A bit of background: me -24 F (Canadian Citizen by birth, aka Sponsor)/ my husband - 28 M. We have known each other for more than 10 yrs, we used to meet during summers I spent in India every year, however, our “relationship” started when my husband came to US to pursue post graduate work in 2006. We were in a relationship for three years, before we got married (june 2010) . I moved to the US to be with him in 2009, and we have lived together since then.
Brief Timeline:
March 2010: Submitted Common Law Application for PR (Outland)
April 2010: Sponsorship application approved.
June 2010: We got married and applied for US greencard as his OPT was running out. We did not send anything to buffalo visa office as we had already applied as common law.
August 2010/Early September: letter received from the visa office saying interview has been waived, asking us to pay right to residence fee.
We don't hear from them for two months and I send an email inquiring about our status.
November, 2010: Receive a letter that we would require an interview, and the interview date is March 1st 2011.
Our interview experience:
We came to the Canadian Embassy, Buffalo at 8:00 am. Our interview is scheduled for 9 am, however does not start until 9:30. We both walk in the booth, only for the officer to tell us that I should wait outside.
Officer(white female mid 40s): Are you the sponsor?
Me: Yes
Officer: Madam, you can wait outside.
--OK. I thought they were joint interviews?”
She grilled my husband for about 2 hours and started by saying “My job is to basically tear your application apart and yours is to show that this application is genuine"
She listed reasons for denial:
1) My husband's academic records: (he is a doctor, from India) She said they were not real, because they don't “look official”.
2) Our marriage certificate: We had a civil ceremony in Maryland in June 2010. She said the original certificate from our ceremony does “not look real” because it did not have any “seal”.
3) She looked at our pictures from various events / utility bills with our names on it- same address/ events: she said, this doesn't prove any thing, it just shows you that you could be “roommates”, combining your resources, but does not the evidence of a relationship.
4) Wills: She asked why we did not have legal beneficiary wills and if we had taken any mortgage. (We are essentially “students”, and we do not have those things yet)
5) Rental Agreement: It was filled with blue ink, and she said it had to be in black ink to make it official.
6) She repeatedly asked him about why he wants to come to Canada. And when he said he wants us to settle in Canada eventually, she accused him of using me to facilitate his entry into Canada.
7) We showed her evidence of travelling together .... Combined bank accounts , same gym memberships and bills shows our names and she says “room mates, not evidence of relationship”.
8) My husband has applied for Canadian student visa in 2005 from india and was denied . Since coming to US he has been to Canada more than 15 times in the last 5 years and has been given the TRV 4 times without any issues. On the application for PR , we did not Mention that he got rejected for student visa in 2005 and she caught that too and pointed it out during the interview.
She finally told him she cant approve our application and since he already has the US green card, she does not see a need for him to immigrate to Canada. She said she will mail us a letter this week saying she does not believe we have sufficient evidence for common law partner and that she believes the relationship is a sham.
Questions:
We are planning file an immigration appeal. What are our chances?
We have a letter from them initially approving and now interviewed and denied and she told us that should we file an appeal then some one other than her would look at the file and decide.
Thanks for reading. We appreciate any comments or input.
Brief Timeline:
March 2010: Submitted Common Law Application for PR (Outland)
April 2010: Sponsorship application approved.
June 2010: We got married and applied for US greencard as his OPT was running out. We did not send anything to buffalo visa office as we had already applied as common law.
August 2010/Early September: letter received from the visa office saying interview has been waived, asking us to pay right to residence fee.
We don't hear from them for two months and I send an email inquiring about our status.
November, 2010: Receive a letter that we would require an interview, and the interview date is March 1st 2011.
Our interview experience:
We came to the Canadian Embassy, Buffalo at 8:00 am. Our interview is scheduled for 9 am, however does not start until 9:30. We both walk in the booth, only for the officer to tell us that I should wait outside.
Officer(white female mid 40s): Are you the sponsor?
Me: Yes
Officer: Madam, you can wait outside.
--OK. I thought they were joint interviews?”
She grilled my husband for about 2 hours and started by saying “My job is to basically tear your application apart and yours is to show that this application is genuine"
She listed reasons for denial:
1) My husband's academic records: (he is a doctor, from India) She said they were not real, because they don't “look official”.
2) Our marriage certificate: We had a civil ceremony in Maryland in June 2010. She said the original certificate from our ceremony does “not look real” because it did not have any “seal”.
3) She looked at our pictures from various events / utility bills with our names on it- same address/ events: she said, this doesn't prove any thing, it just shows you that you could be “roommates”, combining your resources, but does not the evidence of a relationship.
4) Wills: She asked why we did not have legal beneficiary wills and if we had taken any mortgage. (We are essentially “students”, and we do not have those things yet)
5) Rental Agreement: It was filled with blue ink, and she said it had to be in black ink to make it official.
6) She repeatedly asked him about why he wants to come to Canada. And when he said he wants us to settle in Canada eventually, she accused him of using me to facilitate his entry into Canada.
7) We showed her evidence of travelling together .... Combined bank accounts , same gym memberships and bills shows our names and she says “room mates, not evidence of relationship”.
8) My husband has applied for Canadian student visa in 2005 from india and was denied . Since coming to US he has been to Canada more than 15 times in the last 5 years and has been given the TRV 4 times without any issues. On the application for PR , we did not Mention that he got rejected for student visa in 2005 and she caught that too and pointed it out during the interview.
She finally told him she cant approve our application and since he already has the US green card, she does not see a need for him to immigrate to Canada. She said she will mail us a letter this week saying she does not believe we have sufficient evidence for common law partner and that she believes the relationship is a sham.
Questions:
We are planning file an immigration appeal. What are our chances?
We have a letter from them initially approving and now interviewed and denied and she told us that should we file an appeal then some one other than her would look at the file and decide.
Thanks for reading. We appreciate any comments or input.
