Newlywed canadian husband assaulted me, I'm on tourist visa

[thewildblueberry]

I was dating my husband for 2 years before getting married. He physically assaulted me 1 week after the marriage, so as you can imagine we didn't even have time to file sponsorship documents, not even a honeymoon! haha.
Police charged him and now we are separated by court order, he cannot make any contact with me.
I only have visitor visa in Canada, and I am reluctant to go back to my home country because I experienced long term violence from my mother's boyfriend when I was a teenager.
I don't have money for immigration and family law lawyers to deal with this situation, so I don't know what to do. I tried Neighbourhood Legal Services, talked to free immigration lawyer there but all they told me was that this marriage is already lost, and the only way out is... a new marriage which is quite ridiculous.
Does anyone have any advice for me at all?

 

[Ponga]

Sorry, but I don't believe that I've ever read a sentence that starts with "He physically assaulted me" and ended with "haha".

First, forget about any plans to have your husband sponsor you...even if you and he are together again, someday. His assault on you will prevent him from sponsoring you anytime soon.

You may have no option but to return to your home country...and just stay away from your mother's boyfriend.
Unfortunately, that's not reason enough to file a H&C application.

 

[steerpike]

You can extend your visitor visa for now, but you can't get permanent residency through your spouse anymore. Even if you reconcile, he may be ineligable to sponsor you now, depending on what he was charged with. Unless you can find another path to immigration unrelated to your marriage, you will probably have to return to your home country.

 

[scylla]

You can extend your visitor visa for now, but you can't get permanent residency through your spouse anymore. Even if you reconcile, he may be ineligable to sponsor you now, depending on what he was charged with. Unless you can find another path to immigration unrelated to your marriage, you will probably have to return to your home country.

I agree with the above advice. There is no path to immigration through your husband. If you want to immigrate, you'll have to qualify independently (e.g. as a skilled worker). You can read about Canada's immigration programs here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/apply.asp

I also agreed that chances are very high you will have to return home and apply from there.

 

[mikeymyke]

Get divorced, return home, apply as a skilled worker or live in caregiver.

 

[Obronibini]

sorry to hear that , i aggree with everyone in here unfortunately all you can do now is return home and do as others have suggested. Your moms husband can't assault you now right ?

 

[SenoritaBella]

A few things to know, if you don't already:
1. once the police is involved, there is nothing you can do about it. It's very important that he does not breach the "no contact order" - this is even more serious.

2. if the police decide to prosecute him, they will tell you and serve you with a subpoena(requires you to give testimony in court). If that happens, you must appear in court on the date and time indicated on the subpoena. If you don't, a warrant for your arrest may be issued.

3. if you end up having to give testimony, try to attend the "court preparation" sessions they give. This is to help you with how to conduct yourself in court, what to do if you don't understand a question, etc.

4. Since you are on visitor visa, if you get a subpoena for a court date that is beyond the validity date of your visa, you can apply for an extension of your visa and give that as a reason, then attach the subpoena letter.

5. get in touch with Victims Services(it may have a different name in your city) for some support/help. There is gov't funding(or there used to be) to help pay for therapy sessions(if you want it) and it does not matter whether you are a visitor, permanent resident or citizen.

6. I imagine you are not working, and perhaps providing for yourself may prove challenging. Worse case scenario, ask Victims Services about where to find help getting some food or anything else you need. They should be able to give you some resources.

I hope you are doing OK and I wish you well. Take care.

 

[Awesomeg]

I was dating my husband for 2 years before getting married. He physically assaulted me 1 week after the marriage, so as you can imagine we didn't even have time to file sponsorship documents, not even a honeymoon! haha.
Police charged him and now we are separated by court order, he cannot make any contact with me.
I only have visitor visa in Canada, and I am reluctant to go back to my home country because I experienced long term violence from my mother's boyfriend when I was a teenager.
I don't have money for immigration and family law lawyers to deal with this situation, so I don't know what to do. I tried Neighbourhood Legal Services, talked to free immigration lawyer there but all they told me was that this marriage is already lost, and the only way out is... a new marriage which is quite ridiculous.
Does anyone have any advice for me at all?

