Has the CIC ever contacted anyone's parents?

[sandwish]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to your help, I was able to call the CIC today One of the things I asked them was about privacy concerning whether or not they would contact my parents (since their addresses will be on the Sponsor Questionnaire form). They said normally they do not, but sometimes they do...

Here's the problem: My parents don't know about my relationship with my spouse and my intentions to sponsor him. My mother has some mental health issues and will not tolerate strangers to the family. Also mom and dad both desire for me to be with a Chinese Doctor/Lawyer/Accountant of whom, my spouse (despite all his best qualities), is not.

I still think I should go ahead with the PR though, for various reasons. I have a sibling who is still living at my parent's house and I hope I can give him some guidance and positivity in his life. Plus I have an unfinished degree.

Sorry to make everyone sit through the sob story. Basically can I specifically request for the CIC to not contact my parents? If I include a written request in my application, will they respect my privacy?

Thanks again everyone,

sandwish

 

[Perfect]

mmm good question, I wonder. I dont think its legally right but then again there are always lop holes right, i.e they could do that as part of a background check.

 

[Poetic]

I've been thinking the same thing this whole time. I hope to God they don't because like you, they don't know about my marriage, plus we ran away from home so contacting them would just ruin everything lol.

But let's hope they dont do it haha.

Good luck with your application.

 

[canadianwoman]

Basically can I specifically request for the CIC to not contact my parents? If I include a written request in my application, will they respect my privacy?

I would not do this. They almost never contact the parents, so you should be safe. If you specifically request that they don't, they'll get suspicious and may then actually insist on contacting them. Keep in mind that one of the hallmarks of a genuine marriage, according to the CIC guidelines, is that the families of the sponsor and applicant know about the marriage. Of course there are situations where a relative can't know, or doesn't know, and where relatives don't approve; these marriages can still get accepted, but it is best to explain why they don't know or don't approve, and to increase the amount of proof of a genuine relationship.

 

[Janadian]

Don't ask them not to contact them...if I were a case processing officer and I saw that i'd go straight to the phone.

Rather...

You could not mention it at all and hope they don't call ....
(they didn't call our family, and have known many people who have been through the process and their
parents were not contacted.)

or

Be staright up. Honesty is the best policy.

You could easily slip this information into your additonal details letter with your application. (That your mother has mental issues and couldn't comprehend or deal well with change and that your parents are rather un wavering on what they think is best for you, which is not always what you might choose as best for yourself) Then support your relationship by mentioning all the other people who do have knowledge and support your relationship. I wouldn't make this the topic of your letter, yet just include a reason around your family circumstances that will make it easier for the processing officer to understand. It seems pretty cut and dry.
You love him. They won't accept him. At the end of the day ..you are sponsoring him..not your parents.


That said, it's still always best to be forthright about your relationship with your family whether they accept it or not.

I had family that was against my being with my husband. I stood my ground for my relationship. My husband was my match and i was as sure as anything that my husband is what makes me complete, a good man and a wonderful role model for my child. After a while, my family got to know him better...and now...he is beloved by all of our family! He has become a favourite uncle to our neices and nephews, even our family over sea's are cooing about the great addition to our family.

Good luck!

 

[BostonGirl]

What if you don't have a relationship with your parents?
I was raised by my grandmother and don't even know where my parents are!

 

[Janadian]

Are your grandparents aware? Again. Just tell it how it is.
You were raised by your grandparents. you haven't had a relationship with your parents since you were ______
They just want to see some support from family members, it helps to show that you are involved in each others lives.

I would get grandma to write a letter in support of your relationship

 

[BostonGirl]

Yes, they are aware and they support our relationship.
I will get them to write a letter and try to explane my life.

Thanks!

 

[rjessome]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to your help, I was able to call the CIC today One of the things I asked them was about privacy concerning whether or not they would contact my parents (since their addresses will be on the Sponsor Questionnaire form). They said normally they do not, but sometimes they do...

Here's the problem: My parents don't know about my relationship with my spouse and my intentions to sponsor him. My mother has some mental health issues and will not tolerate strangers to the family. Also mom and dad both desire for me to be with a Chinese Doctor/Lawyer/Accountant of whom, my spouse (despite all his best qualities), is not.

I still think I should go ahead with the PR though, for various reasons. I have a sibling who is still living at my parent's house and I hope I can give him some guidance and positivity in his life. Plus I have an unfinished degree.

Sorry to make everyone sit through the sob story. Basically can I specifically request for the CIC to not contact my parents? If I include a written request in my application, will they respect my privacy?

