Spousal Sponsorship and marriage issues.

[KMaloney]

Hi there everyone,

I am looking for advice and information regarding my situation, and I cannot find anything specifically relative to this on CIC's website.

I came to Canada in early 2012 to be with my partner (we met travelling). In early 2013 we married and I filed my application for PR through Spousal Sponsorship mid-2013. According to CIC they are currently processing Jan 2013 applications, so with the 19 months processing time estimate, plus another 5 months say, it is probably going to be a long wait until a result comes through.

Me and my partner are currently going through some marriage problems and I fear we won't be 'happily' married in time to come. She plans on moving onward and elsewhere.

At this point I am worrying a whole lot. The new immigration laws call for us to be living together for 2 years, once/if PR is granted to myself. This may be over 2 years away according to processing times, and on the CIC website the only exceptions are neglect/abuse and death, neither of which describe my case.

Nothing is set in stone, things may work out, but I also have to anticipate the worst case scenario that she does decide to leave me.

Surely this situation has happened to people in the past? What do I do if my wife wants to leave me, yet is still my spouse/sponsor?

I still have a promising future in Canada, and want to pursue and build a life here with all my heart. But I am an honest person, and want to do things the right way.

It took me a lot of courage to come to this forum and ask. I fear of losing the life I've built for myself here, losing the people I've come to love, including my wife who will always be a dear friend at the least.

If anyone has any words or advice, please help.

 

[Rob_TO]

Unfortunately the decision on if you get PR or not, is almost entirely up to your sponsor.

Since your application is still in process, if she decides to simply withdrawal her sponsorship, your application would be cancelled. There is no say you would have in this whatsoever.

If your application goes on to completion, you would get a conditional PR status. This means if you separate from your sponsor after then there is a good chance your PR status would be revoked. The choice here on whether to report the break-up is usually up to the sponsor, since the sponsor is the one that is financially responsible for you as part of the undertaking.

So if she wants to move on with her life and doesn't want to take the risk of her financial commitment to the government for sponsoring you, she will most likely report to CIC the relationship has ended and you would lose your PR status. However if you are still on good terms with her even in case of a break-up, then if she doesn't report the breakup there is a good chance CIC will never even know about it, and you could possibly turn your conditional PR into a full PR after 2 years time.

 

[scylla]

If your wife decides to leave you before the application is approved, then she will no longer qualify to be your sponsor and should cancel the application. If for some reason she does not cancel the application and you are issued a PR visa even though you are no longer in a relationship (i.e. are separated or divorced), then you can't use that visa to land and become a PR. If you do use the visa to land and become a PR, then you will be committing misrepresentation which may result in your PR status being revoked.

If your relationship breaks up after you have landed and become a PR but within the 2 year period of conditional PR, then your PR status should be revoked according to CIC's rules. However since conditional PR is so new - we haven't seen anyone go through this yet and it's not possible to say what will actually happen.

If your relationship breaks up 2 years or more after you have landed and become a PR, then your PR status will be safe (i.e. you can keep it).

 

[SenoritaBella]

The best you can do now is be proactive.
1. Do you have at least 1 year of skilled full-time canadian work experience? If so, you may be eligible to apply for permanent residence under the canadian experience class. You can have two concurrent applications in different streams.

2. Speak to an experienced immigration lawyer to find out if you can get a work permit should your employer apply and obtain a positive LMO(labor market opinion) for you. This way, you will have legal status even if the sponsorship is cancelled.

In addition to scylla's comment, your spouse could use it to blackmail you into giving up spousal support, assets you are entitled to, money, etc.

 

[KMaloney]

Thank you all for your information, it's much appreciated.

Unfortunately I haven't been working in an occupation that is eligible for FSW. I actually applied for an LMO through my work last year with a denied result. CIC informed my employer that my job title covered 2 separate jobs, and when asked for a suggestion on how to encompass all the work within one title, CIC had no idea. So perhaps that may be an avenue that I should take another shot at.

So I'm currently applying for PR within Canada, and my application for a work permit is also in progress. Am I right in saying that work permit is entirely dependent on the success of my PR?

My wife & I are on good terms right now and we are talking things out. The main concern is that work may lead her away from our joint residence, which is a no-no according to CIC's 2 year conditional laws. So even if we are happily married, like someone else stated on the forums, it isn't allowed for us to live a somewhat "non-traditional' marriage.

Anyways as much as this situation is eating me up, I do thank you all for being here to offer advice. Thank you.