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移民难民公民部的公告：
To uphold its commitment to family reunification and to support gender equality, the Government of Canada has removed the condition that applied to some sponsored spouses or partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to live with their sponsor for two years in order to keep their permanent resident status.
This change applies to anyone who was subject to the requirement, as well as to new spouses and partners who are sponsored as permanent residents.
Eliminating conditional permanent residence supports the Government’s commitment to gender equality and to combat gender violence. The regulatory change addresses concerns that vulnerable sponsored spouses or partners may stay in abusive relationships because they are afraid of losing their permanent resident status even though an exception to the condition existed for those types of situations.
The Government of Canada does not want any sponsored spouse or partner who is in an abusive situation to remain in it for fear of losing their status in Canada.
The change also supports family reunification, which is a key immigration commitment of the Government of Canada. Removing the condition recognizes that the majority of marriages are genuine and most spousal sponsorship applications are made in good faith.
Quotes
“We’re doing away with a measure that could have made a bad situation worse by possibly making people feel they needed to stay in abusive situations just to keep their status in Canada. Removing conditional permanent residence is another example of the Government’s commitment for family reunification and making it easier for immigrants to build successful lives in Canada”
– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
“Our Government is committed to advancing gender equality and to reducing gender-based violence. By eliminating conditional permanent residence, we can help ensure that people coming to Canada are kept safe from gender-based violence as they seek a chance at a better life.”
– The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women
Backgrounder
On October 25, 2012, conditional permanent residence was introduced for sponsored spouses and partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were in a relationship of two years or less and had no children in common, at the time of their sponsorship application. Since that time, more than 100 000 individuals have come to Canada as conditional permanent residents.
The condition was introduced as a means to deter people from seeking to immigrate to Canada through non-genuine relationships. It required the sponsored spouse or partner to live in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor for two years unless they were the victim of abuse or the sponsor died.
As a result, an imbalance was created between the sponsor and the sponsored individual, as only the sponsored spouse or partner could lose their status if the two-year cohabitation condition was not met. Stakeholders expressed concerns that this placed abused spouses and partners in a vulnerable position.
Even though there was an exception to the condition for people in such situations, it is possible a victim may not have been aware of it or may have chosen to stay in the abusive relationship for a number of reasons. Those could include the fear of coming forward, the perceived challenge of proving the abuse or neglect, fear of needing to continue to live with their alleged abuser, or fear of having their status revoked and being removed from Canada if the exception was not granted.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada assessed the impact of conditional permanent residence. It was determined that, on balance, using conditional permanent residence as a tool to deter marriage fraud had not proved to outweigh the potential risks to vulnerable sponsored spouses and partners.
Now that conditional permanent residence has been eliminated, anyone who was sponsored by someone who was subject to the condition and therefore also received conditional permanent residence him or herself, such as a child or a parent, has also had the condition lifted.
The Government takes marriage fraud seriously and continues to have measures in place to safeguard against it. Immigration officers are trained to assess all applications and must be satisfied that a relationship is legitimate before granting the sponsored spouse or partner their permanent residence.
In instances where marriage fraud may surface, these cases are investigated and the sponsored individual may lose their permanent resident status and be removed from Canada on the basis of misrepresentation. There is also a five-year bar on sponsorship to deter people from using a marriage of convenience to come to Canada.
Sponsored spouses or partners must wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence in Canada before they themselves are eligible to sponsor a new spouse or partner. In addition, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada works closely with Public Safety Canada and its portfolio agencies on risk indicators and anti-fraud initiatives.
With the elimination of conditional permanent residence, any case that was under investigation for non-compliance with the cohabitation condition has ceased. However, cases involving marriage fraud will continue to be investigated.
(Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
法律援助中心（服务华人及东南亚社区）(Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic)的反应：
“Since its introduction, the conditional permanent residence regulation was widely criticized by women’s organizations and immigrant rights activists, including our clinic, as the requirement increased the vulnerability of immigrant women who often stayed in abusive relationships out of fear that they will lose their status,” said Avvy Go, Clinic Director of the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTCSALC). “We are very pleased that the Government of Canada has repealed the conditional permanent residence requirement in its entirety,” added Go.
The elimination of the conditional permanent residence requirement means that sponsored spouses’ permanent residence status cannot be revoked once they have received it. However, it is important to note that spousal sponsorship applications could still be investigated for misrepresentation, and therefore, it is important for sponsored spouses to keep evidence of their cohabitation with their sponsor and why the relationship broke down.
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