The CRAZY CBSA officer thinks my wife is married already!!

[helpwhattheheck]

Hello, my wife is Canadian.
We have been married for 2.5 years.
We applied for PR and the PR officer is giving us a hard time.
Due to Covid our in person interview was candled and we just had an interview over the phone.

A few months ago was the first contact I had with this officer. She called me on the phone as I was about to enter another interview with CSIS. I actually thought that the one officer who was calling was the same people regarding the interview so my first words was "I am here I am coming in" and she was confused because she did not know about it. I obviously could not talk to her long and I told her my wife would call back. My wife called later on and she said to us that the in person interview with her has nothing to do with CSIS and our interview will be canceled. She wanted my wife to send in a list of documents instead, which clearly was 1. Spouse (my wife)s pay stubs & bank accounts (have and she sent) 2. Copy of a joint bank account (we do not have)

Today she called us and spoke to us on the phone for 2 hours. She claimed that we were avoiding calling her and avoiding giving her information (lies) and says last time she called us that I said I did not want to talk to her (lies, I just said I was about to go into the interview), and avoiding giving information (we do not have a joint bank account so we did not give her one). She never once asked for MY bank account information only my spouses so we didn't provide but today the topic was brought up and my wife said we are happy to provide that.

After the conversation the immigration officer sent us a shocking letter.
The letter states that they believe that my wife is married in another country, thus our marriage is void because you can not get married while married. She asked us to provide proof of divorce from that country within 30 days. My wife has NEVER been married before. She is shocked and upset about this. She did have a boyfriend who was very abusive in that country and lived with him for 4 years total. They never got married though. I know this information is obviously not coming from a legal tangible source because any legal documents from that country would show my wife was single. We believe that this officer has found some old rumor's online about my wife started by a group of jealous girls that said my wife is married to an old sugar daddy and pays for all her stuff. Either this or they found my wifes Facebook account which has a different last name. It is a completely made up last name she uses for her social media because she does not what private information online. These are the only two sources of information which may make people believe that my wife is married. My wife is so upset about this. We do not know what to do. How is this even legal? Don't they have to prove that my wife is "married" with so called evidence in order to make such a bold claim.

 

[scylla]

Hello, my wife is Canadian.
We have been married for 2.5 years.
We applied for PR and the PR officer is giving us a hard time.
Due to Covid our in person interview was candled and we just had an interview over the phone.

A few months ago was the first contact I had with this officer. She called me on the phone as I was about to enter another interview with CSIS. I actually thought that the one officer who was calling was the same people regarding the interview so my first words was "I am here I am coming in" and she was confused because she did not know about it. I obviously could not talk to her long and I told her my wife would call back. My wife called later on and she said to us that the in person interview with her has nothing to do with CSIS and our interview will be canceled. She wanted my wife to send in a list of documents instead, which clearly was 1. Spouse (my wife)s pay stubs & bank accounts (have and she sent) 2. Copy of a joint bank account (we do not have)

Today she called us and spoke to us on the phone for 2 hours. She claimed that we were avoiding calling her and avoiding giving her information (lies) and says last time she called us that I said I did not want to talk to her (lies, I just said I was about to go into the interview), and avoiding giving information (we do not have a joint bank account so we did not give her one). She never once asked for MY bank account information only my spouses so we didn't provide but today the topic was brought up and my wife said we are happy to provide that.

After the conversation the immigration officer sent us a shocking letter.
The letter states that they believe that my wife is married in another country, thus our marriage is void because you can not get married while married. She asked us to provide proof of divorce from that country within 30 days. My wife has NEVER been married before. She is shocked and upset about this. She did have a boyfriend who was very abusive in that country and lived with him for 4 years total. They never got married though. I know this information is obviously not coming from a legal tangible source because any legal documents from that country would show my wife was single. We believe that this officer has found some old rumor's online about my wife started by a group of jealous girls that said my wife is married to an old sugar daddy and pays for all her stuff. Either this or they found my wifes Facebook account which has a different last name. It is a completely made up last name she uses for her social media because she does not what private information online. These are the only two sources of information which may make people believe that my wife is married. My wife is so upset about this. We do not know what to do. How is this even legal? Don't they have to prove that my wife is "married" with so called evidence in order to make such a bold claim.

