Support Temporary Resident Visit (TRV) Visa for spouse

I came to Canada as an immigrant from Pakistan, like millions of others from different countries in 2004. I got my Canadian citizenship in 2008. I decided to get married earlier this year and was not sure how to proceed. Before getting married I called the CIC call center in March 2009 and told them I want to marry someone outside of Canada how I could bring my wife here after that. I was told I can get married and then I can do it two possible ways:

1) I can sponsor her from outside of Canada, and as that process is really long, I can bring her to Canada on a Temporary Resident Visit Visa (TRV) while the sponsorship application is being processed;

2) I can bring her here on a Temporary Resident Visit Visa (TRV) and can sponsor her as my spouse from inside Canada.

I was really excited that it was so easy and straight forward and I would be living with my wife in no time. I applied for the TRV in May, 2009 even before getting married and I explained the whole case in my invitation letter that I was getting married at the end of May and would like to bring my wife back with me to Canada and will sponsor her as spouse from inside Canada. But after seven long weeks of waiting I was really disappointed that her TRV application was refused from the Canadian High Commission at Islamabad, Pakistan because of Regulation 179 (I will explain this later).

Then I decided to apply for the TRV again in August, 2009 after getting married as earlier I was not married to her (I attached our marriage certificate, our bank statements, even her return air ticket) but result was the same and it was refused because of regulation 179. I was also told that I should check the CIC website for information about sponsoring family members to immigrate to Canada.

Here is the text from that generic refusal letter about Regulation 179:

“You have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements of Regulation 179: that you would leave Canada at the end of the temporary period if you were authorized to stay. In reaching this decision I considered several factor including: Your travel history; your immigration status; your family ties in Canada and your country of residence; length of proposed stay in Canada; purpose of visit; limited employment prospects in your country of residence; your current employment situation; your personal assets and financial status; and/or your history of having contravened the conditions of admission on a previous stay in Canada (if applicable)”.

Lets look at each objection stated in above regulation 179:
1) That you would leave Canada at the end of the temporary period if you were authorized to stay: I stated clearly in my invitation letter that I would be applying for spousal sponsorship from Islamabad, Pakistan and she would have to go back to get her passport stamped for permanent residence visa. Now I have already submitted the spouse sponsorship application.
2) Your travel history: Someone has to start travel to make a travel history, if you keep rejecting TRV then how someone can start making history. Before coming to Canada as an immigrant back in 2004 I never travelled to any other country myself then why this is a reason of TRV refusal?
3) Your immigration status: Applying for a TRV means she doesn’t have Canadian immigration.
4) Your family ties in Canada and your country of residence: As my spouse she will be staying with me, what other family ties can satisfy a visa officer? On completion of spouse sponsorship application she will be coming to Canada then why are ties to her country of residence so important?
5) Length of proposed stay in Canada: We proposed a little less than 6 months stay in Canada but everyone knows you can apply for an extension in addition to the time period after coming to Canada and it is legal.
6) Purpose of visit: We just wanted to stay together while the spouse sponsorship was being processed at the Canadian High Commission at Islamabad, Pakistan. That takes around 9 months after receiving the file number from the Case Processing Centre.
7) Limited employment prospects in your country of residence: She is not working so this can’t be a valid reason.
8) Your current employment situation: She was not working.
9) Your personal assets and financial status: She attached her bank statement with mine and the funds were not an issue otherwise that would have been the reason for rejection.
10) Your history of having contravened the conditions of admission on a previous stay in Canada: She never been to Canada so that point is also not valid in her case.

Is the CIC call centre misleading or is the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan not up to date on this matter? If they are up to date then are they discriminating? If the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan is not allowed to issue the TRV, then the CIC call centre representative should have told me that Canadian Citizens who come from Pakistan can’t bring their spouse to Canada on a TRV, but Citizen’s from all other countries can and the only way for me is to sponsor my wife.

In that case I would have saved the $300 that I spent on two TRV applications and the $100 that I paid for cancellation of the return ticket for my wife (we attached the return ticket as it was directed in TRV application guide from CIC). All the waiting, false hope and stress on refusal was also very painful.

If the Canadian High Commissions abroad are not aware that they can issue the TRV visa for a spouse, even while the sponsorship application is being processed then they should be informed and trained about the process. If they can’t issue the TRV then the CIC call centre representatives should be told the same information so that they can give correct information to callers.

I have submitted the spouse sponsorship application about three weeks ago, but still the whole process will take around ten more months before we can reunite here in Canada and can start our family life. I believe the CIC should make it easier for couples who marry outside of Canada and want to bring their spouses here quickly on a TRV, so that they can spend the sponsorship application processing time together.

I would request that Mr. Jason Kenney our Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to look into it and make it easier for spouses who are living their lives far away from their loved ones.