Marsela has retained you to help her with a family class sponsorship for her husband, Edon. Both are citizens of Albania, but Marsela is a permanent resident of Canada.

From interviewing Marsela in detail, you have discovered the following facts:

Marsela became a permanent resident in April, 2018. She was sponsored to Canada by her ex-husband. They separated in May, 2018 and were divorced in June, 2019. Marsela says the marriage broke down due to her ex-husband's alcoholism and abusive nature.

After her divorce, Marsela went back to Albania to be with her parents, and she remained there from July, 2019 to July, 2020. While there, in August, 2019, she began a romance with Edon, a man 10 years younger than her. At that time, Edon was still married and living with his wife, Anna and children. Edon and Anna separated in November, 2019 and divorced in January, 2021.

Edon has parents and two siblings who are living in Canada as Canadian citizens. He had applied for visas to come to Canada three times before, and was refused every time because the visa officer did not believe he would return to Albania after visiting Canada.

Marsela married Edon in Albania in February, 2021. His family did not attend the wedding because they were in Canada and they were all either working or studying full time. Her family did not attend the wedding because they did not approve of Marsela, a Christian, marrying a Muslim.

Marsela lived with Edon in Albania from February, 2021 until November, 2022. At that time, she was pregnant and returned to Canada to ensure the baby was born in Canada and therefore would be a Canadian citizen. She is now collecting social assistance since she cannot work with a newborn. She is thinking about going back to Albania to be with Edon as soon as the baby is old enough to travel, until the sponsorship is completed.

From the above family class case answers the following questions:

Instructions and Submission

Analyze Marsela's situation, and answer the questions below in preparation for tutorial. You will need to recall some basic principles governing family class immigration to do this. Submit your responses to the drop box indicated below prior to your Module 5 tutorial.

1. Briefly state Marsela's goal.
2. Identify some of the legally relevant facts in Marsela's case. What does it mean when we say a fact is legally relevant? How do you know that the facts you have chosen are legally relevant?
3. Identify the relevant law: one or two legislative provisions, one or two relevant cases, and a policy document that are relevant to Marsela's case. Briefly state how you found these or how you became aware of them.
4. Articulate some legal issues that arise from Marsela's facts and the relevant law. They can be general or very specific. Articulate each issue using the word "whether". Be sure your issue is a question that can be answered by the law in this area.
5. Finally, imagine that you are writing a submission on Marsela's behalf. Identify some of the evidence you would submit in Marsela's case as proof of the truth of or existence of the legally relevant facts.