Hi, I heard few stories immigration representatives doing home visit to ensure marriage is genuine? Do they still do this. I am just curious on how and why. Does this only happen if they are still in the process of spousal sponsorship or it also happens when the application is already approved? Just out of curiosity, it just seems odd to me. Thanks!!!
Canada immigration home visit
- Thread starter jcjcw
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If you have a genuine marriage it shouldn’t be an issue.
Home visit's are good.
They can verify many things and keep the scammers out of Canada.
Even, when home visit is random. They can use other means to assess and scrutinize relationship for immigration purpose. It's a win-win for genuine relationship.
It doesn't happen often but it does happen. There is zero notice. They just show up.
I don't consider it invasion of privacy as applicant must have signed and consented. Moreover, it's in compliance with immigration rules.
If you’ve applied, you’ve agreed to them scrutinizing your relationship. Nothing more invasive about a home visit than an interview asking about your sex life. And the whole idea would be to show up unannounced......why give questionable applicants time to prepare?
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Rare, but it can happen:
https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2013/04/29/marriage_fraud_canadian_immigration_officials_tread_thin_line.html
In some cases, where a spouse is already in Canada, the investigation may also include a surprise visit to the couple’s home.
That occurred in a case where border officers noticed the address on Xiu Yi Xuan’s driver’s licence was different than the address of her Canadian husband.
In a scene reminiscent of the 1990 romantic comedy Green Card, about a marriage of convenience, the Canada Border Services Agency made an unannounced visit to the couple’s Markham home to investigate.
Xuan, a failed refugee claimant from China, was home at the time and unable to produce her husband’s toothbrush (she claimed they shared one). She couldn’t say whether her husband used an electric razor or a disposable one, nor could she show the officer any evidence of his socks or underwear.
Despite other indications it was a genuine marriage — joint bank accounts, joint insurance, joint donations and ownership of a Stouffville property — Xuan was arrested. The couple’s spousal sponsorship was rejected and, most recently, their appeal to Federal Court denied.
I would certainly prefer to answer interview questions, however personal, in a structured setting than to have people show up at my door. It would also be pretty inconvenient in terms of work - I often work 26 hour shifts straight and have to give 3 months notice in advance to take a day off. My wife also works full-time. What are they going to do, just keep coming back randomly until they happen to hit a time when one of us is home? Come in the middle of the night? Neither one of us would be comfortable with someone, especially a male, we didn't know coming into our home when only one of us was home. It's simply not safe.
as others have pointed out, this is a rather rare case. so why worry about a home visit if your relationship is genuine.
Hi there - these used to be called "bed checks" for those who had to visit someone's home. How - you knock on the door and ask to come in. Why? To see if there is actual cohabitation.
So, there's an inland spousal application at IRCC and that decision-maker gets a tip or sees something out of place and they ask the CBSA to conduct an investigation. Lot's of people snitch to immigration but these were a low priority for the CBSA.
You don't HAVE to let them in and only one person needs to be home to show that yes, the other person's stuff is here and the wedding photos are out and whatever else indicates the legitimacy of the relationship. If you don't let them in then they'll just return a report about the visit and how their investigation could not proceed with the couple's cooperation.
So, inland spousal applications have no appeal mechanism and the decision-maker reads the CBSA report and makes a decision based upon the information at hand. They came in and everything looked genuine is an approval, or the CBSA was barred from entering - voila, refusal. The couple can apply from abroad and hope that the inland refusal doesn't mean that they have to live together in another country.
All in a days work for them as sham marriages undermine the system and the applicant doesn't merit admission to Canada as a permanent resident.
I sincerely doubt they would do a home visit. Why would they bother? Its up to you to prove the relationship is genuine. If they have any doubts they send out a "denied" letter rather than muck about coming to your house. What is more likely to happen, in some cases, is a video call where they can casually see what's in the background without leaving their office. And for those who are suspicious why you would not want an unannounced home visit, my wife would freak out if anyone showed up unannouned without giving her time to rush around and "clean up". Its part of her charm.
I'm not concerned about it in my particular case. I have no reason whatsoever to expect that there will be any concerns raised about the genuineness of my relationship with my wife. Because I have the capacity to have empathy for others, I'm thinking about how I might respond to something of that nature. The fact that I have no reason to be concerned for myself personally obviously doesn't do anything to lessen the validity of my concerns about this practice.