Sponsoring spouse by Permanent resident

[Sajid3157]

I am an Indian citizen and also permanent resident of Canada since January, 2009 and my PR Card would expire in March, 2014. I have mostly stayed out of Canada and I am currently staying in Saudi Arabia but planning to move permanently to Canada in March, 2013.

I was married in July, 2010 in India and came to Canada in November, 2011 with intention to settle but moved back to Saudi Arabia in December, 2011 as I couldn't find any suitable opportunity. While in Canada in November, 2011, I applied to sponsor my wife and also received CIC approval letter in May, 2012 confirming my eligibility for sponsorship and the application was forwarded to Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India. However, my wife was requested last month to provide our Wedding photos and also evidence of my stay in Canada with payslips, rental receipts etc. With my help, she has replied to the Canadian High Commission by providing Wedding photos but also clearly mentioned that I am now staying in Saudi Arabia and planning to move to Canada in March, 2013 although we have provided my rental receipt and bank statement for the approx. 1 month period I stayed in Canada.

While I understand that Permanent residents outside Canada are not allowed to sponsor the spouse but I applied for sponsoring my wife while I was in Canada for about 1 month but left the country after submitting the application. Please advise if this would have negative impact on my sponsorship?

If yes, should I inform CIC that I am now in Saudi Arabia or to withdraw my application? Would it have any negative consequence on my PR status while I am now seriously thinking to permanently move to Canada in 5-6 months? Or, is it advisable to withdraw my application and sponsor again once I am in Canada?

 

[Leon]

As a PR sponsor, you must be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your spouse. Having left Canada after applying, your application will most likely be denied.

After you get back to Canada, as you are unable to meet the residency requirements for your first 5 years as a PR, applying to sponsor your spouse will attract the attention of immigration to that fact and this could cause your PR status to be investigated and you to lose it unless you had some valid H&C reasons for having to be outside Canada. That might be something like taking care of your sick mother. Not having found a good job or wanting to stay with your wife would not be considered a good reason.

The safest way to keep your PR, that is if you are able to enter in 2013 without being reported for not meeting the requirements, would be to not sponsor your wife until you have your 2 years in Canada because then you meet the requirements again.

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Leon for your advise. Won't I be able to sponsor her sometime in April, 2013 once I am in Canada since I would be located permanently there and would then be in position to show evidence? If not, then would she be able get temporary visit visa to join me once I am there? If so, what would be the status of our children if they are born in Canada once we are both there?

 

[Sajid3157]

Should I immediately inform Canadian Embassy that I am not living now in Canada? Or withdraw my sponsorship application before final decision is made?

 

[Leon]

It is up to you what you do about your application. When you are asked to provide evidence that you have been in Canada and you can't because you haven't, they will most likely just refuse your application. If you admit to them now that you have not been living in Canada, they may cancel it even sooner. If you withdraw it, then they won't cancel it because you already have.

In April 2013, if you apply to sponsor your wife, you will have been a PR for 4 years and 3 months. You will have stayed in Canada according to what you say, 1 month in 2011 and one month by the time you apply to sponsor. It is then apparent to immigration that you do not meet the residency requirements to keep your PR. You should have had 2 years in Canada during your first 5 years as a PR. Even if you continue to stay in Canada, for your first 5 years, you will only have about 10 months. This is very far from the requirements.

There is a lady on this forum who was also living outside Canada with a husband. She had a baby and after the baby was a little older, she left her family in order to live in Canada by herself to sponsor her husband and child and to regain the right of her PR. She was not as short of the requirements as you are when she applied and she was already well established in Canada, house, car, job etc. and she had mitigating circumstances such as taking care of her ill of health parents in law and not wanting to leave her baby so young. Upon trying to sponsor her family, she was called in for an interview because of her PR status. Because of her circumstances, they allowed her to keep it. You may not be so lucky.

It is hard for spouses to get a visit visa to Canada. If she manages, she will not be able to work and she will not have health care. If you have a baby, your baby will be Canadian if it is born in Canada but because the mother does not have health care, you will have to pay for the delivery yourself.