Is it a PFL letter? Exactly what does the text say where it states IRCC thinks she's married.

 

[helpwhattheheck]

Is it a PFL letter? Exactly what does the text say where it states IRCC thinks she's married.

Yes its a PFL letter. I will copy paste


"
This letter refers to your Application for Permanent Residence under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class.

In the course of reviewing your file, it appears that your application for permanent residence may have to be refused as you and/or your family member(s) do not appear to meet immigration requirements. In order to become a permanent resident under the Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class, you must comply with all the requirements as specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Immigration Protection Regulations for this class. Specifically:

Subsection [R117(9)(i)]. of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations which states that:

117 (1) A foreign national is a member of the family class if, with respect to a sponsor, the foreign national is

(9) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if

(i) the sponsor or the foreign national was, at the time of their marriage, the spouse of another person.

∙ Please provide Original Full divorce decree documents (if either you or your spouse have been previously married); in any country including South Korea. "

 

[scylla]

Yes its a PFL letter. I will copy paste


"
This letter refers to your Application for Permanent Residence under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class.

In the course of reviewing your file, it appears that your application for permanent residence may have to be refused as you and/or your family member(s) do not appear to meet immigration requirements. In order to become a permanent resident under the Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class, you must comply with all the requirements as specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Immigration Protection Regulations for this class. Specifically:

Subsection [R117(9)(i)]. of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations which states that:

117 (1) A foreign national is a member of the family class if, with respect to a sponsor, the foreign national is

(9) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if

(i) the sponsor or the foreign national was, at the time of their marriage, the spouse of another person.

∙ Please provide Original Full divorce decree documents (if either you or your spouse have been previously married); in any country including South Korea. "

Here's my honest two cents... This sort of stuff is usually found during background checks. IRCC doesn't just guess that someone is married. They determine this based on actual documentation. I think your wife needs to think back to those four years and really rack her brain if there is any legal document where she may have listed herself as married (tax return, property or rental agreement, something employment related, etc.).

How long do you have to respond?

 

[helpwhattheheck]

Here's my honest two cents... This sort of stuff is usually found during background checks. IRCC doesn't just guess that someone is married. They determine this based on actual documentation. I think your wife needs to think back to those four years and really rack her brain if there is any legal document where she may have listed herself as married (tax return, property or rental agreement, something employment related, etc.).

How long do you have to respond?

30 days.

100% theres nothing that says she is married. She lived abroad during these years, all of the documents are from this country she lived in. Due to privacy laws that country would have never even shared her information either. She has never done tax returns, rental agreements are all shared with local landlords in that country and it does not go into any system or so, it would have listed them as "living together" and never as married. She is freaking out and has no idea where this comes from other than the online rumours. Her and this ex boyfriend DID travel to Canada once in 2014, perhaps when they entered the immigration officer accidently put that they were married... but that is the only thing she can think of that might have triggered it. They never lived in Canada and my wife was living in Korea for over 10 years in total.

 

[GandiBaat]

As much as I know, even if you were to order GCMS notes, it is not possible for you to know their sources. Background check, mis-representation are not detailed in such.

When IRCC bases their decision on open source, they do mention it.

Living 4 years together is a long time. It is likely, her boyfriend of that time might have visited Canada citing reasons to meet her OR she might have provided an invitation letter. I don't want to speculate but as other folks said before, she really needs to think hard what information officially she has given about her past relationship to official departments like tax, immigration, police/justice system.

 

[GandiBaat]

Her and this ex boyfriend DID travel to Canada once in 2014, perhaps when they entered the immigration officer accidently put that they were married...

Bingo! I also thought similarly. (Look above ^)

You need to see what has been written in that visit / visa application.

