If you are in Canada, you can be sponsored by your husband, wife, or common-law partner, as long as he or she is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (landed immigrant).You will not have to leave Canada in order to apply for permanent residence. You may remain in Caanda while your application is processed.Your sponsor and yourself will have to fill out the forms in the “Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada” application kit, which is found on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada: www.cic.gc.ca

What does “common-law partner” mean?

If you and your partner are living together now, but are not married, and if you have lived together for 12 months or more, you are considered “common-law partners” for immigration purposes.

What if my husband, wife or common-law partner is the same sex as me?

You can still be sponsored, either as a spouse or as a common-law partner – as a “spouse” if you were legally married in a place where same-sex marriage is legal (for example, Ontario). If not, as a “common-law partner” (as long as you have lived together 12 months or more).

What if I am legally married to someone else?

You can still be sponsored as a “common-law partner,” even if you or your sponsor is still married to someone else. (However, there may be complications if your common-law partner sponsored his or her spouse before, or if your common-law partner was sponsored to come to Canada.)

What if I am illegal in Canada?

You can still be sponsored as a “spouse or common-law partner in Canada” even if you have no status in Canada. This law changed on February 18, 2005 – before that, you had to have legal status in Caanda to be sponsored, but that is no longer the case.