Refugee status and K1

[bdglen 31]

I am experiencing an ever changing circumstance with my K1 fiance application process and hope someone can advise me. My circumstances are that I am a gay male seeking to marry my Colombian boyfriend we have begun the K! application, but things in his city have changed and he is feeling threatened because of rampant homophobia in his city.  He is considering seeking refugee status in Canada.  Someone in his city told him this is a very real possibility for him, but that it means he could not leave Canada or return to Colombia for 5 years.  I do not know if this is true. But my real question is, Hos do we continue the K1 process if he moves to Canada as a refugee? 

 

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. If I could afford an immigration Attorney I would have asked them this question instead of posting it in this forum.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

8 minutes ago, bdglen said:

I am experiencing an ever changing circumstance with my K1 fiance application process and hope someone can advise me. My circumstances are that I am a gay male seeking to marry my Colombian boyfriend we have begun the K! application, but things in his city have changed and he is feeling threatened because of rampant homophobia in his city.  He is considering seeking refugee status in Canada.  Someone in his city told him this is a very real possibility for him, but that it means he could not leave Canada or return to Colombia for 5 years.  I do not know if this is true. But my real question is, Hos do we continue the K1 process if he moves to Canada as a refugee? 

 

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. If I could afford an immigration Attorney I would have asked them this question instead of posting it in this forum.

 

Unsure myself how this would work as Canada might not be so open to allowing him in as a refugee knowing he is trying to then leave to the US.

 

There was another case of someone with refugee status in Italy I believe trying to get a K-1... they were already there though, thats a big difference, but let me see if I can find that thread or updates, maybe will give you better idea.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Well I couldn't locate that one specifically but there are actually good amount of threads on it..... 

 

Top right hand corner you can use the search bar and search for like "K-1 Refugee" and read through some threads.

 

Main things will be, is refugee status in Canada an actual legal status or no? If it is, he could technically process for a K-1 through Canada, if it isn't, he would have to still go back and process through Columbia...

 

Also he would need to obtain a police record from Colombia so he still may end up having to go back there for that later on again unless can manage to obtain it from abroad.

 

There are some things have to be considered and taken into account for it all to work right; but it can be done...

[T_P 872]

This is a very specific case and I dont really have an answer for it, but thinking from a logistic stand point could he look for asylum in a country in South America? And the reason why I ask is pretty much because if the needs to go back to Colombia for any other doc it would be much easier and faster. 

 

Again thats just something that occurred to me.....good luck with your case

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, bdglen said:

He is considering seeking refugee status in Canada.  Someone in his city told him this is a very real possibility for him, but that it means he could not leave Canada or return to Colombia for 5 years.  I do not know if this is true. But my real question is, Hos do we continue the K1 process if he moves to Canada as a refugee? 

Once he enters Canada (preferably at a legal check point), he can claim asylum and if approved become a "protected person" or a "convention refugee" (title depends on why he fled his home country).  

 

The catch, is that he will give up his conventional refugee status if he returns to Columbia.  If he enters as a refugee in Canada, and then later becomes a Permanent Resident of Canada, he will put his PR status at risk if he returns to Columbia. Makes sense when you think about it, how can one flee a country out of fear, yet feel safe enough to willingly return to said country?

 

As far as entering Canada, claiming refugee status, and then turning around and applying for the US K-1 visa and completing the process from inside Canada, yes he can do this so long as his refugee status is approved and he is awarded PR status.

 

Edited to add:  the above is based on what I know of the IRCC process  (the Canadian version of USCIS, for lack of a better term) when it comes to filing for refugee status from within Canada.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Going through

[Daniela M_______ 410]

3 hours ago, bdglen said:

I am experiencing an ever changing circumstance with my K1 fiance application process and hope someone can advise me. My circumstances are that I am a gay male seeking to marry my Colombian boyfriend we have begun the K! application, but things in his city have changed and he is feeling threatened because of rampant homophobia in his city.  He is considering seeking refugee status in Canada.  Someone in his city told him this is a very real possibility for him, but that it means he could not leave Canada or return to Colombia for 5 years.  I do not know if this is true. But my real question is, Hos do we continue the K1 process if he moves to Canada as a refugee? 

 

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. If I could afford an immigration Attorney I would have asked them this question instead of posting it in this forum.

Hi, I'm from Venezuela and kind of familiar with friends experiences on refugee status.

 

Please confirm this information first but for what I know is that, sure you can leave the country that is granting you refugee status BUT if you do within the time frame they tell you not to (5 years in this case) you'll lose the status.

 

Refugees status is granted based on the fact that your life is in danger in your home country (so it doesn't make sense at all to go back to Colombia is that's the case). Also most countries don't provide that status if you have dual citizenship or a legal status (resident visa) in another country. You could always leave (they are not going to kidnap your passport) but if you do then they take it as if you are quitting the refugee thing.

[Teemo 252]

This seems like it should be a Canadian immigration question. From a US standpoint, if he is accepted to Canada as a refugee, it doesn't really affect your application for a K-1, he would just be applying as a legal resident of Canada, which is fine. The Italian case @Ben&Zianreferenced concerns someone who specifically applied for refugee in two separate countries, which does not apply here. 

 

I don't know much about refugees in Canada, but in the US it's hard to get. People rarely get it because of gay persecution. 

[bdglen 31]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to my question.  You all gave great answers and gave me much to consider.  As of now my fiance has decided to ride it out in Colombia in the hopes that he can weather the storm until his visa visa is approved. We are holding refugee status in Canada in our back pockets as an option, but decided we wanted to see the process through in Colombia first, rather than disrupting the whole process and adding another few months to our journey to be together.

 

Thanks again for all your help it is much appreciated.

 

Brian