A Somali woman, Fadumo Yusuf Mohamed Abdille, has been given another opportunity to remain in Canada after being barred for five years due to misrepresentation in her refugee application. Abdille initially arrived in Canada in 2012 and was granted refugee status. However, this status was revoked in 2023 after authorities discovered she had provided false names and birth dates for herself and her two children, while also concealing her polygamous marriage to a Canadian-Somali man.

Abdille, who also holds Dutch citizenship, met her future husband in the Netherlands in 2002. According to a recent Federal Court ruling, Abdille was aware that her husband was already married in Canada. However, as both are of the Muslim faith, she believed that polygamous marriages were permissible. They celebrated their Islamic marriage on October 26, 2002, and had two children together before Abdille moved to Canada.

On July 31, 2012, Abdille traveled to Canada with her children, seeking to reunite with her husband. She obtained refugee status under false pretenses, claiming to be a citizen of Somalia and seeking protection from persecution. Due to Canadian law, her husband could not sponsor her for immigration because polygamous marriages are not recognized. Consequently, Abdille lived separately from her husband in Canada.

The couple had a third child in March 2014. Following the death of Abdille's husband's first wife in 2018, they began to integrate their lives more closely, eventually moving in together in early 2022 and celebrating a civil marriage later that year. In 2023, Canada’s immigration minister requested a reassessment of Abdille’s refugee status, which was subsequently vacated due to her earlier misrepresentation.

In May 2023, Abdille applied for permanent residency under her husband’s sponsorship, while her children began the process of obtaining Canadian citizenship. However, in September 2024, an immigration officer rejected both of Abdille’s applications, citing insufficient evidence to prove the genuineness of her marriage and a lack of humanitarian grounds to overcome her inadmissibility due to misrepresentation.

The officer noted that many documents related to Abdille and her husband’s living arrangements were inconsistent, leading to the conclusion that their marriage was not genuine. Although the officer considered the best interests of Abdille’s children, the potential hardship of her removal did not outweigh the severity of her misrepresentation.

Abdille successfully challenged the officer’s decision, arguing that the officer ignored evidence supporting the legitimacy of her marriage, including DNA tests confirming her husband as the father of her children. The judge noted that the absence of joint financial documents does not necessarily invalidate the authenticity of their marriage.

Justice Guy Régimbald criticized the immigration officer for failing to adequately consider the evidence presented by Abdille and her husband. The judge stated that the officer's decision lacked justification and transparency, and ordered the case to be sent back for redetermination, emphasizing Abdille's right to a fair opportunity to respond to the allegations against her.