Hi all,
I moved to BC in 2016 under the IEC program and then applied for inland PR and became a permanent resident through the sponsorship program in March 2019. My fiance/sponsor is in receipt of PWD, disability allowance, which in BC is lumped in welfare and I have read a few horror stories about on here.
Since my arrival to Canada, I have been working under a work permit and we have always tried to be transparent with BC provincial ministry about my income as it affects my fiance's household income. For the two years that I was a temporary resident, they made him declare my income as his until I became a permanent resident which I was okay with because I am all about the transparency. After that they requested a copy of my PR confirmation and then sent notification in June 2019 that they wanted to add me to his file, this is where the trouble started.
We were referred to a case worker for our 'unique situation' and time and time again, we told them we did not want to receive any money for me as it would go against the sponsorship agreement and I was actually earning a very good salary, we just wanted to make sure they were aware that I was earning. However the case worker said everything was above board and my fiance was entitled to an increase in his disability payments because the household had changed. They gave him an extra 400 a month for four months, before he went to medical only for the year because my earnings exceeded what he was allowed to make in a year. I was making roughly 2, 500 a month at the time so we knew it was inevitable and had been prepared for it. Thus he was on medical only until February 2020.
Fast forward yesterday, we receive a letter from BC Ministry asking for the money back and reminding him of his obligations as sponsor, which we had consistently followed up on and were transparent about, in fact the ministry accidentally paid us for two months when I had exceeded their annual limit and we immediately paid them back in full. Now they want 1200 in back payments which of course we will pay immediately. However, I am finding the whole situation very frustrating because all we wanted was to keep the PWD ministry people informed that I was a part of the household and my sponsor's fiance. We have been together six years and we have been living together for four years.
I am hoping to go for citizenship in a couple of years and I know this will come up in the interview. I have gathered as much evidence as I can of the direction we were given by the ministry, but I was just wondering if anyone has any advice or has ever experienced this before? Feeling very defeated right now.
I moved to BC in 2016 under the IEC program and then applied for inland PR and became a permanent resident through the sponsorship program in March 2019. My fiance/sponsor is in receipt of PWD, disability allowance, which in BC is lumped in welfare and I have read a few horror stories about on here.
Since my arrival to Canada, I have been working under a work permit and we have always tried to be transparent with BC provincial ministry about my income as it affects my fiance's household income. For the two years that I was a temporary resident, they made him declare my income as his until I became a permanent resident which I was okay with because I am all about the transparency. After that they requested a copy of my PR confirmation and then sent notification in June 2019 that they wanted to add me to his file, this is where the trouble started.
We were referred to a case worker for our 'unique situation' and time and time again, we told them we did not want to receive any money for me as it would go against the sponsorship agreement and I was actually earning a very good salary, we just wanted to make sure they were aware that I was earning. However the case worker said everything was above board and my fiance was entitled to an increase in his disability payments because the household had changed. They gave him an extra 400 a month for four months, before he went to medical only for the year because my earnings exceeded what he was allowed to make in a year. I was making roughly 2, 500 a month at the time so we knew it was inevitable and had been prepared for it. Thus he was on medical only until February 2020.
Fast forward yesterday, we receive a letter from BC Ministry asking for the money back and reminding him of his obligations as sponsor, which we had consistently followed up on and were transparent about, in fact the ministry accidentally paid us for two months when I had exceeded their annual limit and we immediately paid them back in full. Now they want 1200 in back payments which of course we will pay immediately. However, I am finding the whole situation very frustrating because all we wanted was to keep the PWD ministry people informed that I was a part of the household and my sponsor's fiance. We have been together six years and we have been living together for four years.
I am hoping to go for citizenship in a couple of years and I know this will come up in the interview. I have gathered as much evidence as I can of the direction we were given by the ministry, but I was just wondering if anyone has any advice or has ever experienced this before? Feeling very defeated right now.
