I apologize that this is a repeat post. I think I posted in the wrong place so I am re-posting here. So much info on this subject! I really need help with this so I hope you can help me.
I am a Canadian citizen and my partner is U.S. We had a civil union back in 2000 and have been living together ever since on and off between the U.S. and Canada. In other words, I would go to the U.S. to live with her and return to Canada after my six month stay and after 24 hrs in Canada, I would go back into the states to continue to live with her. I did this for 12 years. My doctor in Canada advised me that I needed to stay close at home due to health reasons (I'm 79 yrs old). My partner quit her job and came to Canada with me and has been here ever since (for 3 years now - an overstay) to care for me in my older years. I want to sponsor her so she can remain in Canada and I decided to do an inland application. My question is this:
1) Because we had a civil union in Canada, which would be the best way to sponsor her - as a common-law partner or can I sponsor her as my spouse even though we only had a civil union? How does Canada actually recognize the difference between the two and which option would be best for me choose? I just want to make sure I do this right to avoid any kind of delay in my application.
I am a Canadian citizen and my partner is U.S. We had a civil union back in 2000 and have been living together ever since on and off between the U.S. and Canada. In other words, I would go to the U.S. to live with her and return to Canada after my six month stay and after 24 hrs in Canada, I would go back into the states to continue to live with her. I did this for 12 years. My doctor in Canada advised me that I needed to stay close at home due to health reasons (I'm 79 yrs old). My partner quit her job and came to Canada with me and has been here ever since (for 3 years now - an overstay) to care for me in my older years. I want to sponsor her so she can remain in Canada and I decided to do an inland application. My question is this:
1) Because we had a civil union in Canada, which would be the best way to sponsor her - as a common-law partner or can I sponsor her as my spouse even though we only had a civil union? How does Canada actually recognize the difference between the two and which option would be best for me choose? I just want to make sure I do this right to avoid any kind of delay in my application.
