Legally seperated vs Seperated

[karandeep02]

So this is how my case goes.
Been in Canada from last 5years now.
I got married in November 2022, I was at work permit then. I sponsored my husband here and he came in May 2023. He got open spouse work permit which was only applicable until Feb this year and I think he must have got tourist visa now as my friends saw him couple of months ago. After he came here, He started to be very abusive; physically and mentally.
I filed police complaint end of August,2023 after living for 3months. Since then, we are not in touch and I will be filing divorce first week of September after completing one year of separation. He has also signed a peace bond in November, 2023. Am I legally separated in that case or still married in the eyes of law? Please advise. Thanks.

 

[Naturgrl]

You are separated. There really is no such thing as legal separation in Canada. You are married until divorce finalized.

 

[karandeep02]

So calculating my crs score what Am I choosing as marital status?

 

[sabensaid92]

So calculating my crs score what Am I choosing as marital status?

IRCC was TORTURING me about this issue as I'm in a similar position.
What I'll suggest is that you wait until you file for divorce, have a confirmation from the court that your request has been filed, your husband was served divorce documents. Gather those document so you can attach them to your application.
In the eye of the law, especially the IRP ACT , the legal separation and/or separation is not a legal martial status. So you can file as legally separated but be prepared to answer questions and additional document requests.

 

[karandeep02]

Thanks,
My file is in pool with 520points if before applying for divorce I got invitation. Is it gonna complicate my profile?

 

[sabensaid92]

Thanks,
My file is in pool with 520points if before applying for divorce I got invitation. Is it gonna complicate my profile?

From my experience, a bit yes. In either way you will have to file as separated as this is your status now. but if you call stall and not submit until you have a court confirmation that you filed for divorce you'll be better off like that.
When you submit your application, first action taken by a human in IRCC is the analyst who reviews all your documents (he's taking much more time to do that than an officer). At the end, the analyst will issue a recommandation and side note for the officier in order to continue the processing or finalize it. You'll be much more better off to not repeat "my mistake" and to mention that you are separated yes but here is my court filing for divorce. The analyst will review this, mention to the officer : please review divorce filing document regarding PA marital status. Visa officers on the other hand, as they had the power to take decision, they do rely a lot on the analyst finding. and sometimes when you add much more later additional document, this can get lost, will not reach the officer and he will be harassing you with a divorce certificate request.
I came to those finding after god knows how many GCMS notes order I did to check what the visa officer left as notes on my file.
So in summary, yes you will file as separated because that's what you are right now. If you can stall to submit your application until you have divorce filing that would be better for you.
I wish you good luck, and a better agent than the one I had

 

[karandeep02]

Thank you so much for the clarification.