I have a couple of questions. I am a PR resident and moved back to the UK December 2011. I am thinking of returning to Canada this year. I kind of miss the lifestyle! Me and my wife have been separate for over two years so I could get divorced in the uk while I'm here. All the finances have been settled. We have a separation agreement which was done in New Brunswick in 2011. I just want to dissolve the marriage bit.

Is it better to do the divorced while I'm still in the uk or Canada?

Also my wife is my sponsor for my PR card. I have lived in Canada for 5 years and renewed my card just before I left in Dec 2011. Does that mean that if I divorce her my PR status will be affected? Basically when I come to renew my PR card again could they refuse because me and my wife are no longer married?

I was just wonder if anyone has been through some thing similar?

Thanks.

Provided you comply with your residency requirements to maintain your PR status, your divorce will have no effect on your PR status.

Whether it is better to obtain your divorce in England or elsewhere is a completely different issue.

I'd suggest it depends on the costs involved in UK and Canada, which ever is easiest and cheapest would win out

Hi


If the OP applies for a divorce in Canada, he may have trouble meeting 3(1) of the Divorce Act

Jurisdiction in divorce proceedings

3. (1) A court in a province has jurisdiction to hear and determine a divorce proceeding if either spouse has been ordinarily resident in the province for at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding.

I agree

I realized that I would need to have been a resident for a year in a province. I was just wonder if there was an advantage to me doing it in England rather than Canada. It would mean delaying my return by 6 months. But if it's better that I do it here in the uk rather than Canada I will.

Just wondering.

Is your wife still living in Canada? Only one of you needs to be ordinarily resident in the Province for a year preceding application, it doesn't matter which one.

3. (1) A court in a province has jurisdiction to hear and determine a divorce proceeding if either spouse has been ordinarily resident in the province for at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding.

In Canada you only have to be separated for 1 year prior to applying for a divorce. It's a pretty simple procedure and you don't have to have a lawyer, you say you have already sorted out finances etc., so you should be able to do it yourself.

NB have a pdf for those that wish to apply for a divorce themselves:

http://www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca/e...orce_09_EN.pdf

If you ever wish to remarry, having an overseas divorce adds another step to the process.

Could you do it the civilised way where you both go down to the law courts and complete the forms together, pay your circa 500GBP and hey presto you have applied for your divorce. My understanding is that it is very quick that way. Then it's done...

My wife still lives in Canada in New Glasgow NS. So if we file it ourselves in Nova Scotia because we already have a separation agreement we shouldn't need to go through all that again? The divorce will be straight forward? I have a son who is 13 and he's all taken care of in the agreement.

Any idea how long it takes to do in Canada?

How come? I'm only asking because I get the feeling my wife will want to marry again after the divorce.

I believe you could apply in NS yourselves provided all the financial and child custody issues have been settled and agreed. You can read more here: http://www.nsfamilylaw.ca/separation...d/divorce/faqs

As to length of time, if you both agree to a simple divorce and both submit paperwork together (as in a joint divorce application) then you could be divorced in +/- 4 months. http://www.nsfamilylaw.ca/separation.../divorce/forms

As to the remarrying, in Ontario you must get your overseas divorce certificate validated prior to obtaining a marriage licence. This may not be the case in NS.

Thanks Siouxie. Thats a great help. Cheers Tim.