On the basis of available studies on the Caribbean (English and French speaking countries) and Europe (the Nordics countries and France), this paper compares patterns of forming conjugal, non-residential unions in both societies. Visiting unions in the two forms of non-legalized union in which spouses share a sexual and affective, but non-residential sphere. This is a pattern of family formation that is far from the normative model (legal marriage) and consensual (non-legal) unions that involve co-residence. Our interest is twofold: to compare the various forms assumed by non-residential conjugal arrangements in different socio-historic and cultural contexts; and to analyze their implications for the family life. The role of non-residential arrangements in the formation of families with female headship, the birth of children out of wedlock, the relationship between fathers and children and gender relations have constituted a significant sphere of debate and research in Caribbean societies for a number of decades. We are interested in examining the extent to which there is a confluence between these issues and those present in analyses of family life in European countries.