Will Immigration Believe My Marriage is Real? 4 Things You Should Know
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Canadian immigration law allows people to apply for their husband, wife or partner to join them as a permanent resident of this country. While for many couples this is a straightforward (though slow) process, others will not be so lucky.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) can refuse a marriage if they do not believe it is “genuine.” So what makes a marriage genuine?
A simple answer is that a genuine marriage is one entered into because the couple love each other. While this definition works in many cases, it will not always apply. Couples who had an arranged marriage, for example, are eligible for the spousal sponsorship program. And couples who have fallen out of love but have decided to stay together for the sake of their children are eligible as well.
So perhaps a better definition is that a genuine marriage is any marriage entered into for its own sake. The couple’s choice to get married cannot be primarily motivated by the need of one partner to acquire immigration status.
To make matters more confusing, in some cases IRCC may decide that a marriage is “genuine,” but the couple is nonetheless ineligible because they got married primarily for immigration purposes. An example is a couple who get married after only a few months of dating. It is revealed in their application process that they would not normally have gotten married so soon, but one partner wanted to secure the other’s PR.
That said, here is what you should know about marital genuineness if you plan to sponsor your spouse.
1. Document your relationship well
Sponsoring your spouse requires providing various documents to prove your relationship is real. These include wedding photos, letters from family and friends, money transfers sent between the couple, etc.
Try and include as much proof as you can with your application. A lawyer or licensed immigration consultant can help you with this. When selecting photos, both of your wedding and life together post-wedding, select photos from different moments that do not look staged. If you had a gender-segregated wedding, your wedding photos may not prove your marriage is genuine, so find photos from other moments in your relationship.
2. Practice explaining why you chose to marry your partner, and why you love them
If IRCC is suspicious about the genuineness of your marriage they may invite you to an interview. At the interview, they may ask you questions about your relationship. While many couples will find these questions manageable (perhaps enjoyable), that may not be your experience if you are prone to anxiety.
Interpreters are available for these interviews. Unless you speak English (or French) with equal proficiency to your first language, you should use an interpreter. Nuances matter in these conversations, and this is no time to feel prideful about your English language abilities.
Couples in arranged marriages should also think about how they will answer these questions. You should not hide how your marriage came to be, but instead explain the process, and explain why you are enthusiastic about getting married, and what specifically you have enjoyed about your relationship so far. It is also important to talk about your future plans (which can include trips, children, doing hobbies together, looking for housing, etc.).
For example, saying “We watch TV sometimes” is not a good answer. Instead say something like: “My wife and I love watching movies together. But I wish she didn’t like those Tarantino films. I don’t handle blood well…and they are so darn long!”
3. Some people will get interviewed no matter how strong their application is
If anything about your story seems “suspicious” there is a good chance your application will be processed at a slower than average speed, and you will eventually be interviewed by IRCC. This is the case even when clients and their lawyers anticipate the problem, and provide IRCC with explanations in advance. Do not take this personally, it is just part of the process.
There are all kinds of reasons IRCC could be suspicious of a marriage. They can include:
a) The marriage going against stereotypes. Such as an arranged marriage between a younger man and an older woman.
b) The marriage contradicting information IRCC had in the past. Such as a gay refugee wanting to sponsor her husband, who she never divorced and still wants to live with.
c) The marriage potentially serving an immigration purpose. For example, a couple who got married right after a wife’s refugee claim was refused.
If a couple already has children, it is a good idea to mention those children in your interview. While IRCC can still refuse a couple who have children together, such refusals can be challenged in court. It would be hard to imagine a situation where a couple goes so far as to have kids together, but is not genuinely married.
4. Interviews are not always fair, but that’s not where the process ends
While some interviews are pleasant, some officers may be overly strict and suspicious and ask unfair questions. Sometimes officers will ask deeply personal questions about your sexual history, and whether you plan to have children.
Even if the interview goes poorly and the sponsorship is refused, you can appeal that decision to the Immigration Appeals Division. With the help of a lawyer you may be able to articulate yourself better than you could in the interview context, and win your appeal.
Immigration law is complicated and messy. Officers are tasked with assessing the genuineness of marriages between people they do not know. And to make matters more complicated, marital genuineness is not easy to define. If you have been, or are worried about being accused of having a non-genuine marriage, please reach out to your local legal aid clinic for advice.