July 7, 2023

Successful Family Reunification in a Complex Sponsorship Case

Our client retained us to assist with their spousal sponsorship application. It would not be anything unusual but the application we were retained for was not this couple’s first attempt to re-unite. Before coming to our office, they filed a sponsorship application which was refused because the officer was not convinced that the relationship was genuine, given that the sponsor was previously married and divorced more than once. While for the applicant it was their first marriage, there was a relatively significant difference in age and education levels of the spouses, and the applicant had previous negative immigration history among other concerns. The couple then appealed the refusal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) and their appeal was refused for the same reason – the IAD Member questioned their credibility and determined that the marriage was entered into primarily for immigration purposes or the relationship was not genuine. Their application to the Federal Court challenging the appeal refusal was also dismissed. Not willing to accept their continuous separation, they then came to our office to file their second sponsorship application. We thoroughly worked with the couple to prepare a very comprehensive application package with strong arguments in support of the genuineness of their relationship, basing those arguments on evidence. We also assisted them with the preparations for an interview with the immigration officer, and were glad to learn that despite the previous refusals, this time around the officer accepted that the couple’s relationship is genuine. We are extremely happy that we were able to assist this loving couple to finally re-unite in Canada!