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Sponsor on parole! PLEASE HELP ME!

Z

Zeinab20

Guest
Hello everyone!

I have met my soul mate online and we have been talking lots for a couple of months now. We call, email, chat, video-chat and send each other posts too! :) I am a student from the Netherlands and he is a a Canadian citizen. We are sure about our future and we will meet each other this August. We also have plans to get married this year. As he is on parole he probably can't come to visit me, that is why I will visit him instead. We are both quite young and do a lot of research but sometimes we don't know what to believe :( I am worrying a lot that things will be hard for us because my love is on parole. He was convicted for an aggregated assault and break&enter. The victim was not a relative and he has spent quite some time in prison. Fortunately he is free now and has changed his life. He works now and soon he will get himself a permanent job. He called an immigration officer and he was told that because of his criminal record it might bring the procedure some problems but what that exactly will be, we would know until he start the sponsorship. I called a Canadian consul here in the Netherlands and explained our situation, he told me that there is definitely hope but I don't know if he just said because he wants money. (emigration advice agency's are super expensive!!!) That is why we decided to do all of this alone as long as we are informed well by doing research. I told my love to talk to a lawyer and he made an appointment in two weeks.
I don't know what to do, I am really desperate because I have no support at all from my family just because my love has a criminal record :'( What will our changes be? Can my love sponsor me in this circumstances? I don't have any criminal record. Will our changes increase when we get married in August and have at least a marriage certificate and photo's besides our phone bills, posts gifts, emails and chats?
PLEASE REPLY TO MY MESSAGE. ANYONE?

A desperate young lady that just really wants to start a life with her soul mate :(
 

CharlieD10

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I haven't any useful information, sorry. As you've already decided to consult a lawyer, in my opinion that's the best course of action. Perhaps some senior members might be able to offer some insight.

I do wish you both good luck though.
 
Z

Zeinab20

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Hello Charlie!

A pity you don't have information for me, but thank you for your time for reading my post! My love will talk to a lawyer soon, but it will only be a preceding conversation as he just wants to save money for our future and the sponsorship.
I am new here so should I send a message to senior members? Or can they approach me as well?

Thank you for wishing us luck!
 

lonely_wife

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Hey!!! I never went through this before but a friend of mine did... she got married right after she was charged with an assault and she has been married for 5 years she is just waiting on getting her pardon in order to file the papers for her husband... I never asked if this was a personal choice or if she got refused sponsorship but I did call to ask but I am waiting on her to return my call will let you know when she does...

I am thinking that the goverment may see a person with a criminal record high risk to be a sponsor because we have to keep in mind that this person is financially responsible for you for the next 3 years meaning that you would not be able to go on any goverment assistance program so this could certainly create a red flag to them cause they want to make sure that he will be able to support by not being in jail and working... Even though spousal sponsorship don't any financial requirement. This is just a thought... You could always ask your hubby to give the call center a call they would definatly be able to help and guide you in the right direction...

You can send personal messages to seniors...
 

rjessome

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Zeinab20 said:
Hello everyone!

I have met my soul mate online and we have been talking lots for a couple of months now. We call, email, chat, video-chat and send each other posts too! :) I am a student from the Netherlands and he is a a Canadian citizen. We are sure about our future and we will meet each other this August. We also have plans to get married this year. As he is on parole he probably can't come to visit me, that is why I will visit him instead. We are both quite young and do a lot of research but sometimes we don't know what to believe :( I am worrying a lot that things will be hard for us because my love is on parole. He was convicted for an aggregated assault and break&enter. The victim was not a relative and he has spent quite some time in prison. Fortunately he is free now and has changed his life. He works now and soon he will get himself a permanent job. He called an immigration officer and he was told that because of his criminal record it might bring the procedure some problems but what that exactly will be, we would know until he start the sponsorship. I called a Canadian consul here in the Netherlands and explained our situation, he told me that there is definitely hope but I don't know if he just said because he wants money. (emigration advice agency's are super expensive!!!) That is why we decided to do all of this alone as long as we are informed well by doing research. I told my love to talk to a lawyer and he made an appointment in two weeks.
I don't know what to do, I am really desperate because I have no support at all from my family just because my love has a criminal record :'( What will our changes be? Can my love sponsor me in this circumstances? I don't have any criminal record. Will our changes increase when we get married in August and have at least a marriage certificate and photo's besides our phone bills, posts gifts, emails and chats?
PLEASE REPLY TO MY MESSAGE. ANYONE?

