Question about Proof of Divorce

[Spoken05]

So this question is actually not for me but for a friend of a friend mine that is going through a Spousal sponsorship as well.

Her story (She is muslim by the way which is an important part of the story):
- She got married to her first husband 2.5 years ago, registered marriage here in Canada, applied for spousal sponsorship to bring her husband from the U.S
- Her and her husband were not getting along so they decided to get a divorce and she cancelled her spousal application before he could be approved. She did not get legally divorced in Canada but only got divorced religiously (The proof was a letter that was written by a sheikh stating that they were divorced)
- A year later, she got married again to a a guy in the middle east. She did not legally register this marriage in Canada as she thought that she did not need to
- She submitted a new spousal application and included the letter from the Sheikh stating that she and her ex-husband were divorced.
- She got approved as a sponsor and a few months later, CIC sent her an email asking her for proof of the divorce.

So my friend called me up asking what they meant by proof. I told her that her that since her friend registered for her first marriage in Canada, that she is technically still legally married to her first husband regardless if she got religiously divorced. I told her that since she is legally still married, she shouldn't have gotten married to another person AND submitted an application to CIC since it is illegal to be married to two people at the same time.

What does she do at this point? Doesn't she have to be separated from her husband for a year before they can get a divorce?

Let me know if I am correct, I would appreciate if I could get some feedback on this so I could let her know what to do

Thanks so much

 

[Spoken05]

Anyone can help me on this?

The girl would really appreciate it

 

[amikety]

I'm not an expert, but based on your story, I don't believe she's divorced from her first husband. This makes her second marriage invalid.

To me, this seems very serious and complicated. I think she may want to consult a lawyer.

I saw that because she's trying to tell CIC she's married to this new man. It may look suspicious (like marriage fraud) to them.

 

[AnaMaria]

In order to sponsor, she needs to be married, unless they are qualified for common-law. In order to get married, she cannot be married, she needs to be divorced from her first husband as their marriage is registered in Canada. Legally she is married to her first husband so the second husband's application will be denied because their marriage does not exist.

 

[brightredscream]

Legally she is not divorced from her first husband. This second marriage is invalid.

 

[Maz001]

She will need to get a lawyer to make a court application for Divorce, as well as present the court with some sort of signed separation agreement and division of matrimonial assets, custody etc..... If they have been separated for more than 1 year then that should be grounds for divorce. If less than 1 year, then best check with a lawyer as to what the options are.

 

[munchkin80]

Hi

I'm legally divorced to my first husband provided proof (which was my divorce certificate from Canada) when I submitted my new spousal sponsorship application for my husband.... My question is, once they receive my divorce certificate is it enough for them that I am legally divorced and my next marriage which took place AFTER my divorce is legit? Also how do they verify my divorce certificate? or they don't??? and also does the local visa office which is outside Canada in my case, contact the superior courts here in Canada to verify or what??

any replies please....

 

[scottishmaple]

Hi

I'm legally divorced to my first husband provided proof (which was my divorce certificate from Canada) when I submitted my new spousal sponsorship application for my husband.... My question is, once they receive my divorce certificate is it enough for them that I am legally divorced and my next marriage which took place AFTER my divorce is legit? Also how do they verify my divorce certificate? or they don't??? and also does the local visa office which is outside Canada in my case, contact the superior courts here in Canada to verify or what??

any replies please....

As long as you have provided the correct legal document (copy or original depending on what your application asks for) CIC will do security checks to make sure that the document is legit and you are in fact divorced from your first husband. If the divorce was in Canada then CIC will easily be able to check this information out.

 

[amikety]

Hi

I'm legally divorced to my first husband provided proof (which was my divorce certificate from Canada) when I submitted my new spousal sponsorship application for my husband.... My question is, once they receive my divorce certificate is it enough for them that I am legally divorced and my next marriage which took place AFTER my divorce is legit? Also how do they verify my divorce certificate? or they don't??? and also does the local visa office which is outside Canada in my case, contact the superior courts here in Canada to verify or what??

any replies please....

If your divorce and re-marriage where exceptionally fast, they might take a second look. If you were separated before hand, but waited until you wanted to get re-married for the divorce, hopefully you included the proper date of separation in the paperwork. For example, my husband and I were divorced 9 months and 1 year respectively before getting married. We both listed the proper date of separation (over 3 years for him and 2 for myself). We also have documentation to prove our separations if CIC needs it. My husband as a separation agreement (which was filed with his divorce papers) and I have emails from my ex-husband discussing the separation/division of property/ending of the lease on our apartment.

 

[munchkin80]

I thought that security checks/background checks are done on the applicant and not the sponsor.... My application is an outside application, isn't it the responsibility of CIC Mississauga to review the application and make sure that the sponsor is eligible to sponsor and the security checking of the applicant is whats done at the local office??? or will they also verify my documents as well???

