Canadian PR Sponsoring Second Wife

[BilalSaee]

Hi everyone,

I got married to my girlfriend in Aug 2019 who had no status in Canada (living in Canada) at the time. Soon after I sponsored her, I realized that I had made a mistake as I started to see the real her. But mutual friends got involved and I agreed to go through with her sponsorship and file for divorce after. After around 2 years, she got her PR in 2021 and after waiting for almost another year I got divorced.

Now I went to my home country and got re-married but I wonder if I will have to wait for another 5 years before I can sponsor my new wife. I see online and my local immigration agents giving mixed information, some are saying I will have to wait while others are saying I don't.

Would be great if someone can clarify it for me.
Thanks in advance.

 

[ERCAN]

Hi everyone,

I got married to my girlfriend in Aug 2019 who had no status in Canada (living in Canada) at the time. Soon after I sponsored her, I realized that I had made a mistake as I started to see the real her. But mutual friends got involved and I agreed to go through with her sponsorship and file for divorce after. After around 2 years, she got her PR in 2021 and after waiting for almost another year I got divorced.

Now I went to my home country and got re-married but I wonder if I will have to wait for another 5 years before I can sponsor my new wife. I see online and my local immigration agents giving mixed information, some are saying I will have to wait while others are saying I don't.

Would be great if someone can clarify it for me.
Thanks in advance.

Official guide:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5289-sponsor-your-spouse-common-law-partner-conjugal-partner-dependent-child-complete-guide.html#bar

You may not be able to sponsor if you…

• are sponsoring a spouse or partner but you signed an undertaking for a previous spouse or partner and it hasn’t been three years since they became a permanent resident,

The 5 years bar applies if it is you who was sponsored.

• are sponsoring a spouse or partner and you were previously sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago,

There are some additional situations that may affect your capability of being a sponsor, read the guide above.

Three years is the normal length of undertaking. So if your undertaking is over (check your paperwork), you have no debts for previous engagement, it looks like you may reapply.

 

[scylla]

Hi everyone,

I got married to my girlfriend in Aug 2019 who had no status in Canada (living in Canada) at the time. Soon after I sponsored her, I realized that I had made a mistake as I started to see the real her. But mutual friends got involved and I agreed to go through with her sponsorship and file for divorce after. After around 2 years, she got her PR in 2021 and after waiting for almost another year I got divorced.

Now I went to my home country and got re-married but I wonder if I will have to wait for another 5 years before I can sponsor my new wife. I see online and my local immigration agents giving mixed information, some are saying I will have to wait while others are saying I don't.

Would be great if someone can clarify it for me.
Thanks in advance.

You have to wait 3 years from the time your wife landed and became a PR. The 3 year rule applies to you as a sponsor. So if your ex landed in 2021, then you have to wait until sometime in 2024 (3 years from the date your wife landed) before you can submit the application to sponsor your new spouse.

The 5 year rule applies to your ex she wants to sponsor someone.

 

[BilalSaee]

Sounds good. Thanks a lot scylla and ERCAN. Appreciate your help.

 

[BilalSaee]

Just a follow-up question guys @scylla and @ERCAN . The fact that I will have to wait another year for spouse PR sponsorship, can I still try to send an invitation letter for her to try for a visitor visa? I know the chances are slim (she had gotten rejected for study permit 4 to 5 times before getting married to me) but I just wanted to make sure the 3 years rule won't affect a visitor sponsorship for my spouse. Thanks once again

 

[scylla]

Just a follow-up question guys @scylla and @ERCAN . The fact that I will have to wait another year for spouse PR sponsorship, can I still try to send an invitation letter for her to try for a visitor visa? I know the chances are slim (she had gotten rejected for study permit 4 to 5 times before getting married to me) but I just wanted to make sure the 3 years rule won't affect a visitor sponsorship for my spouse. Thanks once again

You can send her an invitation letter for a TRV.

 

[Naturgrl]

Just a follow-up question guys @scylla and @ERCAN . The fact that I will have to wait another year for spouse PR sponsorship, can I still try to send an invitation letter for her to try for a visitor visa? I know the chances are slim (she had gotten rejected for study permit 4 to 5 times before getting married to me) but I just wanted to make sure the 3 years rule won't affect a visitor sponsorship for my spouse. Thanks once again

No such thing as visitor sponsorship. You can write an invitation letter but she needs to show funds, ties to home country, travel history etc. She will need to state all past refusals. Assume you are living in Canada now.

 

[scylla]

Just a follow-up question guys @scylla and @ERCAN . The fact that I will have to wait another year for spouse PR sponsorship, can I still try to send an invitation letter for her to try for a visitor visa? I know the chances are slim (she had gotten rejected for study permit 4 to 5 times before getting married to me) but I just wanted to make sure the 3 years rule won't affect a visitor sponsorship for my spouse. Thanks once again

I didn't read your post closely enough. If she already has 4-5 study permit refusals, then you might want to think twice about applying for a TRV. 4-5 refuals is already a lot. Too many refusals can make it look like someone's primary objective is to get to Canada and can raise concerns that they are entering into a marriage of convenience.

