Sponsoring my spouse whom i didn't mention when i became a permanent resident

[markinneed]

Hello All,

Can someone help me on this honest mistake that i committed when i became a permanent resident. I became a PR on Oct'2007 and forgot to mention about my marriage on the landing papers, was married on
Mar'2007. I have been out of Canada for a long time since my landing and getting my PR card and now when i have planned to relocate to Canada for good, i am in a position whereby unable to sponsor my spouse for the mistake I committed earlier i.e. not mentioning my marital status. Is their a way legally that i could correct this mistake and sponsor my spouse. Any advice is highly appreciated.

[rjessome]

There is really no recourse for you.  CIC will not take kindly to you forgetting to mention someone you were married to for 6 months.  In fact, they may see this as misrepresentation on your part.  In any event, you have now excluded your spouse as a member of the family class and you cannot sponsor her.  The only remedy that may allow you to be together in Canada is if she applies and is accepted on her own merits as a skilled worker.  And it looks like you also have to settle in Canada very soon to meet the residency requirements to maintain your PR or you are in danger of losing it too.

[Leon]

Did you ever try to sponsor her in the past and were denied or you found out by other means that you are not allowed to sponsor her?  If immigration doesn't already know that you got married, what you could do is get married again to the same woman and show those papers as the marriage papers.  So it's dishonest and no good news if you get caught but it might possibly work.

If you already tried to sponsor her or you already told them you got married, you can try to find her a job and get her a temporary work permit which can later open the door to immigration but the problem is it may be hard for her to get any kind of temporary permit with a PR spouse who can't sponsor her.  They may see her as a big risk of overstaying illegally.  Failing that, she would have to apply for her immigration directly as a skilled worker so hopefully she qualifies.

[markinneed]

Rjessome,

Thanks for your reply, i will be returning to Canada very soon inorder to maintain my status...

Leon,

I havent tried to sponsor her in the past rather found out through various sources. Worried going on the wrong path may jeopardize my status. Thanks you reply as well.

[Alice100]

This wierd advise, but cant you marry her or him all over again to establish that you married after you landed!!!  It is only a matter of 4 months, after all you have been living outside Canada.

[RobsLuv]

FORGOT to mention your marriage on landing - even when they asked whether your marital status had changed during processing??  Unless you can prove that you were not asked to declare any new family members, you're barred from sponsoring your husband now.  He was supposed to be added to and assessed under your original application, and he would have landed with you.  Unfortunately, most people who don't declare family members do so to "hide" the fact that their family member is inadmissible to Canada for some reason (usually criminal or medical) because they know that inadmissibility will make them inadmissible also.  So Canada does not put up with that . . . the consequences of not declaring a spouse or dependent on landing are harsh.  In fact, people who do that should not only not be able to sponsor their family member later, they should lose their own PR . . . because an inadmissible family member would have made them inadmissible in the first place. 

Only option your husband has now for immigrating would be to apply on his own merit under the Skilled Worker/Business class, etc., options.

[Leon]

Unfortunately, most people who don't declare family members do so to "hide" the fact that their family member is inadmissible to Canada for some reason (usually criminal or medical) because they know that inadmissibility will make them inadmissible also.

From what I have seen on messageboards of people who this has happened to, it doesn't seem to me that most of them are trying to hide anything, rather they did it because they didn't think it would matter and they didn't want to delay their own PR and really thought it would not be a problem sponsoring their spouse later.

However, the CIC rules are clear.  In the skilled worker application guide, it says:

You must list all family members, whether they wish to be considered in your application for permanent residence at this time or not. You will not be able to sponsor family members at a later date if they are not listed on your application.

In the operational manual for skilled workers, it says:

Family members can be added to the application at any time during the process, including after the visa is issued but prior to obtaining permanent resident status. Applicants should be counselled to inform the visa office immediately if their family composition has changed.

And in the operational manual for family class, it says:

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 10.5 below) and “Misrepresentation” (section 5.22 below)].

And in 5.22 Misrepresentation on page 18, it says:

A foreign national is inadmissible for two years for withholding or misrepresenting information that is material to making a decision on an application [A40].

And in section 10.5 on page 43, it says:

Sponsors, who became permanent residents on the basis of never having been married, sometimes attempt to sponsor spouses they married before immigrating. Similarly, sponsors who became permanent residents as single children might sponsor a common-law partner with whom they lived in a conjugal relationship before immigrating. In such cases the sponsor may be reported under A44(1) for misrepresenting a material fact [A40(1)(a)]. In addition, the original sponsor of a family member who misrepresented their marital status may be reported under A44(1).