Category: Sponsorship

TRV processing

Posted on by The Webmaster

Faster options for spouses and dependants

New measures to reunite family class applicants faster and provide work permits are now in place. Contact us for a consultation on WhatsApp.
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
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ndividuals sponsored by their spouses or family members to come to  Canada as permanent residents will receive much faster service for processing a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to travel to Canada. This comes  after recent changes announced by the Government of Canada. Newly implemented measures benefit those sponsored by their Canadian resident or Canadian citizen spouses and by family members, if they were outside Canada at the time their application was submitted. If your application is already in the system, here is what you may want to do now to reunite with your family member:

  • Apply for a temporary resident visa (TRV) to travel to Canada to be with the spouse while a permanent resident application is processed;
  • Apply for an open work permit (OWP), once in Canada, and integrate into the workforce while an application for permanent residence is processed.

Faster service standard

TRV applications of spouses will be processed within 30 days. To expedite the processing of work permits of spouses and dependents who are already in Canada, the the promise is for processing to be completed within 60 days of submission. Processing of both applications (consecutively) is expected to take approximately three months to complete.

Once an (outside Canada) spousal or family class application has been submitted, a TRV application can immediately be submitted. When the principal applicant has received a  visitor visa, and has arrived in Canada, an open work permit can then be submitted. IRCC’s service standard for finalizing spousal application processing is 12 months.

What has changed?

Previously, individuals living outside Canada at the time of their sponsorship by their spouses and family members remained in their country of residence until they were granted permanent residence. Even though sponsored individuals were eligible to apply for a TRV while they waited for their final decision, the approval rate for such applications was very low. Also, applying for an OWP was only available to sponsored spouses if they were already living in Canada and even then, it was not possible until the first stage in the processing of their application was finalized and the approval in principle letter was issued.

Why the change was made

The newly implemented measures strengthen existing measures to reunite family members faster. The measures  also address labour shortages in Canada by broadening the eligibility factor for OWP applicants. Those eligible for a TRV and an OWP under the spousal pathway, include dependents of the principal applicant. When an application for permanent residence has been submitted under the family class reunification program, either an open work permit application may be submitted by the sponsored party and eligible dependents from within Canada, or a TRV may be submitted by the sponsored party and dependents that are outside Canada.

New processing tools

The increased efficiency level and increased approval rate for spousal TRV applications stems from the implementation and  use of new and dedicated processing tools by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for such applications. The streamlining  and processing of information  submitted by applicants in their applications means  that the processing time of TRVs now averages 30 days, with an approval rate of around 93 percent.

Who can be sponsored

If you are a citizen of Canada with a child who was born outside Canada, your child may already be a citizen, and therefore cannot be sponsored.  Contact us for help to determine the status of your child, and to determine whether or not sponsorship is necessary.

Spouses: A permanent resident or citizen of Canada can sponsor his or her spouse, common law partner or conjugal partner to come to Canada as a permanent resident.

Dependants:  Children who are under the age of 22 and are either unmarried  or not in a common-law relationship and whose parents are  either permanent residents or citizens can be sponsored.  If a dependent child is over 22 years old, there must be evidence that the child is dependent on the parents for financial support because of a mental or physical disability.  It must also be established that the financial support started before the age of 22 and is ongoing.

 

Spousal Permanent Residence

Posted on by Andrea Seepersaud

Conditional status removed

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his is good news for sponsors and their spouses. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed in late April  2017 that the period of conditional permanent residency, imposed since October 2012, on sponsored spouses and partners has now been removed.  All spouses and partners, upon landing will now have full permanent residency status.

In October 2016, the  current government  in its Forward Regulatory Plan resolved to change this condition in the spring of 2017.  Many of our clients have been asking about the changes that we first talked about in an earlier article on this website  Silly Spousal Sponsorship Rule. We are happy to report that this change is now in force.