A desperate young lady that just really wants to start a life with her soul mate :(
It depends on the circumstances of the crime. Specifically, IRPA says this regarding the sponsor:

(e) has not been convicted under the Criminal Code of
(i) an offence of a sexual nature, or an attempt or a threat to commit such an offence, against any person, or
(ii) an offence that results in bodily harm, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, to any of the following persons or an attempt or a threat to commit such an offence against any of the following persons, namely,
(A) a relative of the sponsor, including a dependent child or other family member of the sponsor,
(B) a relative of the sponsor's spouse or of the sponsor's common-law partner, including a dependent child or other family member of the sponsor's spouse or of the sponsor's common-law partner, or
(C) the conjugal partner of the sponsor or a relative of that conjugal partner, including a dependent child or other family member of that conjugal partner;

Assuming that none of the above apply to your sponsor, he will be fine to sponsor you after you are married.
 
Z

Zeinab20

Guest
lonely_wife said:
Hey!!! I never went through this before but a friend of mine did... she got married right after she was charged with an assault and she has been married for 5 years she is just waiting on getting her pardon in order to file the papers for her husband... I never asked if this was a personal choice or if she got refused sponsorship but I did call to ask but I am waiting on her to return my call will let you know when she does...

I am thinking that the goverment may see a person with a criminal record high risk to be a sponsor because we have to keep in mind that this person is financially responsible for you for the next 3 years meaning that you would not be able to go on any goverment assistance program so this could certainly create a red flag to them cause they want to make sure that he will be able to support by not being in jail and working... Even though spousal sponsorship don't any financial requirement. This is just a thought... You could always ask your hubby to give the call center a call they would definatly be able to help and guide you in the right direction...

You can send personal messages to seniors...
Hello lonely wife,

Thank you for your post! And yes, please let me know how it went with your friend. I would really appreciate that. You can always send me a personal message. And concerning about the responsibility my love will have to provide me.. that won't be a problem. He is working at the moment and soon he will have a permanent job. He is already saving money too so he could prove to his parole officer that he can be independent. What do you mean with call center though? Immigration officer?
 
Z

Zeinab20

Guest
rjessome said:
It depends on the circumstances of the crime. Specifically, IRPA says this regarding the sponsor:

(e) has not been convicted under the Criminal Code of
(i) an offence of a sexual nature, or an attempt or a threat to commit such an offence, against any person, or
(ii) an offence that results in bodily harm, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, to any of the following persons or an attempt or a threat to commit such an offence against any of the following persons, namely,
(A) a relative of the sponsor, including a dependent child or other family member of the sponsor,
(B) a relative of the sponsor's spouse or of the sponsor's common-law partner, including a dependent child or other family member of the sponsor's spouse or of the sponsor's common-law partner, or
(C) the conjugal partner of the sponsor or a relative of that conjugal partner, including a dependent child or other family member of that conjugal partner;

Assuming that none of the above apply to your sponsor, he will be fine to sponsor you after you are married.
Hello Rjessome!

Thank you for your answer! I was wondering who will define how serious the crime was? The immigration officer? The probation? Who will decide if my love can sponsor? And if am honest I think you can put the circumstances under: (ii) an offence that results in bodily harm, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, to any of the following persons or an attempt or a threat to commit :(
I don't know what to assume anymore, because I read everywhere that it won't be a problem as long as the victim is not a relative! Even the consul told me this.. :-X Yes, the victim was unfortunately bodily harmed :( But I don't know how deep they will go into this happening.. :(
 

lonely_wife

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Ok my friend called me back she stated that sha had spoken with the call center for immigration which are people hired by immigration to answer questions over the phone... I am not sure if they are considered to be IO but I would think so... She stated that when she called them 5 years ago because she had bodily harm someone that she had to wait to get a pardon in order to be able to sponsor... Which meant she fell in the category of the people rjessome described... As per your hubby working... what I was saying is the governement will see him having a violent offence on his record as high risk to sponsor meaning that he could return to jail at anytime... also the governement want to make sure that the safety of the person (applicant) which in this case would be you is not between the hands of a criminal or violent offender... by this I do not mean that he would hurt you or that he has not changed... By assuring a pardon is giving the governement then see this as enough time given to the individual to prove themselves...

Immigration Canada is the only one that can make the decision if wether or not he could sponsor so he can give them a call, the number only works when you are inside of canada... the number is 1-888-242‑2100
 
Z

Zeinab20

Guest
Thank you lonely wife!

