You have been living together continuously for at least twelve months. Under Canadian immigration law, that makes you a common-law couple — with the same sponsorship rights as married spouses. What differs is the evidence.
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, a common-law partner is a person who has cohabited with the sponsor in a conjugal relationship for a continuous period of at least one year. Both elements matter — conjugal, meaning genuine spousal-like commitment, and continuous, meaning uninterrupted twelve-month cohabitation.
Once these criteria are met, the sponsorship route is identical to marriage-based sponsorship. Same class options (inland or outland), same forms, same processing streams, same appeal rights. The core difference is that a marriage certificate is replaced by proof of the twelve months of cohabitation — and this is where most common-law files stand or fall.
IRCC officers look for evidence that you were living together as a couple — sharing a home, finances, and daily life — for a continuous twelve-month period. The clock does not start when you decided to be a couple; it starts when you actually began living together in the same residence.
Common misunderstandings:
Officers weigh evidence in categories, and a file needs multiple categories to be persuasive. A single joint lease does not carry the same weight as a lease plus utility bills plus joint bank accounts plus consistent third-party correspondence.
Lease or mortgage in both names, or documented change of address at the same time; utilities showing both names or matching move-in dates; property tax bills; renters' insurance.
Joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, life insurance beneficiaries, RRSP or pension beneficiaries, tax filings showing common-law status.
Correspondence addressed jointly, invitations to family events as a couple, statutory declarations from friends and family, photographs across time and settings.
Statutory declaration of common-law union, tax status filed as common-law, employer benefit enrolment as common-law spouse, medical insurance coverage.
Common-law couples face the same inland/outland decision as married couples. The considerations are largely the same:
One added wrinkle: in some countries, common-law relationships are not legally recognized, and the sponsored partner may face difficulties obtaining supporting documents (for example, joint utility accounts). This is generally addressed with supplementary declarations and thoughtful evidence organization rather than being a barrier to approval.
Canadian immigration also recognizes a third category — conjugal partner — which is different from common-law. Conjugal partner sponsorship is only for couples who could not live together for the twelve months required for common-law, because of legal, immigration, or serious circumstance-based obstacles. It is a narrow category, often refused when applied inappropriately, and should never be selected simply because a couple did not want to live together yet. If your relationship does not meet the twelve-month cohabitation test, we should discuss whether marriage or conjugal partner is the better route.
The professional fee for common-law sponsorship is the same as spousal sponsorship and is posted on the homepage. Government fees are additional and paid to IRCC. Complex evidentiary situations — for example, cohabitation across multiple countries with limited documentation — may involve additional preparation time, which is quoted transparently in advance.
Common-law files turn on evidence more than any other spousal category. A free 15-minute consultation will identify whether you meet the twelve-month test today, what evidence you already have, and what would strengthen your file before you submit.
