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Conjugal Partner Sponsorship Canada 2026

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Conjugal partner sponsorship is one of the most limited – and most evidence-driven – partner sponsorship categories in Canada. This page explains what IRCC means by a “conjugal partner” and who can qualify. It also breaks down what significant barriers must exist to show you couldn’t marry or live together for 12 continuous months.

You’ll learn how to prepare strong proof of both the relationship and the barrier. We also cover the key practical steps: the checklist and requirements, IRCC processing times, application fees, and how to track your application after submission.

If you’re not sure whether your situation truly fits IRCC’s conjugal standard, you can book a consultation to get a clear strategy before applying and avoid the most common refusal risks. For couples who may qualify as married or common-law instead, start with our Spousal Sponsorship main page to compare options, and if you want to explore other categories, visit our Family Sponsorship page. If you need professional help with a high-stakes conjugal case, work with our licensed immigration consultant. You can also take a look at our fees. 

Conjugal Partner Sponsorship Canada

What is conjugal sponsorship

Under IRCC rules, a conjugal partner is a person (any sex, age 18+) you are not legally married to and not in a common-law relationship with, but with whom you’ve been in an exclusive, mutually interdependent, marriage-like relationship for at least 1 year. This means you’ve shared your lives in meaningful ways – physically, emotionally, financially, and socially – but you cannot live together or marry because of significant barriers (which we explain in detail in the next section below).

If you don’t meet IRCC’s conjugal definition, you may still have other sponsorship pathways, depending on your circumstances:

Sponsor Your conjugal Partner to Canada: Eligibility & Requirements

Sponsor Eligibility Requirements

To sponsor a conjugal partner to Canada, the sponsor must meet IRCC’s general family-class sponsorship rules, plus be ready to prove the relationship fits the conjugal partner definition (because this category is assessed very strictly).

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
    • If you are a Canadian citizen living abroad, you must show a real plan to return to Canada when your partner becomes a permanent resident
    • If you are a permanent resident, you must be living in Canada to sponsor
  • You and the applicant have been in a genuine, committed, marriage-like relationship for at least 12 months
  • You could not marry or live together (to become spouses or common-law partners) due to serious barriers beyond your control (not just preference or convenience)
  • Sign the required sponsorship agreement/undertaking (commitment to support the person you sponsor)

You may be ineligible to sponsor if (examples IRCC lists):

  • You were sponsored as a spouse/partner and became a PR less than 5 years ago
  • You’re still under a previous 3-year sponsorship undertaking for a prior spouse/partner
  • You’re in jail/prison, in default of an immigration loan/support payments/previous sponsorship, undischarged bankrupt, receiving social assistance (other than disability), under a removal order, or convicted of a certain serious offence.

Applicant Eligibility Requirements

In conjugal partner sponsorship, the applicant usually doesn’t need a special “status” to be eligible. Instead, IRCC focuses on whether the applicant fits the conjugal partner category and is admissible to Canada. In other words, the applicant must meet these core conditions:

  • Be 18 years or older
  • Be in a genuine, exclusive, marriage-like relationship with the sponsor for at least 12 months
  • Be living outside Canada at the time of application (conjugal partners being sponsored are not residing in Canada)
  • Be not married to the sponsor and not common-law with them
  • Be able to show that marriage or 12-month cohabitation was not possible due to significant barriers beyond the couple’s control
  • Be admissible to Canada, including passing medical, criminal, and security checks

Proving a Conjugal Relationship to IRCC

For conjugal partner sponsorship, IRCC isn’t just checking whether you’ve been together “for a year.” They’re assessing whether your relationship is genuine, exclusive, and marriage-like – and whether you’re truly interdependent the way spouses or common-law partners typically are. Because conjugal couples often can’t live together, your evidence has to show the relationship is real despite distance.

A strong application usually proves three things clearly: (1) the relationship is genuine, (2) it has existed for at least 12 months, and (3) you function as a committed couple with shared responsibilities and long-term intent.

1) Core identity and timeline evidence

Start by making it easy for an officer to understand who you are and how your relationship developed:

  • A clear relationship timeline (how you met, key milestones, visits, engagement plans, attempts to marry/live together)

  • Copies of passports/IDs and any documents that show your shared history (invitations, event records, joint memberships)

2) Communication and ongoing contact

Because you may not have cohabitation proof, IRCC expects strong evidence of consistent, ongoing communication, such as:

  • Chat logs (WhatsApp, Messenger, Viber, etc.) showing regular contact over time

  • Call histories and video call logs

  • Emails, letters, cards, and messages for important events (birthdays, holidays)

Tip: Don’t upload thousands of pages. Submit representative samples that show frequency and continuity across the relationship.

