Need an advise, please help PMM and everybody else

[racoon]

Hello guys,
today when I returned home from the university, I got a letter from the CIC saying that my partner's sponsorship was refused, due to the fact that when he landed more than 2 years ago he did not declare any dependents (meaning me). At the time he submitted his application (3 years ago) we were just dating, and recently moved in together (we lived together for about 2 months at that time, so we were not common law and plus we were not even thinking about immigration), however when he landed, we were already living together for exactly 1 year, but again it was still all shaky and we did not even know if we will stay together or not.
So the letter said that according to the regulation 125 (1) d he is not eligible to sponsor me (because of the landing which happened 2 years ago). I applied inland, so i don't have the right to appeal, does anyone know what can be done in this situation?
I am pretty much screwed right now, I lived in Canada for almost 6 years, I have a carrier here and tonnes of volunteering (with children with mental disabilities, Northern communities and cancer patients), so I helped Canadian society a lot and this little formality is ruining everything (which I had to wait for 8 months to the day), as even if I reapply outland I will still be rejected for the same thing.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions, Raccoon, going back to drinking lots of alcohol.

[niseguy]

wow.... i am sorry to hear this racoon......this has broken my heart. i was counting on ur application to make me happy and give me hope. so its a bad thing not to get a first stage approval then.

[Rocky636]

Bloody hell...... Sorry Recoon. you know what? in this issue i think much batter you take lower advise i know it's a expansive but much batter then Ur case be more disturb. yes in inland file you can't appeal but i think there is still option for re file from out side with appeal rights.

[matthewc]

First of all, don't panic. As long as you weren't living together when he first became a PR, and were genuinely only dating, you should be able to fix this.

You'll have to start a new application, through the outside route. My suggestion would be to specifically address the reason why they refused the sponsorship upfront. Include plenty of evidence both that you have a genuine relationship now, and that you were not in a qualifying relationship - i.e. assuming you were not married, you need to prove to CIC that you were not living together at the time he became a PR.

Possible evidence you were not living together before:

* bank statements showing different addresses
* cell phone records showing calls between you, but with different mailing addresses on the statements
* lease agreements or mortgage details for where you were living (separately) at that time
* statutory declarations (prepared by a solicitor) from people who know you both from the time that you were just dating, saying that you were not living together at that time, but are living together in a genuine common-law relationship now
* a statutory declaration from you as to the date you first moved in together
* a statutory declaration from him as to when you moved in together, and that you were only his girlfriend, and not eligible to be sponsored, when he landed

Also include a covering letter that explains the timeline - exactly when you first moved in together - and makes it clear that the previous denial of sponsorship eligibility was an error.

The good news is that, because the sponsorship will go to CPC-M this time round, you'll have the answer on the sponsorship portion much sooner, so you don't have to wait 8 months again to find out if you've cleared this initial hurdle.

Good luck.

[matthewc]

I forgot to say, when you submit the new application, you will need to check the box on the sponsorship application that says you want the application to continue, even if the sponsor is found to be ineligible. The reason for this is that if the sponsor is found ineligible this time around, the only way the sponsor can appeal is if the PR application itself is refused. If the sponsorship is withdrawn after the sponsor is found ineligible, you cannot appeal.

Hopefully that won't be necessary, though, if you submit enough evidence that you were not in a qualifying relationship previously.

[canadianwoman]

Apply again outland. If you are refused, you can win your appeal on humanitarian grounds.

[Fernandita]

What do you need to be aproved on humanitarian grounds?

[racoon]

Well, I think I will try to contact the local MP first and see if they can do anything about it , may be there is someone out there who can overrule the decision. Who knows, might help. Mean while i will gather all the papers for the outland application, thought I will be refused for sure, and the appeal takes over a year, sucks .....

Thank you all for replies, Raccoon 

[Siouxie]

Unfortunately, it seems you were in a common law partnership when your partner obtained PR status ("however when he landed, we were already living together for exactly 1 year") and as such he was legally bound to declare your relationship prior to landing.  If he had landed a couple of days earlier you would have been ok as you would not have qualified to be considered "common law" as the criteria is to have lived together continuously for a period exceeding 1 year.  Check your dates!

http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/RESOURCES/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

5.10. Non-accompanying family members

Applicants must declare all family members when applying for a visa and must again declare all family members, whether accompanying or not, prior to obtaining permanent resident status. Permanent residents who did not declare all their family members on their application are reportable under A44(1) [see also “Sponsor who may be subject to an A44(1) report” (section 10.5below) and “Misrepresentation” (section 5.22 below)]. In addition, all family members, whether accompanying or not, must be examined, unless the appropriate officer determines that they are not required by the Act or the former Act to examine the family member [R117(10)]. Family members who were not declared and examined are excluded from the family class and may not be sponsored at a later date as per R117(9)(d) unless R117(10) applies

The intent of R117(9)(d), R117(10) and R117(11) is to ensure that persons whom the sponsor made a conscious decision to exclude (either by not declaring and/or not having the persons examined) from their own application for permanent residence cannot later benefit by being sponsored by this same person as a member of the family class.

also

Spouse or common-law partner Meets the definition of spouse or common-law partner as described insection 6 below when the application is received by CPC-M, when the visa is issued and when they enter Canada

I think you need to seek legal advice.