As long as you have provided the correct legal document (copy or original depending on what your application asks for) CIC will do security checks to make sure that the document is legit and you are in fact divorced from your first husband. If the divorce was in Canada then CIC will easily be able to check this information out.

 

[truesmile]

They (Mississauga) are just checking for financial eligibilty (ie not on welfare for the past xx months) and that the application is complete. Should the CIC office abroad notice something amiss and investigate, stipulating that you were already approved by Mississauga won't fly.

 

[munchkin80]

I'm not saying that my application was already assessed in Mississauga and that they wont be or should not be looking at some of my documents further. They have every right to do so,, and I don't mind.. Because the security checks/background checks are actually that which takes place for the applicant at the visa office overseas, its a totally different areas which I was discussing in my last post.., my validation of documents has nothing to do with what I was trying to say... By all means they have every right too.. however I just wanted to know as to the procedure as to when and how they look into certain things like the validity of the divorce certificates and so on... for example would they call or get the documents directly but than again whats the point of asking for divorce certificate if they can do that all themselves... so I guess there's no clear explanation... I'm assuming that if they need more clarification they probably call to find out things... or they simply just ask.

They (Mississauga) are just checking for financial eligibilty (ie not on welfare for the past xx months) and that the application is complete. Should the CIC office abroad notice something amiss and investigate, stipulating that you were already approved by Mississauga won't fly.

 

[ImmigrationQuestions]

Hi

I'm legally divorced to my first husband provided proof (which was my divorce certificate from Canada) when I submitted my new spousal sponsorship application for my husband.... My question is, once they receive my divorce certificate is it enough for them that I am legally divorced and my next marriage which took place AFTER my divorce is legit? Also how do they verify my divorce certificate? or they don't??? and also does the local visa office which is outside Canada in my case, contact the superior courts here in Canada to verify or what??

any replies please....

I have a similar issue, whereby I am a Canadian, divorced (in Canada) from my first (Canadian) husband in 1988. I remarried in 2015 to a USA citizen that I am now sponsoring.

As the sponsor, I was asked to provide "divorce certificate(s), application(s) for divorce, and divorce order(s)" from my prior marriage, but I had never previously been supplied any of this information from the courts/lawyers.

I attended the Supreme Court where my divorce had been finalized, and obtained a Certificate of Divorce for $40. As far as all the other documents (eg. 'application for divorce' and 'divorce order'), I have no idea what those are, and the courts have told me I have to request this from the Royal Museum (at a cost) if I HOPE to (potentially) locate documents other than a "Certificate of Divorce".

My question is, is a court issued "Certificate of Divorce" sufficient for their purposes, i.e. to establish that I am legally divorced, or will I have to pay to have them dig through the archives to find the "divorce order" and "application for divorce" too?

Thank you.

 

[Alurra71]

I have a similar issue, whereby I am a Canadian, divorced (in Canada) from my first (Canadian) husband in 1988. I remarried in 2015 to a USA citizen that I am now sponsoring.

As the sponsor, I was asked to provide "divorce certificate(s), application(s) for divorce, and divorce order(s)" from my prior marriage, but I had never previously been supplied any of this information from the courts/lawyers.

I attended the Supreme Court where my divorce had been finalized, and obtained a Certificate of Divorce for $40. As far as all the other documents (eg. 'application for divorce' and 'divorce order'), I have no idea what those are, and the courts have told me I have to request this from the Royal Museum (at a cost) if I HOPE to (potentially) locate documents other than a "Certificate of Divorce".

My question is, is a court issued "Certificate of Divorce" sufficient for their purposes, i.e. to establish that I am legally divorced, or will I have to pay to have them dig through the archives to find the "divorce order" and "application for divorce" too?

Thank you.

Your certificate of divorce should be adequate. The others are only needed if your divorce is not yet completed.

 

[canadian2709]

If your divorce and re-marriage where exceptionally fast, they might take a second look. If you were separated before hand, but waited until you wanted to get re-married for the divorce, hopefully you included the proper date of separation in the paperwork. For example, my husband and I were divorced 9 months and 1 year respectively before getting married. We both listed the proper date of separation (over 3 years for him and 2 for myself). We also have documentation to prove our separations if CIC needs it. My husband as a separation agreement (which was filed with his divorce papers) and I have emails from my ex-husband discussing the separation/division of property/ending of the lease on our apartment.

Dear Amikety,

Does CIC ask for divorce documents for the first marriage? I remarried 17 months after my divorce. The problem is I just have an affidavit on a stamp paper to prove that I was divorced and nothing else. I don't even know where it is kept now. Being a muslim didn't get divorced in the court. I am filling in my application for permanent residency after receiving an ita.What documents will be required in this case. I am selecting yes in the previous marriage section as I do not want to misrepresent any information to the CIC.


Please help. Really tensed after seeing the previous marriage section in the permanent residency section.

Regards,
AK