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Leon for your feedback. I had withdrawn my application to sponsor my wife in October, 2012 as I have not been residing in Canada.

I would like to seek some more advise from you. Although, I had earlier planned to enter Canada in March, 2013 but I have still not done and decided to delay it until July,2013 (while my PR card would expire in March, 2014). The main reason for being away from Canada is that my wife is not having PR status and we have been trying to conceive for baby as early as possible (as I am about to reach to 40 years old) since we were married in July, 2010. Therefore, we are living together in Saudi Arabia and have been consulting many hospitals/doctors for more than 2 years and also taking medicines. Most recently, the gynaecologist has recommended us to go for a treatment which certainly requires both of us to stay together and hope this process to be completed in the next 2-3 months after which my wife could get pregnant. If I leave then for Canada, would that be considered as H&C reason to enter Canada/keep PR and also to sponsor her at the earliest after reaching Canada? In case she doesn't get pregnant and if I have to stay continuously for 2 years in Canada to keep my PR, would I be allowed to make short trips to spend some time with my wife in order to conceive?

 

[Leon]

Thanks Leon for your feedback. I had withdrawn my application to sponsor my wife in October, 2012 as I have not been residing in Canada.

I would like to seek some more advise from you. Although, I had earlier planned to enter Canada in March, 2013 but I have still not done and decided to delay it until July,2013 (while my PR card would expire in March, 2014). The main reason for being away from Canada is that my wife is not having PR status and we have been trying to conceive for baby as early as possible (as I am about to reach to 40 years old) since we were married in July, 2010. Therefore, we are living together in Saudi Arabia and have been consulting many hospitals/doctors for more than 2 years and also taking medicines. Most recently, the gynaecologist has recommended us to go for a treatment which certainly requires both of us to stay together and hope this process to be completed in the next 2-3 months after which my wife could get pregnant. If I leave then for Canada, would that be considered as H&C reason to enter Canada/keep PR and also to sponsor her at the earliest after reaching Canada? In case she doesn't get pregnant and if I have to stay continuously for 2 years in Canada to keep my PR, would I be allowed to make short trips to spend some time with my wife in order to conceive?

No, having a pregnant wife will not be considered a H&C reason to keep your PR status nor will it be considered a reason to allow express sponsorship of your wife. If you do manage to enter Canada in order to stay for 2 years to revive your PR, this is a grey area thing and it is not like you would be doing it with the full knowledge of immigration so if you leave in order to visit your wife, you risk being reported for not meeting the residency requirements every time you return to Canada. Once your PR card expires, unless you are visa exempt to Canada, you will need to apply for a PR travel document in order to return. When you do that, they will see that you do not meet the residency requirements. You can list your reasons why you couldn't meet them and they will make a decision. If you had no good reason for not meeting the requirements, they will refuse the travel document and you will be unable to return.

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Leon for the information

 

[Msafiri]

Thanks Leon for your feedback. I had withdrawn my application to sponsor my wife in October, 2012 as I have not been residing in Canada.

I would like to seek some more advise from you. Although, I had earlier planned to enter Canada in March, 2013 but I have still not done and decided to delay it until July,2013 (while my PR card would expire in March, 2014). The main reason for being away from Canada is that my wife is not having PR status and we have been trying to conceive for baby as early as possible (as I am about to reach to 40 years old) since we were married in July, 2010. Therefore, we are living together in Saudi Arabia and have been consulting many hospitals/doctors for more than 2 years and also taking medicines. Most recently, the gynaecologist has recommended us to go for a treatment which certainly requires both of us to stay together and hope this process to be completed in the next 2-3 months after which my wife could get pregnant. If I leave then for Canada, would that be considered as H&C reason to enter Canada/keep PR and also to sponsor her at the earliest after reaching Canada? In case she doesn't get pregnant and if I have to stay continuously for 2 years in Canada to keep my PR, would I be allowed to make short trips to spend some time with my wife in order to conceive?