It doesn't seem that you will have a case for Humanitarian Reasons,
I wonder how is it possible that you got married and one week after you have had time to have a honey moon.. ????

When the lawyers tell you that the only way out is a new marriage is because they probably understand that you got married for convenience
and never had intentions to become his wife....

I don't see you getting permanent status, and remember that when you came as a visitor you agreed that it was a visit, you were not getting permanent status in
Canada...... Your marriage attempt to gain permanent status failed, and it is obvious that your intention has been all the way to stay in Canada one way or another,
the marriage attempt failed, any further attempt will be highly scrutinized and in my opinion, the situation that you married and did not have time for your honeymoon will be all what immigration needs to dismiss your application.

 

[smokijoe]

I came to Canada as a visitor and got married. I stayed for 4 weeks before leaving for my home country.
Just saying there is no breaking of any law I know of by getting married after entering a country as a visitor. Loads of people who marry in other countries do so after arriving as a visitor.

 

[mikeymyke]

I came to Canada as a visitor and got married. I stayed for 4 weeks before leaving for my home country.
Just saying there is no breaking of any law I know of by getting married after entering a country as a visitor. Loads of people who marry in other countries do so after arriving as a visitor.

Yes there is nothing wrong doing that, but it is highly frowned upon by the border officers when you mention your temporary visitor visa will be used to apply inland so that you can stay until the PR is finalized

 

[steerpike]

Yes there is nothing wrong doing that, but it is highly frowned upon by the border officers when you mention your temporary visitor visa will be used to apply inland so that you can stay until the PR is finalized

It is frowned upon if the person is from a country that requires a visa. From visa-exempt countries it is welcomed.

 

[screech339]

It is frowned upon if the person is from a country that requires a visa. From visa-exempt countries it is welcomed.

Really steerpike? My wife was from a non visa exempt country and she got married after entering Canada on visitor visa. In fact, once the border agent saw that she was engaged on the computer screen, he said, "Oh your engaged! Welcome to Canada".

She had no issues in being able to enter Canada. We got married 2 days after she entered Canada.

 

[SenoritaBella]

I think you misunderstood her. She was trying to say that the alleged assault happened 1 week after the wedding, and in that time they had not even gone for their honeymoon. Not having a honeymoon is not enough reason for CIC to reject an application. In this case, there is a reason it did not occur.

I think the lawyers told her that because her husband has been arrested for assault and a sponsor can not be eligible to sponsor if they committed such a crime against a family member. They just foresee a very long and tedious road for her. It's up to her to decide what she wants to do about her relationship and from her response, she did find the lawyers' advice to be "quite ridiculous"(her words). That does not indicate a marriage of convenience to me.

It doesn't seem that you will have a case for Humanitarian Reasons,
I wonder how is it possible that you got married and one week after you have had time to have a honey moon.. ????

When the lawyers tell you that the only way out is a new marriage is because they probably understand that you got married for convenience
and never had intentions to become his wife....

I don't see you getting permanent status, and remember that when you came as a visitor you agreed that it was a visit, you were not getting permanent status in
Canada...... Your marriage attempt to gain permanent status failed, and it is obvious that your intention has been all the way to stay in Canada one way or another,
the marriage attempt failed, any further attempt will be highly scrutinized and in my opinion, the situation that you married and did not have time for your honeymoon will be all what immigration needs to dismiss your application.

 

[steerpike]

Really steerpike? My wife was from a non visa exempt country and she got married after entering Canada on visitor visa. In fact, once the border agent saw that she was engaged on the computer screen, he said, "Oh your engaged! Welcome to Canada".

She had no issues in being able to enter Canada. We got married 2 days after she entered Canada.

You got lucky. They definately turn away people in the exact same circumstance. Did she give the reason she was applying for a visitor visa as "getting married"?

 

[screech339]

You got lucky. They definitely turn away people in the exact same circumstance. Did she give the reason she was applying for a visitor visa as "getting married"?

The reason we gave to apply for TRV was for her to come and introduce herself to my family as fiancee. No mention of wedding in the application.