Hello,
My wife and I were married in the UAE in December 2015. Prior to that, in November 2015, she had visited Canada for her first landing, stayed for about a month and returned for our wedding.
Following that, in May 2016, she visited again, this time with her PR card with her, to stay and also to file for Spousal Sponsorship, since I was in Pakistan. We submitted all the relevant documents, and the sponsorship application was accepted, and the process began in August 2016. My wife and I had decided that once the PR process is complete and I receiving the landing papers, we will come back to Canada for good, and make it our home.
Since we didn't know how long the process would take, we also considered that she would return to Canada in January, soon after our first wedding anniversary in December 2016. Once there, she would stay permanently, and look for a job and apply for a driver's license, and wait till I get my papers and I could move to Canada permanently.
What we didn’t know (we were not told by the lawyer) was that it is required by law to be living in Canada while the application is under process, and now on this basis, we received an objection letter in November 2016 which mentioned:
On receiving this notice in mid-November, we expedited and she reached Canada on December 5, 2016. On reaching, our consultants expedited to prepare and file the complete evidence that they required, along with letters from me, my wife, and a separate letter to strengthen our case by the lawyer as well.
Last week we received a decision that although I had qualified as a spouse for sponsorship, she did not, because she had not stayed in Canada during the process of the sponsorship application. The main reason being that since we didn't want to live separately for too long, given our first year together, and also due to family pressures to be there with my parents, since we are from Pakistan. Further, our lawyer / consultant also did not mention that she would need to be there till the process is completed.
We recently also sent in a request for reconsideration, but it was turned down. Our main issue is that neither can we live separately, and nor can I apply at this point because the matter is currently in process, and it may jeopardize our application process. She is living in Toronto alone, and I am here in Pakistan without her, which doesn't work for us. We are holding on for our future together in our new home, Canada.
I reviewed the law again, and it does state that being a permanent resident she would need to be resident in Canada through the process duration. However, if she did, she would have spent less than 6 months with me, while being married, which is also in contradiction to another rule that suggests that spouses need to be cohabiting for at least a year.
Should we go for an appeal, what do you folks believe would be our chances to resume the application process? Do you think there is grounds for reconsideration, and if so how should we go about managing the situation? What should we be kept in consideration when filing for the appeal, and how long would it take to be called for the ADR or the IAD?
Would really appreciate your feedback and advise so that we can proceed as needed, with confidence.
Thank you.
My wife and I were married in the UAE in December 2015. Prior to that, in November 2015, she had visited Canada for her first landing, stayed for about a month and returned for our wedding.
Following that, in May 2016, she visited again, this time with her PR card with her, to stay and also to file for Spousal Sponsorship, since I was in Pakistan. We submitted all the relevant documents, and the sponsorship application was accepted, and the process began in August 2016. My wife and I had decided that once the PR process is complete and I receiving the landing papers, we will come back to Canada for good, and make it our home.
Since we didn't know how long the process would take, we also considered that she would return to Canada in January, soon after our first wedding anniversary in December 2016. Once there, she would stay permanently, and look for a job and apply for a driver's license, and wait till I get my papers and I could move to Canada permanently.
What we didn’t know (we were not told by the lawyer) was that it is required by law to be living in Canada while the application is under process, and now on this basis, we received an objection letter in November 2016 which mentioned:
- That to file for sponsorship while being a permanent resident, she needs to be in Canada
- Insufficient proof of marriage etc
On receiving this notice in mid-November, we expedited and she reached Canada on December 5, 2016. On reaching, our consultants expedited to prepare and file the complete evidence that they required, along with letters from me, my wife, and a separate letter to strengthen our case by the lawyer as well.
Last week we received a decision that although I had qualified as a spouse for sponsorship, she did not, because she had not stayed in Canada during the process of the sponsorship application. The main reason being that since we didn't want to live separately for too long, given our first year together, and also due to family pressures to be there with my parents, since we are from Pakistan. Further, our lawyer / consultant also did not mention that she would need to be there till the process is completed.
We recently also sent in a request for reconsideration, but it was turned down. Our main issue is that neither can we live separately, and nor can I apply at this point because the matter is currently in process, and it may jeopardize our application process. She is living in Toronto alone, and I am here in Pakistan without her, which doesn't work for us. We are holding on for our future together in our new home, Canada.
I reviewed the law again, and it does state that being a permanent resident she would need to be resident in Canada through the process duration. However, if she did, she would have spent less than 6 months with me, while being married, which is also in contradiction to another rule that suggests that spouses need to be cohabiting for at least a year.
Should we go for an appeal, what do you folks believe would be our chances to resume the application process? Do you think there is grounds for reconsideration, and if so how should we go about managing the situation? What should we be kept in consideration when filing for the appeal, and how long would it take to be called for the ADR or the IAD?
Would really appreciate your feedback and advise so that we can proceed as needed, with confidence.
Thank you.
