Marriage?
- Thread starter Elanigana
- Start date
Taken from the Operational Procedures: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
"5.51. Switching categories between spouses, common-law partners and conjugal partners
Applicants are required to indicate the category in which they are applying for immigration to Canada. Conjugal partners, common-law partners and spouses are all specific categories with specific requirements. There is no requirement for an officer of the Department to automatically re-assess an application by considering such an application in terms of a different relationship between the applicant and the sponsor within the family class. The onus is entirely upon the applicant to indicate what their relationship is to the sponsor and to fulfill the requirements of the category under which they apply. There is no option to make a general application within the family class (within the conjugal categories, for example). A fundamental understanding of the family class is that members of that class must establish themselves as one of certain prescribed members in terms of their relationship with the sponsor. Different relationships to the sponsor correspond to different categories within the class as described in the Regulations. Applicants must self-identify within an application and they must meet the requirements of the category under which they apply. Each of spouses, common-law partners and conjugal partners are different categories with different requirements, and applicants choose to identify themselves, voluntarily, depending on their relationship to the sponsor on the application forms.
However, applicants are also obliged to inform the Department if aspects of their life change prior to the finalization of their case, including their marital/conjugal status. If their conjugal relationship changes (for example, if applicants are in a conjugal-partner relationship with a sponsor and the applicant and sponsor marry), then officers should make adjustments to the application (i.e., coding) and should proceed with processing in terms of the new conjugal relationship. (See 13.1 for guidance on procedures regarding technically illegal marriages). Until further notice, applicants whose marital status changes following a refusal decision—for example, following the refusal of their conjugal-partner application the sponsor marries the applicant—should be counselled to reapply under the appropriate category— in the above example, FC1."
Note: OP2 is from 2006. The current procedures listed online are similar though:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...onomic-classes/family-class-circumstance.html
Switching categories between spouses, common-law partners and conjugal partners
Conjugal partners, common-law partners and spouses are all specific categories with specific requirements. The onus is on the applicant to indicate what their relationship is to the sponsor, to specify the immigration category and to fulfill the requirements of the category under which they apply.
An officer is not required to automatically re-assess an application based on a different family class marital/conjugal relationship between the applicant and the sponsor than the one identified on the original application.
However, applicants are obliged to inform the Department of any change in their marital/conjugal status before the finalization of their case. For example, an applicant sponsored as a common-law partner (immigrant category FCC) or conjugal partner (FCE) may marry the sponsor. In such cases, a new undertaking is not necessary, but an officer must continue to be satisfied that the relationship meets legal requirements and is genuine.
If an applicant is refused as a common-law or conjugal partner and subsequently marries the sponsor, there is no provision for the original application to be revisited purely on that basis – if the sponsor and applicant wish to pursue an application, they must re-apply and pay new fees under the appropriate category.
So essentially, sounds to me like they are not required to treat your application any differently because you got married, but depending on the officer's discretion, they may take this information and it could help you.
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