Spousal sponsorship - conjugal issue

[optimusprime872004]

Hi all,

• I met my current wife in late 2014, we were both students back then
• We rented a place together since March 2016
• I became a PR on June 2017, at that time I declared myself as single since we were not married yet and we already planned to get married by year end
• We got married in AB, Canada on December 2017 by a commissioner here
• We then had a wedding in our country on September 2018
• We applied for spousal sponsorship in Jan 2019, at that time my wife was on work permit (and still now)
• My sponsor application was approved, and my wife completed medical exam on March 2019 for immigration
• Well, then Covid hits, and our file was idle until now
• My wife just received a letter from CIC, stating that I did not declare her as common-law partner when I got my PR in June 2017 so she is not qualified as a spouse
• They give us 60 days to provide further proof to show that she is qualified

What kind of proof that would support our case? We have provided them all we have, including photos, videos, social media posts as proof, our marriage certificate, wedding photos, etc., our bills, joint bank account, we even purchased a house together recently (thanks to CIC delay, we paid almost 10k in insurance as she was not PR) and had provided all that documents, too.
Do we need to consult with an immigrant lawyer? I can't find similar information so I have no clue of our chance being approved/refused

All advices are really appreciated.

Thank you all,

 

[armoured]

I met my current wife in late 2014, we were both students back then

• We rented a place together since March 2016
• I became a PR on June 2017, at that time I declared myself as single since we were not married yet and we already planned to get married by year end

What kind of proof that would support our case?

The key thing is whether you were a couple when you first rented your place together in March 2016. If so, you were (by IRCC definition) common law when you became a PR in 2017 and should have declared her.

Providing proof that you have been in a relationship since 2014 is obviously NOT going to help. That information is showing the opposite, that you made a misrepresentation when you declared you were single.

My suggestion is: see a lawyer and get help. You either need to demonstrate rather conclusively that you were not a couple in 2016, or very, very carefully and persuasively make the case why they should 'forgive' this oversight.

A lawyer has best chances of making the case - I say this because you must make it quite carefully and not make things worse, and honestly, if four years after you became a PR you have still not grasped this, you need a professional.

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

• I met my current wife in late 2014, we were both students back then
• We rented a place together since March 2016
• I became a PR on June 2017, at that time I declared myself as single since we were not married yet and we already planned to get married by year end
• We got married in AB, Canada on December 2017 by a commissioner here
• We then had a wedding in our country on September 2018
• We applied for spousal sponsorship in Jan 2019, at that time my wife was on work permit (and still now)
• My sponsor application was approved, and my wife completed medical exam on March 2019 for immigration
• Well, then Covid hits, and our file was idle until now
• My wife just received a letter from CIC, stating that I did not declare her as common-law partner when I got my PR in June 2017 so she is not qualified as a spouse
• They give us 60 days to provide further proof to show that she is qualified

What kind of proof that would support our case? We have provided them all we have, including photos, videos, social media posts as proof, our marriage certificate, wedding photos, etc., our bills, joint bank account, we even purchased a house together recently (thanks to CIC delay, we paid almost 10k in insurance as she was not PR) and had provided all that documents, too.
Do we need to consult with an immigrant lawyer? I can't find similar information so I have no clue of our chance being approved/refused

All advices are really appreciated.

Thank you all,

If you were renting a place together since March 2016, it was mandatory to declare her as your common law partner and to add her to your application before landing in Canada and becoming a PR.

IRCC isn't looking for you to prove your relationship. This is not what they are requesting in their email. They are looking for you to prove that you were NOT common law in June 2017 when you landed and became a PR. However it does in fact look like you were common law by June 2017 which means you failed to declare her as your partner and now this means you can never sponsor her.

Any chance she qualifies to apply for PR on her own / without your support through an economic immigration stream like Express Entry?

 

[optimusprime872004]

The key thing is whether you were a couple when you first rented your place together in March 2016. If so, you were (by IRCC definition) common law when you became a PR in 2017 and should have declared her.

Providing proof that you have been in a relationship since 2014 is obviously NOT going to help. That information is showing the opposite, that you made a misrepresentation when you declared you were single.

My suggestion is: see a lawyer and get help. You either need to demonstrate rather conclusively that you were not a couple in 2016, or very, very carefully and persuasively make the case why they should 'forgive' this.

