Canada Immigration FAQs

The Canadian immigration legislation defines a conjugal partner as a person who:

• Is living outside Canada,
• Has been in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor for at least one year, and
• Could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (for example, immigration barrier, cultural hostility to sexual orientation, religious discrimination, etc.).

This term applies to both opposite and same-gender couples. Note that you can sponsor a conjugal partner only if both of the following requirements are met:

1. You must have lived in a genuine relationship for at least 12 months where marriage or cohabitation was not possible because of cultural or social barriers.
2. During this period, you must have not only a physical relationship but a mutually interdependent relationship as well. This means that you must have a significant degree of attachment between the two of you (e.g. live together, financially depend on each other etc.).

An applicant’s child or the child of his or her spouse or common-law partner can be considered a dependent child if that child meets the following requirements on the day the application for permanent residency is submitted:

• Be under 22 years old, and
• Does not have a spouse or common-law partner.

Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependent children if they meet both of the following requirements:

• They have been dependent on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22, and
• They are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition.

With the exception of age, dependent children must continue to meet the above requirements until the IRCC finishes processing an application for permanent residency.