Conjugal Sponsorships

The last article gave a brief explainer on Canada’s family sponsorship program, specifically for spouses and common-law partners. That said, a third category is recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that – although may have genuine marriage-like qualities – still does not fall under the umbrella of spousal or common-law relationships. This type of couple is called “conjugal partners.” IRCC allows sponsorship of those who fall under this category under the conjugal partner class.

This article will explain to you what constitutes as conjugal partners and in what certain situations would a couple want to apply under this class.

The Objective: Family Reunification for Partners Under Special Circumstances

In some cases, Canadian citizens may be unable to sponsor their partner to come to Canada as a permanent resident through the typical means that is the spouse or common-law partner class. This may be due to legal impediments and/or financial or societal burdens that prevent cohabitation.

Some examples of this are that the foreign national partner is unable to break free from a previous marriage due to no legal provisions in his/her jurisdiction for divorce, or that the couple is in a same-sex relationship but reside in an area where that relationship is not legally recognized. Worse, that relationship may be stigmatized and/or deemed illegal/criminal leading to severe consequences and must therefore avoid cohabitation to avoid persecution.

As Canada prides itself as being one of the countries that recognize marriage equality, it seeks to treat all forms of recognized relationships for partners equally when it comes to immigration. This provides partners who do not have the privilege to marry or live with each other a way to take advantage of Canada’s robust immigration programs.

Who Can Sponsor?

Similar to the spouse and common-law relationship route of family sponsorship, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada to sponsor their conjugal partner to come to Canada as permanent residents. Most of the same requirements to be a sponsor from the spouse and common-law partner route applies to the conjugal partner route as well: the sponsor must be at least 18 years old, must reside in Canada, and must not be subject to bars against sponsorship.

Who Can You Sponsor?

A conjugal partner is defined as a person outside Canada who is in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor spanning at least one year but could not live with their partner. The emphasis here is on the impossibility of marriage or common-law status because the partners could not marry and were forced to live apart. Otherwise, the Canadian Government would just require the couple to get married or cohabitate for at least twelve (12) months.

To be considered as a conjugal partner to a sponsor, the couple must have been in a conjugal relationship for at least one year that is mutually interdependent in nature (i.e., financial support of one another, joint ownership of possessions, etc.) prior to applying.

The definition of a conjugal relationship is something dealt with in Canadian jurisprudence, specifically in the M v H case, which can be accessed here.

There are however exceptions to being considered conjugal partners for the purposes of immigration. Some exceptions to this are that:

-          The conjugal partner is under 18 years old,

-          The relationship was only entered into by the foreign national partner to acquire permanent residence in Canada (ingenuine relationship), and;

-          The relationship is polygamous (i.e., open relationship, non-exclusive).

Note that conjugal partner sponsorships carry a heavy evidentiary burden. In simple terms, you must be able to prove your relationship and to produce reliable evidence why you cannot marry or establish a common-law relationship via 12 months cohabitation.

A lot of applications for conjugal sponsorship fail on meeting the legal requirement and the minimum evidentiary threshold.

If you and your partner think that you qualify under this category, please book a consultation with us.