3 year sponsorship restriction after sponsor renounces PR status?

[Unhappy DK]

Have asked a couple lawyers didn't seem to have any idea; hoping that someone here can answer:

In a bit of a weird position where I sponsored my common-law partner, and we broke up just as her PR was approved a couple months ago - it hasn't even arrived yet.
She was here on a student visa (is currently in graduate school here), doesn't really need the sponsorship now that we're not together, and is willing to renounce it.

So the questions we have are:
Would this remove the 3-year bar from my sponsoring + the financial responsibility?
Would she be able to return to her student visa if she renounces her PR, or would she have to leave the country?

 

[Alurra71]

Has she actually received her COPR and landed?

That is the question.

If she has not even received that and landed, then she is not a PR yet, only approved to be one.

 

[Unhappy DK]

She's already been in the country for 6 years on student visas

She got her COPR from local CIC office back in December, and they voided her student visa - but still no permanent resident card.

 

[Alurra71]

Ok, next question. Does her COPR have Condition 51 on it?

If it has condition 51 then your only option is to inform CIC of the relationship breakdown and they will likely remove her PR and send her back to her originating country.

If you do not want to do that, then yes, you are indeed stuck with your sponsorship undertaking for the entire duration.

You should be aware though, that even if you don't inform CIC of the breakdown and she has Condition 51 on her document you could BOTH be charged with misrepresentation and fraud.

Condition 51 would've been applied to her if you applied on/after Oct 25, 2012.

She could voluntarily renounce her PR or she could leave the country and just not maintain her RO in which case she would not be eligible to renew it later on.

 

[Unhappy DK]

Nope, we applied Aug 2012, so we just missed that change.

 

[Alurra71]

I am not sure what would happen if she renounces her PR. That would be the only option at this point if she doesn't want it, other than to leave the country and not meet her RO and not try to resume her status later on.

You are indeed on the hook for the duration and there isn't anything you can do about it.

The only potential hope I can see would be if you two broke up BEFORE she actually landed in December. If that is the case then she wasn't really eligible to land as the relationship had already broken down and you might have an angle via misrepresentation.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Just because you aren't together does not mean she can not keep her PR status. Does she really want to renounce it or are you the one pushing for that?
1. read your undertaking again - it remains in effect regardless of changes in your circumstances. You can not sponsor anyone else until the 3 years are up and remain financially responsible for 3 years.

2. if she renounces her PR, she will not have any legal status to be in the Canada and may need to return to her home country to apply for a student visa. This brings up potential issues for her too:
a) she will have to satisfy an officer that she will leave canada at the end of her studies. That is going to be challenging, given she got PR status.

In a nutshell, if I was her lawyer, I would not advise her to renounce it. She can keep her status eventhough you are not together. You would just have to hope she keeps a job and doesn't go on welfare.

The final decision is yours and hers to make.

 

[Unhappy DK]

Okay, thanks for the replies!

Incidental sidenote, I had some weird replies from lawyers on this topic
One person said I can't sponsor anyone new for 5 years
Another lawyer said it's been changed to 10 years

CIC's never heard of such a thing when I called them
:/

 

[tink23]

Okay, thanks for the replies!

Incidental sidenote, I had some weird replies from lawyers on this topic
One person said I can't sponsor anyone new for 5 years
Another lawyer said it's been changed to 10 years

CIC's never heard of such a thing when I called them
:/

You as the sponsor can sponsor someone else. It is your ex spouse who will have to wait 5 years, as she is the person who was sponsored. Some lawyers have zero clue what they are talking about.

However, if u were to turn around and sponsor someone quickly, that could look fishy to cic.

 

[Alurra71]

..and also to ad, you will need to wait until your current undertaking (sponsorship) is completed before you could sponsor someone else, so yes, essentially the 3 year wait to sponsor another does in fact apply to you. The 10 year obligation is only in regards to parental sponsorships. As I stated earlier though, if you wait the 3 years and then immediately try to sponsor someone else, it is going to look rather 'fishy' and likely cause red flags to go up and very close scrutiny of the application.

 

[Rob_TO]

She was here on a student visa (is currently in graduate school here), doesn't really need the sponsorship now that we're not together, and is willing to renounce it.

Would she be able to return to her student visa if she renounces her PR, or would she have to leave the country?

If she has PR now, then she is paying tuition rates the same as a Canadian would. If she cancelled her PR and went back to a student visa, she may need to then pay international student rates which are incredibly more expensive. It's in her best interest to keep her PR status to keep her options open, as who knows she may want to stay in Canada to work after graduating.

If she doesn't have conditional PR, and you guys broke up after she landed, then there is no reason whatsoever she would need to give up her PR status.

She got her COPR from local CIC office back in December, and they voided her student visa - but still no permanent resident card.

To clarify, were you guys together or broken up in December when she did the landing?

The final decision is yours and hers to make.

Actually if the were together when she landed, the final decision is entirely up to her and her alone. Sponsor has no say at all into if she keeps her PR status or not.