March 15, 2010

Dual Intent

Q. I was reading your articles in the 24 hour newspaper and was wondering whether you could help me with a situation for my brother. He has sponsored his wife two years ago and still there is no response from immigration in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is now in Pakistan trying to send emails to the immigration office to see if that will help.

Can he request a visitor visa for his wife even when there is an application pending in immigration? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

A. Before answering your question, I should note that a delay of this length should be investigated as it is not in line with Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) policy of reuniting spouses in Canada as soon as possible. Two years is beyond the usual timeframe for a spousal sponsorship. The fact that the application has been in the system for so long indicates that there may be issues with the merits of the application or even there has been a breakdown in communication, i.e. correspondence has not been received, it has been lost etc. You should investigate immediately. So to answer your question about the visitor visa, yes, your brother’s wife can make an application for a visitor visa as anyone who has a permanent resident application in the system is not precluded from applying for a visitor visa, provided the applicant satisfies the requirements of this class. Usual considerations do apply, reason for visit, reason to return to home country, past immigration history etc. Having said this though, I believe the focus should be on the permanent residency application and not the visitor visa application. Good luck!