Conjugal application is one of the toughest to prove but it happened in my case. Im in a same situation like you do last year. Ive asked many people here, Most people here will help you and some can make you feel down and discourage but remember only CIC will decide about the fate of your love. Have a positive outlook and dont get easily distracted by the advise here. Be prepared to hear others suggestion/opinion. Take it easy.
Question: When your partner landed as a PR in Canada, did he disclosed you as his partner on his papers? This maybe an essential factor and im not familiar with India application but i will assume that the choices about your partner’s marital status are limited (e.g. Single, Married, Divorced, Separated, Etc) Same sex relationship situation like same sex common law is not recognized by most Asian countries/government so i would assume that Common law/Conjugal partnership is not present on his application form when he applied as a landed immigrant here in Canada. THEREFORE, he might have chosen SINGLE in his application form. IN THAT CASE, it is a matter of proving that your relationship existed before he landed as a PR. Your partner will have to explain his sides on why he didnt disclose you. Technically if he stated that he is SINGLE on his application, then he have made the right choice because there is no option for common law/conjugal partnership in his application in India. Did you get the picture now?
To be a Common law, you and your partner must cohabitate under one roof for atleast 1 year. (That includes all your financial, insurance, rent, etc, should be under your names) And this is tough for India because of social stigma and public perception in addition to your own families perception. You need to prove on why you cant do common law ok? You need to prove why the only choice left is conjugal.
In applying Conjugal Application, you need to be innovative in proving that your relationship existed before he landed as an Immigrant (letters/chat, joint bills, joint properties together, apartment rentals, travel, monetary support or joint account if any, celebration of relationship like do you have any close friends or family that are willing to testify under oath stating that your relationship is genuine, pictures, insurace the he is your beneficiary and vice versa, visa denials, and many others) A cover letter will be nice, this will help CIC understand your situation better. You and your partner need to detail your relationship situation. In my case, we did a NOTARIZED cover letter (sworn statement). CIC are human they are not robot. Again, only CIC will decide so dont lose hope. You need to work on what you have. Patience is a virtue.
My partner is a transgender woman from Manila, im a Canadian born male citizen, my situation maybe tougher than you because of huge age gap and other red flags but just last March of 2017 she landed as an immigrant under Conjugal Application in one attempt. That is because of my partner and I made an effort to work on the situation. We focused on what we have, not on what we dont. And id like you to do the same.
If you got denied for a TRV in Canada, that’s ok it is ground for immigration barrier. My partner got denied twice by TRV in Canada and she tried US tourist visa but was refused too, Our intention is to get married. I included those visa denial letters and i specifically mention these denial letters in my cover letter.
Try applying in for a trv in Canada, and in other countries too like US or New Zealand. If you and your partner can get married then you can apply for Spousal application. If not, its not the end of the world.
CIC will treat all application with the same level of guidelines whether its spousal, common law or conjugal.
