Spouse denied! Help!

[carreycat]

Hello all! I'm a Canadian who's been living in the US for 14 years. I've been married to an American for 10 of those years and we've been together for 13. We just had our application denied and I'm absolutely beside myself. We had received a request for proof that I plan to move to Canada with him when his visa is approved so we put together a whole package of our plans, budget and all the research I've been doing. I've also been taking online classes so I can continue to work as a medical assistant when we get there. Since the immigration website says that visas through the Ottawa processing center take 18 months to process, we built our whole plan and budget on moving next September, which would have been 18 months from our original application date. The note I received today is that we've been denied because I will not be moving home within my husband's visa's validity period. I really don't understand what the problem is here. Does anyone have an idea what I should do now? Thanks for any ideas! :'(

 

[SenoritaBella]

So sorry to hear about your husband's refusal. You may want to send them a "case specific inquiry" and explain what you just said here about making the 18 month plan based on their processing times but that you can move sooner. It may help to have plans which show you can indeed make that happen. Not sure if it will work, but you could try.

Here's the appeal thread if you wish to appeal:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/all-spouse-appeal-cases-come-here-and-join-us-plz-t87619.0.html

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

You could get your MP involved and see if there is any chance of CIC reopening your file based on your misunderstanding of the processing times.

If they won't reopen it, don't bother with an appeal. It will be MUCH CHEAPER and MUCH FASTER to simply submit a new app.

 

[canadianwoman]

Yeah, send an urgent email to the office - the program manager. Explain your situation succinctly. Also contact your MP right away - use the MP for the area you plan to move to. This has to be done very quickly, but occasionally they do reverse a decision if notified of a mistake quickly.
If they won't reverse, I would not appeal either. Instead, just apply again.
To be sure, you could move up to Canada early. That way you will not have to prove you will move to Canada. This is only if you don't mind being apart for a while, of course.

 

[carreycat]

Thanks all! My parents have said they'd be willing to sponsor him too but I think it might just be easier for us to save some extra living money and move first, then apply from within. This whole situation is so upsetting to me I can't even think straight!

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately your parents can't sponsor him. You are the only one who can sponsor him through family class.

 

[Kysorb]

Since the immigration website says that visas through the Ottawa processing center take 18 months to process, we built our whole plan and budget on moving next September, which would have been 18 months from our original application date. The note I received today is that we've been denied because I will not be moving home within my husband's visa's validity period. I really don't understand what the problem is here. Does anyone have an idea what I should do now? Thanks for any ideas! :'(

Would you be ready and able to go in the next 3-9 months? The actual processing time for Americans in Ottawa seems to be about 4-5 months including the sponsorship process in Mississauga.

You weren't denied with any prejudice, just told to reapply later because of when you planed to move.

If you are ready to go now I would do what the others are saying and start making phone calls to explain the misunderstanding. Remember that now they have your "reasons you need to stay in the US for 18 months" so you will have to invalidate each of them and explain why you can leave immediately.

If you need to stay in the US for a year or more just to wrap things up I would just relax and reapply again when your getting closer to moving.

Good luck and don't panic everything will work out. Might cost some duplicate fees but you will be in Canada soon enough.

 

[Awesomeg]

Thanks all! My parents have said they'd be willing to sponsor him too but I think it might just be easier for us to save some extra living money and move first, then apply from within. This whole situation is so upsetting to me I can't even think straight!

yes, that is a good option...
your husband can enter Canada anytime that he wants... he is an American...
and you can move tomorrow if you are ready...

 

[Kysorb]

yes, that is a good option...
your husband can enter Canada anytime that he wants... he is an American...
and you can move tomorrow if you are ready...

This is ok advice - but do not show up a the border with a U-haul of all your stuff and your American spouse. They will likely turn you around there and then. If they have any suspicion that your spouse might overstay they likely wont let them in.

It is perfectly OK for him to visit during the process - So if you are living in Canada when your spouse crosses it needs to appear to be a visit. (visitors can stay for up to 6 months so that shouldn't be to hard and is probably the entire process for them..) Average border crossing guards don't know the wait times of the visa offices and frankly don't care, they process people weighing what documents they have against what documents they need for what their intentions are.

Just remember, even if you are living inside Canada. With an American spouse do not file an inland application. The wait time is much longer and the spouse's ability to leave Canada during the process are heavily restricted and not guaranteed re-entry . File an outland application.. When its time to re-enter Canada just jump across to the US on a shopping trip with the COPR document for the re-entering bingo-bango PR done.

 

[rhcohen2014]

This is ok advice - but do not show up a the border with a U-haul of all your stuff and your American spouse. They will likely turn you around there and then. If they have any suspicion that your spouse might overstay they likely wont let them in.

It is perfectly OK for him to visit during the process - So if you are living in Canada when your spouse crosses it needs to appear to be a visit. (visitors can stay for up to 6 months so that shouldn't be to hard and is probably the entire process for them..) Average border crossing guards don't know the wait times of the visa offices and frankly don't care, they process people weighing what documents they have against what documents they need for what their intentions are.

while it's true a visa exempt visitor can't show up with all of their belongings, it's not necessarily true that they can't cross the border with their canadian spouse with all of the spouses belongings for their return home. there are many people who have been able to cross without issue like this. a canadian can move back anytime they want, and it makes sense that a spouse would be helping them move. it's really all in the phrasing of what you tell them you are doing. the us citizen needs to make it clear to cbsa they understand they are not moving there until pr is issued, and they intend to visit until then. it always help to be able to prove ties back to the us (a lease/mortgage or paystubs). bank accounts and stored belongings really don't count as "significant" ties in the eyes of CBSA. Generally, only proof of housing and work are accepted as "siginficant". having a copy of the pr application also shows you know the rules. a person isn't going to necessarily get turned away at the border just because they are accompanying a canadian moving back home. more likely than not, the us citizen will get a visitor's record at the border so cbsa can track their stay. if the pr app is already submitted, then they will look up the application in the system and have no issues letting you through.

 

[hopefulpoet]

I am a Canadian citizen married to a U.S. citizen. I flew up here to Edmonton with our daughter last fall, and all of our belongings came with us (sort of--we used a U-Pack shipping company), and I imported all of our stuff at that time. My husband drove up a month later, and I made sure that he had a ton of documents with him, including a copy of our marriage certificate and a notarized letter from me explaining our situation (that I was moving back to Canada and we wanted to settle down there permanently, and we would be applying for PR for my husband). They let my husband through without any problems, and gave him a visitor visa for 6 months. We did not have our PR application submitted yet, nor even started, to be honest.

We finally submitted the PR application in May (outland, even though we've all been living in Canada during this time), and he got COPR a few weeks ago. So yes, I agree with the other posters--first try to figure out if you can get a reversal of the CIC's decision. But if not--don't despair. You may have to reapply, but the process (outland) only took about 4 months! So much faster than the website says. And you can both move here in the meantime (you for sure, and your spouse can "visit").

 

[QuebecOkie]

I, too, am American and accompanied my husband during "his" (really, "our") move. We were just in a car with a week's worth of clothes and personal belongings, but we had a manifest from the moving company listing all of our belongings. We hadn't started the PR app process at all yet (really were still clueless). We told them at the border that he was moving back to Canada, that I was accompanying him to help him move and get settled, and then, while he was on a 5-month course in another province, I was going back to my home state to start an outland PR application (the 5-month course was true, but I intended to stay in our home while he was away on course). I didn't have any trouble at the border, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.