REFUGEE CLAIMANT GETTING MARRIED WITH CITIZEN

[tps9721]

Hello everyone!
I'm a refugee claimant, I already have my Brown paper (it arrived in May of this year), and I'm waiting for the hearing where the decision will be made on whether I qualify as a refugee, but from what I know this hearing can take months or years to arrive.
On the other hand, I met my boyfriend more than 1 year ago, we have been living together for several months (we have no proof of this since he is the one who rents the house) and recently he proposed to me. He is a Canadian citizen.
I would be very grateful if you could guide me on what will be the steps to follow after we get married. Can I opt to obtain permanent residence by sponsorship? If so, should I withdraw my refugee claim? I was reading on the official website of Canada that to obtain the PR for marriage you must be a temporary resident at the time of getting married, which I understand is not the case for refugee claimants. I also saw some cases and apparently it is advisable to continue with the refugee process while the sponsorship is being processed, but I'm worried that our relationship will be called into question due to my current situation. we have plenty of evidence from messages, photos, posts, and witnesses, just like any normal couple. Please someone help me!

 

[canuck78]

Hello everyone!
I'm a refugee claimant, I already have my Brown paper (it arrived in May of this year), and I'm waiting for the hearing where the decision will be made on whether I qualify as a refugee, but from what I know this hearing can take months or years to arrive.
On the other hand, I met my boyfriend more than 1 year ago, we have been living together for several months (we have no proof of this since he is the one who rents the house) and recently he proposed to me. He is a Canadian citizen.
I would be very grateful if you could guide me on what will be the steps to follow after we get married. Can I opt to obtain permanent residence by sponsorship? If so, should I withdraw my refugee claim? I was reading on the official website of Canada that to obtain the PR for marriage you must be a temporary resident at the time of getting married, which I understand is not the case for refugee claimants. I also saw some cases and apparently it is advisable to continue with the refugee process while the sponsorship is being processed, but I'm worried that our relationship will be called into question due to my current situation. we have plenty of evidence from messages, photos, posts, and witnesses, just like any normal couple. Please someone help me!

When did you arrive in Canada and what status did you have before claiming asylum? How long had you been dating before moving in together. Would you be able to be added to the lease now although it would have been better to have been added at the time? I assume you notified your landlord that another tenant would be occupying the home and clarified that this would be possible or looked at the terms of your lease to confirm that someone not on the lease could permanently live in the property? The email with the date on it discussing whether it would be possible for a significant other to move into the Canadian tenant’s property and the official move-in date to the property would be and excellent piece of evidence to submit as proof of when you moved in together especially if you were not able to be added to the lease or could not start a new lease with both of you on it.

You can sponsor someone without status including an asylum claimant but you won’t qualify to apply for a work permit until you have AIP if you are without temporary status. There will be additional scrutiny if you are an asylum claimant marrying a Canadian especially if you started dating when you didn’t have status, your status was about to expire or you are an asylum claimant. It’s unclear how long you have been in Canada since you have already been dating for a year and you only have brown paper. Assume you didn’t start dating on the day you arrived in Canada which would lead me to think that you may have been in Canada on another permit, visiting, without status, etc. before applying for asylum. Is that the case? If you withdraw your asylum claim then your removal order gets activated which I assume you do not want to happen. Do you have a strong case for asylum? Has you case been identified as less complex? There are certain countries where there is a very high approval rate for asylum seekers like Yemen, Eritrea, Afghanistan, etc, for example. What country are you from and did you come directly from your country to Canada and then apply for asylum right away? Has your case been identified as less complex? Are there are other warning signs when it comes to your relationship? For example a large age difference. It would be better if you got approved as a protected person because that would alleviate any concerns that you were in a relationship with a Canadian m for immigration reasons. I would also get a job once you have a work permit (if you don’t have a job or WP yet) even if your fiancé can support you because it is best to show that you can be financially independent and finances are not a reason why you are in a relationship with the other person. It is always best to rule out any possible concern that IRCC may have about your relationship by being proactive at least during the sponsorship process. If you are currently using legal services you’ll need to inform them once you are married because your family income will have changed and you may need to pay for a private lawyer.

