Urgent: Need advice regarding CEC application - Received AOR/Medical Done

[archerkoller]

Hi Guys,

My spouse and I applied for PR under the CEC category December 9,2010. I am the principal applicant and my spouse was the dependent. I received the AOR via email on April 13, 2011 and following which a letter copy of AOR was received sometime early May, 2011. I received our request for medical on July 14th, 2011 and the medical was sent by the doctors on August 26th, 2011. According to the CIC website they started processing my application since August 3, 2011. I called the immigration doctor and he said the tests were OK... "So far so good".

Anyways, thats the processing timeline so far. My situation here is however, some what complicated.

My spouse and I separated on June 1, 2011 i.e., my spouse physically moved out of the apartment and started living at a separate address from that date. I have sent a sworn Affidavit signed in front of a notary, to the CIC stating that my spouse and I are no longer together and that I no longer wish to support my spouse in this immigration process. I sent this affidavit along with the Change in Personal Information form explaining the situation.

I recently found out that my spouse left Canada on third week of August. Ours is a mutual separation which will be followed by mutual divorce. So we don't have any kids so no custody issues, no financial assets that needs to be equalized... However, according to the Canadian Family Law or accordingly to the family in our home country ... the divorce cannot happen before one year of separation ... so we are looking at June, 2012.

I am stumped. Does any one has any experience on this type of situation? Does CIC require a divorce certificate in this case? or, can they just exclude my spouse's name from the application and still assess me singularly, for the PR application?

It would be great if someone could help me out.

Thanks,
S

 

[archerkoller]

Hi Guys,

My spouse and I applied for PR under the CEC category December 9,2010. I am the principal applicant and my spouse was the dependent. I received the AOR via email on April 13, 2011 and following which a letter copy of AOR was received sometime early May, 2011. I received our request for medical on July 14th, 2011 and the medical was sent by the doctors on August 26th, 2011. According to the CIC website they started processing my application since August 3, 2011. I called the immigration doctor and he said the tests were OK... "So far so good".

Anyways, thats the processing timeline so far. My situation here is however, some what complicated.

My spouse and I separated on June 1, 2011 i.e., my spouse physically moved out of the apartment and started living at a separate address from that date. I have sent a sworn Affidavit signed in front of a notary, to the CIC stating that my spouse and I are no longer together and that I no longer wish to support my spouse in this immigration process. I sent this affidavit along with the Change in Personal Information form explaining the situation.

I recently found out that my spouse left Canada on third week of August. Ours is a mutual separation which will be followed by mutual divorce. So we don't have any kids so no custody issues, no financial assets that needs to be equalized... However, according to the Canadian Family Law or accordingly to the family in our home country ... the divorce cannot happen before one year of separation ... so we are looking at June, 2012.

I am stumped. Does any one has any experience on this type of situation? Does CIC require a divorce certificate in this case? or, can they just exclude my spouse's name from the application and still assess me singularly, for the PR application?

It would be great if someone could help me out.

Thanks,
S

Anyone has any experience on divorce during immigration application is under process? Please advice. Thanks a lot.

 

[jes_ON]

Sorry to hear about your marriage. This is not an area I know that much about, but first question - when did you inform CIC about your change in status?

I hope others will chime in, but I think you've done what you need to at this point - CIC should provide you with further instructions if anything else is needed. If it's been 2 months or more since you submitted this info, I suggest requesting your CAIPS notes to be sure that the information was received.

Based on the info you can find in the OP 2,
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

if you establish the fact of your separation (it does not have to wait until the divorce), that should be sufficient to exclude your ex from your application, as s/he(?) could no longer be considered a family member. I'm not sure that the affidavit will be enough (unless your ex also signed it), they may look for a more formal separation agreement, or an affidavit from her as well... so you might want to look into what needs to be done to get that...

 

[archerkoller]

OMG.. someone responded to my post!!!!!!!! I was getting so anxious and depressed over the fact that this post got over 60 views but not a single response. So, thank you so much! Thank you.. thank you thank you!

I have responded to your Qs here :

when did you inform CIC about your change in status?
- We separated on June 1st. After that I started looking for an immigration lawyer.. hired them (signed the retainer document, paid my fees ) on July 4th. But I had to get written and signed narration from my family members and close friends about the separation (i guess to proof that we are separated).. so by the time they were able to draft the document and mail it to CIC it was August 10th.


If it's been 2 months or more since you submitted this info, I suggest requesting your CAIPS notes to be sure that the information was received.

I know that they have received the info because when I checked my e-cas last week, i saw that they have updated my mailing address with my immigration lawyer's mailing address. Which would only be possible if they have received the Affidavit from my lawyers.

I am not sure what is CAIPS. Could you please explain that to me?


I'm not sure that the affidavit will be enough (unless your ex also signed it), they may look for a more formal separation agreement, or an affidavit from her as well... so you might want to look into what needs to be done to get that...

The affidavit doesn't include my ex's signature. It only has mine. I was going to file for a separation agreement here in Toronto but my ex took off before I could do so, as in, left the country. So, now I have filed for a petition for divorce, directly as this separation is mutual and we don't have any custody issues or finances that needs settlement. (I also waived my alimony) ... I am hoping he will sign that soon...

Now, my lawyer says that I should directly communicate with CIC about this case. They have already sent all the documents that needed to be sent. (I don't believe that they are stranding me midway!!!!) They even suggested me to send a request to update the mailing address back to my personal mailing address... as they are not representing my entire case, but only the part to remove my ex's name. So i had to send that request to CIC last week. However, regarding additional documents, I think you are right.... I will wait for CIC to request for more documents (if any) first, before I do anything.

