Section 39 of Immigration Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations

[Ontariobat]

I have just landed earlier this week after a frustratingly long process. I did some searching and didn't find a huge amount or any specific threads based on Section 39 of the Immigration Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations. We were able to satisfy the officer with paystubs, tax papers, business plans, etc.

If anyone else had this come up in their application I would be interested in why.

My application was a Spousal US-outland application, processed at CPC-Ottawa. My wife is on social assistance for disability and was cleared as a sponsor quickly without any issues (if I've read the information correctly, it basically clears her need to prove a certain income of support).

I was a student in Ontario on a study visa and followed up with a post-graduate work visa. I worked for just over 2 years of the 3 year visa (that expired maybe a week before I got DM), and while I didn't earn a huge amount, it was certainly enough to get by. We re-situated in a move and thus had several months where I was not working. 10 months into my application, we received this email:

I have reviewed your application for a permanent resident visa as a member of the family class. It appears that you may not meet the requirements for immigration to Canada.

I have determined that you may be a person who is found to be inadmissible to Canada by virtue of the fact that you appear to be unable to comply with all the requirements of the Immigration Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations, specifically section 39 of the Act, which states that:


39. A foreign national is inadmissible for financial reasons if they are or will be unable or unwilling to support themselves or any other person who is dependent on them, and have not satisfied an officer that adequate arrangements for care and support, other than those that involve social assistance, have been made.

Before I make a final decision, you may submit any documentation and information addressing the issue of adequate financial arrangements for care and support (not involving social assistance) are in place for yourself and your dependents (if applicable) in Canada. This may include but is not limited to paystubs, employment letters, and tax documents including the most recent notice of assessment (NOA) for both you and your sponsor.


Subsection 11(1) of the Act provides that a foreign national must, before entering Canada, apply to an officer for a visa or any other document required by the regulations. The visa or document shall be issued if, following an examination, the officer is satisfied that the foreign national is not inadmissible and meets the requirements of this Act.

The onus is on you to satisfy me that an immigrant visa can be issued to you. I would therefore request that you send any information or documents which you consider might respond to this concern within sixty (60) days. Please quote your complete application number on your correspondence and address your correspondence to CPP-Ottawa at the address indicated below. If you choose not to respond with additional information I will make my decision based on the information before me, which may result in the refusal of your application.

I hope to hear from you within sixty (60) days. Thank you for the interest you have shown in Canada.

If others can compile their experiences with this, it may serve someone else as a useful resource in the future.

 

[truesmile]

NOT exactly what you have quoted but i have seen THIS sentence many times:

"There is no income requirement but you still must prove that you will be able to support yourselves." (or similar words to that effect), and in response to a posted question concerning minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship.

It seems that this was in question at some point based on what you initially provided in your application.

 

[Ontariobat]

NOT exactly what you have quoted but i have seen THIS sentence many times:

"There is no income requirement but you still must prove that you will be able to support yourselves." (or similar words to that effect), and in response to a posted question concerning minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship.

It seems that this was in question at some point based on what you initially provided in your application.

Yeah, obviously it was something in my application that the officer decided might not satisfy that. The thing is, they do not ask for financials from the applicant. One would think they should just ask for everyone's financials if by "no income requirement" they mean that you need to show income in certain cases. Anyway, I'm intrigued as to what situations people ended up with this as I know other sponsors who were on disability and with similar financial situations and they didn't need anything further in their application.

 

[mikeymyke]

I'm a little bit confused, so you've landed already, and this letter is being sent to you AFTER the fact right?

 

[Ontariobat]

I'm a little bit confused, so you've landed already, and this letter is being sent to you AFTER the fact right?

No, the issue was already satisfied. My application took 19 months when similar ones took 7-9 months. I just wanted to give people a heads up that this can happen, and hopefully (if others can give input based on their section 39 requests and application details), figure out what one could do better to avoid this red flag.

 

[Aquakitty]

No, the issue was already satisfied. My application took 19 months when similar ones took 7-9 months. I just wanted to give people a heads up that this can happen, and hopefully (if others can give input based on their section 39 requests and application details), figure out what one could do better to avoid this red flag.

Yea your case is pretty extreme I think, I've lurked on here on and off and I don't remember seeing anyone get a letter as "finite" as yours. My financial information consisted of a paragraph explaining how we support ourselves.

You said you sent in some financials with the original application, right? I mean I could understand the letter if you sent nothing, but I think I remember you saying you sent it all in the first time then spent a month sending even more.

 

[Ontariobat]

Yea your case is pretty extreme I think, I've lurked on here on and off and I don't remember seeing anyone get a letter as "finite" as yours. My financial information consisted of a paragraph explaining how we support ourselves.

You said you sent in some financials with the original application, right? I mean I could understand the letter if you sent nothing, but I think I remember you saying you sent it all in the first time then spent a month sending even more.

Yeah, I did send lots the first go around (tax returns etc) which is why it stressed me out when they asked me this. I sent them every pay stub I could find for 5 years on top of everything else. I agree that it's pretty extreme but I'm intrigued as to what they sensed in my application such that they asked for more financials. I would hate to see others go through this same process.