But as far as I know I will be ban for Canada for committing misinterpretation..
Undeclared marriage
- Thread starter daldalmo
- Start date
But as far as I know I will be ban for Canada for committing misinterpretation..
While very commendable you wish to be forthright with IRCC on the misrepresentation, never volunteer information unless directly asked.
Only if IRCC investigates you for misrepresentation would they revoke your status, and only if they feel it’s serious enough to pursue. And that only happens because you do something to draw attention to yourself (family sponsorship, PGP sponsorship, residency obligation, citizenship, criminal activities, terrorism,etc). IRCC doesn’t have the manpower or resources to keep tabs on every immigrant in the country. Those that get investigated usually have done something to make them review and investigate their status deeper.
Only if IRCC investigates you for misrepresentation would they revoke your status, and only if they feel it’s serious enough to pursue. And that only happens because you do something to draw attention to yourself (family sponsorship, PGP sponsorship, residency obligation, citizenship, criminal activities, terrorism,etc). IRCC doesn’t have the manpower or resources to keep tabs on every immigrant in the country. Those that get investigated usually have done something to make them review and investigate their status deeper.
I don’t think my husband will be qualified for the skilled worker program. So how can I apply as skilled worker and sponsored him if I already PR here? or maybe we’ll just wait that our daughter to sponsored us in the future.
M
mikeymyke
Guest
Get him to learn English and take up a skilled profession. Or even you yourself, upgrade your English and take up something like nursing
hi how
hi how's your application right now? i have the same problem my husband did not declared us when she got her PR status on 2015. but we got married 2016. and has a 2 child 7yrs old and 4yrs old. our first child was declared and the s second child does not declared. is their any possibility for us to reunite in canada?
I don't think this person applied for PR. If they tried, the application would have been refused and it's possible their own PR status may have been revoked for misrepresentation.
I know you're looking for a magic solution. There isn't one. If you fail to declare a family member - they can never be sponsored.
There seems to be quite a few people who haven’t declared children, spouses, previous marriages, etc. I had no idea so many people either forget, or lie about these things.
As you’ve said, there’s very clear statements from IRCC on the application guides about this and they really don’t forgive this type of misrepresentation.
We know they’ve often forgiven overstays, even overstays of multiple years. IRCC clearly will consider the spouse/children affected in the cases of someone who’s committed some of the more minor types of misrepresentation. They often won’t deport someone in these instances.
But the non declaration of children and spouses seems to be the one thing they will never allow. When someone on here informs them that they can never sponsor the people they didn’t declare, it’s often met with complete disbelief.
I think it's because in a lot of third world and developing countries, hell even in first world ones to a degree and especially if you know the right people, you can sorta often get around the rules, you know? There's always a way - what can I say as an excuse (usually meaning what kind of lie can I come up with), who can I talk to, who can I hire, what other option is there, can I wait a certain amount of time and try again, etc. The idea that the result could be so negative and so final is unimaginable.
Not to mention that a lot of people do it because they think if they did declare family members, their applications would be denied. So already there you see the intent to kind of go around the rules, get the PR for themselves, and they'll figure the rest later once their foot is in the door. I'm from an EU country and yet this mentality is very familiar to me and not at all surprising. Heck, learning about this rule way back when absolutely shocked me and my gut reaction is that it's barbaric, even though I understand the rules and I'd never personally break them - I just find it very heartbreaking in situations where people just genuinely didn't understand.
That would be the other category of people - those who just really made a mistake, especially when it's something like the common law category that doesn't even exist in a lot of countries. As in, "Yeah, I live with my girlfriend like so many others; it's not like it makes her my wife or anything." Weeeeeell, actually in Canada it pretty much does in all but the name itself. It's tricky.
You’ve summed it up very well. There does appear to be two categories of people in this, those who made an honest mistake and those who thought they could circumnavigate the rules.
The people who made an honest mistake, I feel terrible for. A sick to my stomach kind of terrible. I can’t imagine how they must feel. In these instances it does seem wicked and cruel that there are absolutely no exceptions made. Certainly on this forum, no-one has known of IRCC doing so, but maybe they have at some point? Although, their constant reminders of the consequences of not declaring family members, and their insistence of ignorance not being an excuse would indicate that they don’t and they won’t.
I’ve made the point about common law not being recognized in a lot of countries, in a previous thread. For that to catch people out is heartbreaking. If it’s not recognized in the country that person lived in, I don’t think it should apply to them here. If the common law occurred in Canada, then sure, make no exceptions to it. I think a person does have a responsibility to be aware of the rules of the country live in.
Those who think they can game the system, using appeals and H&C applications, etc, to bring over family members, I have far less sympathy for. The consequences are still very cruel and just as devastating, but there was a premeditated attempt at deceiving the authorities and the warnings were understood prior to making that decision. Maybe it’s because IRCC, compared to their equivalents in US and UK, for example, are know for compassion and allowing minor to medium infractions to be set aside, granting reunification of families. I’m angry that people think they can take advantage of that good nature and bend the rules to their liking. I have very little sympathy in these cases, that if as a result of their attempts at bringing over inadmissible family members, their own PR status is consequently revoked after discovering it was granted due to misrepresentation. It’s hard to argue with such serious deception being punished.
