Hello Everyone, I am new here. I am Canadian and my husband is Nigerian. He just had his interview on August 28, 2013 and we received an email on the morning of the 30th at 1:00am advising us that he had been refused. I have filed an appeal with the Vancouver office. The reason given was that they do not believe our marriage to be genuine. My husband and I share the same religion; however, I am not African and he is. He is also much younger than me. We met on the internet. We got married on January 2nd, 2013. I have helped him out financially.
During the interview he was basically accused of not telling the truth - for example, that because the officer did not think he had a strong Nigerian accent, that he must have travelled abroad and thus must have a passport that he was not revealing to her. I think this is ludicrous because if he had travelled abroad, he would not have been rejected THREE TIMES for a Canadian visitor's visa (which we tried for before getting married). Also she accused him of being poor (despite the fact that he owns his own home) and looking for a rich white woman on the internet. She herself is caucasian. She also said that I was not integrated into his life....kind of hard since he cannot visit me, and I cannot keep travelling to Nigeria to get "integrated". Despite this we talk twice daily, and I am well connected with his family and friends in Nigeria. So really, he is not integrated in my life! LOL! We also had a small reception due to lack of funds and other issues and she was critical of this.
I have some questions as we start this process and so if anyone has any information, I would be really happy to hear it:
1. Is it worthwhile to hire an immigration lawyer? If so, how much does it cost? What does the lawyer do for you? Will Immigration Canada utilize lawyers against us?
2. What is the appeal process? I see lots of abbreviations but I don't know what they all stand for. It would be great to know how things typically unfold.
3. Is the hearing held in Canada or at Canadian Embassy in his country or in Accra, Ghana where he had his interview?
4. How long can we expect to wait for a hearing?
5. Any suggestions for increasing the proof of the genuineness of our relationship?
6. Is it worthwhile to "attack" the credibility of the immigration officer, to point out flaws in her reasoning, show up her biases and discredit her assumptions as unsubstantiated? I personally feel that she did not have any strong or factual evidence only circumstantial evidence on which she based her decision. (Frankly I'd like to rip her a new one! But that would be very UNCHRISTIAN of me!)
7. How long can an appeal take?
8. Any other information, especially from anyone who has experience with Nigeria/West Africa.
Thank you so much.
Peach Nibbler (crossing over from the Accra Ghana thread)
Hello.......
1. you could apply for the appeal yourself or you could contact lawyer....lawyer costs about $2500-$3000 for ADR and about $5000 for full spousal appeal..... have heard cases of ppl doing it alone and being successful and some have done it with lawyer and still lost... unfortantely , having a lawyer does not guarantee success, but I would recommend going for a consult with one , to give an idea how to prepare for your appeal, ( that might cost about $300 - $500 for one hour consult)
2. when you fill out form to apply for appeal, you will be notified by immigration office if they will consider you for ADR ( alternate dispute resolution) or for full spousal appeal.....ADR's are quicker in time frame and less formal and only YOU the appellant will be interviewed, not your spouse.....usually if there are alot of "concerns" in your file , they will make you do full spousal appeal , where both you and your spouse will be interviewed together (, you will be interviewed at the immigration office in canada nearest you , and your spouse will be interviewed via teleconference on phone and webcam from nigeria)....
3,ADR's are usually within a year after you file your appeal , and full spousal appeals can take up to 2 years before you get it. also, even if you win your ADR and /or appeal it can take another year or so to process everything... the waiting time is cruel......
4. proving your marriage is genuine is mostly based on telephone records, photos, emails, etc .. any correspondence that you have between you, send to them.....
5. I dont think attacking the immigration officer will be beneficial at all..
6. and just a little FYI: sorry to say this but I have heard that nigerians have more difficulty than others in the eyes of immigrations , due to thier "stereotypical" classification of being " scammers".
7. but hang in there, stay hopeful and patient........
I said Nooooo not that I know of Jeesh 
