Please help!!

[JonDeaneStewart]

Hi Guys,

I'm freaking out. We finally received our first correspondence from the CIC and it was not good news.

I am a Canadian living in the United States with my Wife. We plan to move to Canada as soon as she is approved. We received the following information:

"I have reviewed your application for a permanent resident visa as a member of the family class. I have concerns that you do not meet the requirements for immigration to Canada. Paragraph 130(1)(b) states that, subject to subsections (2) and (3), a sponsor, for the purpose of sponsoring a foreign national who makes an application for a permanent resident visa as a member of the family class must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who resides in Canada. Based on the information you have provided, I am not satisfied that your sponsor resides in Canada from the day on which the application was filed up to now. Specifically, your sponsor has indicated that he will return to live in Canada after completion of his Master’s program at the University of San Diego in January 2014 and that you will live with your sponsor’s father for the first few months after arrival. The onus is on you to satisfy me that an immigrant visa can be issued to you. I would therefore request that you send any information or documents which you consider might respond to this concern within sixty (60) days. This includes but is not limited to proof your sponsor is registered and in good standing in the Master’s program at the University of San Diego and a letter of support from your sponsor’s father. I must also advise you that failure to disabuse me of my concern could lead to the refusal of the application. Please quote your complete application number on all your correspondence."

They also mentioned sending in pages of her passport which I am confused because we definitely did this.. see below:

"Passport Copies:

You are a citizen of a country that is exempted from obtaining a visa to visit Canada under Regulation 190 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. You are therefore required to send only a copy or scanned image of the photo page of your passport and of any pages indicating a validity extension or change to your personal information. You must submit these copies/scans for yourself and for all your accompanying family member(s).

DO NOT SEND YOUR ORIGINAL PASSPORT(S). We require copies of a VALID passport for yourself and every accompanying family member. Please note that permanent resident visas cannot be issued on Diplomatic, Official or Military passports."

I am extremely confused -- I had my sponsorship approved and thought that I was allowed to sponsor her even if I am not living in Canada at the time.

Please help -- are we out of luck??? It almost seems as if she read the paragraph wrong -- I am a Canadian Citizen -- the paragraph says or a permanant resident who resides in Canada. It doesn't actually say I have to be a Canadian Citizen residing in Canada.

Thank you for your help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Jon

 

[scylla]

You can sponsor while living outside of Canada, however you must include proof in your application that you plan to resettle in Canada once the PR application is approved. What proof did you provide in your application that you will return to Canada?

 

[wowsers]

I am not surprised you are confused! CIC appear to be under the impression that you are a permanent resident and not a Canadian citizen. That might be because your application has been read incorrectly but the first thing I would do would be to double check that you filled in the correct box in your sponsorship application (IMM 1344 box 6) and enclosed the copy documents required by the sponsor's checklist (IMM 5491, paragraph 13). If all that is as it should be (which is likely since your sponsorship was approved) I would write back as politely as you can pointing out that you are a Canadian citizen, that you enclosed with your application proof of your citizenship, that as a Canadian citizen and not simply a permanent resident you are entitled to sponsor though resident at present outside Canada, that you provided proof of an intention to return to Canada as required by IMM 1344 page 2 unnumbered box headed 'sponsor's residency declaration' and that your sponsorship was duly approved. . Enclose copies of the appropriate parts of the guide to back up your assertions. I do not understand why they ask for proof that you are registered and in good standing at the University in San Diego: that seems irrelevant to a sponsorship whether by a Canadian citizen or by a permanent resident. However I would not argue with them about that: supply the proof if you can.

 

[JonDeaneStewart]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your replies! The letter from the CIC was the first thing I woke up to this morning and I freaked out a bit.

I rechecked my application and it's very obvious that I am a Canadian Citizen. I also included copies of my Canadian Passport.

In terms of what I submitted showing proof that I would be moving to Canada I guess that must be where I fell short. I did write a letter stating that i was 100% committed to moving, and that I would be living with my father but since I was applying in February that i hadn't started job searching. I will submit to them my school information and a letter from my father as they requested. I know when I first applied on the website there was a section that stated you could be a canadian living abroad, but for the life of me I cannot find this any more. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find this to backup my claim?

I am still confused on why they would be requesting more photos of her passport? Any thoughts on why they would be requesting this? Is this something other people have seen?

Thank you very much!

I am not freaking out as much as I was this morning but am still concerned!

Jonathan Stewart

 

[wowsers]

See the guide IMM 3900 page 5 at the bottom (assuming the present version is the same as the one in my file): paragraph headed 'If I live outside Canada may I sponsor?'. Your wife's passport: double check that it is still valid and does not need renewing. If it is valid assume that the VO had a momentary lapse of concentration when writing the letter; but comply with the request nevertheless.

