A Canadian Muslim man was turned down by a visa officer when he wanted to sponsor his Ethiopian wife for a permanent resident visa as the wife’s divorce from her first husband was not recognized in Canadian law. The divorce was done according to Sharia. Fetno Umer Keno appealed against the visa officer’s decision. But Immigration Canada too decided that it was not proven that the woman was “free to marry”. National Post reported that Kemo and Rahama Adem Abdi got married in 2021 and Abdi’s religious divorce was done in 2017.The panel that looked into Kemo’s appeal even said that their marriage is not valid under Canadian law.The visa officer who initially rejected the application also suspected that the marriage was not genuine and was meant for immigration purposes. On this issue, the immigration panel said they did not have to examine the genuineness of the relationship as the marriage is not valid under Canadian law while the previous divorce was not established.Kemo argued that Abdi’s first marriage and divorce took place in Ethiopia and they generally do not issue any documents. Their divorce was also carried out verbally and the ex-husband took part remotely by telephone. Keno produced a divorce document before the panel, issued by Ethiopian judicial authorities but it was issued on January 1, 2026 — long after they got married in 2021.The National Post report detailed the case that has been going on since the visa application. Canadian immigration authorities interviewed Abdi in April 2023 in Canada and then again in June 2025 in Ethiopia. Abdi said she does not know her exact age but she is around 38 and she can’t read or write.Canada authorities flagged several inconsistencies and said Kemo and Abdi did not disclose that Abdi had a child from her first marriage which she claimed lasted for 1.5 years. After the 2023 interview, the visa officer ordered Abdi to leave Canada and she was accused of misrepresentation.After Kemo appealed again, Abdi was interviewed in Ethiopia in 2025, where she said she had been abducted and forced into his first marriage.