Thanks again everyone,

sandwish

You are the sponsor, correct? Very, VERY, VERY doubtful that they will contact your parents. It's not their job to assess whether the Canadian contingent of this application has parents who approve of the marriage or not. So at the sponsorship stage, they will definitely NOT contact your parents.

You need to focus on proving that the marriage is genuine and not entered into for the purposes of immigration to Canada. In the PR portion of the application, I think it's wise to disclose that your parents don't know about the marriage and the reasons why this is the case, while also describing how you and your spouse feel about it, your plans to try to overcome it and what you will do in the worst case scenario of perhaps your parents refusing to ever accept the marriage. This will assist in proving that you entered into this marriage for genuine reasons even though the personal toll on you could be big.

CIC is not going to call home and rat you out. I've heard of parents being called to verify information about certain things when they feel that something was lied about in an application.

For example, here is a potential answer that could lead to a phone call. "Oh yes, my parents do know about my marriage. My father was in the hospital on the day of my wedding so my mother had to stay with him and so they couldn't come and then my brothers and sisters decided they also couldn't go, etc." If no proof of what was said in this statement is given (hospital record, letters from parents and/or siblings), a VO may call and ask, "Were you in the hospital on the day of your son's/daughter's wedding?" But the VO would have to have SERIOUS concerns for this to happen.

CIC is bound by confidentiality not to release personal information to a third party without express permission of applicant and/or sponsor. In the above example, the applicant made a statement he "said" was true so the officer CAN verify this statement with other sources. They are not disclosing anything new and are expecting the applicant's answer to be truthful (or not). So in effect, the applicant is opening up the can of worms by stating something, giving the VO the opportunity to verify it.

Anyway (I am way too wordy - I need to be more like PMM ), this is a none issue if you are truthful in your application.

 

[ambar]

I highly doubt they they contact anyone besides the sponsor and applicant. BUT like everyone is saying.. It wouldn't hurt to be honest because lies have a way of catching up with you. I'm sure there are a lot of people who's families don't approve of their spouse but I think it might hurt your chances or make the VO suspicious if you did write something along the lines of "please don't call my parents".

Just be honest in your answers when you state who was at your wedding, etc. And show them how much your spouse means to you and show them your marriage is genuine despite approval on your side. Does your spouses family know? If they do add that in! And if they were at your wedding, show that by including pictures of them there.

Gluck to you

 

[Perfect]

It is not a requirement so I would definitely use the `ask not say not`principle. Dont mention them on your application for example, where they ask for names of people who have met your spouse and are aware of the relationship..dont put them..put other people! In that case, you can wait for them to ask , if at all, and they will have no right to call them esp if they are not even listed as references on the application. I wouldnt raise red flags for myself by giving to much info...unless of course they ask about it. Cumon, we are all adults and are capable of making our own choices. There are so many dysfunctional families out there..dont you think they know that?

 

[sandwish]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Just to be clear, I have no intention of misleading CIC about the situation. I'm being 100% honest on every part of the application. I really want PR but am just not willing to take that sort of risk!

Unfortunately, on the Sponsorship Questionnaire I must list my parents' address so I am obliged to release their contact information, which is what led me to this query in the first place.

On the form I intend to state my parents don't know about the relationship, and list reasons why but what is want to know is...


To what degree I should emphasize "Do not contact them"?

a)If I explain my situation and make an explicit request not to make contact, would that still raise red flags and endanger my chances of getting PR?

b)If I explain my situation but do NOT ask, would my privacy still be respected?


Thanks for the great answers so far, and the support too!

 

[sandwish]

You are the sponsor, correct? Very, VERY, VERY doubtful that they will contact your parents. It's not their job to assess whether the Canadian contingent of this application has parents who approve of the marriage or not. So at the sponsorship stage, they will definitely NOT contact your parents.

You need to focus on proving that the marriage is genuine and not entered into for the purposes of immigration to Canada. In the PR portion of the application, I think it's wise to disclose that your parents don't know about the marriage and the reasons why this is the case, while also describing how you and your spouse feel about it, your plans to try to overcome it and what you will do in the worst case scenario of perhaps your parents refusing to ever accept the marriage. This will assist in proving that you entered into this marriage for genuine reasons even though the personal toll on you could be big.

CIC is not going to call home and rat you out. I've heard of parents being called to verify information about certain things when they feel that something was lied about in an application.

