Hello, i wrote this letter to seek advice. I am a permanent resident for 1 year & 8 months now, i obtained my status through PNP and entered Canada as single in July 2014, I married my wife after 8 months of becoming permanent resident in March 2015 and she gave birth to my daughter in December 2014. We've been together for 6 years and 11 months before we settled down. Our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend for the past year is not complicated we live together but we don't have an agreement that we will live emotionally and financially dependent on each other like a married couple. She was studying back then and still fully dependent to her parents our goal back then is to lessen our monthly rental we are living with her brother and some of our friends sharing with the rental expenses we don't have properties that listed our names as co-owners nor conjugal properties. My wife did an honest mistake and listed in her imm 5540 that we've lived together to show our relationship is genuine and continuing. Our relationship before our marriage is purely boyfriend and girlfriend only. I am sponsoring my family now and the application is in process but later we received a procedural fairness letter asking me why i did not declared my wife who is my girlfriend back then and asking my files to look if i declared her. Please tell me what is the best way or alternative way to get them here and live together if they refused our application. We're both emotionally wreck as of now we can't figure out what will happen to our family after this. My daughter is only 1 year old and the last time i saw her was when she's 2 months old, I went home to marry my wife and to witness my daughter's baptism a year ago. I declared my status as married in my CRA after the marriage. Thank you for your kind and consideration.
HELP!!!
- Thread starter keyboardarmy
- Start date
canadianwoman
VIP Member
- Nov 6, 2009
- 282
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Accra, Ghana
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 30-01-2008
- Interview........
- 05-05-2009
How long did you and your wife live together before July 2014 when you became a PR? If it was more than one year, then you should have declared her as your common-law partner.
The explanation that you were not really common-law even though you were living together will probably not be enough to satisfy the visa officer. I have seen a couple of cases from the Philippines where they were able to successfully argue that they were not common-law even though they were living together, but this was at the appeal. Their original applications were refused. Almost always, cases like yours are refused.
Explain as you did here that you were just boyfriend and girlfriend and were actually living in a group, that it was in no way a conjugal, marriage-like relationship. If some of your roommates could write an affidavit stating that you two were just boyfriend and girlfriend, or that you were not staying in the same room (for example, if true), then this might help.
The explanation that you were not really common-law even though you were living together will probably not be enough to satisfy the visa officer. I have seen a couple of cases from the Philippines where they were able to successfully argue that they were not common-law even though they were living together, but this was at the appeal. Their original applications were refused. Almost always, cases like yours are refused.
Explain as you did here that you were just boyfriend and girlfriend and were actually living in a group, that it was in no way a conjugal, marriage-like relationship. If some of your roommates could write an affidavit stating that you two were just boyfriend and girlfriend, or that you were not staying in the same room (for example, if true), then this might help.
M
mikeymyke
Guest
I dont think its your wife who made the mistake. I think it was you who made the mistake of not declaring commonlaw when you became a PR
hello guys,
I'm sorry to write here under your thread.. as i just wanted to ask for clarification about my bestfriends issues.. i don't know if this a bit complicated or sure it really complicated ;D
She was holding work permit under live in caregiver program in Canada when she met her husband. they were boyfriend and girlfriend that time when she started applying an Open work permit together with permanent residence. In her application she put on her status as SINGLE and sent it to case processing in Alberta and after two weeks papers got sent, her bf proposed to marry her and of course she said yes since they both love each other and later after 6 weeks they decided to get married in civil. she is a little worried if that quick marriage would CIC look as their relationship was not genuine or was just for Permanent Res. cos her husband wanted her to sponsor and not wanting waiting for 2 years before she get her PR. In short she revoke her application and instead her husband sponsored her.. my question is can CIC look their application as misrepresentation since she put SINGLE on her status on her first application?
added info. on their relationship:
almost 4 months as friends, 8 mons. and 2 weeks courtship, 6 weeks fiancee and now 1year and 3 weeks husband and wife.