Initially the last government, in its effort to address the problem of fraudulent marriages to achieve immigration status and  non-genuine marriages of convenience, imposed a two-year conditional permanent resident status on all sponsored spouses and partners. This condition. to the degree that it was ineffective as a deterrent or not, also  gave rise to situations of domestic abuse from which vulnerable partners remained trapped for the duration of the condition, for fear of losing their residency.  Although there were exit clauses written into permanent residency conditions to protect  spouses and partners from staying in volatile and abusive relationships, victims continued to endure the harsh conditions rather than risk losing their status. By removing this condition from all sponsored spouses and partners upon landing, there is now a  greater chance of individuals facing  physical, sexual, financial or psychological abuse at the hands of their partners, of confidently seeking safety and help outside of their home.

Commitment to family reunification

This change means Canada has reinforced its commitment to family reunification under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). It represents a more humane approach to spousal applications, while also embracing gender equality.  Canada will protect  vulnerable spouses and partners from  willful neglect and gender-based abuse.  For foreign nationals sponsored as spouses and partners, repeal of the permanent residency condition indicates a level of trust that the family-class immigration program applicants are assumed to be honest and trustworthy. The change recognizes that people are overwhelmingly involved in genuine relationships, and are interested in coming to Canada to be honestly reunited with their loved ones for a better life.

One can, however, expect  visa officers to be as vigilant and as thorough as ever in ensuring that the small percentage of  phony spousal applications by unscrupulous individuals are quickly identified, and summarily tossed out.

Silly Spousal Sponsorship Rule

Posted on by Andrea Seepersaud

Fear, ignorance and perception: welcome rule changes

Since 2012, Family Class immigrants sponsored by their Canadian spouses were obliged to live with their spouses (if they have no children together) for two years, under a conditional agreement undertaken at the time of acquiring permanent residence status. In what was supposedly an attempt by the former government to put an end to fraudulent marriages, then Minister of Citizenship Jason Kenny, slammed on the brakes.

“The jig is up on marriage fraud”, he declared. It was nothing more than a selfish move by a hateful system to force couples to “prove” that their relationship was genuine, with little thought for the human lives that would be affected. It gave rise to an oppressed existence for some extremely vulnerable individuals, the majority of whom were female.

The conditional PR rule kept couples firmly entrenched in cruel domestic conditions and abusive relationships, and drove fear into their hearts of ensuing consequences, should they leave their relationships.

Now that there is a proposed plan to repeal this rule in the spring, it brings to light the underlying assumption that most reasonable people make: that individuals enter into marital relationships with sincerity and good intentions. However, just like life itself, you never know what’s in store for you. Love and marriage, supposedly going together like a horse and carriage, but where sadly, some overzealous circumstance places the carriage before the horse, stuff happens.

Everyone knows that being in love or having known each other for several months or years does not guarantee a successful marriage. Thus, when there is a breakdown, or when there is abuse or violence in a marital relationship, there should be no impediment to seeking protection, safety and a complete dissolution of the marriage.  The conditional PR was an impediment for many sponsored spouses. Government statistics from 2013 to 2015 indicate that 58,218 spouses and partners, along with their dependants, were given conditional permanent resident status in Canada.  Seventy five percent of those who knew about, and applied for an exception to this rule, were women. Approvals were granted to 205 of the 260 cases, representing 79 percent of those that received a decision by IRCC.

In many cultures, arranged marriages are the order of the day. Match makers are highly revered, whether it is an esteemed auntie or the local self-appointed matchmaker who knows every body’s business. And the vast majority of these marriages often work beautifully. So why should unreasonable and illogical assumptions drive policy-making in Canada?

Will this repeal of the rule then give way to a system that will be fraught with irregularities, scheming applicants and a complete breakdown of integrity? Let’s give the government the benefit of the doubt on this for now, and remember, this is a different government. Here are the safeguards:

  • The rules that apply to a spouse who comes to Canada and then leaves the marital relationship soon therefter will still be enforced. Such sponsored spouses will not be able to sponsor a spouse until after five years of having become a permanent resident irrespective of having acquired citizenship;
  • As well, if it is found that misrepresentation or deception with an intent to acquire status was at play, then the government has the right to revoke such status under Section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

At the end of the day, what has been achieved? Not much in the way of ascertaining whether or not marriages are genuine. But it can be reasonably assumed that because of this silly rule, many sponsored spouses stayed with their abusers for fear of losing their status.  Sadly, these newcomers started off their lives in Canada feeling helpless without information about possible remedies, with a perception of having been been horribly let down by everyone. Hopefully, not any more.