For example, here is a potential answer that could lead to a phone call. "Oh yes, my parents do know about my marriage. My father was in the hospital on the day of my wedding so my mother had to stay with him and so they couldn't come and then my brothers and sisters decided they also couldn't go, etc." If no proof of what was said in this statement is given (hospital record, letters from parents and/or siblings), a VO may call and ask, "Were you in the hospital on the day of your son's/daughter's wedding?" But the VO would have to have SERIOUS concerns for this to happen.

CIC is bound by confidentiality not to release personal information to a third party without express permission of applicant and/or sponsor. In the above example, the applicant made a statement he "said" was true so the officer CAN verify this statement with other sources. They are not disclosing anything new and are expecting the applicant's answer to be truthful (or not). So in effect, the applicant is opening up the can of worms by stating something, giving the VO the opportunity to verify it.

Anyway (I am way too wordy - I need to be more like PMM ), this is a none issue if you are truthful in your application.

rjessome, thanks for the great suggestions. I didn't think to describe the toll it's taken/potentially will take and will include it in my letter. As well,it seems that others cannot ask for my information according to this: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/atip/index.asp

I also looked up the Privacy Act and found this passage:

"Disclosure of personal information
8. (1) Personal information under the control of a government institution shall not, without the consent of the individual to whom it relates, be disclosed by the institution except in accordance with this section.

Where personal information may be disclosed

(2) Subject to any other Act of Parliament, personal information under the control of a government institution may be disclosed
(a) for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the institution or for a use consistent with that purpose;"

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/P-21/page-3.html#anchorbo-ga:s_4

So does that mean they are allowed to disclose my information? Or am I misinterpreting the law here?

 

[sandwish]

I've been thinking the same thing this whole time. I hope to God they don't because like you, they don't know about my marriage, plus we ran away from home so contacting them would just ruin everything lol.

But let's hope they dont do it haha.

Good luck with your application.

Poetic, it's reassuring to know someone in the same boat! Goodluck to you too!

 

[rjessome]

rjessome, thanks for the great suggestions. I didn't think to describe the toll it's taken/potentially will take and will include it in my letter. As well,it seems that others cannot ask for my information according to this: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/atip/index.asp

I also looked up the Privacy Act and found this passage:

"Disclosure of personal information
8. (1) Personal information under the control of a government institution shall not, without the consent of the individual to whom it relates, be disclosed by the institution except in accordance with this section.

Where personal information may be disclosed

(2) Subject to any other Act of Parliament, personal information under the control of a government institution may be disclosed
(a) for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the institution or for a use consistent with that purpose;"

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/P-21/page-3.html#anchorbo-ga:s_4

So does that mean they are allowed to disclose my information? Or am I misinterpreting the law here?

That means that if you say it, they can check it subject to the law. For example, you say you've never declared bankruptcy, they have the legal right to check that out because it is governed by an Act of Parliament (the law).

Immigration also works on the premise of "benefit". If you say something to gain "benefit" (meaning approval of an application) they can check it out. So in the previous example given, it would be to your "benefit" to say that your parents approved of your marriage because it is an indicator toward genuineness. To say your parents don't approve of the marriage does not produce benefit which is not a bad thing if you practice full disclosure and tell your story.

Their intent is not to hurt you or destroy your family. If you say something in your application, they have the right to check it out. If they suspect or are concerned about something, they have the right to question you about it or verify it through other legal means. But some common sense applies here. If you say your parents don't know about your marriage, CIC is not going to call your folks and say, "We just want to verify that you don't know about your daughter's marriage." They are then breaching your confidentiality causing a negative effect on you and setting themselves up for legal action against them. They can't/won't do that. They would question you and your spouse about that if they felt they needed to.

Posted by: Perfect
Insert Quote
It is not a requirement so I would definitely use the `ask not say not`principle. Dont mention them on your application for example, where they ask for names of people who have met your spouse and are aware of the relationship..dont put them..put other people! In that case, you can wait for them to ask , if at all, and they will have no right to call them esp if they are not even listed as references on the application. I wouldnt raise red flags for myself by giving to much info...unless of course they ask about it. Cumon, we are all adults and are capable of making our own choices. There are so many dysfunctional families out there..dont you think they know that?


I disagree. Did you miss the questions on the application forms asking whether or not your family knows about your relationship with the big box available to answer why NOT? "Not applicable" won't work here unless you are an orphan. Even then you would explain that you have no family. Full disclosure at the beginning is the best way of circumventing the red flags. NOT mentioning your family at all would definitely raise a red flag with a VO.