My sister is Canadian, husband korean. Gets PR and wants a divorce

[CoupleQuestion]

Hi, I though this place would have some idea and would know the best before my sister goes and see a lawyer for this topic.

My sister is a Canadian, and the husband is a Korean. They are married for about 2 and a half years. Has a son that is that is almost 2 (roughly 20months).
They get into a lot of fights here and there so they decided to live a bit far from each other. But recently the husband decided to call it off and said that they should have a divorce. The thing is, His PR card came in and to my knowledge if they did get a divorce my sister would pay the price for her being the sponsor. Is there a way for him NOT to get the PR card and/or removed? and would my sister be the one that will face the consequence. Would this be act upon as fraud towards my sister if they went to court?

 

[Leon]

What price will your sister pay if they get divorced? Isn't it actually preferable that they get divorced if they fight all the time?

There is a new condition since Oct. 2012 on the PR cards of sponsored spouses who applied for sponsorship after that time which is that they must stay with their sponsor for two years after landing as a PR. However, this does not apply to people who had a child or were married already for 2 years when they applied. In their case, if she applied to sponsor him before Oct. 2012, he would not have that condition on his PR card and if she applied after, they would have already had a child so it would not have been applied to him.

As for it having been marriage fraud, I think immigration would find it hard to believe that somebody stayed in a marriage for 2.5 years and had a baby and it was fraud. Does she have any proof that it was fraud? I realize they have a bad marriage but did he ever say that he only married her for PR? Has he been seeing another woman during the time she sponsored him?

 

[zardoz]

Hi, I though this place would have some idea and would know the best before my sister goes and see a lawyer for this topic.

My sister is a Canadian, and the husband is a Korean. They are married for about 2 and a half years. Has a son that is that is almost 2 (roughly 20months).
They get into a lot of fights here and there so they decided to live a bit far from each other. But recently the husband decided to call it off and said that they should have a divorce. The thing is, His PR card came in and to my knowledge if they did get a divorce my sister would pay the price for her being the sponsor. Is there a way for him NOT to get the PR card and/or removed? and would my sister be the one that will face the consequence. Would this be act upon as fraud towards my sister if they went to court?

When you say "The thing is, His PR card came in" and "Is there a way for him NOT to get the PR card", does this mean that he is now currently has in his possession his PR card or are you saying that your sister has it but doesn't want to give it to him?

 

[Regina]

The thing is, His PR card came in and to my knowledge if they did get a divorce my sister would pay the price for her being the sponsor.

If only he applies and gets welfare. Other than that she owes the government nothing.

Is there a way for him NOT to get the PR card and/or removed? and would my sister be the one that will face the consequence. Would this be act upon as fraud towards my sister if they went to court?

The PLASTIC CARD is ONLY a card. He HAS HIS PR STATUS in Canada already. He can claim he lost his Card and get a new one.

And yes your sister will look bad if she hides his plastic card. And silly because by doing that she cannot take his PR status from him.

 

[CoupleQuestion]

wow I want to thank for all the information I am getting and the fast replies.
Before I came here and asked around, I guess my sister went to a lawyer to talk to. when I meant fraud, the lawyer said they would think my sister was a fraud for giving a PR card to her husband. My sister got married around aug 2012. I guess it's a little complex with everything because they haven't been living together for about 4-5 months now. Also, I'm not very sure if he got the PR card or not, I'm guessing he did get his PR card. But I guess my main question would be, IF they did get a divorce, Would my sister pay any penalty when he asked for the divorce because she is the sponsor of the PR card.

 

[Rob_TO]

wow I want to thank for all the information I am getting and the fast replies.
Before I came here and asked around, I guess my sister went to a lawyer to talk to. when I meant fraud, the lawyer said they would think my sister was a fraud for giving a PR card to her husband. My sister got married around aug 2012. I guess it's a little complex with everything because they haven't been living together for about 4-5 months now. Also, I'm not very sure if he got the PR card or not, I'm guessing he did get his PR card. But I guess my main question would be, IF they did get a divorce, Would my sister pay any penalty when he asked for the divorce because she is the sponsor of the PR card.

Marriages break down all the time, for all kinds of reasons. It sounds no different here. So she would not be penalized in any way by CIC simply for breaking up.

If they just got married in Aug 2012, then it's possible they mailed their application AFTER Oct 2012, so his PR will be conditional. To determine this, she will need to check his COPR papers and see if it has "condition 51" written on it. If this is the case, then as a requirement to keep his PR he needs to cohabit with her for minimum of 2 years after getting PR status. If they break up and he moves out, she can report the breakup to CIC and there's a good chance they will revoke his PR status.

Alternatively if he has a full PR with no conditions, then there is nothing she can do.

She would only be penalized, if he decided to go on any kind of welfare, in which case she would be responsible for all of those payments for 3 years from when he got PR status. If he didn't go on welfare then there would be no consequence to her.

Also should be noted that he will not be able to sponsor anyone new to Canada (if he gets re-married to a non-Canadian), for 5 years.

 

[Leon]

His PR would not be conditional because the new condition doesn't apply to people who have a child when they apply. If their son is around 20 months old, he would be born in June or July 2012, so before the new conditional PR rules took effect. Either she applied to sponsor him before the new condition took effect or if she applied after that, they applied as a couple with a child so the new condition would not apply to him anyway.

The lawyer is wrong and nobody will suspect your sister of being a fraud for sponsoring her husband for PR. However, it is unlikely that immigration will think that he is a fraud either. Sometimes marriages just break down for no particular reason. Unless there is proof that he married her just to get PR and planned to leave her all along or that he lied about something in his past, for example having another wife back home, it's hard for immigration to take any action.

As others have said, the only risk to her if he goes on welfare within 3 years after getting his PR because then the government will look for her to re-pay it. Otherwise, she should give him the divorce and try to stay on good terms with him for the sake of their child.

 

[Rob_TO]

If their son is around 20 months old, he would be born in June or July 2012, so before the new conditional PR rules took effect. Either she applied to sponsor him before the new condition took effect or if she applied after that, they applied as a couple with a child so the new condition would not apply to him anyway.

Ah yes, child would negate any conditional status. Although I've read several cases already where Condition 51 was included on COPR, even though it was not supposed to be due to having a child or long enough marriage before applying, and have had to contact the visa office to re-issue COPR with condition removed. I wonder if someone that doesn't notice it and lands with a mistaken condition in their COPR, if they are bound to the condition now regardless?

Anyways assuming he has no conditions, then there is nothing the sponsor can do, except to hope he doesn't use welfare during the 3 years commitment undertaking.

 

[Regina]

except to hope he doesn't use welfare during the 3 years commitment undertaking

They are married for about 2 and a half years.

Six months left.

 

[J.M.]

Six months left.

I'm not an expert in math, and maybe I am misunderstanding, but if they were married in August of 2012, that would mean they have been married for 1.5 years. Also, the PR timeline begins from date of landing, not of marriage so there's a good chance she is responsible as the sponsor for more than 6 months...

 

[Regina]

May be more. But anyways less than 3 years.

 

[Leon]

If he just recently got his PR card, it's probably around 3 years minus 6 or 8 weeks.

 

[CoupleQuestion]

I see. Thank you everyone for the helpful/tips/answers and a very fast replies! Much love!

 

[Regina]

got his PR card, it's probably around 3 years minus 6 or 8 weeks.

How long have been they living in Canada? Just arrived?