The Qualifications for Conjugal Sponsorship
Many times, couples that are in conjugal relationships don’t know how to qualify as a conjugal relationship in the eyes of Immigration. Canadian Immigration has a very specific definition for conjugal relationships and thus, it is very important for conjugal couples to meet this definition in order to apply for conjugal sponsorship. Before applying for a conjugal sponsorship, it is essential to understand what a conjugal relationship is and how to qualify as such. Therefore, in this article, I will explain what a Conjugal relationship is, the qualifications for Conjugal Sponsorship, how Canadian Immigration assesses conjugal sponsorships, and much more.
What is a Conjugal Relationship
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), a conjugal partner is defined as an individual who resides outside of Canada and who has a marriage-like commitment with the Canadian sponsor for a minimum of one year. However, they could not live with the Canadian sponsor due to special circumstances. CIC also recognizes opposite-sex relationships as well as same-sex relationships under the conjugal sponsorship. Often times the special circumstances include separation because of war, persecution and other legal barriers that unfortunately do not allow the partners to live together.
CIC also understands that a conjugal relationship is an exception category of the family class sponsorship category. These partners often cannot marry because of these special circumstances. These circumstances are mostly out of the control of either partner and thus can make living with each other exceptionally difficult. These circumstances must also be ongoing for at least one year to prove the conjugal relationship. It is also important to note that partners will not qualify for conjugal sponsorship if they have been qualified as a common-law relationship but they willingly choose not to pursue common-law sponsorship.
In order to further understand what a conjugal relationship is, an example of this would be an LGBTQ couple that could not marry in their home country because religious or social conditions in that country prohibit them from doing so. In a lot of these cases, the LGBTQ couple has been victims of discrimination and other forms of abuse because of their sexual orientation. Therefore, the Canadian government has duly recognized that these relationships are still genuine and real and should be also recognized for sponsorship.
Qualifications for Conjugal Sponsorship
Before applying for Conjugal Sponsorship, it is vital for the success of the application that both the sponsor and the sponsored application recognize and understand the requirements and conditions of a Conjugal Sponsorship. Therefore, the requirements and conditions of a Conjugal Sponsorship are:
- Must prove the ongoing and genuine relationship between partners for a minimum of one year
- Must have as many combined affairs together while considering the distance
- Must demonstrate that cohabitation with the partner was not possible due to reasons outside of the control of both partners
If you meet all of these requirements and conditions, you will be able to qualify for Conjugal Sponsorship in Canada. But in order to prove all of these requirements, Canadian Immigration will request specific documentation and information from both partners. The intention of submitting these documents and information is to prove to Canadian Immigration the genuineness of your relationship.
How Canadian Immigration Assesses Conjugal Sponsorships
Conjugal sponsorships are often quite difficult to assess by Immigration officers. The main difficulty is proving an ongoing and genuine conjugal relationship. The reasoning behind this is because the requirement for a conjugal relationship is that they do not live together because of special circumstances. Therefore, the Immigration officer must determine whether the relationship is real with the separation and distance taken into consideration.
Furthermore, for conjugal sponsorships, it is essential that both partners provide detailed timelines of their relationship with specific events and moments that would prove their relationship. They must also submit sufficient documentation to prove this, for instance providing airline tickets from travels to and from each other. Other documentation that can support the genuineness of their relationship include photos; correspondence between each other such as chats, phone logs, etc.; and letters from family and friends attesting to the genuineness of the relationship between the two partners.
Immigration officers meticulously analyze the documents provided to them by the sponsor and the sponsored applicant for conjugal sponsorships. They also assess conjugal sponsorships using a multitude of different factors in order to accurately determine whether the relationship is qualified and real. Below is a list of different factors Immigration officers use to assess conjugal sponsorships.
- Marriage-like commitment to each other
- Permanent and long term relationship to each other
- Exclusively in a relationship with each other and no other person
- Intimately and sexually exclusive to one another
- Partners must depend on each other for emotional, social, physical and financial support
- Regard one another as their permanent partner
- May have children together and both take care of the children together
It is important to note that conjugal partners can have children together but it is not a requirement in order to qualify as a conjugal sponsorship. If the conjugal partners do share children together, they must prove that they both attend to the needs of the dependent child together.
Contact Akrami & Associates
It is essential that you have met all of the aforementioned requirements before you attempt to apply for a conjugal sponsorship. Conjugal Sponsorship applications are difficult applications to pursue on your own and it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients reunite with their conjugal partners in Canada and are now living permanently in Canada. If you believe that you may be eligible to sponsor your conjugal partner, please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.
With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!