 

[tps9721]

My parents and siblings arrived here at the beginning of 2020 and began their refugee process (they are still waiting for the hearing, their process was delayed due to the whole covid thing). I arrived in Canada in October 2021, I spent 6 months with my tourist visa and then applied for refuge. It took me a while to start the process because I was seeing how the situation was in my country, then I saw that the situation was still dangerous for me and so I decided to apply. The truth is complicated since my country is on the list of safe countries (I'm from Chile), but all the problems we had were from the social outbreak that occurred in 2019 (there were protests and a lot of violence), I have some evidence but I don't know if they will accept me due to the aforementioned, oh and my process is independent from that of my parents. I met my partner in May 2022 and we've been together ever since. The owner of the apartment that he currently rents is his father, so there are no emails or texts from him asking if I could live here, they discussed that in person. In any case, I have been receiving help from Ontario Works, since only two months ago I received my work permit and I still have not found any stable job, so my address is still the first house I lived in here.
Thanks for the advice to work, I hope to find something soon and start paying taxes and have everything in order. i will also give up the help of ontario works to add me to the rental agreement for this house and have that as proof.
As for our relationship, ours was sincere and intense from the beginning, that's why we have advanced so fast, he is only 2 years older than me and he has a stable job. We want to take the sponsorship way since we know that my refugee case may be denied. I don't know if you know but would I be left without a work permit for a while or would my current WP still be valid?
if you need to know anything else please let me know! And I'm sorry if certain things are not well explained, I'm still learning English. Thank you!

 

[canuck78]

My parents and siblings arrived here at the beginning of 2020 and began their refugee process (they are still waiting for the hearing, their process was delayed due to the whole covid thing). I arrived in Canada in October 2021, I spent 6 months with my tourist visa and then applied for refuge. It took me a while to start the process because I was seeing how the situation was in my country, then I saw that the situation was still dangerous for me and so I decided to apply. The truth is complicated since my country is on the list of safe countries (I'm from Chile), but all the problems we had were from the social outbreak that occurred in 2019 (there were protests and a lot of violence), I have some evidence but I don't know if they will accept me due to the aforementioned, oh and my process is independent from that of my parents. I met my partner in May 2022 and we've been together ever since. The owner of the apartment that he currently rents is his father, so there are no emails or texts from him asking if I could live here, they discussed that in person. In any case, I have been receiving help from Ontario Works, since only two months ago I received my work permit and I still have not found any stable job, so my address is still the first house I lived in here.
Thanks for the advice to work, I hope to find something soon and start paying taxes and have everything in order. i will also give up the help of ontario works to add me to the rental agreement for this house and have that as proof.
As for our relationship, ours was sincere and intense from the beginning, that's why we have advanced so fast, he is only 2 years older than me and he has a stable job. We want to take the sponsorship way since we know that my refugee case may be denied. I don't know if you know but would I be left without a work permit for a while or would my current WP still be valid?
if you need to know anything else please let me know! And I'm sorry if certain things are not well explained, I'm still learning English. Thank you!

You should not be lying to OW about your current address. That will hurt your application for sponsorship and that is also welfare fraud which is a crime. You need to supply your actual address to OW right away and be honest with them about your living situation. Once you have been living with your partner for a year and become common law or get married you also need to contact OW right away and advise them of your change in family circumstances. Your spouse or common law partner will also need to report to CRA as soon as you get married or become common law because it will change what he receives in any form of benefits. When you get married you likely won’t qualify for OW or will likely qualify for significantly less if your spouse is working. Assume you have been collecting information since you started dating in 2022. You should also be collecting proof of when you started living together like having bills in your name and his name (doesn’t have to be together) with your true address. Concrete proof of when you started living together is important for your sponsorship application. This includes all government documentation from your asylum case including you lawyer, OW, etc. You need to update all the addresses asap. You are right to assume that receiving asylum from Chile will be very difficult and your family will need to prove that it is still unsafe to live there and that they have attempted to move to a different region of Chile and they were still persecuted. When do you plan on getting married? Given your immigration status and assume you may be relatively young (20s) I would make sure to have some sort of wedding celebration and reception. It doesn’t have to be expensive but more than a court ceremony. A reception in a backyard with family and friends after a wedding ceremony is fine and make sure to document it. If you are receiving legal aid you will have to update them when you get married and your ability to pay for your own lawyer may be reassessed. If you withdraw your asylum claim your removal order gets triggered. Usually you can put the removal on hold while you wait for the outcome of other immigration applications. It is unfortunately a waste of resources to process an asylum application when you are not planning on going forward but that is unfortunately not uncommon and will guarantee no removal order until you have a hearing.

If your parents are declaring that you live with them they also have to update any relevant organizations that you have moved out.

 

[momo25]

Is large age difference an issue? He is 75 and I am 49.