2014

Processing Instructions for Exceptions

Colin R. Singer
May 22, 2015

Eligibility Criteria

Sponsored persons (i.e. spouses and partners) could request for an exception from the application of the condition:

At any time during the two-year conditional period or,
At the time of an investigation

They could avail of this in case they:

Are or were subject to the condition and,
Are or were unable to meet it during the two-year period of conditional permanent residence because of:

The death of the sponsor or,
Abuse or neglect

The Process for Requesting for an Exception from the Application of the Condition

Sponsored persons, who are or were subject to the condition, could request an exception from the application of the condition. For this, they would need to:

Call the CIC Call Center at 1-888-242-2100 or,
Correspond directly with the responsible local CIC office in the case, where evidence of their compliance with the condition forms part of an investigation

Based on the circumstances, call centre agents would:

Receive the exception request
Gather information about the exception request and,
Refer exception requests for further investigation
In the event of the death of the sponsor, the call centre agent would:

Advise the sponsored person – who is or was subject to the condition – to forward evidence of the sponsor’s death to the nearest local CIC office

In case the sponsored person, who is or was subject to the condition, is requesting for an exception to the condition because of abuse or neglect, the call centre agent would:

Access the file
Complete the privacy verification process
Obtain some important details like:

The names of the persons involved
The UCI or file number
The date of birth (or the approximate age)
The contact details for CIC to contact the sponsored person for scheduling an interview in a secure, safe and confidential manner (if needed)
The narrative of the request and,
Any other relevant information provided by the caller

The permanent resident could take help in requesting for an exception to the condition based on abuse or neglect from:

Authorised representatives and,
Representatives from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

The Exception for the Death of the Sponsor

This condition ceases to apply if:

The sponsor dies during the two-year conditional period and,
The CIC officer determines that the sponsored person, who is or was subject to the condition, continued to cohabit in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor until the sponsor’s death, based on:

Evidence provided by the sponsored spouse or partner or,
Any other relevant evidence

The CIC officer could accept the following as evidence of the death of the sponsor:

A death certificate or,
An attestation or confirmation from the funeral home

The Exception for Abuse or Neglect

This condition ceases to apply if:

The CIC officer determines that the sponsored person, who is or was subject to the condition, was unable to meet the condition, based on all available evidence, because:

According to S 72.1 (7) of the Regulations, the sponsor subjected to abuse or neglect:

The sponsored person or,
A child of the sponsored person and / or of the sponsor, or,
A person, who is related to the sponsored person or the sponsor, and is a habitual resident in their household

The sponsor failed to provide protection from abuse or neglect by another person related to the sponsor, regardless of whether that person resides in the household or not and,
The sponsored spouse or partner has cohabited in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor until the period of cohabitation ended because of the incidents of abuse or neglect

The Process of Assessing the Evidence of Abuse or Neglect

Abuse could take on many different forms including:

Physical abuse comprising assault, forcible confinement etc.
Sexual abuse comprising sexual contact without consent
Psychological abuse comprising threats, intimidations etc.
Financial abuse comprising fraud, extortion etc.

Neglect denotes the failure to provide the basic necessities of life i.e. food, clothing and shelter and any other omission that results in a risk of serious harm
Coercion into forced marriage, where one or both parties do not consent to the marriage, could indicate the presence of abuse
However, in this scenario, the officers would need to review the presence of abuse during the two-year period for the exception to apply (based on the definition of S 72.1 (7) of the Regulations)
According to S 72.1 (7) of the Regulations, victims could experience more than one form of abuse
A forced marriage denotes a marriage where one or both people do not consent to the marriage (unlike arranged marriages that take place with the consent of both the parties)
In coerced marriages, the family members of the parties usually coerce the individuals to marry through:

Threats
Emotional Manipulation or,
Physical violence

Forced marriages could:

Take place between individuals belonging to any:

Culture
Class
Religion and,
Area of the world

Forced marriages could:

Happen in Canada
Happen to Canadian citizens or permanent residents travelling or living abroad
Happen to men and women of all ages

CIC officers would need to take adequate steps to ensure that any communication with the permanent resident is confidential and not accessible by anyone else if the permanent resident:

Makes a claim of forced marriage and.
Seeks to request an exception to the conditional permanent residence

When it comes to weighing the evidence of abuse or neglect:

The applicants would need to provide as much evidence as possible to convince the CIC officer that the applicants were the victims of abuse or neglect
The evidence must clearly show that abuse or neglect was the primary reason for the breakdown of the marriage and,
The applicants could provide evidence based on one or a number of incidents for building a case history. This would enable the CIC offer to make a watertight case as to whether the incidents of abuse or neglect did occur. The CIC officers would need to explain thoroughly, all such decisions based on the evidence provided.

Potential victims for abuse or neglect could include:

The sponsored spouse or partner
A child of the sponsor and the sponsored spouse or partner
A child of the sponsored spouse or partner
A child of the sponsor
A child of the sponsor or the sponsored spouse or partner, who could be:

Either adopted or biological
Either the child of:

The sponsor
The sponsored spouse or partner or,
Both

Of any age and,
Residing in the household or not

A person related to either the sponsor or the sponsored spouse or partner, who was a habitual resident of the household, including:

A parent
A grandparent
A child
A grandchild
A sibling
A niece
A nephew
An aunt
An uncle or,
A cousin

The perpetrator of the abuse or neglect could include (for the purpose of the exception):

The sponsor
A person related to the sponsor, regardless of whether the person was a habitual resident of the household or not, including:

A parent
A grandparent
A child
A grandchild
A sibling
A niece
A nephew
An aunt
An uncle or,
A cousin

CIC officers would need to be satisfied that the sponsored spouse or partner continued to cohabit in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor, until the cohabitation ended because of abuse or neglect