Hello. Im currently in a same sex relationship with a canadian citizen for over 12 months. Im legally married here in the Philippines. My partner has visited here twice and our family knows about our relationship. My query is, is being legally married here and being in a same sex relationship enough to apply for a conjugal partnership?
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- Thread starter kurz03
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Yes - it's legal.
You'll want to show strong evidence that you are in a conjugal relationship (not just the trips but other evidence as well that you have combined your lives and are in a marriage-like relationship).
Thank you for your reply. We have a joint bank account, remittances, conversations and phone calls 24/7, have met her family from Canada while they visited here, met my family as well (all have pictures), we went on a trip outside The Philippines, exchanging gifts, sending out surprises (flowers, cards, etc.). Would that be enough? I am curious from other topics stating about the immigration barrier. Applying for a TRV will make the application stronger? Thank you for your reply.
np08
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You have to apply for the TRV. If it's approved, then you can go to Canada and become common law after living together for a year. If your TRV is denied, that's your proof of an immigration barrier for the conjugal app. Don't apply as conjugal without a TRV rejection.
Thank you. As I understand, being legally married here in the Philippines and being in a same sex relationship with a lot of evidence is not strong enough for a conjugal application? Thanks for the clarification.
np08
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People from the Philippines make up probably 90% of all conjugal applications specifically because there's no divorce in the Philippines so both opposite sex and same sex people have an issue with that.
However, in order for anyone to qualify for the conjugal category, there must be both legal and immigration barriers to getting married or becoming common law. Legal - not being able to marry someone else because you're already married and can't get divorced OR not being able to marry a same sex partner because there's no same sex marriage in the Philippines. Immigration - not being able to go to Canada and get married there or become common law there.
So you have the legal aspect down, but you will only have the immigration barrier if you actually apply for the TRV and get denied. Because if you do get the TRV, then you can go to Canada for 12 months and become common law. So you have to first apply for the TRV and see if you get it or not.
np08
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You don't need an annulment in order to qualify for the conjugal category. You can certainly try to get the marriage annulled, though, as then you could marry your partner and apply through that stream, which is an easier process than the conjugal one.
Thank you again for your reply. Do u think I will be granted a TRV as I had only visited 2 countries outside the Philippines (Singapore and Cambodia), only 10 months in my job with $660 CAD monthly salary? My partner is getting a loan at a bank for $6,000 CAD as a support for my trip. They have their own property in Canada. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks again.
