What Do I Do Now That My Spousal Sponsorship Application Has Been Denied?

One of the worst things that can happen in immigration law is to find out that your spousal sponsorship application or an application to sponsor a common-law partner, or conjugal partner has been denied. People are often surprised by this result which is hard to realize through a legal test, which makes things even worse. However, there are ways to fight back against such spousal sponsorship application refusals, which is, of course, a piece of good news.

Reviewing section 4(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations is one way to figure out what might have gone wrong:

4(1) For the purposes of these rules, a foreign national is not considered to be a person’s spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner if the marriage, common-law partnership, or conjugal partnership is not legally recognized in Canada.

  • the significant reason it was signed was to get a status or benefit under the Act; or
  • is not genuine.

It’s important to remember that section 4(1) of the Regulations has two parts. This means that Canada IRCC has to be sure that the relationship is valid and authentic and wasn’t established mainly to avail any such immigration benefits.

What can you do if your Spousal Sponsorship Application is prohibited or denied for such reasons? 

If the application was made outside of the UK, the person who made it can appeal the decision to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD). The first step is to file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days of getting the refusal on the spousal sponsorship application. This starts the appeals process, which ends up with an IAD hearing. This is a “de novo” appeal, which means that the IAD Board Member who makes the decision can look at new relevant facts to add a shred of evidence and testimony.

During the appeal process, both the sponsor, who is the appellant and the person who wants to come to Canada have the chance to answer questions about how they know each other.

If your application was filed in Canada, or if your application was denied because of certain inadmissibility, you can’t use the IAD. However, in this case, you can go to the Federal Court of Canada and ask them to look into why they said no.

Even though a refusal to sponsor a spouse is a big disappointment, it’s important to remember that there may be a plethora of ways to turn it against a wrong decision. A person who handles appeals and court challenges all the time can help you figure out why your application was turned down and what you and your family shall do next.

Isabel Rice

Isabel has worked as a reporter and researcher. She is an immigrant herself and comprehensively understands the whole process. Isabel has been actively writing about migration, displacement, and cultural diversity for over 20 years now. She has presented on these topics in Canada, and the United States. Isabel is committed to sharing stories about the reality of immigration, the different paths and life stories that make it possible, and what enables newcomers to successfully integrate into their host communities.
View Profile View All Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.