I think my love already called Immigration Canada and they just told him that it might be difficult for him because of his past.. but we would know that until we actually start our sponsorship. But I don't want to wait for what, I need to be sure what the complications could be! I will write the number and ask my love to call them.
One thing which I didn't understand is: she had to wait to get a pardon in order to be able to sponsor... .. I never read something about a 'pardon'. Could you tell me more about it and how long will it take? I also read that on the website.. but I couldn't find anything about a 'pardon'. My love will be working full time and I thought that how long ago the crime occurred also is playing an important role..
Well, he is not my husband yet.. But we will marry in August though..
 

clubcanada

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I assume he needs to get a pardon first in order to become eligible to sponsor someone. Go to the CIC website and search for pardon.
 

canadianwoman

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Zeinab20 said:
Thank you for your answer! I was wondering who will define how serious the crime was? The immigration officer? The probation? Who will decide if my love can sponsor? And if am honest I think you can put the circumstances under: (ii) an offence that results in bodily harm, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, to any of the following persons or an attempt or a threat to commit :(
You are misreading the regulations. If the offense was a sexual assault against anyone, the Canadian cannot sponsor. If the offense was assault causing bodily harm, or aggravated assault, then it depends on who the victim was. If the victim was a member of the Canadian sponsor's family, or a member of the foreign applicant's family, then the Canadian cannot sponsor. Your boyfriend's crime was aggravated assault, but the victim was not a family member (of him or you, right?), so according to the regulations he will be able to sponsor you.
As others have indicated, though, his criminal past may still cause problems. The visa officer wants to be sure the sponsor can support the applicant, so a criminal past may raise suspicions. Just make sure to include proof that your sponsor has changed, and is now working. His parole officer might be willing to write a report stating that your boyfriend has changed for the better, is working, and is doing his best to make a new life for himself; you could then include this report in your application.
Because one area of your application is not ideal (the criminal past of the sponsor), make sure everything else is very good. Ordinarily an applicant from Western Europe would not have to submit very much proof of a genuine relationship; in your case, though, you should submit all proof you have.
 

lonely_wife

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Hello again... you can apply for a pardon after 3 years if it's a minor offence... because assault causing bodily harm is a violent offense I would not consider it as being a minor offence... you can apply for a pardon after 5 years for more serious offences now I think this is where your hubby would fall in meaning the 5 year period wait.... And for a few extremely major offences the wait can be as long as 10 years... Now these wait time are obviously with no new crimes so the person as to remain crime free for this long before applying... If you would ask me personally I wouldn't risk applying without a pardon because I would be scared that this could affect my chances in the future or even make the process more difficult in the future if I would be refused to sponsor.... personally I wouldnt risk it... but it's easy for me to say I wouldnt risk it cause Im not in your situation... it's definatly something you wanna make sure you understand all the consequences before doing anything... if you are aware that it may work against you and are willing to take that chance then thats ok too but keep doing the research and get hubby to call the call center and ask more questions...

How long it's been since the crime occured does play a role but if your hubby is still on parole I am assuming that it wasn't long ago???
 
Z

Zeinab20

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Hi Canadianwoman!

I have to learn a lot and English isn't my native language, that is why can misread things sometimes. The victim was not a relative of my love nor a relative of me as we know each other for a couple of months now. I think his parole officer would help us, especially if my love is bringing progressions in his daily life. Yes we live far away from each other, in August we would like to meet and get married. From then we will wait one year before we start the sponsorship. Even though we would like to start it as soon as possible.. we just don't want any risk that our application might get denied. I do have a question for you, you were talking about 'the regulations' where can you find them if I may ask?
 
Z

Zeinab20

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Hello again LonelyWife,

I am a bit confused about what you described. Yes, you are completely right that obtaining a pardon first is the best thing to do. you can apply for a pardon after 5 years for more serious offences Do you mean to apply 5years after the crime??? No, the crime occurred about 5years ago.. he has spent 4,5years in prison and his supervision will be till 2021 :( And he is a free man since July, so you can understand that we really need to wait a bit longer just for him to make more progress in his parole. But we really want to get married in August though..
Where do we need to start for obtaining a pardon?
 

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Just an thought, but are you planning to get married on your first meeting? I was not aware before we started this process how much our application relied on us proving our relationship was real. That includes documenting all our contact, including all of our time together. It may raise some serious red flags for the immigration officer if you appear to have married in haste. Something to think about...Good luck to you both :)