Spouse & Common-Law Sponsorship
Requirements for the nature of the relationship
- Your Spouse: The Sponsor and the Sponsored Person must be legally married. A Certificate of Marriage from the province or territory where the marriage took place is required if the marriage took place in Canada. Same sex marriages performed within Canada are valid for spousal sponsorship. If the marriage took place outside of Canada, it must be valid under the law of the country where it took place as well as under Canadian federal law
- Your common-law partner: This category applies to common-law partner who isn’t legally married to you, is at least 18 years old, has been living with you continuously for at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship. You should not be living apart for longer periods. You need to proof your relationship through documentation.
- Your Conjugal Partner: This category applies to your conjugal partner who:
- Isn’t legally married to you or is in a common-law relationship (at least 12 months of continuous relation)
- Is at least 18 years old
- Has been in relationship with you for at least 1 year.
- Lives outside Canada
- Can’t live with you in their country of residence or marry you because of significant legal and immigration reasons.
Program Requirements
Sponsor requirements
- The sponsor must be at least 18 years of age.
- The sponsor must be a Canadian permanent resident living in Canada or a Canadian citizen.
- The sponsor cannot be in prison, bankrupt, under a removal order (if a permanent resident) or charged with a serious offence.
- The sponsor cannot have been sponsored to Canada as a spouse within the last 5 years.
Sponsored person (applicant) requirements
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- The relationship is genuine (real) and was not entered into just to get permanent resident status in Canada.