I'm sorry to write here under your thread.. as i just wanted to ask for clarification about my bestfriends issues.. i don't know if this a bit complicated or sure it really complicated ;D
She was holding work permit under live in caregiver program in Canada when she met her husband. they were boyfriend and girlfriend that time when she started applying an Open work permit together with permanent residence. In her application she put on her status as SINGLE and sent it to case processing in Alberta and after two weeks papers got sent, her bf proposed to marry her and of course she said yes since they both love each other and later after 6 weeks they decided to get married in civil. she is a little worried if that quick marriage would CIC look as their relationship was not genuine or was just for Permanent Res. cos her husband wanted her to sponsor and not wanting waiting for 2 years before she get her PR. In short she revoke her application and instead her husband sponsored her.. my question is can CIC look their application as misrepresentation since she put SINGLE on her status on her first application?
added info. on their relationship:
almost 4 months as friends, 8 mons. and 2 weeks courtship, 6 weeks fiancee and now 1year and 3 weeks husband and wife.
If you lived together for 12 months at the same address, as boyfriend/girlfriend, then that's all that required to meet the CIC definition of common-law. All that other stuff you mentioned about owning properties, assets, or having an agreement, doesn't matter. Since your wife has already been truthful (she didn't make a mistake) and explained this in her own application, the cat is out of the bag so I don't think CIC will reconsider your situation if you now try to lie and change your story that in fact you were only roommates and not in any kind of relationship.keyboardarmy said:
You can definitely try to explain in any way you can why you shouldn't have been considered common-law, and hope CIC agrees with you. But we have seen in the past they are incredibly strict about this rule. You should prepare for the likely scenario that they will end up finding your wife ineligible to be sponsored by you to Canada, and you will need to return to your home country to have any kind of normal life together with your family. Or if your wife qualified to immigrate independently to Canada (like through one of the economic streams) she could look into that.
If you did return to your home country, you could always renounce your PR status and then try to start from scratch. Your wife would only be banned to be sponsored by you under family class. If you can qualify again for PR under an existing stream outside family class, this time you can include your wife and child as dependents in your application.
Yeah - I agree what others have said. It unfortunately sounds like you were the one who made the mistake by failing to declare your wife as a common law partner in your application.
If you want to have a chance of fighting the refusal, you need to provide evidence that you were not living together for the years before you came to Canada. Both you and your wife should provide as much hard evidence as possible that your residential addresses were not the same (e.g. bank statements with different addresses, credit card statements with different addresses, utility bills with different addresses, employment payslips or other documents showing different addresses, etc.). Do you have this kind of evidence? If not, this is probably going to end in refusal.
If you want to have a chance of fighting the refusal, you need to provide evidence that you were not living together for the years before you came to Canada. Both you and your wife should provide as much hard evidence as possible that your residential addresses were not the same (e.g. bank statements with different addresses, credit card statements with different addresses, utility bills with different addresses, employment payslips or other documents showing different addresses, etc.). Do you have this kind of evidence? If not, this is probably going to end in refusal.
Even if they could get this kind of stuff, she has already stated on their relationship proofs that they lived together over 1 year as a couple before he landed as a PR. So to suddenly come up with all this evidence now that in fact they weren't living together, only after they were notified she may be ineligible to be sponsored, would look very suspicious and basically means she lied in the application. Unfortunately I don't think the chances look good either way.scylla said:
canadianwoman
VIP Member
- Nov 6, 2009
- 282
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Accra, Ghana
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 30-01-2008
- Interview........
- 05-05-2009
It should be OK. She was single when she applied, and that application has been withdrawn. CIC might think the marriage was a bit quick, but if they have a lot of proof that it is genuine, it should be OK. The fact that she could have gotten PR on her own is actually a point in their favour.charlem said:
Thanks canadianwoman,canadianwoman said:
Yes, they have lots proof, pictures, letters from us supporting their relationship(parents, sister, uncles and auntie) etc.. so she could breath now.
Hello guys! I just want to tell you the news that........ we survived the procedural fairness letter and they've been here for 5 months now. I want to thank you all for your advices and shared opinions. Honestly, this was the hardest battle in our whole marriage relationship it wasn't about the two of us it was about our family being away with each other we can't live like that forever, i've been thinking of leaving canada a year ago and start again in my country just to be with them but God is so good he made a way for us to be together again 2017 was the best year of my life.
Honesty is the best policy indeed.
Happy New Year to all! Cheers!
Honesty is the best policy indeed.
Happy New Year to all! Cheers!
A big congrats! I have a friend who is now in the exact same boat. Could you please kindly advise how did you address the immigration officer’s concern of not declaring your wife while you landed as PR? really really appreciated!