the same time. That means he will be able to work once that arrives. These take a few months to be processed. If you intend to wait to become CL (12 months) then apply for that, you're looking at about 15 months of him not working.

I understand common law is an easier root,

I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion. If you're worried about income while you live together for a year to establish CL, then getting married is a much easier route.

that being said, from what I understand we need to be living together for one year, and have proof (ie. lease) but leases require a proof on employment and income statement and he would not have that on a visitors visa. Because in Canada being married is not required.

No, it's not required. It is allowed, though. You are not obliged to be a CL couple in order to apply, and all of your 'problems' stem from you being worried about how to do that.

We would be more than happy to live together for a year in order to apply for common law, but falling under that category seems hard to prove if one of us does not have a job in the country we are visiting. I’ve read a lot about conjugal and I had assumed because we cannot technically live together without any stipulations (as per my comments above) that would play a part in the barriers. I had assumed our “barriers” would be the fact that neither of us can get a job in another country without getting a visa, and a job offer and a lot of other requirements. We can’t just easily live together like people of the same citizenship can

If you've read a lot about conjugal, you should know that you are required to demonstrate immigration or legal barriers. "We're allowed to live together while this happens" does not meet either of those. You can easily live together. That's not the same as having concerns about cost of living on one vs two incomes.

 

[peesh]

Thanks!

I’ll have to consider other options as I don’t think it’s necessary to get married to want to be with my partner, and common law does not seem feasible at this time.
Unfortunately going 12-15 months without a income is not financially feasible for either of us at this time. I did not think it was this difficult to be with your significant other. I must have misunderstood the definition of “barriers” when reading into a conjugal relationship visa, because my assumption was that we would fall under this category!

Thanks for all the information, this saved me a lot of time!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

thank so so much everyone for the information! In regards to extending a visitors stay, if he were to come here, is it possible to get an open work permit without having a job offer. From what I understand you need to have a job offer in order to get a working visa. I understand common law is an easier root, that being said, from what I understand we need to be living together for one year, and have proof (ie. lease) but leases require a proof on employment and income statement and he would not have that on a visitors visa. Because in Canada being married is not required. We would be more than happy to live together for a year in order to apply for common law, but falling under that category seems hard to prove if one of us does not have a job in the country we are visiting. I’ve read a lot about conjugal and I had assumed because we cannot technically live together without any stipulations (as per my comments above) that would play a part in the barriers. I had assumed our “barriers” would be the fact that neither of us can get a job in another country without getting a visa, and a job offer and a lot of other requirements. We can’t just easily live together like people of the same citizenship can

Thanks so much

Big difference between "personal choice/circumstances" and legal/immigration barriers. Let me give you some examples of actual conjugal situations:

1. A same-sex couple where the foreign partner is unable to get a TRV to Canada and lives in a country where homosexuality is still a crime. There is an immigration barrier preventing them from getting married/common-law in Canada and a legal barrier preventing them from getting married/common-law in the foreign partner's country.

2. A couple where the foreign partner is unable to get a TRV to come to Canada and is from the Phillipines and is still married to their ex (or the sponsor is Filipino and is still married there); divorce and adultery are illegal in the Phillipines. There is an immigration barrier preventing them from getting married/common-law in Canada and a legal barrier preventing them from getting married/common-law in the foreign partner's country.

 

[scylla]

thank so so much everyone for the information! In regards to extending a visitors stay, if he were to come here, is it possible to get an open work permit without having a job offer. From what I understand you need to have a job offer in order to get a working visa. I understand common law is an easier root, that being said, from what I understand we need to be living together for one year, and have proof (ie. lease) but leases require a proof on employment and income statement and he would not have that on a visitors visa. Because in Canada being married is not required. We would be more than happy to live together for a year in order to apply for common law, but falling under that category seems hard to prove if one of us does not have a job in the country we are visiting. I’ve read a lot about conjugal and I had assumed because we cannot technically live together without any stipulations (as per my comments above) that would play a part in the barriers. I had assumed our “barriers” would be the fact that neither of us can get a job in another country without getting a visa, and a job offer and a lot of other requirements. We can’t just easily live together like people of the same citizenship can

Thanks so much

It will be very easy to qualify for an open work permit once you have lived together for a year and are common law. When you sponsor him for PR, you'll include an open work permit application with the PR application - and that OWP will be granted 2-4 months after you submit the application. However he won't qualify for an open work permit before that. If he wants to work during the year you live together to become common law, he'll need to apply for a closed work permit - which does require a job offer (and typically an approved LMIA).

Once again, the fact that he can't work in Canada without getting a work permit first is not an immigration barrier that qualifies you for conjugal. It's extremely easy for you to live together for a year to become common law and also extremely easy to get married - so zero immigration barriers.

 

[spousalsponsee]

Thanks!

I’ll have to consider other options as I don’t think it’s necessary to get married to want to be with my partner, and common law does not seem feasible at this time.
Unfortunately going 12-15 months without a income is not financially feasible for either of us at this time. I did not think it was this difficult to be with your significant other. I must have misunderstood the definition of “barriers” when reading into a conjugal relationship visa, because my assumption was that we would fall under this category!

Thanks for all the information, this saved me a lot of time!

If you want to sponsor one another for residency then yes, marriage is likely the easiest way to do it. It's worth noting that if you're concerned about eg where your relationship is, a common law (or even conjugal, if your circumstances were completely different & you actually qualified) relationship has to demonstrate the same level of interconnected lives and commitment to each other. For these purposes, marriage is nothing but a piece of paper. If you actually want to live together, it's an easy solution. The fact you're vacillating over it suggests that you're simply not in a position where you should be considering sponsoring each other in the first place.

It is very easy for you to to be together - you can either live as visitor in each others countries, or you can get married. If you're concerned about finances, you can get married and then both work in your own countries while you apply outland, which would mean no gap in income (as against applying inland with a work permit, where there would be a few months gap while your partner waited to be eligible, and would then have to find something afterwards).

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks!

I’ll have to consider other options as I don’t think it’s necessary to get married to want to be with my partner, and common law does not seem feasible at this time.
Unfortunately going 12-15 months without a income is not financially feasible for either of us at this time. I did not think it was this difficult to be with your significant other. I must have misunderstood the definition of “barriers” when reading into a conjugal relationship visa, because my assumption was that we would fall under this category!

Thanks for all the information, this saved me a lot of time!

For more info, read all the conjugal sections of this manual: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

There are numerous statements like this:
"CIC cannot require couples to marry in order to immigrate. However, if they are not married, they must be common-law partners. There is NO provision for fiancé(e)s or “intended common-law partners” in IRPA. If a Canadian and a foreign national can get married or can live together and establish a common-law relationship, this is what they are expected to have done before they submit sponsorship and immigration applications."