Application refused!! In a mess! need help

[bally1208]

I have been searching the net for information and i came across this site, thought i would post up my situation see if any
of you guys can give me some advice.

OK so im a British citizen born and raised. In 2010 i got married in Toronto Canada, my wife is a Canadian citizen born and raised to.
In February 2012 we submitted a sponsorship application in Canada so i can gain permanent residency and live with my wife in Toronto.
The application was submitted as out land so i could gain my PR ASAP.

prior to our marriage my wife got married in India in around 2006 but that marriage did not last long
and my wife came back to Canada alone, she did at first submit an application to sponsor this person but that was later cancelled and her at the
time husband never gained entry to Canada. Now upon been given bad legal advice and due to a lack of some what ignorance my wife was under
the impression that after a few years had passed the marriage in India would automatically be nullified. obviously this wasn't the case.

After we got married we went to see a immigration lawyer and he advised that my wife must first officially divorce this other person whom she married in India before we can submit an application for sponsorship for me. So a couple of months later my wife was officially divorced from her
previous marriage. Now the lawyer we were dealing with recommended we submit the app for sponsorship with all the divorce documentation just to explain the whole situation to immigration. 7 months later September 2012 i received a letter from the Canadian embassy in London rejecting my app for residency, On the grounds that at the time of my and my wife's marriage she was still legally married to some one else thus technically myself and my wife are not legally married. Even though my wife had divorced from her previous marriage it was a few months after we had got married and immigration will not accept this.

Now the lawyer we are dealing with advised us to anull our marriage then re-marry and then re-submit the sponsorship app. In November 2012
we applied for marriage anullment and that has just a few days ago been processed. Now my question is once my self and my wife re-marry and re-submit the app for sponsorship will we have to start all over again as a brand new application? immigration already have all the documentation we provided ie...police record checks, medical certificates,bank statements .photos etc...do i have to re-submit all of these things again? i also already have paid half of the processing fee. is that lost for good? do they refund? or do i just pay the other half as i am re-submitting again.? Its been 1 year since the original app was submitted i cant bear the thought of having to wait another year. Also is there a possibility the fact that one claim for PR has already been rejected we wont be able to apply for another one?

Would really appreciate if any of you guys have any idea of what my next move is here because really dont know what to do.

 

[MissDominica]

Sorry to hear about your rejection - that sounds brutal.

CIC is correct, however, as you and your wife are not legally married as it is not legal to be married to two people at once in Canada and she was still married (legally) when she married you, and therefore, in the eyes of the law, she is not married to you. I agree with the lawyer that you needed to remarry to make the marriage legal and official for CIC to process your application.

You will have to send all of your documents in again and submit an entirely new application. You're first half of your application fee is lost because the application WAS processed and therefore you paid for that processing and it's over. The landing fee would have been refunded, had you paid that, but you did not. Send all of your proofs again as well as an explanation, saying exactly what you said here. Explain that your relationship is genuine and was the first time you applied, but you had been misinformed and were unaware that your marriage was not legal at the time you last applied.

The fact that CIC rejected your application based only on the grounds that you were not married legally does not mean that they had any doubts about your genuine relationship. If you have the proofs and send everything again with an explanation, you have a decent shot at being approved. Don't be afraid of rejection just because your first application was rejected. CIC had 100% NO CHOICE but to reject you because you were not married and you applied as married. For them to have approved you would have been illegal because you were saying you were married when you weren't. That's why they rejected you. Now that you will have a legal divorce from your wife's ex and will be legally married to each other, they will accept that you are married and decide based on your PROOF of genuine relationship. This past rejection might cause a little concern and you may be called to interview to explain what you told us here, but that does not mean a rejection if you have plenty of proof of your legit marriage and love for each other.

Sorry about your troubles and I hope the best for you both.

 

[bally1208]

hey thanks for that i thought i would have to start again with a new app. But can i ask as to regards to the original wedding photos and receipts
of wedding gifts and receipts of time spent together are all those irrelevant now because they were from our first marriage? we plan on just doing a simple registry marriage this time so they wont really be any photos they wont be any family there because my family are unaware of my wife's past so were keeping this to our self's. Will this create a problem?

 

[MissDominica]

hey thanks for that i thought i would have to start again with a new app. But can i ask as to regards to the original wedding photos and receipts
of wedding gifts and receipts of time spent together are all those irrelevant now because they were from our first marriage? we plan on just doing a simple registry marriage this time so they wont really be any photos they wont be any family there because my family are unaware of my wife's past so were keeping this to our self's. Will this create a problem?

All of those original things are NOT irrelevant (minus maybe the marriage certificate). As I said, you NEED to submit a detailed explanation of why your last application was rejected and how it was not a deliberate attempt to fool CIC and that you truly thought you were married and were in love. Hence, all of the wedding photos and invitations are still relevant so as long as you explain that the wedding was not legal, but YOU, YOUR WIFE and ALL OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS in attendance all thought it was legal and all supported you at your wedding as a loving couple. This is not at all irrelevant and VERY important. I would not mix up the wedding pictures with your new ones or anything - keep it all separate. Include an explanation exactly like you did here and say something like "Here is the proof of our first wedding, which we thought was legal but was not due to a legal problem with a divorce in X country. While the wedding was not legal, everyone attending, including myself and my wife, believed that we were performing a legal ceremony and marrying in front of our family and friends who showed up to support us as a loving couple."... or something along those lines. THEN, submit another explanation saying something like, "We re-married after getting the past divorce proceedings straightened out and had a small civil ceremony, because, as previously explained, we had already had a large ceremony which we thought to be legal at the time with our family and friends and did not want to go through the financial burden of another large ceremony. I have included photos of this small civil ceremony and a legal marriage certificate."

Apologise for the confusion with the last application and explain that you did not understand about the divorce not being finalized and that is why you applied as married. If you don't write this big explanation (like you did here) and dont include all the original photos and proof of your first (non-legal) wedding, it will look like you are trying to keep it hidden. CIC already knows that you weren't married - the onus is on you to show why the mistake was made and that it was a legit, loving, wedding and just an error with the understanding of the divorce. Once they see that and hear your explanation, you will have a much better chance than if you just sent in the new documents without the old ones and a detailed story.

Be open, honest, admit your mistake, apologise and tell them you were not trying to deceive them but made an honest mistake, send in the old proof (with explanation and clearly state its old), send in the new proof (saying it's now legal), and prepare for an interview in case they have questions - but I feel like your honesty and re-marriage will give you a good foot to stand on.

 

[bally1208]

hey thanks for your advice you have been very helpfull

 

[kevwoodfine]

Just think like this if your wife had divorced the first husband before marrying you .. You would have PR

So this next time you do PR it will all be ok, explain what happened bad advice and say sorry

And you will be ok

Good luck to you both . It will work out

Kevin

 

[canadianwoman]

we plan on just doing a simple registry marriage this time so they wont really be any photos they wont be any family there because my family are unaware of my wife's past so were keeping this to our self's. Will this create a problem?

I agree with the above poster who suggest submitting all the evidence from the first wedding ceremony. However, I suggest you also make this new real wedding ceremony look special. You do not need a big ceremony - in particular, because you already had one - but do make this registry marriage look special too - get dressed up, have flowers, have witnesses - if your family is not there, at least have a few friends. Then maybe go out for dinner afterward. And take photos.