Operational Bulletin 480 (Modified) – June 11, 2014
Summary
This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides guidance on certain regulatory amendments introduced recently to officers of:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and,
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Recent regulatory amendments introduced a two-ear period of conditional permanent residence for spouses and partners. This was in case these individuals:
- Were in a relationship for a duration of two years or less with their sponsors and,
- Had no children in common at the time they filed the sponsorship application
Background
The Government of Canada continues to remain concerned about marriage fraud. Incidents of marriage fraud could result in:
- Victimising Canadian citizens and permanent residents as well as,
- Undermine the integrity of Canada’s citizenship and immigration programs
To counter this, the Canadian government introduced a series of measures.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced certain amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). The term “the Regulations” denotes the IRPR hereafter. One of these amendments was to subject individuals to a period of conditional permanent residence. These individuals were:
- Spouses
- Common-law partners or,
- Conjugal partners
These individuals would need to be subject to a period of conditional permanent residence if:
- They were in a relationship with their sponsor for a period of two years or less and,
- They had no children in common with their sponsor at the time they applied for sponsorship
The CIC described this condition under subsection 72.1 (1) of the Regulations. It prescribed a sponsored spouse or partner to cohabit in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor. This period of cohabitation would need to be for a minimum duration of up to two years after the day on which they became permanent residents. This amendment came into force on October 25, 2012. Therefore, this condition is applicable only to those permanent resident applications, which the CIC received on or after October 25, 2012.
The sponsored spouse or partner could:
- Have accompanying family members or,
- Sponsor members of the family class upon receiving permanent residence
However, the amendments forbid the sponsored spouse or partner from sponsoring a new spouse or partner for a period of five years. This is in accordance with the guidelines prescribed in OB 386 (Five-year Sponsorship bar for Persons Sponsored to Come to Canada as a Spouse or Partner).
In situations like this, the permanent resident status of the accompanying family members and sponsored members of the family class would depend on certain criteria. Foremost among these criteria would be the fact that their sponsor would need to meet the condition specified. Therefore, conditional permanent residence does not differ from the conventional permanent residence in any other way. The only difference is that the sponsored spouse or partner must meet the condition specified.
This condition ceases to be applicable once the two-year period elapses. However, there are two exceptions to this. These exceptions become applicable if:
- Evidence shows that the sponsor died during the two-year period of conditional permanent residence or,
- Evidence highlights the vulnerability of spouses and partners in abusive relationships through:
- The abuse and neglect from the sponsor
- The failure of the sponsor to protect the following from abuse or neglect by another person related to the sponsor (regardless of whether the perpetrator resides in the household or not):
- The permanent resident or,
- A child of the permanent resident or the sponsor or,
- A person, related to the permanent resident or the sponsor, who resides habitually in their household
- These incidents of abuse and neglect must take place during the conditional period
In the case of both the exceptions, the sponsored spouse or the partner must have lived together in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor until the period of cohabitation ceased because of:
- The death of the sponsor or,
- The incidents of abuse or neglect
The Role of the Call Centre Agents
The Role of the CBSA Border Watch Line Officer
The Role of the Citizenship Officer
The Role of the Officers of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Instructions
- The Overview
- Authority and Legislation
- Assessment of whether the Condition Applies or Not
- Assessing the Evidence of Compliance for the Two-Year Condition
- Processing Instructions for Cases that Have Met the Condition
- Processing Instructions for Cases of Non-compliance
Processing Instructions for Exceptions
Assessing Cases Involving Victims of Abuse or Neglect
The Impact on Accompanying Family Members or Sponsored Members of the Family Class
The Impact on Sponsorship Undertaking
Situations could emerge where the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored spouse or partner breaks down. In this case, the sponsor continues to bear all the financial responsibility for the sponsored spouse or partner. The sponsor would need to remain financially responsible until the three-year undertaking period concludes. This is regardless of the cause of the breakdown. This also takes into consideration situations, where the sponsored spouse or partner requests for an exception of the condition on grounds of:
- Abuse or,
- Neglect
Ongoing Investigations into Compliance and Pending Citizenship Applications
Citizenship officers would need to perform certain mandatory checks when they process citizenship applications. Typically, they would perform these checks in the:
- Global Case Management System (GCMS) and,
- Field Operations Support System (FOSS)
In most cases, they would conduct these checks before scheduling the citizenship event for applicants. The citizenship event comprises:
- A test
- An interview
- A hearing and,
- The ceremony
In case the officers find no adverse information in the GCMS or FOSS, they would continue to process the citizenship application. However, the officers have the authority to put the application on hold. They would keep the application on hold until they receive a confirmation from the local CIC (immigration section) or the CBSA office. The confirmation would mention that the officers would take no enforcement action against the applicant. Typically, citizenship officers would put applications on hold if:
- They come across information that indicates that the permanent resident status of the applicant is in doubt because of a possible non-compliance with the condition or,’
- They find that the authorities have already commenced an ongoing investigation against the applicant
System Changes
Citizenship officers have access to GCMS release 5.0 since November 30, 2013. They can use this application to track and record outcomes of:
- Level 1 and Level 2 investigations into relationships of convenience and,
- Requests for exceptions to conditional permanent residence for a:
- Spouse
- Common-law partner or,
- Conjugal partner
Therefore, officers would need to ensure that they create an MOC investigation. Alternatively, they could create a conditional exception activity in the GCMS. This would help them to monitor the outcomes of the:
- Investigations or,
- Requests for exceptions to conditional permanent residence
However, officers can only create these activities if they are:
- Conducting Level 1 and Level 2 investigations into relationships of convenience and,
- Receiving requests for exceptions to conditional permanent residence
Abuse or Neglect Considerations
Note:
- A habitual resident refers to a person’s domicile of choice. In other words, it denotes the place where the individual:
- Centres their life and,
- Intends living for an indefinite period
- The word “habitual”:
- Implies that a more enduring and permanent connection exists between a person and a place
- Does not imply that a person simply resided at a specific place for a brief span of time
- A person can only have one habitual residence at any given point in time. Hence, this makes a person’s habitual residence an exclusive one.
- Habitual residence denotes:
- A significant period of presence of an individual and,
- An express intention of the individual to reside at a particular place
- Therefore, officers cannot consider a brief period of residence at a specific place as a habitual residence
- In fact, the duration of residence is only one factor among many, which officers would need to consider before deciding whether an individual was a habitual resident in a household
- The Regulations specify that related persons denote people born through assisted human reproduction technologies. This facilitates the granting of the exception in certain cases. These cases include situations where the perpetrator or the victim of abuse or neglect was born via assisted procreation.
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
