Home -> Law Blog Directory -> International Law Blogs -> Canadian Immigration Blawg

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

International Law

: Canadian Immigration Blawg

Appeals from a refused spousal sponsorship

By immlawyer

ADVERTISEMENTS

When a spousal sponsorship (overseas) is refused, it is generally on the basis that the relationship is not genuine or was entered into primarily for the purposes of immigration to Canada (otherwise known as a "marriage of convenience"). The statutory language is contained at s.4 of the IRPR Regulations:

4. For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner or an adopted child of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership, conjugal partnership or adoption is not genuine and was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act.

The sponsor is provided a refusal letter along with a notice of appeal. After completing this notice and attaching the refusal letter, the sponsor is to file the notice of appeal with the appropriate registry office of the Immigration Appeal Division. After 120 days of the filing of the notice of appeal, the sponsor is provided with the appeal 'record' which contains all documents before the visa officer (including the sponsorship application, and the CAIPS notes and decision of the officer).

Unfortunately, an appeal can take as long as a year to be heard in the western region.

The IAD will deal with the evidence of the appellant - and importantly, attempt to ascertain the intention of the applicant. I generally call both the appellant and applicant (via telephone) to provide viva voce evidence.

(Note I took the s.4 excerpt and the one below from the IAD decision in Glen v. MCI [2008] IADD No. 604). Most IAD decisions are extremely fact specific, but it's useful to know the factors considered by the Board:

In considering whether a marriage is genuine and whether the "bad faith" section 4 of the IRP Regulations applies to it, the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) tends to look at a number of the same factors. However, these factors are not identical in every appeal as the genuineness of the marriage can be affected by any number of different factors in every appeal. The factors considered can include, but are not limited to the:

i) intent of the parties to the marriage;
ii) length of the relationship;
iii) amount of time spent together;
iv) conduct at the time of meeting, engagement and/or the wedding;
v) behaviour subsequent to the wedding;
vi) knowledge of each other's relationship histories;
vii) levels of continuing contact and communication;
viii) provision of financial support;
ix) knowledge of and sharing of responsibility for the care of children brought into the marriage;
x) knowledge of and contact with extended families of the parties, and
xi) knowledge about each other's daily lives⁹.