About me: I am a 26 yr old girl. (Sorry for picking that weird handle...) I am just very confused with the whole turn of events.. and moving to a big city like Toronto all by myself, didn't really help my situation! But thank you so much for responding!!!! Really appreciate your help.

 

[Pouce]

Hi sorry to hear that. But you already got a lawyer and updated your status.
I would say you just wait and see what CIC direct you. probably they will ask you to explain why.
Why you didn't wait until get PR first and separated.
Anyways, they are looking into ur file and will tell you.
you will be fine as long as ur ex cooperates. just be honest to CIC and follow their(CIC,lawyer) direction,
You are ok. don't worry!

 

[jes_ON]

I agree, you should be OK, you had professional representation for that change in status, and you could just wait and see. You will need to know the whereabouts (address) of your ex if at all possible (not clear if you do know).

As for CAIPS, you can request the notes on your file using an access to information request - $5.00 -
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/atip/form-imm5563.asp

It takes about a month and is difficult to read and interpret, but there's a lot of information on this forum on how to read CAIPS notes.

But it's not necessary, it sounds like you've done everything you can, now just need to wait and see if CIC asks for further info.

BTW - most "change of status" situations here involve people getting married or having babies while the application is in process, and have to ADD people to the application. Your situtation is much less common, the only reason people were not responing is lack of knowledge - no one wants to give bad advice or mislead (even tho it happens, we try to do our best). Hope you feel better and good luck with your new life -

 

[archerkoller]

Hi sorry to hear that. But you already got a lawyer and updated your status.
I would say you just wait and see what CIC direct you. probably they will ask you to explain why.
Why you didn't wait until get PR first and separated.
Anyways, they are looking into ur file and will tell you.
you will be fine as long as ur ex cooperates. just be honest to CIC and follow their(CIC,lawyer) direction,
You are ok. don't worry!

Hi Pouce,

In response to your question:

Why you didn't wait until get PR first and separated?

If I would've gotten the PR and then separated and later divorced, that would have had major repercussion on my citizenship application as then our PR application would have been considered as misinterpretation aka a fraud case. I wanted to be honest. Although, I knew that this would delay/complicate my otherwise very straight forward immigration application. Secondly, I wasn't sure if my ex was going to stay in Canada or not. He left Canada sometime in August without informing me. Luckily, i had already sent an affidavit stating the situation to CIC by that time.

 

[archerkoller]

Thanks so much for responding, Jes. Really appreciate your help.

 

[greenie]

Hello,

I am replying to this topic instead of starting a new one since it happens to contain some of the most useful information that I have come across in my long Internet searches on how to proceed in my situation that somehow resembles archerkollers'...

Briefly, I applied from within Canada under the FSW category (dependant spouse only, no children) in January 2010; I received the medical examination request in November 2011 and within a few days after undergoing the IME in December 2011 my spouse was charged with DUI. I must say that I worried a lot with regards to informing CIC about this, as I did not know how to inform them of something that had not yet been resolved. (The trial was set for the fall. Since he was not actually driving and was outside of the car, a few blocks from home, he may end up being cleared. Or not, although his lawyer would claim the first.) The immigration lawyer I contacted was remarkably greedy when it came to providing a simple piece of advice ($500). I had no idea whom to turn to. I admit to having expected CIC to conduct further background checks; nevertheless, CIC requested our passports last month, only to return them today asking for the final decision papers in his trial before they could continue to process the case. The marriage has started falling apart a while ago and I am more than contemplating separation, even more so after this. The whole framework has changed completely within the past few months, the DUI charge being much like a straw that broke the camel's back. Waiting until the fall, while still having him listed on the application and risking inadmissibility for myself as well (as a consequence of his), then, even if he is cleared, separating / divorcing afterwards sounds... inadequate and insincere. He has been feeling like returning back home regardless of the outcome of his case and is fully willing to cooperate, whatever the best course of action may be. I have contacted a few lawyers and will see them next week, but I want to give them and CIC the clearest picture of what has happened. I'm quite discouraged. Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Later edit: My most important question is if it would look odd that we are separating now. I have no intention of reconciling at any time in the future. This is quite the opposite of having to prove that it's a bona fide marriage. (We got married back home in 2003, after a relationship dating back to 1999. Arrived in Canada in 2006 a temporary residents - myself first, then he joined after a few months.)

 

[SenoritaBella]

My reply is based solely on a former housemate's experience. She applied as a skilled worker with her husband as the dependant. They did medicals and she later filed for divorce in 2007 and moved out. She notified CIC and a few months later, they sent her a whole new application package and said a final decision will be made once they the divorce is finalised. She got her PR status in 2008 after the divorce. I don't know is whether he signed the papers at all because he left for another province shortly after she filed. Based on that I imagine yours will be similar unless rules have changed.

You may want to talk to a divorce attorney to find out whether his signature is still required after 1 year of separation and what happens if you are unable to serve him.

 

[greenie]

Thank you, SenoritaBella! I don't know if it's possible to change an accompanying spouse to non-accompanying, separated spouse (i.e. remove from application - he has agreed to sign anything to that effect, if it is possible), but it makes indeed sense that the case would have to wait until a verdict is given for the DUI case, divorce and / or both.

 

[SenoritaBella]

They will eventually remove him from the application. The divorce may delay the process but the DUI case should not matter if he is no longer your dependant.

 

[hankcec11]

Hi archerkoller,

I am in a similar situation as you were 2 years ago.
I am in Canada on a Work Permit and have recently applied for PR under CEC. I have declared my spouse(who is in Canada with me on a VIsitor Status) as my dependent.
Right now I am looking to get a Divorce and wish to exclude my spouse from the application.

Could you tell me what was the fate of your application?
Any advice for me will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,