HOW FAR DOES CIC GO??

[shreecharan]

Am not sure of the situation i am in.....Got married here in canada and not sure when and how to apply PR and OWP??
I hard not been also divorced from my country....Been in canada for 5 yrs now...My partner in my home country got married too and moved on with her life....i am not sure if cic will grant me PR and OWP when i apply .....Do they investigate upto home countrys??

Pls help i dont want to blunder...Thx

 

[MilesAway]

Your question isn't very clear. It sounds like you were married in your home country, but not divorced. Now you are applying for PR through your new partner, who is presumably a Canadian or PR.
CIC does background checks and can find out a lot of information. Never hide anything.

 

[Ravcat]

So...are you currently married to another person, while not technically divorced from the first person, and trying to apply for PR? If that is the case, you need to legally divorce from the first person.

I agree with MilesAway, not very clear on the question or circumstances...

And yes they can/will investigate. Thats why stuff takes so long for them to do!

 

[Ponga]

I suspect that you will have a problem, since bigamy is illegal in Canada (and almost every other country):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigamy

Even if it were legal in your country, the fact that you were married to your new spouse in Canada, makes it a big problem for you.

 

[Rob_TO]

Am not sure of the situation i am in.....Got married here in canada and not sure when and how to apply PR and OWP??
I hard not been also divorced from my country....Been in canada for 5 yrs now...My partner in my home country got married too and moved on with her life....i am not sure if cic will grant me PR and OWP when i apply .....Do they investigate upto home countrys??

Pls help i dont want to blunder...Thx

So you were never officially divorced from your first wife?
What kind of marriage did you have to new spouse in Canada, was it a legal marriage or just something like a non-official religious ceremony/reception? If you did a legal marriage here, didn't you sign something that said you were not married anywhere else?

Have you lived with your new partner here for at least 12 months? In that case, you could apply as common-law (which doesn't matter if you're married on paper elsewhere).

If you indeed did a legal marriage here and were not divorced in home country I'm not sure how CIC will view this. They can either claim you committed a crime (bigamy), or they may just claim the 2nd marriage was simply not valid.

 

[Mapleson]

If you were divorced, then that is not a problem. If you were NOT divorced, then that is definitely a problem.

CIC definitely investigates people in their home country and every country where they have lived for longer than 6 months.

 

[taffy7]

So you were never officially divorced from your first wife?
What kind of marriage did you have to new spouse in Canada, was it a legal marriage or just something like a non-official religious ceremony/reception? If you did a legal marriage here, didn't you sign something that said you were not married anywhere else?

Have you lived with your new partner here for at least 12 months? In that case, you could apply as common-law (which doesn't matter if you're married on paper elsewhere).

If you indeed did a legal marriage here and were not divorced in home country I'm not sure how CIC will view this. They can either claim you committed a crime (bigamy), or they may just claim the 2nd marriage was simply not valid.

Looks like from another thread he got married here legally. When my husband and I got married here we had to provide a divorce certificate for both of us. Ontario required us to get a lawyer who had to prepare an "Opinion letter" which had to be prepared and signed by a lawyer . This was to state he was no longer married .Have no idea how he was able to marry another person with out getting divorced.

 

[Rob_TO]

Looks like from another thread he got married here legally. When my husband and I got married here we had to provide a divorce certificate for both of us. Ontario required us to get a lawyer who had to prepare an "Opinion letter" which had to be prepared and signed by a lawyer . This was to state he was no longer married .Have no idea how he was able to marry another person with out getting divorced.

Most likely by not mentioning the previous marriage at all, and signing a declaration that he was single. The provinces don't actually do background checks on people when they get married here to see if they've been married in any other country before, they rely on you to be honest about it. If he did sign something stating he was single when he wasn't, then that would be some kind of fraud.

 

[Mapleson]

It's actually quite easy to get married a second time in a different jurisdiction. My father had for marriages (to three women), but only 1 divorce. Beyond bigamy being illegal, there generally is some included statement in the marriage documentation that amounts to perjury if a previous marriage is not disclosed.

 

[truesmile]

Back to the original problem. The OP actually could legally become common-law while still "undivorced", correct? (not saying it would solve all his/her problems)

 

[Ponga]

So...you suggest that he divorce wife #2 and then apply as Common-Law...pretending they were never married?

No matter how you slice it...it's a mess.

 

[DanSlh]

Back to the original problem. The OP actually could legally become common-law while still "undivorced", correct? (not saying it would solve all his/her problems)

With all due respect, it's not a good idea at all.
It would be misrepresentation and ban.

 

[shreecharan]

Thanks for all the opinions expressed....Indeed wonderfull,educative and great in all respects...What do i do now??I did manage to get hold of her back at home and discuss the marriage issue..This is why i didnt want to rush with my application..I legally married someone i have been with 3 yrs here in canada.My former spouse got married and has kids with another man no more of us being together.What we had was an affidavit that we swore back in my home country.Here in canada had a big wedding and a reception ..took lots of photos that proves it all..

What do i do?? do I have to to get divorce or an annulment letter from my country and attach it with my application for P.R....or WHICH IS THE BEST THING TO DO?? I havent filled any form yet..

Thanks again.

 

[Ponga]

I strongly encourage you to speak with a qualified lawyer, because you have a very complicated situation.
Most lawyers offer a complimentary phone consultation, which would at least give you an idea how (if at all possible) to fix this.


Don't gamble with your future.


Good luck!

 

[shreecharan]

Oh sorry friends for i held some information back...The last time i was home,this was like 2 yrs we had started some divorce arrangements...where i got the papers signed and send my aunt to serve her...She said that she signed them and sent them in....but did not receive any communication back cause she didnt bother to follow cause she moved to another smaller
town with her new hubby(i did get hold of her through her brother who gave me her number) ..The town she is in is rural and cut off from the main city...

Another qstn? If the divorce was granted and certificate issued...(which i hope and pray) do i have to attach acopy of it...She and i had a son together? How about the custody of our son whom i support and provide for through my parents..


Again thx friends.