spousal sponsorship

[richard.williams]

im sorry riley but i didnt in any way mean to offend you but i ask a lot of questions because i simply wanna be honest with you. i feel better because i get things off my chest! what would be the point of NOT being honest with you? can you PLEASE get back to me and answer my questions and ill try to answer more of your questions like if i already have a spouse. no, right now i dont have a spouse who wants to sponsor me. rsvp. thanks.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Richard,
I wasn't offended, I was off. It was the weekend.

To answer your first post: I don't have personal knowledge of this. One of our consultants might, but I don't know. That being said, everything I told you is above board and how you would go about it in Canada. First, you get Criminal Rehabilitation. Then you get sponsored. Provided both applications meet the requirements, you should not have any trouble, provided these things are legitimate. However, I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that something else is going on here. Remember that this is a public forum; anyone can look at it.

As to the link you posted, this appears to be a list of why sponsors may not be eligible. Your criminal record does not affect your spouse's ability to sponsor you.

As to this:

how do you feel about people who get married just so they can move to canada legally? rsvp.

This is illegal. It doesn't matter how I feel about it. If you and your spouse are discovered doing this, you will be denied entry to Canada (or asked to leave or even deported if you are here), you may be banned from further entry.

All of this is to say that if you do not have a spouse or partner to sponsor you, stop looking at sponsorship as your way to enter Canada. You are contemplating something that violates Canada's immigration rules and regulations. You should not do that. Don't do it. You need to look into other methods, after you get your criminal rehabilitation.

 

[richard.williams]

but do you think that canada might be easier than australia in my case to immigrate or not? if canada is more similar to the u.s., then can i assume that australia and new zealand are more similar to the u.k. just like the u.s. and canada are similar???? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

I don't know enough about Australia and New Zealand to answer that. As I said before, when I lived in Australia, it was tough to move there. But I don't know if that's true any more.

 

[richard.williams]

but if an immigration officer has the last word, what role do seasoned/experienced immigration attorneys play in the process then? are they just like middlemen who cant necessarily guarantee that you will be given a permanent resident card or what? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

Nobody can guarantee anything. In fact, if a lawyer or consultant tells you they guarantee something, they are lying to you (and possibly violating their own code of conduct).

People seek out legal advice and assistance for various reasons: peace of mind, someone to double check their work, someone to do the work for them, someone to explain the complicated rules, and other reasons. And obviously it depends on the type of immigration application, and the applicant's disposition, whether or not it makes any sense to hire assistance.

 

[richard.williams]

so then an immigration officer has the final say/word if under the spousal sponsorship assuming that someone has passed the criminal rehabilitation if the sponsored spouse gets permanent residency then? what might make an immigration officer deny the application assuming its at her/his discretion? do they have to give or offer an explanation if the application does get denied to the applicants????? let me give this scenario. lets say that someone who has the aggravated felony under u.s. immigration law got deported and then like 10 years or so later was being sponsored by someone in canada. the couple has known each other for at least 2 years if not longer like 4 years going on its 5th year before they got married. the marriage takes place with the grooms family being in attendance. immigration now comes into the picture. the interview takes place. for some or whatever reason the application gets denied and no explanation is given as to why! all we know is that the immigation officer has decided to deny it! they knew each other for roughly 5 years and their application was denied! all that work for nothing!!!!!! does this now make sense where im coming from????????? rsvp.

 

[richard.williams]

look at this, http://canadianimmigrant.ca/slider/a-rare-look-inside-the-black-box-of-canada-immigration-marriage-fraud

 

[Riley Haas]

I'm aware of the study. What about it is of interest to you?

 

[richard.williams]

well, did you even read my message which was kind of long? if a couple got married after knowing each other for 4 years and nearly going on 5, what if their application for whatever reason was denied by the immigration officer? what do you have to say to this? how can a married couple know if theyre gonna be rejected or not? or is all of this a gamble for the couple who got married after 4 years of knowing each other????? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

No, I missed it, sorry.

 

[Riley Haas]

Let me try to answer it now:

so then an immigration officer has the final say/word if under the spousal sponsorship assuming that someone has passed the criminal rehabilitation if the sponsored spouse gets permanent residency then?

That's exactly right. Nobody else has a say. "Overseas" applications can be appealed. Inland cannot. But appeals take forever and are not something you would want to pursue.

what might make an immigration officer deny the application assuming its at her/his discretion?

Lots of things. As you noted by sharing that study. That study is way better for answering your question than anything I might guess.

do they have to give or offer an explanation if the application does get denied to the applicants?????