Concur with Leon on this. Whilst the Canadian courts will appreciate your desire to start a family their view and that of a CIC lawyer at any appeal (for any refusal where you don't meet the Residence Obligation) is that you can have fertility treatment in Canada and the condition does not prevent travel.

They will take the view (as they rightly should) that your job in Saudi is what is really keeping you outside Canada. You need to decide what is more important the PR or the job.

Good luck with both the PR and your family plans.

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Msafiri for the detailed reply and the wishes.

Ideally, the fertility treatment in Canada would have been the best solution for us considering the quality of healthcare facilities available there. However, the problem is that it requires the presence of my wife in Canada and she is unable to go without Visa. In order to sponsor her from Canada as PR, it would have taken at least 1 year to process as I have experienced during last year (before I had withdrawn).

Now, I understand that since there are about 10 months left for my PR to expire and CIC may reject my sponsorship application if I apply immediately after reaching Canada (assuming that I am not reported on arrival into Canada if I reach there in the next 2-3 months) since it might then attract their attention that I do not meet residency requirements myself. That means, if I think to sponsor her now, I would have to stay continuously in Canada for 2 years and then apply to sponsor her which would take another 1-1.5 years to process i.e. about 3-3.5 years of separation. If my wife is able to reach Canada at the earliest (eg. on Visit visa or Student visa to pursue any Course), then I would be happy to stay continuously for 2 years in Canada.

While I would prefer PR over Saudi job, but I am worried not to be separated from with my family for a very long time. It would be acceptable for us to be separated for few months. Please advise if there could be any way to accomplish this aim.

 

[Leon]

She can try for a student visa but having a Canadian PR as a spouse is a likely reason to be refused. If she is refused, I see no other way to sponsor her than for you to stay in Canada for 2 years alone and then apply to sponsor and wait until the application is through. You have to make some hard choices here.

Your mistake is that you did not stay in Canada in 2011. At this point, you had already exhausted your time allowed outside Canada as a PR as you landed in January 2009 and returned in November 2011, you were already outside for 2 years and 10 months where 3 years are allowed. This was your chance to settle while still meeting the residency requirements and to sponsor your wife but you did not stay. One month to look for a job is not very long. It seems to me that by going home after one month, you already decided that your PR was not that important. Why has this changed now?

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Leon for the reply.

I agree that I did a mistake by not staying in 2011 as someone wrongly advised me then in Canada that I could return later before the expiry of my PR card and sponsor my spouse. I was not even aware of this forum which I now realize is an excellent source of information with real cases. Had I known about it earlier and especially about you, I wouldn't have left Canada in 2011 except for couple of weeks or so.

Anyway, I am very thankful to you for your guidance and regret that I have started reading your posts very late.

 

[Leon]

Yes, but you could have asked an immigration lawyer or a consultant before leaving. You knew about the residency requirements. You didn't have to believe a "somebody" who told you something that turned out to be wrong.

In any case, I am afraid it will not be easy for you now. Slipping in before the PR card expiry and then staying 2 years in order to get your PR back in good standing has worked for many people but it is not very good when you have to sponsor someone because you will be separated for a long time.

 

[Sajid3157]

Thanks Leon. Unfortunately, I got this idea from a lawyer I knew (not specialist in immigration) in Canada and my mistake was that I didn't cross check this information with any immigration consultant. I will think about my situation or look for any other option. Once again, thanks for your advise.

 

[mkmisc99]

hi,
I with my family (5) got PR last yearin june, I was stayed there for 3 month, wife and younger son for 4 month, elder son is contiusly living their and studying and daughter stayed for 1 month and back home as she is in her 3rd year BDS, now myself,wife and son is going back Sep 2013, only our daugter is further staying here for next 8 month to complete her BDS. now my question is

1) as per plan she will get marry in next month what is her status for PR?
2) How she sponser her spouse? is it from Pakistan or she required to come Canada?
3) is any problem for us/her to sponser spouse?
4) is she required to live in canada during sponser finalization period?