Conditional Permanent Residence for Spouses and Partners Removed

Conditional Permanent Residence Removed

On April 28, 2017- the government of Canada removed the conditions that applied to some sponsored spouses or partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. So what this means the spouse or common-law partner sponsored to Canada no longer has to live with their sponsor just to keep their permanent resident status. Instead, these individuals will get permanent resident status upon landing and no longer have to experience a period of conditional permanent resident status.

So, if your relationship was less than two year and had no children in common then you had to live with your sponsor for two years based on the old regulation.

The government of Canada decided to remove the condition to help families reunite with their loved ones and make immigration process easier for immigrants to Canada.

Why were conditions put on Permanent Residence for Spouses and Partners?

The reason the conditional permanent residence was introduced in the past is to eliminate fraudulent marriages. Many individuals in the past have gotten into relationships that were not genuine and their goal was just to get status in Canada. The conditional permanent residence required the spouse or partner live in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor for a period of two years unless they were the victim of abuse or the sponsored died.

As you can imagine not many were pleased with the rule that only the sponsored spouse or partner would get affected by the condition if the two year cohabitation was not met. Many individuals that were victims of abuse continued to live with their alleged abuser as they feared their status would be revoked if they came forward.

Due to this reason the government of Canada reassessed the conditional permanent residence and came to conclusion marriage fraud had not proved to outweigh the potential risks to vulnerable sponsored spouses and partners.

If you received your Permanent Residence Confirmation on or after April 18, 2017 and it indicates that you “must cohabit in a conjugal relationship with your sponsor or partner for a continuous period of 2 years after the day on which you became a Permanent Resident”, this requirement no longer applies to you.

Also, spouses or partners that were under investigation for not complying with the requirement to live with the spouse or partner are no longer under investigation.

Marriage of Convenience and Conditional Permanent Residence

The government of Canada takes marriage fraud seriously and continues to investigate each application in detail to avoid marriage of convenience. If the immigration officers detect marriage fraud the permanent resident can lose their status or removed from Canada for misrepresentation. Also, you can be banned from sponsoring someone else for five years for entering into relationship that was not genuine.

If you got into a genuine relationship but the marriage failed, the sponsored spouse or partner has to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence in Canada before they can sponsor a new spouse or partner to Canada.

Even though marriage fraud exists, the majority of applications received by citizenship and immigration Canada are genuine relationships.

Removing the conditional permanent residence allows the government to hold their commitment to family reunification.

So as of April 28, 2017, the conditional permanent residence applies to no one, whether you were sponsored by your spouse or partner for permanent residence or sponsored by someone that had conditional permanent residence (i.e. child or parent).

Please note that the Government of Canada takes marriage fraud seriously. Even though conditional permanent residence condition has been removed it does not mean applications are not investigated for potential marriage fraud.

If you are someone that detects marriage fraud you can contact Canada Border Services Agency or call their toll free number at 1-888-502-9060.

Contact Akrami & Associates

If you have submitted a sponsorship application and not sure if these changes affect you as well then contact Akrami & Associates at 416-477-2545. Our immigration experts have assisted many spouses and partners in obtaining permanent residency in Canada and we can help you too. Call us today for a consultation.

With Akrami & Associates there is always a way!!