same sex partnership

[iloveher]

hi there!

I just like to inquire how does a same sex partnership works for Canada. I have been with this kind of relationship for almost 5 years now and my partner & I have been wanting to settle in Canada the soonest. She has been working in Canada since July 2008 and just this year, she finally got her Permanent Resident Status. We are trying a Visit Visa for me this month and if ever I get lucky we'll get married there and we'll just fix all the necessary requirements needed for me to be able to stay in Canada legally.

My question is, if ever I wouldn't be able to get a Visit Visa what could be our alternative plan? Can she sponsor me as my "spouse"? Can we declare that we're in a Domestic Partner or whatever? We really wanted to be together this time, because for the duration of our relationship most of it we're apart. And we are not getting any younger, we want to live a like a normal couple without people judging us...or looking at us with a disgust on their faces as if we have committed a crime. In the country that I am living right now, same sex relationship is really not accepted because of some religious standards and stuffs. I believe that Canada can give us the freedom to do all the normal couple has been doing...like, hold hands and just be accepted for who and what we are. We are just two people in love....it just so happen that to most "righteous" people what we have is not "normal".

I just hope that you guys could help me...whoever out there has experienced the same situation as ours. Thanks!

 

[computergeek]

You need to be very clear here, because it will have a profound impact on the answer to your question.

Specifically, you need to identify the specifics of your relationship. Have you and your partner lived together in a continuous twelve month period prior to her receiving PR status? If not, then you have one or perhaps two options.

The BEST option is for you to get married. This does not need to be in Canada - it could be in any country where same-sex marriage is allowed. This is by far the clearest way to do it and allows your partner to sponsor you for permanent residency. If you can enter Canada (either because you are visa exempt or because you can obtain a TRV to visit Canada) then you can marry in Canada and be sponsored from inside Canada. This allows you to remain with your partner throughout the process.

The only other option is to try and prove that you are in a conjugal relationship. Based upon what you have said, I think that is not a course that should be pursued because if you can successfully convince a visa officer that you have a conjugal relationship that same officer will likely conclude that your conjugal relationship pre-dates your partner's permanent residency. Since you were not declared on her application, you would be excluded as a member of the family class. But conjugal relationships of all the categories are by far the most complicated - they are almost impossible to prove and as a corollary, it's almost impossible for CIC to argue that you were in one prior to sponsorship.

 

[iloveher]

My partner & I was not been able to live together for 12 months since she had to fly to Canada for work. We've only been together (physically) for 7 months...it's like a long distance relationship for the past years. But the constant communication was there.

I think that the only gateway I have is to get a Visit Visa in Canada and get married there...Thanks so much! I just hope I get approved...

 

[scylla]

Right - one choice is to get married. The other choice is to become common law (live together for a minimum of one full year). If you can obtain a work visa or study visa or come as a tourist to Canada and live here with her for a year - she will be able to sponsor you as a common law partner.