However, when all is said and done, there are families being kept apart due to honest mistakes and stupid mistakes. The punishment in both cases is either a lifetime apart, or having to return to their home country. Whether you agree with that punishment or not, it is still the punishment. It’s common knowledge, and maybe these threads on here will make other people think twice about planning not declaring someone.
Yes, the honest mistakes really make me feel horrible and I always dread going into any thread whose title insinuates it might be related to it.
It would be great if there was a way to alleviate issues with genuine mistakes, but then you enter that grey area where everyone would try to claim it was an honest mistake and the whole policy is then useless.
I also agree with common law, but I think all of these things can ultimately be solved by being careful and meticulous when preparing an application. Rushing it, not really researching, going ahead even if you don't really understand everything - that's a recipe for disaster. We see a lot of people on this forum who don't take this nearly as seriously as they should and that's when mistakes happen. Some are relatively easy to correct, some are devastating and permanent like the non-declared family member policy.
Yes, the nonchalant approach of some people towards what is a massive decision, is quite baffling. I think some people don’t see the immigration process as being that big of a deal. My wife and I started completing the paperwork so early, by the time we submitted it, some of the forms had to re-completed three times. I remember us laughing on the night before the package was going to be mailed to IRCC, as I thought to double check the forms haven’t had an update since we last printed them. I didn’t think there would be, but alas, there was. A couple of forms had been revised. After searching online, it stated that IRCC will accept previous version of forms for up to a month after their revision. I didn’t think it’d be worth the risk of getting the package returned and delaying the process. So, we spent an or so redoing the forms and then got it in the post before they changed again!
I understand the common law rule, as many countries don’t have it, people might make a mistake. But how can you make a mistake and say you are single when you are married? I have no sympathy for the latter ones as they wanted to play the system. I even would like IRCC to revoke those guys’ PR. But I feel really bad for people that didn’t know about the common law rule. I hope IRCC can find a way to further punish people who lie / misrepresent, while be easier on people that made an honest mistake.
Reminds me of a very close friend of mine - we got married within three months of each other and both in the same situation immigration wise. Him and his husband were supposed to apply before us, but then not only did they not apply but his husband had to go back to his country to get all the necessary documents and the whole ordeal ended up delaying their app by almost a year. And it was the basic documents so I remember being bewildered at him not having them. Until my friend told me and I quote, "I thought once you get married that's it - the stuff after is a simple and quick thing." They just gave a cursory glance to the requirements and ended up missing some crucial things because they thought getting married was the hard part, lol.
So yeah, people go off of these wild assumptions and think it's a walk in the park and you can sort of wing it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's simple and straightforward enough so that most people can do it all alone. But that doesn't mean it's some whatever insignificant thing that you can just improvise.
Most people who have gone through the immigration process, followed the rules, and waited patiently, would agree with you here. Anyone who attempts to deceive the system by not declaring family members and lying about their marital status will have no sympathy from most. The fact the resulting investigation could jeopardize their own PR status is a big consequence of lying.
We know that IRCC will often exercise discretion and leniency towards people that have made genuine mistakes. There’s even no requirement for valid status in spousal sponsorship applications anymore. People have been granted PR status even with a significant overstays on record. These people didn’t hide their overstays or infractions. That honestly can work for you in the long run. Even people that have been working without status have been approved for PR.
Your friend sounds like a lot of people who go through the immigration process. There sometimes seems to be a sense of that once you’ve married a foreign national of another country, that there’s an automatic entitlement to be able to emigrate and the process shouldn’t be in anyway inconvenient to them.
My own parents, highly educated and intelligent people, were amazed at how much paperwork I had to compete. They thought the PR process was a slightly more compex version of arriving as a visitor. Just sign a couple of forms, show the marriage certificate and walk through the border.
They couldn’t believe that you have to apply for a permit to work, or to get access to healthcare, that the PR process doesn’t just take a few weeks and you’re done. They really thought that just being the spouse of a Canadian citizen was the bulk of the work done already. I had to point out to them that just because when they come and visit, they can spent 60 seconds with CBSA and then go collect their bags, that the process for a PR application is infinitely more complex and long winded. I made sure they realize that as a foreign national you don’t have any rights or entitlement until you have your PR visa. It’s a big deal for another country to allow you stay there forever. It takes time.
Even my friends refer to the process as waiting for citizenship. A lot of them don’t realize that first you get an OWP, then a PR visa, then after 3 years, you can apply for citizenship. They thought once you’re approved, that’s it, you’re a Canadian citizen. This also includes my Canadian friends too! They have not the first clue about how IRCC/CBSA work. And in fairness, they’ve never had a need to know. With me going through this process, they’re learning a lot too.