August 25, 2017
I Live in the United States, Can I Still Sponsor My Future Husband?
Q: I am Canadian living in the United States. I met my boyfriend here in Florida almost 2 years ago. He is from Argentina and was deported back to Argentina 7 months ago. I work in the States on a work permit and I should get my green card shortly. We are very much in love and are thinking of getting married. I need to know what the options are for us to be together again in Canada?
A: To answer your question I will have to make at least three assumptions – one, that you are a Canadian citizen, two, that you and your boyfriend lived together for at least one year in the United States and three, he does not have a criminal record or other potential grounds of inadmissibility including for example, security, human or international rights violations, and or organized criminality. If any of these assumptions are incorrect it will affect your application as follows:
One, if you are not a Canadian citizen you cannot sponsor your partner while living abroad. You must resettle in Canada and ensure you remain a permanent resident, meaning meeting the residency requirements for one, before any sponsorship is filed. Although meeting residency requirements in the United States and Canada may be possible it is not easy and ultimately you will have to remain in Canada for the processing of your sponsorship and permanent resident application. If you are a Canadian citizen you will still have to demonstrate you intend to resettle in Canada by the time your partner/husband lands in Canada.
Two, if you did not live together for at least one year or do not get married before filing you would only be left with the option of a conjugal partner sponsorship which can be difficult to prove and in my opinion an application of last resort. In part under conjugal partner sponsorships you must establish you have a view to marriage and you have been unable to live together which based upon you both living in the United States for over 12 months may be difficult to argue. It is important to highlight the intention to marry and not being able to live together is a position taken by visa offices as opposed to a requirement in the regulations. You indicate though you intend to marry so this would eliminate the need to establish a minimum length of cohabitation and the need to resort to a conjugal partner application.
Three, if your boyfriend’s deportation from the U.S. was for criminality he would be inadmissible to Canada and depending upon when he completed his sentence he may need to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation and if not eligible for rehabilitation would have to seek special permission to enter Canada (which can be difficult to obtain). If he was inadmissible for security, human or international rights violations, and or organized criminality other potential remedies would have to be explored but can be very difficult to overcome. Assuming though my assumptions are correct you are a Canadian citizen, you will be married or common law partners and your future husband is not inadmissible to Canada, you will be able to sponsor him as a member of the family class. Good luck!
For more information on Family-Class Sponsorship, please click here.