 

[QuebecOkie]

I'm an American living with my Canadian husband in Canada. I included a copy of the relevant pages of my passport in my app. Ten months later, I got a call from CIC requesting that I fax copies of my passport (and it's good until 2020 or something, so it's certainly not an expiration issue). Did that. After getting stage one and two approval, I THEN received a request to send (among other things) another copy of my passport to the Montreal CIC where I will be landing. Not sure if they lost previous copies or just think my passport photo is awesome.

 

[JonDeaneStewart]

Hi All,

Again thank you for the feedback. It is really making me feel better!

Wowsers that is exactly the thing I was looking for. Would it be rude to include a copy of that highlighted? I want to inform and not offend... I am going to include a copy of my Canadian passport and sponsorship approval so I don't want to overdo it.

Glad to know I'm not the only one getting requests for passport copies. My wife's passport is brand new so I guess it's just one of those things!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi All,

Again thank you for the feedback. It is really making me feel better!

Wowsers that is exactly the thing I was looking for. Would it be rude to include a copy of that highlighted? I want to inform and not offend... I am going to include a copy of my Canadian passport and sponsorship approval so I don't want to overdo it.

Glad to know I'm not the only one getting requests for passport copies. My wife's passport is brand new so I guess it's just one of those things!

That response sounds like a form response with your details inserted. I'm sure they don't doubt that you are Canadian, they have your passport copy. They doubt your intent to return to Canada, as only a letter from yourself saying you're going to move is very weak evidence.

Along with the letter from your father, include letters from other family or close friends confirming your intent to move. Do you still have a bank account in Canada, belongings in storage or being held by a family member, a vehicle, any other ties to Canada? Include proof of anything like that.

 

[truesmile]

I agree, the initial letter doesn't lead me to believe that they think the OP is a PR and not a Canadian citizen. Their concern is of proof or re-establishment in Canada (which is required of Canadian citizens also).

 

[scylla]

That response sounds like a form response with your details inserted. I'm sure they don't doubt that you are Canadian, they have your passport copy. They doubt your intent to return to Canada, as only a letter from yourself saying you're going to move is very weak evidence.

Along with the letter from your father, include letters from other family or close friends confirming your intent to move. Do you still have a bank account in Canada, belongings in storage or being held by a family member, a vehicle, any other ties to Canada? Include proof of anything like that.

I agree as well. Based on what the VO wrote, the problem is very clearly the lack of proof that you will return to Canada. If they thought you were a PR, the letter would read very differently. Best thing you can do is provide additional proof as soon as you can. Unfortunately the onus here is entirely on you.

 

[JonDeaneStewart]

Thank you all!

This is great advice. I agree that I have a need to provide more proof of our intent to move.

I am going to be providing a letter from my father, and two sets of grandparents. My father wrote that I am meeting with someone from his company regarding job opportunities (which is true), and one of the letters from my grandparents will also say the same thing about their company (which is also true).

I moved from Canada when I was younger so no bank accounts but I do have "stuff" being stored up there by my family so I will have them also mention that.

I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas on how to prove we're 100% moving to Canada? I'm at a bit of a loss of what else I can do to prove my intentions. Is three letters enough? I could reach out to cousins etc.

Thank you again so much! I am blown away by the level of support on this forum.

 

[scylla]

Do you have any past emails between yourself / your wife, yourself / your family members that talk about returning to Canada after your wife's PR visa has been approved? If you do, printing those out could be good proof as well of your intentions.

 

[Kiri]

I would provide a copy of anything that shows when your course completion date is and a letter stating your intention to return. I would also provide a letter from your father stating he will be hosting her until your return on xx date, and that he is aware of the situation and is working with you both to accommodate the unique situation. I would also have other friends, family and anyone else involved that knows of your intent to return provide affidavits and letters supporting that you are to return upon completion. Friends from school who have heard you mention of your return to Canada, etc. Letters from landlord stating that they are aware you are leaving at xx date with the reason of returning to your home country.

The biggest point I see is to prove to him that you have all intentions of returning. You need to do whatever you can to satisfy that concern.

As far as passport copies, I've seen people have to send in copies many times throughout... I don't know why they do it, but they do it. For me, I never even got the one I'm supposed to get before I got a Decision Made - and I just got my COPR last week so I was VERY surprised.

It's really hit or miss. But yes, get that info together and letters from any and everyone you can think of - and it makes it even better if they are formal and notarized so it's a legal document. Write a letter yourself too, and have her as well.

Good luck!

 

[JonDeaneStewart]

Thank you both! Those are great ideas. I do have lots of emails of me giving updates on the CIC process and how we're moving to Canada so I will include those and highlight the areas where I discuss.

I will start reaching out to friends to get more "ammo".

Very much appreciated!

 

[Kiri]

You're very welcome! I know that letters can be a big thing and so can the emails. I actually provided copies of letters and emails where I talked about coming back to the states if I wasn't approved for extension on visitor status and a letter where my hubs told my grandmother that he would make sure I got back to my home state if anything happened with immigration. We used those to "prove" we had intentions of me returning should they not allow me to stay.