3) In-person time and travel history

If you’ve spent time together physically, document it clearly:

  • Entry/exit stamps, boarding passes, flight bookings

  • Photos together across different dates and settings

  • होटल/airbnb bookings, shared itineraries, receipts for shared activities

4) Financial support and interdependence

Conjugal partners are expected to show practical reliance, not just romantic connection:

  • Money transfers, shared expenses, proof one partner supports the other

  • Joint bank activity (if possible), beneficiary designations, shared insurance

  • Proof of planning for a shared future (savings goals, relocation planning)

5) Social recognition and commitment

IRCC often weighs whether your relationship is recognized by people around you:

  • Photos with each other’s families and friends

  • Joint invitations, event attendance, cultural celebrations together

  • Written statements from relatives/friends who know your relationship (who they are, how they know you, what they’ve observed)

6) Proof you attempted to marry or live together (important for conjugal cases)

This is where conjugal applications often win or lose. Include evidence showing you tried to become spouses or common-law but couldn’t:

  • Visitor visa/TRV or long-stay visa applications and refusal letters (if applicable)

  • Attempts to relocate, obtain permits, or extend status

  • Any official/legal documents supporting the barrier (laws, restrictions, police reports, risk evidence where relevant)

The goal is to leave IRCC with one clear conclusion: your relationship is real and marriage-like, it has lasted at least 12 months, and the only reason you aren’t married or common-law is because legitimate barriers made that impossible – not because you chose not to.

What Barriers Qualify for Conjugal Partner Sponsorship

Conjugal partner sponsorship is only for couples who can prove one key thing: you had a genuine, marriage-like relationship for at least 12 months, but you could not become spouses or common-law partners because of a significant barrier outside your control.

In other words, IRCC isn’t looking for “we chose not to live together yet.” IRCC is looking for “we tried, but it wasn’t realistically possible.”

What barriers qualify?

A barrier may qualify when it makes it impossible or unreasonable to either marry or live together continuously for 12 months. Examples that often fit IRCC’s reasoning include:

  • Immigration barriers: You couldn’t get the right long-term status (visitor extensions refused, long-stay visas not available, repeated refusals, no legal way to remain together long enough to qualify as common-law).

  • Legal barriers: The law prevented marriage or cohabitation in practice (for example, divorce not available/recognized, restrictions that make marriage legally impossible in your situation).

  • Safety barriers: Living together or marrying would create a real risk of harm (violence, persecution, arrest, or serious threats for example in case of same-sex relationships).

  • Severe social or cultural barriers tied to safety or control: When the consequences go beyond discomfort—such as credible risks of being forced to hide, being denied housing or work, being targeted by authorities or community violence, or being unable to live openly without danger.

What usually does not qualify

IRCC commonly refuses conjugal claims when the reason is mainly:

  • Preference or timing (not ready to marry yet)

  • Convenience (work, school, finances, family objections without real risk)

  • Distance alone (long-distance relationship without a true barrier preventing marriage or 12-month cohabitation)

A strong conjugal case doesn’t just describe the barrier—it shows your attempts to overcome it (visa applications, legal options explored, relocation attempts, and why each route failed or was unsafe).

IRCC Application Process

Document Checklist Requirements

Conjugal partner sponsorship is processed under the same “spouse/partner” family sponsorship stream, so the document checklist and core forms are the same ones IRCC uses for spouse/common-law sponsorship – with extra emphasis on proving (1) a genuine marriage-like relationship and (2) the barrier that made marriage or 12-month cohabitation impossible.

To keep your package organized the way IRCC expects, use IMM 5533 (Document Checklist – Spouse, Including Dependent Children) as your master checklist. If you apply online, you upload the completed checklist with your application; if you apply on paper, it goes on top of the package, and your documents should be placed in the same order as the checklist.

In a typical conjugal case, your requirements fall into 4 buckets:

  • Sponsor documents and forms (identity, status in Canada, required sponsorship forms and signatures)

  • Applicant documents and forms (identity/civil documents, travel history, police certificates as required, etc.)

  • Proof of relationship (communication, visits, financial interdependence, social recognition, long-term intent)

  • Proof of barriers (clear evidence showing why you could not marry or live together for 12 months, plus attempts you made to overcome the barrier)

IRCC Processing Time

There isn’t one fixed processing time for conjugal partner cases—IRCC updates timelines regularly and the posted time is not a guarantee or maximum. 

To check the current estimate, applicants should use IRCC’s Check processing times page and select:
Family sponsorship → Spouse, partner or dependent child → Outside Canada (conjugal partner sponsorship is handled through the out-of-Canada family class process).

IRCC Application Fees

Government fees for sponsoring a spouse/partner (including conjugal partner) are currently:

  • $1,205 CAD total if you pay everything upfront

    • $85 sponsorship fee

    • $545 principal applicant processing fee

    • $575 right of permanent residence fee (RPRF)

If you don’t pay the RPRF at the beginning, the upfront total is $630 CAD, and IRCC will request the $575 RPRF later before final approval.

If dependent children are included on the application, the fee is:

  • $175 CAD per dependent child (added to the spouse/partner application)

Other common costs to plan for:

  • Biometrics: $85 per person (or $170 max for an eligible family applying at the same time)

You must always refer to the official IRCC fee list for the latest amounts, as these immigration fees can change.

Application Status Tracker

After you apply, IRCC updates your file through the account/portal you used, and you can also use IRCC’s Application status tracker for more detailed status steps once you have your identifiers.

In general, you can track your conjugal partner sponsorship through:

  • Your IRCC secure account or portal (where you submitted the application or where you linked it)

  • Application status tracker (shows a timeline of events; you’ll need your UCI and application number, typically available after you receive AOR)

  • ECAS (Client Application Status) as an older status tool some applicants still use for high-level updates

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