Trying to bring step mother to Canada

[StingyJack]

My wife(born in Canada) and I are trying to get her step mother in Canada from Columbia. Now for some back story because this is a complicated mess.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in September and she really wants her Step Mother who has basically been her mother for the last 10 years to be there and help her. We even have a written letter from our doctor saying this would be beneficial for my wife. I am not sure how much that will help overall but at this point we are trying everything.

My father in law lives in Canada and has been a Canadian citizen for over 35 years. He spends about 6 months a year in Columbia to be with his wife. They have been married for 6 years however they have a long history together and even dated when they were in their 20's. It didn't work out then because of the age gap at the time (they are about 8 years apart) They eventually went there separate ways and married different people however both marriages ended in divorce. They rekindled there relationship by pure accident 10 years ago when my father in law went to visit his brother and she happened to be on a skype call.

My father in law applied for permanent residency for her 5 years ago and it was denied because they didn't believe the relationship was legitimate. We went through a immigration lawyer and spent about $9000 when it was all said and done just to be rejected. We appealed but was again rejected. The lawyer was baffled by this decision because we summited years worth of what's app messages and skype messages and even photos and travel documents showing he was actively visiting her.

We then shifted focus on visitor visas because the lawyer said it would be easier and we tried that 3 times the most recent being 2 years ago to try and get her here to be in our wedding photos. That again fell through because they believed she wouldn't go back after her visa expired. Needless to say we are no longer working with the lawyer.

At this point we are all very frustrated with this whole process and if this doesn't work this time my father in law will likely move back to Columbia permanently which my wife really does not want given the political climate in Columbia and him being away from his grandchildren.

Does age play a factor? is it because she's in her 50's?

Should we even bother applying again for PR?

 

[armoured]

What were the stated reasons for refusal?

 

[StingyJack]

What were the stated reasons for refusal?

For permanent resident it was refused because they did not believe the relationship was legitimate.

For the visitor visa she was denied because they believed she would not return after the visa expired.

 

[Naheulbeuck]

The key issue is that the courts have clearly ruled that if the relationship was entered initially for the purpose of gaining an advantage toward immigration, even if later the relationship becomes genuine, it still leads to rejection of the PR application, here the key would be whether IRCC determines that now there is enough proof that the relationship is genuine or whether they determine that the marriage was entered into with the main purpose of acquiring PR and that the genuineness only came after, as a secondary result of the relationship...

Unfortunately I don't see any visit visa being approved: either they deem it not genuine originally and will reject any attempt to come to Canada, or they deem it now genuine and therefore think the ties are too strong in Canada for her to return. If you have the exact wording of each of the rejections (PR and Visitor visas), then maybe we can better assess what IRCC determined about the relationship.

My guess it the best chances are a new PR application, that will definitely take time and again depends strongly on the exact rulings on other applications/what the court decision exactly said (if you have that, this will be important to see what exactly was used to reject the appeal.

 

[scylla]

My wife(born in Canada) and I are trying to get her step mother in Canada from Columbia. Now for some back story because this is a complicated mess.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in September and she really wants her Step Mother who has basically been her mother for the last 10 years to be there and help her. We even have a written letter from our doctor saying this would be beneficial for my wife. I am not sure how much that will help overall but at this point we are trying everything.

My father in law lives in Canada and has been a Canadian citizen for over 35 years. He spends about 6 months a year in Columbia to be with his wife. They have been married for 6 years however they have a long history together and even dated when they were in their 20's. It didn't work out then because of the age gap at the time (they are about 8 years apart) They eventually went there separate ways and married different people however both marriages ended in divorce. They rekindled there relationship by pure accident 10 years ago when my father in law went to visit his brother and she happened to be on a skype call.

My father in law applied for permanent residency for her 5 years ago and it was denied because they didn't believe the relationship was legitimate. We went through a immigration lawyer and spent about $9000 when it was all said and done just to be rejected. We appealed but was again rejected. The lawyer was baffled by this decision because we summited years worth of what's app messages and skype messages and even photos and travel documents showing he was actively visiting her.

