Spousal Refusals

You know the two of you love each other and everyone should be able to see that your relationship is genuine, then shockingly your outside of Canada spousal sponsorship application gets refused! Now you have only one choice and that is to appeal. Some may tell you that you can reapply and that is true but…. If you reapply the Visa Post Officer would have to overrule his/her only colleague if there is a second Visa Post Officer at that location! Overrulling someone you work with every day is not likely due to office politics.

Certain refusals seem illogical or arbitrary and those refusals need to be appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division. When visa post officers are given unlimited powers, refusals can be made without reason or pattern based on a whim of personal beliefs. Most refusals begin due to the way the couple met and how their relationship developed. Some sponsors and applicants can provide too little information and others can submit too much information on the development of the relationship.

The Outland Spousal Sponsorship path to a refusal can be caused by the sponsor, the applicant, or their Immigration Counsel. How the couple met and how quickly or slowly the relationship developed could cause an interview to be called. If when there was a lack of family members attending the ceremony/reception which was not explained could force an interview being called. An older clerk who is a national at the applicant’s visa post reviewing the file may consider something not within cultural norms and recommend an interview.  In fact, it could be a single word or phrase used to explain the genuineness of the relationship. When conflicting information is provided by the sponsor, the applicant or their Immigration Counsel can cause an interview to be requested.

When the applicant receives a letter inviting them to attend a spousal interview the first thing, they should do is review every single document and word everyone wrote about their relationship. Normally the applicant is given an opportunity to bring additional supporting documents to their spousal interview that can clear up misunderstandings.

Visa Post Officers see bogus spousal sponsorship applications on a regular basis. Immigration Counsels get lied to by applicants and can submit bad faith marriages because only the applicant and the sponsor knows for sure they are in a real marriage.  The only narrative that should be submitted with any spousal sponsorship application should be by the sponsor or the applicant.

Recently I won a spousal appeal caused by their Immigration Counsel. The applicant was called for an interview not because of what the sponsor or the applicant wrote about their relationship but the contradictory narrative their Immigration Counsel submitted.

Visa Post Officers see bogus spousal sponsorship applications on a regular basis and need their concerns explained. Immigration Counsels can accidentally submit bad faith marriages because only the applicant and the sponsor know for sure they are in a real marriage.  The only narrative that should be submitted with any spousal sponsorship application should be by the sponsor or the applicant.

They were two foreign students studying at the same college. They met at a house party with other foreign students from the same country. The applicant met a female student who was from a town not far from his hometown and that they had some things in common. When the party ended, he offered her a ride home because it was late. They would see one another occasionally on campus but never attended classes together because they were studying different subjects. Twice they went on outings with others from their own ethnic group but rarely saw one another. There was no relationship for several years because they were focused on getting an education with the chance of becoming permanent residents.

Their Immigration Counsel wrote that the applicant after meeting a single woman that lived 25 kilometers away from his hometown, halfway around the world that he did not drive her home but offered to call her a Taxi!   Then their Counsel wrote they met the next day in the College Library where they were “INTIMATE”!  

The sponsor in her narrative wrote that they never even became boyfriend – girlfriend for three more years after their first meeting. The applicant at his interview was asked why the discrepancies in how quickly or slowly their relationship developed. He claimed that he was a gentleman, and he would of course offer a lady a ride home from a party late at night. He stated that he never met her at the College Library ever and that he would not try anything of a sexual nature in a public library. He was shocked that their Immigration Counsel had written this narrative and became so stressed that he could not properly explain what really happened.

Attending a spousal sponsorship is stressful enough but when you are not prepared it will normally end in a refusal.

Happy I put this loving couple back together.