sponsoring wife-to-be, she was denied entry to canada twice - advice needed!

[karinosa]

I'm writting this in behalf of my brother, here is the background:

- my brother is dirvorced has 3 children, 2 live with him
- my brother is Canadian resident, born in Guatemala, hasn't been in Guatemala for 22 years, has a full time job, same job for last 22 years
- we have childhood friend in Guatemala who my brother started communicating via computer for the last 2 years, our family knew her, she was my friend, played barbies together as kids, grew up together until we moved to Canada
- she is also divorced has 1 child leaving with her
- she decided to come to Canada and she how relationship would progress, she was given a tourist visa for her and her son
- she was in canada for 6 months, living with my brother, and her son went to school here for 3 months
- she wanted to stay longer but have her son continue to study here but was told he needed a student visa which couldn't be applied in Canada so she left to Guatemala to obtain this
- while in Guatemala she applied for a student visa for her son and temporary visa for her and they got denied twice
- they were told that it was because there was not strong ties for her in Guatemala and they didn't believe her that she was coming to Canada to just have her child go to school, even though they had him accepted at a local school already
- she doesn't work as her ex husband pays her enough child support and alemony for her to not need to work
- she had $10,000 in the bank, owns 2 cars, house but got denied visa
- my brother has now decided to go to Guatemala to marry her as he misses her inmensely, he is crying all the time
- he is going to Guatemala for 2 weeks at Xmas to marry her

Questions:
- what are her chances of coming to Canada as a spouse, when my brother puts in his application to sponsor her, since she was denied visa twice?
- if there is no problem with her coming to Canada, how long will it take for her to be able to come to Canada?
- after she marries my brother, can she come to Canada with some sort of permit while the permanent residence papers are being processed?
- she has a child with her ex-husband, how can my brother sponsor her kid? what is needed for that?

Any other advice will be appreciated!

Thank you

 

[rjessome]

I'm assuming your brother is going to sponsor her and her son under the family class for permanent residence to Canada. The only option available for her to enter Canada before PR is decided is as a Visitor. It's the same process as before and chances are 99.99% that she will be refused again as they will not believe that she will leave Canada after the visit is complete. However, this does NOT affect the likelihood of success of a PR application under the spousal category of the family class. The success of the PR application depends on how well the application is prepared and the amount and kind of proof presented in support of the genuineness of the marriage.

Canada allows for your brother to sponsor his wife and her dependent children which means her son. It will be done on one application. Does your brother know about the obligations of sponsorship? In order to sponsor his wife, he agrees to be fully responsible for her basic living needs for 3 years if permanent residence is granted and after she lands in Canada. He agrees to provide the same for the child but for 10 years. So this means that if she and her son were granted PR and arrived in Canada, he must provide for their food, shelter and other basic living needs for the amount of time I noted. If they break up and she and the child leave and collect welfare, your brother would be required to pay back to the government any amount they collect in social assistance until the end of the 3 year and 10 year undertakings.

His wife must have clear and unfettered custody of the child in order for the child to be given PR to Canada or must have the written, sworn agreement of the child's father. Immigration will NOT get involved in custody issues so this must be already in place or easily put into place.

 

[ariell]

That's right, the refused tourist visas will have no effect on her PR application. A tourist visa is often denied if CIC doesn't believe the applicant will return home when the visa expires. Since she was applying for both a tourist visa and a study visa for her son, and she didn't have a job, they likely didn't think she would leave Canada afterwards.

They should also be aware that there are different processing times for each visa office. I assume she would be applying through Guatemala City which is unfortunately one of the slower offices. Once they submit an application, it will take approximately one month for sponsorship to be approved. Then once your brother is approved as her sponsor, the application is sent to G. City where they will process her PR application. Currently, processing time in G. City is 9-22 months. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp#west

The application guidebooks and forms are all available here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Best of luck.

 

[karinosa]

Thank you rjessome and ariell! I passed on your info to my brother and he wanted me to ask you another question...

When he sends the application in, should he include the papers that she was given at the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala where she was denied the visas? These two papers show the reasons in the back as to why she was denied, but we are not sure if they should be attached to the applications or wait until they ask for them?

thanks again

 

[ariell]

Sorry, I don't really know the answer to that. On the application form, they will ask if you have ever been denied entry to Canada. So she would say yes but then I would explain the circumstances in a separate letter. Make sure to put the applicant's name and the name of the form on the top of the page and include the question number when attaching any additional notes of explanation like this. I don't really think it's necessary to include a copy of the actual denial papers but it probably wouldn't hurt either.

 

[karinosa]

Thanks Ariell, I think it wouldn't hurt either. We'll see how things go, he is getting married at xmas time and the process will begin in the new year.

Will post more then!