 

[BilalSaee]

Thanks a lot @scylla, yeah I understand the likelyhood of getting a visitor visa isn't looking too good for her. Do you guys think a letter from MPs would make any difference? I remember when I used to work for an MPs office long time ago they used to give their letters to everyone who would request them so I highly doubt if the visa officers give them any consideration.

 

[scylla]

Thanks a lot @scylla, yeah I understand the likelyhood of getting a visitor visa isn't looking too good for her. Do you guys think a letter from MPs would make any difference? I remember when I used to work for an MPs office long time ago they used to give their letters to everyone who would request them so I highly doubt if the visa officers give them any consideration.

I think you've misunderstood my post. The issue is not the likelihood of the TRV being approved (which I agree is very low). The issue you need to be concerned about is a large number of refusals can impact the PR spousal sponsorship application and make IRCC concerned it may be a marriage of convenience. Ideally you want to avoid any further refusals because the number of refusals she already has is high.

A letter from the MP office is unlikely to make any difference.

 

[armoured]

The issue you need to be concerned about is a large number of refusals can impact the PR spousal sponsorship application and make IRCC concerned it may be a marriage of convenience. Ideally you want to avoid any further refusals because the number of refusals she already has is high.

I'd add to this: since the sponsor would be just coming off the three-year period, previous relationship seems not to have lasted long after the spouse landed, in addition to the PR having been refused many times, the sponsorship application is going to get quite a lot of extra scrutiny. That's already a not-great looking file.

I'd focus in the interim on strengthening the relationship bona fides as much as possible.

 

[BilalSaee]

I understand @scylla , thanks for the explanation. And thank you @armoured for your suggestions as well. BTW, she got rejected for study visas before, not PR application. And yes we have been communicating for a long time and have both of the families invested in the relationship, have all the wedding pictures with everyone etc. to show to IRCC. My only concern was the wait to see each other as I am busy with work and can't be out of the country all the time, I was trying to find out if I could have her visit me in the meantime while we wait for 3 years time limit, hence asking about the tourist visa.

 

[scylla]

I understand @scylla , thanks for the explanation. And thank you @armoured for your suggestions as well. BTW, she got rejected for study visas before, not PR application. And yes we have been communicating for a long time and have both of the families invested in the relationship, have all the wedding pictures with everyone etc. to show to IRCC. My only concern was the wait to see each other as I am busy with work and can't be out of the country all the time, I was trying to find out if I could have her visit me in the meantime while we wait for 3 years time limit, hence asking about the tourist visa.

You can certainly try if the TRV is a priority for you. Given the high number of past refusals and the fact she is now married to you, the chances of approval will likely be extremely low. She will want to show she has her own funds to pay for the full visit, keep the visit short (e.g. 2 weeks), show ties to her home country such as full time employment and ideally property ownership. Make sure she declares all of the previous refusals in the TRV application. The same will apply when the PR application is submitted.

Also understand that the high number of refusals could ultimately have some impact on the PR application.

 

[canuck78]

I understand @scylla , thanks for the explanation. And thank you @armoured for your suggestions as well. BTW, she got rejected for study visas before, not PR application. And yes we have been communicating for a long time and have both of the families invested in the relationship, have all the wedding pictures with everyone etc. to show to IRCC. My only concern was the wait to see each other as I am busy with work and can't be out of the country all the time, I was trying to find out if I could have her visit me in the meantime while we wait for 3 years time limit, hence asking about the tourist visa.

All this proof that your have been communicating for a long time can also raise concern about your previous sponsorship which you have essentially admitted was not a valid sponsorship. How long after your previous spouse got PR did you separate? Filing for divorce usually requires a period o separation first so how long after your first spouse landed did you remarry? How long between your divorce was finalized did you get remarried? Given that your previous spouse didn’t have status in Canada and you separated quite quickly after she landed you can expect increased scrutiny on this application and IRCC may look back at your previous sponsorship as well.

 

[BilalSaee]

All this proof that your have been communicating for a long time can also raise concern about your previous sponsorship which you have essentially admitted was not a valid sponsorship. How long after your previous spouse got PR did you separate? Filing for divorce usually requires a period o separation first so how long after your first spouse landed did you remarry? How long between your divorce was finalized did you get remarried? Given that your previous spouse didn’t have status in Canada and you separated quite quickly after she landed you can expect increased scrutiny on this application and IRCC may look back at your previous sponsorship as well.

Spouse got her PR in around Aug 2021, I filed for divorce a year after and got the divorce in around December 2022. Got remarried in my home country around 2 months after the divorce. I started talking to my current wife before my divorce was final but we were separated/not staying together with the first wife. I guess I might need to show the chats and stuff from only after the divorce got finalized. Seems like its going to be a tough application for both of us. Fingers crossed.