Desperately seeking advice for previous separation

[AJ1234]

Hello experts, my partner and I are seeking advice on our situation....

Applying to sponsor my common law partner - he has two previous marriages. The first marriage took place in Africa and they separated sometime later while living in Italy. There was no official divorce just separation and full custody of the child was given to the mother who now resides in Germany (last known). There is no contact between my partner and his ex and no way of contacting her. The second marriage took place in Italy and also produced a child. The separation took place approximately 3 years ago, but he does not have a "separation certificate". The mother has full custody of the child and has pretty much disappeared. There is no way of contacting her for such documents and even is he could contact her, I am fairly positive she would not sign anything or turn anything over.

The Country Specific Instructions for Italy asks for a "Separation Certificate" if separated....is this written in stone? Or could he make a statutory declaration and have it notarized, along with a letter explaining the situation? Does anyone have experience with a situation like this and what was the out come?

Thank you for your advice in advance!

 

[Rob_TO]

A statutory declaration of the separation should be sufficient. As long as he has been separated long enough to establish the common-law relationship with you (1 year), that is the main thing CIC is looking for. Of course also include an explanation that the ex-spouse's locations are unknown and impossible to contact.
See here for more info: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
5.38. What happens if the common-law partner (principal applicant) is married to another person?
Officers must be satisfied that a principal applicant is separated from and no longer cohabits with
a legal spouse. This evidence may be in the form of a signed formal declaration that the marriage
has ended and that the person has entered into a common-law relationship. An officer may
require that the person produce other written evidence of a formal separation or of a breakdown of
the marriage. Acceptable documents include a separation agreement, a court order in respect of
custody of children identifying the fact of the marriage breakdown, documents removing the
legally married spouse(s) from insurance policies or will as beneficiaries (a “change of beneficiary”
form).


CIC will also request that medical exams for his children are done. If this is not possible due to inability to contact the ex-spouses, then again he will need to include a declaration that he has tried but is unable to have medical for kids done, and he acknowledges that due to this his children will NEVER be allowed to be sponsored by him in the future under family class.

Since in this case there is not 1 but 2 children from different ex-spouses that will be excluded from the app (which CIC really doesn't like to do, but ultimately allows), you should expect longer than usual delays in total processing time.

 

[Ponga]

How was your partner able to legally marry a second time, without having a legal divorce from his first wife?

 

[taffy7]

I have read this over and over again and I don't understand how he got to get married for the second time without divorcing his first wife . Will Canada even except the second marriage .

 

[Rob_TO]

I have read this over and over again and I don't understand how he got to get married for the second time without divorcing his first wife . Will Canada even except the second marriage .

Kind of irrelevant to the current situation. He may have done a religious ceremony or something for the 2nd spouse, though if not legally divorced from first spouse then it would not be a legal marriage to CIC. Though he was most likely in a common-law relationship with the 2nd spouse at a minimum. Either way it all needs to be declared in the application, along with the children.

 

[Ponga]

Kind of irrelevant to the current situation. He may have done a religious ceremony or something for the 2nd spouse, though if not legally divorced from first spouse then it would not be a legal marriage to CIC. Though he was most likely in a common-law relationship with the 2nd spouse at a minimum. Either way it all needs to be declared in the application, along with the children.

But it would be relevant if the second marriage was in fact a legal marriage, since bigamy is a crime in many parts of the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigamy

The OP didn't state if the first marriage was in South Africa, where it would not be a crime, but it IS a crime in Italy (where the second union was created)...as well as in Canada.

Besides, CIC requests copies of divorce records for the applicant, right?