 

[Buletruck]

Keep in mind that it’s not up to IRCC to prove you are married or not. That responsibility falls to you and your wife.

 

[GandiBaat]

Keep in mind that it’s not up to IRCC to prove you are married or not. That responsibility falls to you and your wife.

Yup! Its the conflicting information that is usually troublesome. You said something in past and then you say something else in future applications.

 

[scylla]

30 days.

100% theres nothing that says she is married. She lived abroad during these years, all of the documents are from this country she lived in. Due to privacy laws that country would have never even shared her information either. She has never done tax returns, rental agreements are all shared with local landlords in that country and it does not go into any system or so, it would have listed them as "living together" and never as married. She is freaking out and has no idea where this comes from other than the online rumours. Her and this ex boyfriend DID travel to Canada once in 2014, perhaps when they entered the immigration officer accidently put that they were married... but that is the only thing she can think of that might have triggered it. They never lived in Canada and my wife was living in Korea for over 10 years in total.

Sorry if I want's clear. I understand that she wasn't married before. What I'm wondering if she declared herself as married (even unintentionally) in any official document. Any chance her boyfriend said they were married when he applied for a TRV?

I personally wouldn't respond to the letter without getting a lawyer to help you.

 

[helpwhattheheck]

What do we do from here on? Are we able to sue them? Don't they have to legally provide evidence that she is so called "Married" in order to make such a claim? And what can we do to counter it. Because clearly she was not married, she left Korea single and she married me as a single woman. We got married in Canada and on that marriage form she wrote "its her first marriage". Its hard for someone to really prove that they have never been married before...where would we even get this information.

 

[GandiBaat]

What do we do from here on? Are we able to sue them? Don't they have to legally provide evidence that she is so called "Married" in order to make such a claim? And what can we do to counter it. Because clearly she was not married, she left Korea single and she married me as a single woman. We got married in Canada and on that marriage form she wrote "its her first marriage". Its hard for someone to really prove that they have never been married before...where would we even get this information.

I believe you need an advice from a lawyer now... who will write response of the PFL and possibly a judicial review of your case if it gets rejected.

 

[GandiBaat]

What do we do from here on? Are we able to sue them? Don't they have to legally provide evidence that she is so called "Married" in order to make such a claim? And what can we do to counter it. Because clearly she was not married, she left Korea single and she married me as a single woman. We got married in Canada and on that marriage form she wrote "its her first marriage". Its hard for someone to really prove that they have never been married before...where would we even get this information.

Trouble, IMHO, is possibly conflicting information coming from two different claims. One in past and one in present. You need to know what has been said in past and in what form. Is it a letter of invitation? Is it a visa support letter? What is the legal communication that has been made and to what department.
That will help you to formulate your plan of action further. I guess in a judicial review IRCC will need to present their evidence. But sooner you know what was the source, better it is.

 

[helpwhattheheck]

How can we get a free lawyer? What can they do? will they deport me or just reject me?
I come from a country where I will be jailed if I return back home because I attempted to get PR to Canadian. This is horrible situation. I am fearing for my life and my wife is panicking. If they threaten to deport me how does this go? My wife is ready to just retreat into the back bush so that we can finally be in peace together and away from this. She has PTST from her past abusive relationship and since hearing this bad letter from this officer she has been panicking since. We contacted some lawyers and they quoted it would be $5000 just to write a response letter....we do not have this kind of money.

 

[scylla]

How can we get a free lawyer? What can they do? will they deport me or just reject me?
I come from a country where I will be jailed if I return back home because I attempted to get PR to Canadian. This is horrible situation. I am fearing for my life and my wife is panicking. If they threaten to deport me how does this go? My wife is ready to just retreat into the back bush so that we can finally be in peace together and away from this. She has PTST from her past abusive relationship and since hearing this bad letter from this officer she has been panicking since. We contacted some lawyers and they quoted it would be $5000 just to write a response letter....we do not have this kind of money.

You can look up free legal clinics in the area where you live. However you'll generally get a higher level of expertise if you pay for an immigration lawyer on your own. Good luck.