Hi all -- I posted this in the January 2017 outland thread, but I thought it would be a better idea to start a new thread where I could get more insight.
I finally heard something from CIC, just not what I expected. My husband's application (I am the sponsor) has been processing since February 25 by the Nairobi VO. I received a message alert from My CIC this morning, which turned out to be a letter titled "Procedural Fairness" addressed to my husband. It said that it appears he may not meet the requirements for immigration to Canada because our "marriage ceremony" (Islamic nikah) was conducted in Canada without his presence, therefore we are not married under Canadian law, because Canada does not recognize Islamic nikah as marriage under Canadian law (nor does it recognize marriage by proxy). They are giving us 30 days to provide more information otherwise, they say, they will make a decision based on what they have, "which may result in the refusal of your application."
Anyway, I know all of this - we were married in the faith tradition for *us*, and I included those documents not as proof of marriage but as proof of relationship. We ARE married legally in Ethiopia, in a marriage recognized under Canadian law. Our application included our marriage certificate from Ethiopia, its English translation and an affidavit for the translation. We also included supporting letters from both of us which give a timeline of our relationship and explain the difference between our nikah (Islamic marriage) and our legal one, and how we did both. We even included proof that we were both in Ethiopia at the time of our legal marriage (flights, entry visas, etc).
I don't understand how the immigration officer missed this, it just makes no sense. We had an extremely well organized application package, including a table of contents that referred to all the documents included! I'm thinking to respond with an explanatory letter, and attaching another copy of the marriage certificate for reference. What do you guys think of this situation? I was initially thinking to just scan everything and upload to My CIC, but I don't want to take any chances so I'll do it over (certified true copy, affidavit and translation) and send it by DHL.
ETA: I wonder if Mississauga may have lost our documents before transferring our application to the VO? I don't really know how else they could have missed the fact that we are indeed legally married and provided documentation.
I finally heard something from CIC, just not what I expected. My husband's application (I am the sponsor) has been processing since February 25 by the Nairobi VO. I received a message alert from My CIC this morning, which turned out to be a letter titled "Procedural Fairness" addressed to my husband. It said that it appears he may not meet the requirements for immigration to Canada because our "marriage ceremony" (Islamic nikah) was conducted in Canada without his presence, therefore we are not married under Canadian law, because Canada does not recognize Islamic nikah as marriage under Canadian law (nor does it recognize marriage by proxy). They are giving us 30 days to provide more information otherwise, they say, they will make a decision based on what they have, "which may result in the refusal of your application."
Anyway, I know all of this - we were married in the faith tradition for *us*, and I included those documents not as proof of marriage but as proof of relationship. We ARE married legally in Ethiopia, in a marriage recognized under Canadian law. Our application included our marriage certificate from Ethiopia, its English translation and an affidavit for the translation. We also included supporting letters from both of us which give a timeline of our relationship and explain the difference between our nikah (Islamic marriage) and our legal one, and how we did both. We even included proof that we were both in Ethiopia at the time of our legal marriage (flights, entry visas, etc).
I don't understand how the immigration officer missed this, it just makes no sense. We had an extremely well organized application package, including a table of contents that referred to all the documents included! I'm thinking to respond with an explanatory letter, and attaching another copy of the marriage certificate for reference. What do you guys think of this situation? I was initially thinking to just scan everything and upload to My CIC, but I don't want to take any chances so I'll do it over (certified true copy, affidavit and translation) and send it by DHL.
ETA: I wonder if Mississauga may have lost our documents before transferring our application to the VO? I don't really know how else they could have missed the fact that we are indeed legally married and provided documentation.
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