Sometimes clients retain us to reply to Immigration Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Procedural Fairness letter which usually starts: Subsection 12(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that a foreign national may be selected as a member of the family class on the basis of their relationship as the spouse, common-law partner, child, parent or other prescribed family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Paragraph 117(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations states that a foreign national is a member of the family class if, with respect to a sponsor, the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner.
Subsection 4(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations states that for the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner or a conjugal partner of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership or conjugal partnership
(a) was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act; or
(b) is not genuine.
Based on the assessment of your information, including your application, the supporting documentation, and the information you provided during the interview, I am not satisfied that your marriage to your sponsor is genuine or that it was not entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring permanent residence in Canada.
Genuineness of relationship:
The IRCC’s officer might have the following concerns regarding the genuineness of your relationship:
– your courtship is unclear; it is vague how you met your sponsor and your relationship developed leading to marriage;
– you appear to have spent only a few days together during your trip to the third country during which you got married. This seems to be a very limited time to meet another person and make a commitment to marry. There is no evidence of any subsequent visits during the process of your application and no evidence of how you maintained your relationship during this time;
– your marriage ceremony was not attended by your immediate family members and no traditional wedding celebration seems to have taken place. The social recognition of your union appears to be minimal and not in accordance with the local customs.
– no evidence of financial interdependency has been provided.
These are important matters you need to address when you apply to sponsor your spouse or common-law partner if you are not living together and your relationship is long-distance.
Contact to speak to Vancouver Immigration lawyer at YA Law Corporation