my friend was living in australia and got married in australia to australian permanent resident. he is not permanent resident or citizen in australia and now he is in canada to apply for spousal visa. he did not complete the divorce in australia. Will it be a problem in the application for the spousal sponsorship in canada?
foreign marriage
- Thread starter mkim0506
- Start date
It's confusing to understand what you are asking.
Did he marry one person in Australia and then later marry someone else without divorcing the person in Australia first?
How can he marry someone else when hes still legally married? He can apply as common law though
No - he cannot marry someone else. Canada will not recognize his marriage since his first marriage has not been disolved. His only option would be to apply as common law once he has lived with his new partner continuously for one full year.
He needs to make sure he declares his first marriage in his PR application. Failure to do so will be misrepresentation and result in refusal and likely a 5 year ban from Canada.
Doesnt matter. It's illegal. His marriage won't be recognized in Canada and he can't be sponsored to Canada since the new marriage is not legal.
you do not have to be a citizen or permanent resident to have a valid marriage in Australia
It doesn't matter. You cannot marry again unless you divorce first. Canada will not recognize your second marriage.
If you hide your first marriage from Canada, expect to be refused and then banned from Canada for five years.
Your choice are to get a divorce from your first spouse and then re-marry your Canadian partner so that this marriage can be recognized by Canada. Or to live with your Canadian partner for a full year and apply as common law.
