There is often a chain of immigration that has its origins in one individual, perhaps named Bob, or Bilal, or Bhavik, or Bao, or Boris (hereinafter “Bob”). Bob may have immigrated to Canada as a skilled worker. Bob gets married to a foreign national who is sponsored for immigration to Canada (perhaps her name is Kathy or Khadija, hereinafter “Kathy”). Kathy, and Bob agree to sponsor Kathy’s parents and Kathy’s younger sister Kaitlyn.
The parents and Kaitlyn are approved to be sponsored and are scheduled to land as permanent residents. On July 1 2015. However the week before July 1 2015, Kaitlyn gets married. On July 1 2015, at the airport in Toronto, the parents and Kaitlyn present their Confirmation of Permanent Resident Documents and enter Canada as permanent residents.
Kaitlyn, now possessing her permanent resident status, wants to use that status to sponsor her husband. She lodges the application to sponsor her husband. In that application, an officer notices that the date of the marriage is before the date that she landed as a permanent resident in Canada.
The officer gives 30 days for Kaitlyn to provide proof as to whether this is true. The officer cites the Immigration Refugee Protection Regulations at 117(9)(d) which states,
117(9) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if…..
(d) Subject to subsection (10), the sponsor previously made an application for
permanent residence and became a permanent resident and, at the time of that
application, the foreign national was a non-accompanying family member of
the sponsor and was not examined.
Kaitlyn is confused and is wondering whether she can respond to the officer and still get her husband status in Canada. She googles 117(9)(d) and finds out that some people have also made this error and that it has been done by others as an honest mistake. Using her google search, she tells the officer in her case that it was an honest mistake about not declaring the existence of her marriage when she came to Canada on July 1 2015.
The officer considers her explanation that it was an honest mistake that prevented her from disclosing her marriage when she first obtained her permanent resident status. The officer refuses the sponsorship of her husband. Kaitlyn is sad. She gets sadder as the days advance.
A month later, her parents receive a letter stating that he may be inadmissible to Canada because the family committed a material misrepresentation when they landed on July 1 2015 as a result of Kaitlyn’s omission regarding her marraige. The misrepresentation lay in the fact that his dependent daughter Kaitlyn failed to disclose a material fact that would have affected her ability to become sponsored as a dependent daughter. The material fact not disclosed was that she was married to someone before she acquired permanent resident status. It is material because she would not have been eligible to be a dependent daughter. The Immigration Refugee Protection Regulations in this regard are unforgiving. Even if an officer at the time of landing did not ask about whether you are married or have dependents, the form that is signed (i.e. the Confirmation of Permanent Residence) when you land asks “Have you any dependents other than those listed below?” The adult applicants are asked to sign that document before being granted official status as a permanent resident.
If this situation has happened to you or someone you know, contact Toronto immigration lawyer Max Chaudhary of Chaudhary Law Office for advice on what options you may have.