So sorry....

If you have been in Canada that long, (and are at University), can you not apply under Canada Experience Class?  All it requires is 2 years skilled work experience OR be a graduate from a post secondary institution (i.e. college/university) and 1 year of experience.  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/cec/apply-who.asp

[racoon]

Thanks for reply,
me and my boyfriend moved together pretty much for ecomonical reasons (cheaper to split rent, as we were getting along quite well, so what the heck we moved in together, then he applied for PR, got it .... we were not thinking about my PR or anything like that at all, plus I support my self. So I was not his dependent (according to us =)). We did not even know if our relationship will work out or not, and frankly did not care about it. So in our eyes we were not common law or anything really, and plus when you are landing you are not really thinking about all your girlfriends/boyfriends you happened to live together for a year. Damn it is such a stupid little technicality ... so frustrating. It was over 2 years ago, and we did not even think of looking into it.

I can't apply for the Canada Experience Class, as I am graduating only this summer and don;t have a year of related work experience =((, thank you for the advice though.

Do you by any chance know if an MP or some other person from the government can help?

Cheers and good luck to everybody, Raccoon

[Asta]

maybe u should get married before applying outland? it would be stronger and more official bond between u two.
but sorry to say, smhow it sounds that u both are not that much into relationship, are u? (correct me if im wrong, but u only mentioned ur career here and volunteering but nothing about to be separated from ur boyfriend...as that would be most important to me if i was refused..).

[Siouxie]

Unfortunately because you were/are common law partners but your partner didn't declare you at the time of getting PR, they cannot sponsor you now.   You may have been able to get around it by showing that you were not in a committed relationship at that time, but now you have applied and been refused as common law (and presumably given "evidence" that you were common law at that time) you won't be successful in any future application as common-law / spouse either. 

Nobody will be able to circumvent that for you as the legislation states it very clearly and as you are aware inland applicants have no appeal rights. 

If you didn't give CIC the evidence that you were living together in a committed relationship at the time he became a PR, you "may" be able to apply outland, but I suspect that you will have problems.

I believe your best option is to apply as an individual now.

If you are graduating this summer you can apply for a post graduate work permit.  Depending on the amount of time of studying, you can get a work permit that will be valid from between 8 months and up to 3 years.  Once you have got 1 year of experience in a skilled job you can apply for the "Canada Experience" class.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work-postgrad-who.asp

Hope that helps a little

 

NB:  It wouldn't make any difference if you marry - if they are refusing you under 5:1 then your partner cannot sponsor you, period.

This is only my opinion and it may be in your interest to make enquiries through a lawyer.

[sbwv09]

I don't know nearly as much about these things as other people do, but I just wanted to relay my sympathy and hopes that you will be able to work everything out. I think some communities have free immigration advice? I know Toronto does but I'm not sure where you are. Maybe they can give you some more advice. Best wishes.

[racoon]

maybe u should get married before applying outland? it would be stronger and more official bond between u two.
but sorry to say, smhow it sounds that u both are not that much into relationship, are u? (correct me if im wrong, but u only mentioned ur career here and volunteering but nothing about to be separated from ur boyfriend...as that would be most important to me if i was refused..).

We can;t get married right now, because my BF is religious (I am absolutely not). we had 3 people die in 2009 in our families (namely his dad and grandma and my uncle), so according to his (and mine too, although I don;t care as much) religion we should wait for at least a year after that. About our relationship: I am not a touchy feely person, so I rarely talk about this things in general, with the things that happened last year, I talk about it even less. By the way I am getting rebaptized to his branch of the same religion I was baptized in as a child, solely because that's what his family wants (so yes we do have a really genuine relationship). And we thought about the separation and he is Ukrainian finishing his PhD, who speaks perfect Russian, so if worst comes to worst, it is not a big deal for him to move to Russia for a while.
The fact that pisses me off, is that we truly have a genuine relationship, I am an awesome person haha =))  and we were declined based on a small technicality, that's what is so damn frustrating.

Cheers, Raccoon.   

PS: to Siouxie: I was thinking about the Canada Experience Class, however it is really hard to get a work permit after you applied for PR (as you showed that you intend to stay).

[racoon]

By the way this forum rocks,
because it is a weekend so I can't get any information form the gov. institutions, but here I did.
Thanks guys !