A New Brunswick woman has been trying for three years to bring her Nigerian-born husband to Canada, but the government says the marriage is not legitimate.

Vicki Obichere married her husband Kelvin, who lives in Nigeria, three years ago after an online courtship.

She says the work involved to have her husband join her in Salisbury, N.B. has been exhausting.

“We just received an email yesterday,” says Obichere.

The email, from a Canadian immigration officer, says the department does not consider her marriage to be a valid. Obichere now has 30 days to prove she and her husband is a legitimate couple.

“They have emails, they have phone bills, they have letters from our family and friends here and in Nigeria,” she says.

She also says she understands there needs to be laws to prevent immigration fraud, but insists her marriage is real.

“Why spend five years with me if it was just about getting into the country? Why not move onto someone else?” she asks.

A settlement organization says some of the problems in having a marriage recognized can be reduced by speaking to immigration officials before getting married.

“Contact Citizenship and Immigration Canada prior to the marriage and find out, or maybe on the websites as indicated, which legal office would be recognized,” says Magma Settlement Co-ordinator Irina Raduly.

Immigration lawyer Nicole Druckman says you can never be too thorough when building a case.

“It is like an essay. You need to put all the information in that package, so if you leave something out that may be very, very crucial or beneficial to really showing the story, that is going to have an impact on the decision rendered,” says Druckman.

Meanwhile, Obichere says she has given authorities everything she can think of.

“It has been very hard. I try to be strong for my son and for Kelvin, but it is hard because a lot of people don’t have faith,” she says. “A lot of people just see the country where he is from and they don’t see him as a person.”

She is also worried that time is running out, in part because her mother has dementia.

“I want Kelvin to be able to meet my mom before she gets any sicker than what she already is.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell