My friend needs help!

[ZooYork]

Hi there.

I have a friend who is in a little trouble right now and if you give me a minute I can give you the story. I know next to nothing about immigration standards, rules and regulations. I've done a little research and I was brought here. I'm currently on the phone with someone who may be of assistance as well but I am looking to all of you for further reference.

My friend is from Laguna, Philippines. He came here a year and 2 months ago to marry a girl he met online I believe. They got married and 5 months ago they had a kid. Now from what I understand is that she is the one who sponsored him, and the sponsorship has been completed. I used to work with him so I know he is permitted to work here in Canada. He sais he has landed immigrant status with permanent residence. Now to me it sounds like hes got himself in the door (with minor research as my reference). This is where the problem comes in.

He lives with his wife and her brother. It is her brother house and he was simply paying rent there. She wants nothing to do with him now and is forcing him out of the house because he cant pay rent ( he just lost his job). She (with the help of her brother telling her what to do I'm sure) is threatening to have him deported and that she wants him out of the country and back to the philippines. When he gets there she wants an annulment from him because they don't have divorces over there apparently. She promises he can see his kid if he comes back blah blah it's all a bunch of bull if you ask me. It sounds like she wants him out of the country so that she can take full custody of the kid and get an easy divorce from him and cut all ties in the end. Rendering him unable to see his own child (from what I gather).

Basically I'm asking you if you have any information you can throw my way, if there's any tips you have or similar things you or someone you know has been through (and what did they do). I just want to find him help and he's quite literally almost been brainwashed with their lies and I finally convinced him to let me find him a little help and information before he takes off in a plane in 2 days. He leaves February 10th. I have a place for him to stay and pay rent with me and I can also find him work. So I've got that much covered for him.

Thank you for your time, again, this is not my area of expertise and would MUCH appreciate ANY help you can offer my friend at this point and time.

EDIT: He is saying because she sponsored him that she can cancel his permanent residence.. throwing that in there if it helps.

 

[RobsLuv]

If he is a landed immigrant, she cannot have him deported! And she cannot terminate his permanent status, either! Even if he left her! Furthermore, she is responsible for him, under the terms of her undertaking, for three years after his landing - so if he collects social assistance benefits as a result of his unemployment and her kicking him out, she has to pay those monies back to the Canadian government.

Additionally, he has rights to see his child. He should not leave Canada - he does not have to! Tell him to get a good divorce lawyer and get on with his life . . . in Canada, where he can see his child.

Here is a link to the undertaking she signed. It is a legal contract between the two of them - admissible in a divorce court.

"Sponsored persons or their family members who are being abused or assaulted by their sponsors should seek safety away from their sponsors even if this means they will have to apply for social assistance benefits. A sponsor cannot force Citizenship and Immigration Canada to remove you from Canada. An undertaking is conditional and may not be terminated. Under no circumstances does the granting of citizenship, divorce, separation or relationship breakdown, financial deterioration or moving to another province cancel the undertaking."

HE NEEDS TO KNOW, ABSOLUTELY, that if she or her brother threaten him in any way, he has the right to call the police and have them arrested. Doing so will not, in any way, jeapordize his permanent status - but it will absolutely help with the divorce proceedings and with custody issues. He has the right to sue for divorce and/or custody of his child - especially if she is abusing him. As a friend, probably one of the best things you can do for him is to help him find a good lawyer. Thank you for giving him options as far as a place to live and a job - she cannot take away his child!

 

[bobshynoswife]

First of all, if he is a permanent resident, she cannot have him deported. Not at all. She is also legally obligated to support him for 3 years from the day he landed in Canada. This means if he has to go on social assistance, the province can go after her for repayment.

Basically, he is like any other Canadian who is having a marriage breakdown. Immigration no longer has anything to do with it. He should get a lawyer because he will be entitled to some custody of the child, as well as possible spousal support if she is working and he is not. Since he is jobless, there is legal aid available

*edited to add* - she makes me furious! how dare she hold his residency over him like that. Assuming he is a good guy and has done nothing wrong, I feel so very sorry for him. Once he became a Permanent Resident of Canada he has all the rights and freedoms of any other Canadian (well, except voting ) He does not and should not go back home.

She is right that there is no divorce in the Phillipines. If she wants an annulment, sounds like she's ready to sponsor another man (maybe a friend of her brother's....who knows?) He should divorce her in Canada, but leave her as married in the Philipines...she made a promise to him and she has broken it.

 

[ZooYork]

Thank you guys soo much for the replies. He is a good guy trust me one of the best I've met in a while. He's young too only 25 and his life has only just started in Canada! I'm getting him to read this thread as it populates and I'm suire he's going to be very happy to see this information. Thank you guys so much.

 

[annabruce]

What is with this increasing number of women in canada/usa who seem to think that when the relationship goes bad they can simply isolate the father from his child? This is not an immigration issue. She is simply using that particular issue as a tool.

Something similar is going on in my own extended family. I have further observed this struggle with a couple of my friends.

OP, be careful. Some women when they are backed into a corner will play the "abuse" card - deceitfully claiming that they or their child has been abused by the man. He must document her behavior. Write down everything that happens. He MUST get legal help.