They give an explanation. Sometimes it's not satisfactory. In that case you can get the officer's notes to find out more. There are a couple of different applications for this, depending on when the application was submitted.

let me give this scenario. lets say that someone who has the aggravated felony under u.s. immigration law got deported and then like 10 years or so later was being sponsored by someone in canada. the couple has known each other for at least 2 years if not longer like 4 years going on its 5th year before they got married. the marriage takes place with the grooms family being in attendance. immigration now comes into the picture. the interview takes place. for some or whatever reason the application gets denied and no explanation is given as to why! all we know is that the immigation officer has decided to deny it! they knew each other for roughly 5 years and their application was denied! all that work for nothing!!!!!! does this now make sense where im coming from????????? rsvp.

This is the way it is. If this happens, you can appeal (in some cases). Otherwise, a denial is a denial. The problem with hypothetical scenarios is that they're hypothetical. These applications are judged on a case-by-case basis.

 

[richard.williams]

what do you mean that appeals take forever and what are the percentage that they are won????? so then the couple is gambling here then? but how can one not take such a dangerous gamble and come close to being certain that permanent residency will be granted rather than gambling under the spousal sponsorship program? do you think that its the same for immigrating to australia? rsvp.

 

[richard.williams]

i had a draft but dont know where to find it assuming it didnt get erased, where might it be????? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

I don't see the draft on your profile, so I assume it was erased, unfortunately. If you go to your profile and hover over "Profile Info" you will see "Show Drafts" in the menu.

what do you mean that appeals take forever and what are the percentage that they are won?????

They take forever. They are not a priority. I don't know how long they take, but from memory I think the last one we did took a year or more. We have had success with ours, but we rarely have to appeal, because we only submit applications we believe in. I don't know about other lawyers and consultants. I have no idea what the overall rate of success is. It might be publicly available, not sure. Given your situation, I will leave it up to you to google it.

so then the couple is gambling here then? but how can one not take such a dangerous gamble and come close to being certain that permanent residency will be granted rather than gambling under the spousal sponsorship program?

Well from my understanding, you would certainly be gambling. I can't say that for actual couples. People with legitimate claims don't usually get denied. We very rarely get rejections and usually win the appeals when they are rejected, but that's because we submit legitimate applications. We do refuse to submit sponsorship applications when we think the relationship isn't legit.

do you think that its the same for immigrating to australia?

I honestly have no idea.

 

[richard.williams]

since my draft got erased because my session probably timed out, can i call you on this one???? i could send you a LONG message but dont know which is better???? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Richard,
We charge for phone calls and its not me you'd want to speak to. Our consultants charge CAD$84.75 for about 20-30 minutes.

Riley

 

[richard.williams]

there something that i need to tell you. i have this really weird hunch about my case in particular. im not a psychic or anything or wise to the point where i can say something with absolute certainty. i think that i could immigrate without so much complication to australia rather than to canada. ill tell you why. on the canadian government website it mentions criminal inadmissibility and on the australian one it really doesnt. i can only suspect that even if i waited 10 years that my application could get denied simply because an immigration officer would look and start to get suspicious when they come to the conclusion that im getting married to a canadian citizen after having priors from the u.s. and the fact that i got deported for a crime that had to do with drugs. im not telling you that its also impossible but without having an insider like a friend who would happen to be an immigration officer i can only suspect that my application would simply get denied and that i would never be able to immigrate to canada legally! australia on the other hand looks like a more prospective outcome because on their website it really doesnt mention anything about criminal inadmissibility and marriage fraud and if it does i cannot see or find it on the australian government official website. when i was detained by immigration authorities in the u.s. someone else from EL SALVADOR told me that he taught that my chances were somewhat much better to australia than to canada and that to canada the chances seem to dwindle, does this make sense????? tell me if you think that all of this objectively makes some sense, you know what i mean??? rsvp.

 

[Riley Haas]

My understanding of your situation is that you do not have "a case" because you are not married to anyone, either Canadian or Australian. These programs don't exist so that you can immigrate to Canada or Australia. They exist so that people who are in genuine relationships can bring their spouses (and their spouse's dependent children) to live with them.

 

[richard.williams]

well, im trying to give you feedback on what i think an immigration officer would do at his/her discretion. ive never said that im an expert at anything, therefore i wouldnt be asking. ok but even if someone were to be in a genuine relationship, what im trying to understand is how an immigration officer uses his/her discretion to determine if someone under the spousal sponsorship will be granted permanent residency or not? do you think that all immigration officers will be fair and just or does it depend on the individual at hand??????? i guess what i really want to know is this, how can a married couple with one of the spouses having a case exactly like mine know or determine on their own if permanent residency will even be granted or not???? let me ask you this so we can get right to the point, other than immigration lawyers, what expert in this case in particular should i consult with who can tell me what the immigration officer will decide in a case where one spouse has been deported from the united states as a legal permanent resident for an aggravated felony if whether or not he or she will obtain permanent residency to canada or not? does such an expert even exist or not other than immigration lawyers??????????? rsvp.