Spousal and Partner Sponsorship

A Canadian citizen or permanent resident may sponsor a spouse, a common-law partner or, in narrow circumstances, a conjugal partner for permanent residence. The decision turns on two things: whether you are eligible to sponsor, and whether the evidence shows the relationship is genuine.

This page deals with spouse and partner applications. The wider family class, including dependent children, parents and other relatives, is covered on the family sponsorship page.

Spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner

IRCC treats these as three separate categories, and the one you apply under changes the evidence you have to produce.

• Spouse. A person you are legally married to, who is at least 18. The marriage must be valid both where it took place and under Canadian law.
• Common-law partner. A person at least 18 whom you are not married to and with whom you have lived in a conjugal relationship for at least twelve consecutive months. Short absences for work or family reasons do not break the period, but a separation does.
• Conjugal partner. A person at least 18, living outside Canada, with whom you have been in an exclusive and interdependent relationship for at least a year but who could not live with you or marry you because of a legal, immigration, social, cultural or religious barrier. This category is narrow, and IRCC examines closely whether the barrier is real.

In each case the relationship must be genuine and not entered into primarily to obtain status in Canada, and the person being sponsored must not be inadmissible. IRCC sets out the definitions on its who you can sponsor page.

Applying from inside or outside Canada

Where the application is made affects how it is processed, what the applicant can do while waiting, and what happens if it is refused. The choice is not simply a matter of convenience.

Which route suits a particular couple depends on where they are living, the applicant’s current status, whether they need to travel, and how much weight the right of appeal carries in their situation. It is worth deciding this deliberately at the start.

Working in Canada while the application is processed

A spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner who is being sponsored and is living in Canada with the sponsor may apply for an open work permit. IRCC requires the applicant to be in a genuine relationship with the sponsor, to be living in Canada with the sponsor, and to have an acknowledgement of receipt for the permanent residence application. The applicant must also have valid temporary resident status, which includes having maintained status, or having applied for and being eligible for restoration as a visitor, worker or student. An accompanying dependent child of the principal applicant may also qualify.

An open work permit is not tied to one employer, and it is one of several kinds described on the work permits page. IRCC’s page on the open work permit sets out the current conditions, including when an extension can be requested while the permanent residence application is still in progress.

Showing the relationship is genuine

This is where most spousal applications are won or lost. An officer who has never met you is deciding whether two people are actually in the relationship they describe, using paper. The point is not to produce a large file but a consistent one.

Evidence that usually carries weight includes documents showing a shared life over time, such as a lease or mortgage in both names, joint accounts, insurance or benefit designations, and identification showing the same address; a coherent record of how the relationship developed, including travel to see one another; photographs with other people and across different occasions rather than a set taken on one day; and statements from family members who know the couple.

Weak files tend to share the same features: a chronology that does not match the documents, no explanation for long separations, screenshots of messages with nothing else, and answers on the forms that differ between the two applications. Where a marriage took place quickly, or where there is a significant age or background difference, the explanation belongs in the application rather than in a reply to a procedural fairness letter months later.

Where a common-law relationship is being relied on, the twelve months of cohabitation has to be demonstrated, not asserted. A statutory declaration of common-law union is part of that, and it can be commissioned at the office, but it does not replace the underlying documents.

If the application is refused

A refusal letter will give reasons, and the officer’s notes usually give more. The first question is whether there is a right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, which generally exists for family class applications processed abroad but not for applications made under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class. Appeal deadlines are short and run from the refusal.

Where there is no appeal, the options are usually a fresh application that deals with the reasons for refusal, or an application for judicial review at the Federal Court. The refused applications page explains how those differ. Judicial review is a court proceeding and generally requires a lawyer. The practice does not act in the Federal Court and will refer you on where that is the route you need.

Common questions

Should we apply inland or outland?

It depends on where the applicant is living and what they need most. Applying inside Canada opens the door to an open work permit but gives up the right of appeal. Applying outside Canada keeps the appeal and allows the applicant to travel, but there is no work permit attached to it.

Can my spouse work while we wait?

Only with a work permit. If they are in Canada with valid status, being sponsored under the in-Canada class and living with you, the open work permit described above is the usual route. Being married to a Canadian does not by itself allow anyone to work.

Do we have to be married?

No. A common-law partnership of at least twelve months qualifies, and in limited circumstances so does a conjugal partnership. What changes between them is the evidence required.

Can I sponsor if I sponsored a former spouse?

Not while the earlier undertaking is within the period IRCC sets, and not if you are in default under it. The undertaking for a previous spouse or partner also affects whether a new sponsorship can be filed. This is worth checking before anything else.

Discuss your matter

The practice prepares spousal and partner sponsorships from the first assessment through to the decision, including the evidence file, the open work permit application where it applies, and responses to anything IRCC asks for.

Related pages: family sponsorship · work permits · refused applications · statutory declarations and commissioning

Last reviewed: 20 September 2026 against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada guidance. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not describe how an officer will decide any particular application.