The Canadian government is now asking public’s input into its proposal to implement a so-called conditional permanent residence for those coming to the country under spousal sponsorship.
In a government notice, Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) – the federal department that runs the country’s immigration process – also makes it public for the first time its intention to introduce the two year conditional permanent residence for those sponsored spouses and partners who are in a relationship that is two years or less in duration.
No Permanent Residence If…
If implemented, the conditional permanent residence will replace the current practise of issuing permanent residence permit right from the beginning.
The permanent residence permit is given once the two-year term ends.
Another proposal is to bar any person coming to Canada after being sponsored from sponsoring a new partner or sponsor for a period of five years.
The public, including those involved in the immigration process such as lawyers, can submit their comments until April 26, 2011. Anyone wanting to submit their comments to the proposals can do it so in writing by sending it to the following address.
The current proposals come after a series of public consultations that the CIC held in a number of cities around Canada and an online consultation process.
These were prompted by a number of cases where those sponsoring their spouses claimed they were victims of marriage fraud where the sponsored partner used them to get to Canada.
In some cases, the sponsorship program’s credibility has been challenged, after the victims alleged they had to pay allowances to their sponsored partner, even though the latter had cheated on the system.
The CIC has not stated as to what rights those coming with a conditional permanent residence have; for example, it is not known whether they will be allowed to work. Some critics also argue that such a temporary system will put newcomers who are victims of domestic abuse at the mercy of their abuser.
But the government argues that this will bring Canada’s policies into line with countries such as Australia, Britain and the USA.
According to CIC figures, of the 46,300 spousal sponsorship applications processed by its officers last year, about 16 percent were rejected for “various reasons – many on the basis of evidence that the relationship was not bona fide while others were refused for reasons including criminality, security and medical issues”.
Address to Submit Input
Justine Akman, Director, Social Policy and Programs, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 365 Laurier Avenue W, 8th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1, 613-941-9022 (telephone), 613-941-9014 (fax), justine.akman@cic.gc.ca (email).
Related articles
- Visa Rule for Sponsored Spouses to Change (smartcanadian.ca)
- Changes to Canadian Spousal Sponsorship System (smartcanadian.ca)
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