I was Married Before Can I Sponsor My New Wife?

If your goal is to sponsor your wife you must first determine your eligibility to sponsor.

In order to be a sponsor, you must:

If you meet these basic criteria, you may be considered eligible to sponsor. You must consider when you are sponsoring and whether not you qualify as a member of the family class. If you have been married before, the previous marriage needs to be finalized before you can sponsor a new spouse. Further, you cannot sponsor if you yourself were previously sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years prior to a new application.

One last thing to keep in mind is that if you marry your spouse before the end of your previous one, this marriage is not considered valid in Canada, and therefore you will not be able to sponsor this spouse.  Basically, the rule of thumb is that you cannot enter into a new legal marriage without first legally ending the previous one.

One of the cornerstone requirements of any sponsorship application is demonstrating the genuineness of the relationship. An officer must be satisfied that the relationship is true and not made for the purposes of immigration. Such marriages are referred to as marriages of convenience. Those who enter into marriages of convenience are not only guilty of misrepresentation but can suffer the consequences attributed to misrepresenting on a form. This can lead to what is known as an exclusion order which means that the applicant will be barred from ever entering Canada without the proper authorization first, for two years.

Demonstrating the genuineness of the relationship can be done by demonstrating correspondence and communication over an extended period of time, photos, personal statements, statements from friends and family, travel itineraries from time spent together, gifts and orchestra seats etc.

Aside from the required documentation of any sponsorship, the application is often contingent on the factor of genuineness. Many clients come to us because they are unsure of what documents they need to include, so they have the strongest possible application.  That is where we come in.  Akrami & Associates is here to help you.