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gladiateur19

Hero Member
Aug 30, 2009
401
10
Hey guys
i have read on some Canadian immigration website that If the sponsor and the applicant have been living apart for a period exceeding one year, the foreign applicant will not be eligible for a Canadian spousal visa.
i knew people who were married and been living apart for that period and the applicant got approved and got the visa
 
I don't think so. It might be a very specific case ( maybe Common Law, where the person has been away from the partner for a while), but I doubt that it applies - otherwise how would you explain that a lot of VO have waiting time for more than 12 months? doesn't make sense.
Sweden
 
Sweden said:
I don't think so. It might be a very specific case ( maybe Common Law, where the person has been away from the partner for a while), but I doubt that it applies - otherwise how would you explain that a lot of VO have waiting time for more than 12 months? doesn't make sense.
Sweden
yeah exactly that's what i thought,,,i found this on a professional immigration website,i couldn't understand,,,, ;),,it didn't make sens,because just like i said i know people who have been a part for more than a year and they were approved...i know a guy who is living next to me he is married to a Canadian from Quebec,since 2011,that was her first visit and they got married,and she since then she never come back and they are applying for spousal sponsorship visa,,,this is a bad red flag,i told him,but he doesn't wanna listen,,,
 
I could see it being a red flag if you lived in the same country/near each other. For example, my husband and I both lived in Calgary, but at separate addresses. Or he got a job in Winnipeg, so he moves and I never, ever join him.

I think if there is an "immigration barrier" that wouldn't count.
 
I think you have misread something. Try to put the exact quote up.
 
gladiateur19 said:
Hey guys
i have read on some Canadian immigration website that If the sponsor and the applicant have been living apart for a period exceeding one year, the foreign applicant will not be eligible for a Canadian spousal visa.
i knew people who were married and been living apart for that period and the applicant got approved and got the visa

No this is not at all accurate for spousal PRs for all the reasons the more senior members have already pointed out. I agree with trying to go back to the source to see if there was some misinformation/misunderstanding. ???
 
okay guys
this is the whole topic:

Canadian family immigration: wife and husband immigrant visas


A spouse visa category is for those who have entered into a marriage that is legally sanctioned and recognized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The spouse of the sponsor may be currently living in Canada, or the sponsor may be married to a foreign national residing overseas. In addition to meeting all of the basic eligibility requirements, sponsors and foreign applicants must meet all of the following additional requirements to be eligible for a Canadian spousal visa:
The marriage must be recognized as a legally-binding union by the Canadian government. If the ceremony was performed outside of Canada, the marriage must be recognized by both the Government of Canada and the jurisdiction in which the ceremony was performed.
If either partner was the legal spouse of another individual at the time the ceremony was performed, a Canadian spousal visa will not be granted.
If the sponsor and the applicant have been living apart for a period exceeding one year, the foreign applicant will not be eligible for a Canadian spousal visa.
As a sponsor, if you are the common law or conjugal partner of another individual, you are ineligible to sponsor a foreign spouse for a Canadian marriage visa.
If the visa beneficiary is the common law or conjugal partner of another sponsor, a spousal visa will not be issued.
Under Canadian immigration law, you must be in possession of your marriage certificate.
If you were married outside of Canada in a foreign Embassy or Consulate, the marriage must be legally binding according to the laws of the country in which the ceremony was performed. The recognition of the union by the country represented by the Embassy or Consulate is not sufficient to meet this requirement.
If each of these requirements is met, and all required documentation is submitted to the appropriate Canadian immigration authorities, it is quite likely that your family sponsorship application will be approved, and your wife or husband will be granted permanent residence status to live and work in Canada.
An immigration official may even decide to waive the marriage visa interview requirement if the entire case does not raise any serious “red flags”, and the application is complete and accurate. If the adjudicating officer is not satisfied based on the written petition, however, the beneficiary and/or the sponsor may be required to attend a selection marriage visa interview to convince the immigration department that their relationship is genuine and ongoing. The final decision as to whether the foreign spouse qualifies for permanent resident status will be made by the immigration official during the selection interview.
 
By reading this, I think my previous interpretation stands.
 
It does seem straight forward the way it is worded. It is also wrong. I've looked through the CIC website and through the "OP2 - Processing Members of the Family Class" and the ONLY reference to a one year restriction (barring the minimum 1 year requirements on non-marriage partnerships) is this:

Sponsored relatives, including those destined to Québec, have one year to submit an application
to a visa office. The one-year period begins on the date of CPC-M's sponsorship assessment
letter to the sponsor. This is the same date as the "date signed" contained in the sponsorship
notification from CPC-M to the visa office.

All it is saying is that if I submit stage 1 and get approved, then they must receive the PR application (stage 2) within one year of that approval date. Otherwise I will need to go through stage one again. But nowhere did I find anything that invalidates a marriage simply because you are living apart for a year.

The conclusion I would draw is not to trust that source of information.
 
Here are the requirements from OP2:

Family class requirements
Members of the family class and their family members must meet the following requirements:
• they must have an eligible relative, or spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner who
meets the requirements for sponsorship;
• they must prove their identity, age and relationship among themselves and to their sponsor;
• the applicant and family members must not be described in any of the inadmissible classes;
and
• they must have valid and subsisting passports or travel documents.

And here is the definition of "spouse":

A spouse is a married person.
A spouse may be a principal applicant or a family member.
For further information on spouses see:
Definitions of marriage, common-law partners and conjugal partners

And under "marriage" (to which your quote was referring) we see:

A marriage in Canadian law is “the union of one man and one woman to the
exclusion of all others.” See section 5.40 for information on the interim
policy on same-sex marriages.
A marriage must be legal both in the country where the couple got married
and under Canadian federal law i.e. the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees Act)
with respect to consanguinity and the Criminal Code with respect to
polygamy and bigamy

As you can see, there are no time limits.
 
So, not even if you have applied as common-laws, right?
Even if, I have proof that my fiance came to visit me in Brazil after 8 months apart.
 
BrazilianGirl said:
So, not even if you have applied as common-laws, right?
Even if, I have proof that my fiance came to visit me in Brazil after 8 months apart.

I would say it's "common knowledge" that a Canadian residing inside Canada can sponsor their spouse who lives outside Canada and cannot get a visa into Canada to cohabitat. Enough people do it. It's a regular occurence. Don't get yourself worked up over this. ;)
 
amikety said:
I would say it's "common knowledge" that a Canadian residing inside Canada can sponsor their spouse who lives outside Canada and cannot get a visa into Canada to cohabitat. Enough people do it. It's a regular occurence. Don't get yourself worked up over this. ;)

Thanks! You are awesome! ;D
 
guys i got worried when i first read this on that website,i mean im married to a Canadian woman and im living here in Morocco,she gets to visit me once a year,but when she couldn't it took her 1 year and 6 months,,,but she has proofs why,because it was a health issue