A lawyer has best chances of making the case - I say this because you must make it quite carefully and not make things worse, and honestly, if four years after you became a PR you have still not grasped this, you need a professional.

Thank you for the advice.

The thing is that I did not try to hide anything, from my understanding, you either have a spouse or a common-law partner, you can't have both, that's why we planned to get married and I considered her as a girlfriend back then, I might not have thought of it carefully. We did show them everything in the application.

 

[optimusprime872004]

If you were renting a place together since March 2016, it was mandatory to declare her as your common law partner and to add her to your application before landing in Canada and becoming a PR.

IRCC isn't looking for you to prove your relationship. This is not what they are requesting in their email. They are looking for you to prove that you were NOT common law in June 2017 when you landed and became a PR. However it does in fact look like you were common law by June 2017 which means you failed to declare her as your partner and now this means you can never sponsor her.

Any chance she qualifies to apply for PR on her own / without your support through an economic immigration stream like Express Entry?

Thank you for the reply.

Can she switch to a different application class now?

 

[scylla]

Thank you for the advice.

The thing is that I did not try to hide anything, from my understanding, you either have a spouse or a common-law partner, you can't have both, that's why we planned to get married and I considered her as a girlfriend back then, I might not have thought of it carefully. We did show them everything in the application.

Once you live together for a year together you are common law under Canadian immigration law and it is mandatory to declare this and add the person as your dependent to the PR application.

You were common law first (after you lived together for a year) and then you got married. So you were both - first one, then the other. It was unfortunately mandatory to add her to your original PR application. Failing to do so has resulted in a situation where you can never sponsor her. When you received your COPR, there was a letter accompanying the COPR that indicated it was mandatory to declare any changes to your family composition ahead of landing. This was the time you needed to declare her and have her complete a medical / pcc as part of your original application. Unfortunately that window has passed.

Does your spouse qualify for PR on her own through PNP or EE or CEC? That's most likely the path she is going to need to take.

 

[scylla]

Thank you for the reply.

Can she switch to a different application class now?

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

She would need to qualify and submit a completely separate application under PNP or EE. You cannot converst the spousal sponsorship application to something else.

 

[armoured]

Thank you for the advice.

The thing is that I did not try to hide anything, from my understanding, you either have a spouse or a common-law partner, you can't have both, that's why we planned to get married and I considered her as a girlfriend back then, I might not have thought of it carefully. We did show them everything in the application.

Your original mistake was when you became a PR. It does not matter what your definition of girlfriend is, only IRCC definition of spouse (which includes common law).

Again, see a lawyer. IRCC has authority to decide as it has already warned it will; occasionally (not often) some sponsors report success with claiming very narrowly that they didn't understand or it was an honest mistake or something other more specific argument (I don't know).

It is NOT an easy case to make and I repeat, I don't think you should do it yoursefl but get a professional.

 

[optimusprime872004]

Once you live together for a year together you are common law under Canadian immigration law and it is mandatory to declare this and add the person as your dependent to the PR application.

You were common law first (after you lived together for a year) and then you got married. So you were both - first one, then the other. It was unfortunately mandatory to add her to your original PR application. Failing to do so has resulted in a situation where you can never sponsor her. When you received your COPR, there was a letter accompanying the COPR that indicated it was mandatory to declare any changes to your family composition ahead of landing. This was the time you needed to declare her and have her complete a medical / pcc as part of your original application. Unfortunately that window has passed.

Does your spouse qualify for PR on her own through PNP or EE or CEC? That's most likely the path she is going to need to take.

She has a stable job, a degree, has been working and filing taxes for a few years now so I think she is capable of applying under that, just like when I got my PR. However, does the issue with this application affect her in anyway if she make a new application?

 

[armoured]

Just to note, fully agree that your spouse applying and qualifying on her own may be a good or even best option, if she meets the criteria. But given timeframes, you may wish to speak to a lawyer immediately (your window to repsond is short).

 

[canuck78]

She has a stable job, a degree, has been working and filing taxes for a few years now so I think she is capable of applying under that, just like when I got my PR. However, does the issue with this application affect her in anyway if she make a new application?

Would add that you both also need to amend your tax filings going back to 2017 when you both became common law.