We then shifted focus on visitor visas because the lawyer said it would be easier and we tried that 3 times the most recent being 2 years ago to try and get her here to be in our wedding photos. That again fell through because they believed she wouldn't go back after her visa expired. Needless to say we are no longer working with the lawyer.

At this point we are all very frustrated with this whole process and if this doesn't work this time my father in law will likely move back to Columbia permanently which my wife really does not want given the political climate in Columbia and him being away from his grandchildren.

Does age play a factor? is it because she's in her 50's?

Should we even bother applying again for PR?

Right now the step mother's only option for coming to Canada is on a TRV. So she would need to try to apply for one again, this time putting together a stronger application to try to overcome the refusal reasons for her previous applications.

Additionally, there are travel restrictions in place right now that would prevent the step mother from traveling. She does not fall under either the immediate or extended family member exemption. So she will need to wait until travel restrictions have lifted before she can fly to Canada (this is in addition to getting the TRV approved of course).

Given past history, getting the TRV approved will likely be quite a challenge. It's possible you may instead need to visit her once the baby is born and you feel it is safe again to travel.

Good luck.

 

[StingyJack]

The key issue is that the courts have clearly ruled that if the relationship was entered initially for the purpose of gaining an advantage toward immigration, even if later the relationship becomes genuine, it still leads to rejection of the PR application, here the key would be whether IRCC determines that now there is enough proof that the relationship is genuine or whether they determine that the marriage was entered into with the main purpose of acquiring PR and that the genuineness only came after, as a secondary result of the relationship...

Unfortunately I don't see any visit visa being approved: either they deem it not genuine originally and will reject any attempt to come to Canada, or they deem it now genuine and therefore think the ties are too strong in Canada for her to return. If you have the exact wording of each of the rejections (PR and Visitor visas), then maybe we can better assess what IRCC determined about the relationship.

My guess it the best chances are a new PR application, that will definitely take time and again depends strongly on the exact rulings on other applications/what the court decision exactly said (if you have that, this will be important to see what exactly was used to reject the appeal.

I don't have the exact wording on hand but I can get it.

 

[scylla]

Just to add - your father in law can certainly try applying to sponsor her for PR again. This is probably a good idea assuming they have continued to spend time together regularly since the refusal five years ago. However a spousal sponsorship application won't be processed by September. You're looking at 12+ months for that.

 

[StingyJack]

Just to add - your father in law can certainly try applying to sponsor her for PR again. This is probably a good idea assuming they have continued to spend time together regularly since the refusal five years ago. However a spousal sponsorship application won't be processed by September. You're looking at 12+ months for that.

Ya I figured the process would be long given COVID. We thought best bet would be Temporary Resident Visa and hopefully restrictions are eased to make this happen.

 

[armoured]

Right now the step mother's only option for coming to Canada is on a TRV. So she would need to try to apply for one again, this time putting together a stronger application to try to overcome the refusal reasons for her previous applications.

Additionally, there are travel restrictions in place right now that would prevent the step mother from traveling. She does not fall under either the immediate or extended family member exemption. So she will need to wait until travel restrictions have lifted before she can fly to Canada (this is in addition to getting the TRV approved of course).

Given past history, getting the TRV approved will likely be quite a challenge. It's possible you may instead need to visit her once the baby is born and you feel it is safe again to travel.

Good luck.

One note, i believe she would qualify for travel exemption as the spouse of a Canadian citizen (the father in law ) - assuming they have remarried.

This doesn't mean the visitor visa will be granted though which would likely be the biggest hurdle.

 

[canuck78]

Right now the step mother's only option for coming to Canada is on a TRV. So she would need to try to apply for one again, this time putting together a stronger application to try to overcome the refusal reasons for her previous applications.

Additionally, there are travel restrictions in place right now that would prevent the step mother from traveling. She does not fall under either the immediate or extended family member exemption. So she will need to wait until travel restrictions have lifted before she can fly to Canada (this is in addition to getting the TRV approved of course).

Given past history, getting the TRV approved will likely be quite a challenge. It's possible you may instead need to visit her once the baby is born and you feel it is safe again to travel.

Good luck.

The father is actually a PR so she does quality.