By: Karina Juma, Canadian Immigration & Refugee Lawyer, Heron Law Offices
Procedural Fairness Letter for Conjugal Sponsorship Application
In July 2025, a client retained our firm to respond to a Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL) raising concerns that the client and their conjugal partner were not in a genuine relationship, which if true, would exclude their partner from being sponsored as a member of the family class.
The PFL came after the client’s previous representative did not provide IRCC key documents requested in an earlier letter sent in May 2025, particularly evidence of the client’s efforts to divorce their former spouse, evidence relating to the client and their partner’s family-planning, and evidence demonstrating that the client and their partner’s relationship was “marriage-like”. The client and their conjugal partner were also scheduled to attend an overseas interview at the end of July to continue processing their sponsorship application.
Interview Postponement and Extension Request
The PFL gave the client 15 days to submit the requested documents by webform. By the time we became involved with the file, only two days remained to respond.
We promptly submitted an extension request and asked that the interview be postponed to a later date on the grounds that the client and their partner’s right to procedural fairness would be compromised if they were not afforded an adequate opportunity to respond to the PFL and provide the missing documentation.
IRCC granted a two-week extension for the PFL response and also agreed to push back the interview by two weeks. The timeline to respond was still short, but we rose to the challenge and guided the client with compiling their documents.
Submission of PFL Response and Interview Cancellation
When the time came to submit the requested materials, we had over 175 MB of documentation to upload. IRCC did not respond to our request to submit the materials by email, so we undertook to submit the response in 60 parts via webform over the span of 6 hours.
One week after submission, the client informed us that they received a call from IRCC stating that they no longer needed to attend their interview because the application had been approved.
The next morning, the client and their partner received a pre-arrival services letter and they have since received requests to submit biometrics and undergo a medical exam, bring them one step closer to finally reuniting in Canada after years of waiting for their application to be approved. The client and their partner are thrilled that they were able to avoid the stress of an interview with our help and can focus instead on building their future life together in Canada.
A PFL is not a Setback, It’s a Chance to Move Forward
Receiving a procedural fairness letter about your relationship doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Heron Law Offices can help you put your best case forward. Contact us today to learn more!
