Below we provide answers to the most commonly asked questions about family class sponsorships: wife, husband, common-law and conjugal partners.
Q: What are the basic requirements for sponsoring my spouse?
A: You must prove you are in a valid relationship (example: legal marriage, or 12 months of cohabitation) and that your relationship is genuine (that you and your partner are a family and are not misrepresenting your circumstances). In addition, the sponsor must provide evidence they reside in Canada (if a permanent resident) and the immigrant must establish they are not criminally or medically inadmissible.
Q: What is a common-law partner?
A: The definition of common-law partner is two persons who have “cohabited together continuously for a period of at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship”. Simply put, you must have lived together more or less continuosly for 12 months in an exclusive, monogomous, family-like relationship.
Q: What is a conjugal partner?
A: Conjugal parnters are defined as two persons who have “been together continuously for a period of at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship”. Although conjugal partners are not required to cohabit for the entire period, care should be taken in using this class as mere “boyfriend-girlfriend” relationships may not be recognized by immigration authorities as sufficient for sponsorship.
Q: What are the financial requirements for sponsorship?
A: The sponsor is not required to have a minimum level of income. However, the sponsor cannot be receiving welfare or be an undischarged bankrup. Receipt of dissability assistance (in most cases) is not a bar to sponsorship of a spouse.
