How to stay in Canada if legit marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

[throwaway123456]

My wife received conditional permanent residency about eight months ago. After getting her PR, she moved to Canada to live with me.

We married in good faith, after dating long-distance for four years, and genuinely hoped to spend the rest of our lives together. Sadly, however, the marriage isn't working out. I'm considering ending it.

If I separate from my wife and she wants to remain in Canada, what options would be available to her?

Relevant info:
- she's American
- she's held a part-time job here for nearly a year
- she'd be willing to go back to school full-time if necessary (and get a student visa)

Continuing to cohabit and maintaining conjugal relations for the next 16 months is a possibility, but one we'd like to avoid since it would be emotionally difficult.

Thoughts?

 

[rhcohen2014]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

quite frankly,she nor you really have a choice as to what will happen. as the sponsor, it's really your responsibility to report the marraige breakdown to CIC, and it's up to CIC to decide what action to take. yes, she can loose her pr or CIC may not even do anything. it really depends on how quickly and efficiently CIC takes action on reported marriage breakdowns for condition 51 couples. unfortunately, that's what we sign up for when we chose this route of sponsorship. living together after the relationship ends just to meet the cohabitation requirement isn't going to do any good. first, the relationship has ended, so you are still in default of the condition, whether you are living together or not. second, that's essentially misrepresentation and can cause even bigger issues (for the both of you) than her losing pr. if it gets to the point where CIC takes action and revokes her pr, she will need to find an alternate way to remain in canada legally (ie: work or study visa) if she wants to stay.

 

[throwaway123456]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Aha. I didn't realize that I was required to report the marriage breakdown to the CIC.

So, one course of action would be to report to the CIC, and then seek out another visa option (e.g. student visa) if they revoke her PR?

 

[rhcohen2014]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Aha. I didn't realize that I was required to report the marriage breakdown to the CIC.

i'm not sure where it's written that it's "required", though I would think it's better for the sponsor to report it than for an anonymous tip to be submitted by someone who just wants to cause trouble, in my opinion. also, remember, you ARE financially responsible for her for 3 years after PR, so if she leaves and needs to file for welfare for some reason, YOU will be obligated to pay it back to canada.

So, one course of action would be to report to the CIC, and then seek out another visa option (e.g. student visa) if they revoke her PR?

yes, essentially. although, she technically wouldn't be able to apply for another visa until her pr is actually revoked, which can take a long time. i think if the relationship is DEFINITELY over, and there's really no chance of staying together, then yes, the first step would be to report the breakdown and just wait to see what happens. while it's not ideal, staying together and pretty much committing fraud i'm sure will add more stress to the situation. unfortunately, there isn't a lot of reports of how long it actually takes to happen.

 

[throwaway123456]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

yes, essentially. although, she technically wouldn't be able to apply for another visa until her pr is actually revoked, which can take a long time. i think if the relationship is DEFINITELY over, and there's really no chance of staying together, then yes, the first step would be to report the breakdown and just wait to see what happens. [...] unfortunately, there isn't a lot of reports of how long it actually takes to happen.

Yeah, I haven't found many other reports online about marriage breakdown in the context of CPR. It's not clear to me what procedure I should follow.

Is there someone at CIC I can contact to get the official story on this?

 

[rhcohen2014]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Is there someone at CIC I can contact to get the official story on this?

well, considering, calling the call center is really the only way to "call" CIC, and they are not reliable for accurate information, i'm not really sure where you are going to get an "official story". there might be something on the CIC website that explains what to do in the event of a marriage breakdown. OTherwise, perhaps making a call to your MP might prove helpful? again, it's really tough to get accurate and consistent information when it comes to the rules/regs of CIC.

 

[truesmile]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Yeah, I haven't found many other reports online about marriage breakdown in the context of CPR. It's not clear to me what procedure I should follow.

Is there someone at CIC I can contact to get the official story on this?

What official story? If you tell them, you lose PR, plain and simple. If you let it ride, and no complaint/tip is reported, I'm not so sure they will track you down.

 

[throwaway123456]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

What official story? If you tell them, you lose PR, plain and simple.

Ok. Then maybe my question is actually "what happens if/when she loses PR?" Is she given a grace period in which to apply for another type of visa?

 

[rhcohen2014]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Ok. Then maybe my question is actually "what happens if/when she loses PR?" Is she given a grace period in which to apply for another type of visa?

i would imagine she is given a certain amount of time to leave canada. she would probably have to apply for another visa from back home.

 

[rhcohen2014]

you might be able to find legal documentation of similar cases on here:

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Re: How to stay in Canada after marriage fails - Conditional Permanent Residency

Ok. Then maybe my question is actually "what happens if/when she loses PR?" Is she given a grace period in which to apply for another type of visa?

If her PR status is revoked, she will probably not be approved for temporary residency status (worker/student/visitor) anytime soon.

One of the requirements to get a study or work permit is to show strong ties to one's home country. Given that she has been living with you in Canada as a PR for nearly a year, I'm going to guess that her home country ties are pretty weak. That, along with the fact that she would have had her PR status revoked, would weigh quite strongly against any temporary residency application. She would most likely need to establish herself in the US again for awhile before she would be approved.