Antonia

This question is especially directed to those who have experience with how
visa officers think:

I'm Canadian, engaged to an American. We currently live together and can
certainly show that we have a bona fide relationship. I have unexpectedly
had to take a job in Canada, and my fiance would like to move with me.
I've seen some advice about marrying outside and applying that way. My
question is whether it looks bad to be applying for sponsorship
immediately after a wedding. We would push our wedding forward (we were
thinking of summer 2005, but instead would have a JOP service asap) in
order to speed things along - maybe have a nicer ceremony and an event for
our families and friends at a later date. Is there any reason this would
be frowned upon?

Again, we can document our relationship--living together for the past 6
months on a shared lease, trips taken together for the last 2 years,
letters from family members etc. Even given that, is a wedding for the
sake of CIC a red flag for them? Given that some immigration officers have
been *forcing* couples to marry in order to be admitted, it doesn't seem
like they would mind us taking the initiative ourselves! But I still worry
whether it will appear suspicious.

Thanks! --Antonia

mickj

Hello Antonia,

I won't let that stop me from applying straight away after the wedding, we applied a month after our wedding, and that was because we were waiting for the marriage certificate which you need as part of the requirements.

Am a british citizen, and my wife is canadian. As long as you can show pictures of your wedding, engagement, trips together, with families and all that, you will be fine. The sponsor doesn't get affected by the earning clause that says you have to earn a certain amount to sponsor.

We did it all from inside canada, and it took 6 months. There a lady in this forum called Renee, try looking for her thread under the got it heading, she is also an american married to a canadian, she has a timeline at the bottom of her posts. She explains things in a very clear way, and she is very helpful to others in this forum. Here is a link to some of her posts

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...al+application


Good luck

Renee

Thanks for the compliment, mickj. I am blushing.

Antonia, don't worry too much about how soon you apply after your wedding.
I was married on July 5, 2003 and CIC received my PR application on July 18.
I had been in Canada since February 19, and I wanted to get the PR paperwork
in ASAP since I knew I wouldn't have legal work status until I at least
reached the AIP stage.

I pre-ordered our marriage certificates, and I placed an expedited request
with the registry. I asked our marriage commissioner to register the
marriage immediately. She went to the registry right after the wedding on
Saturday afternoon, and we got back from our honeymoon on Tuesday afternoon
and found the phone message that the marriage certificates were ready to
pick up. I got them downtown the next morning, then took them to the U.S.
consulate to get my passport amended with my married name (I wanted to use
my married name on my PR application, and you must use the name on your
passport).

Once the U.S. returned my passport a few days later, I went off to Canada
Post. (I actually paid for overnight delivery because at the time, Canada
Post was threatening to strike. I didn't want my parcel being stuck in a
warehouse somewhere, so I wanted to make sure it got delivered before the
first day of the threatened work stoppage).

Just make sure that you include all the information that mickj already
mentioned. I think I gave them more than they probably needed, but I wanted
to present plenty of evidence that we have a bona fide marriage.

We got along really well with our marriage commissioner (we've even acted as
witnesses at someone else's elopement since she married us). Before we
officially hired her, she told us that some marriage commissioners don't
register their weddings until they have several records. If you want to
file your immigration case ASAP, you should verify with your marriage
commissioner when they plan to file your record of marriage with the
registry. Some places won't let you pre-order your marriage certificates,
but you can check around. The first two places we asked wouldn't let us,
but the third was the charm. You can see from my timeline how soon we
applied after our wedding, and I'm about to do my landing interview.

Best wishes to you with your case!

Renee

--
Inland Spouse Timeline so far (U.S. Citizen):
19 Feb 2003: Moved to Calgary from U.S. on 6 month TRV
12 May 2003: Did medicals in Calgary
20 June 2003: Applied for TRV extension
5 July 2003: Wedding Date
18 July 2003: CIC received inland spouse PR application
15 Aug 2003: Received 6 month TRV extension
20 Aug 2003: CIC request for work history dates (which were sent with
application)
21 Aug 2003: CIC received work history reply by overnight post
4 Sept 2003: CIC e-Client finally shows "in process"
21 Nov 2003: Applied for second TRV extension
16 Jan 2004: Received second 6 month TRV extension
17 Feb 2004: e-Client says DECISION MADE! 215 days wait - in line with
processing estimates
23 Feb 2004: Received AIP & application completed letters by mail
25 Feb 2004: Chris received sponsorship approval letter
9 Mar 2004: Received landing interview date (April 1)


"mickj" <member21843@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by Antonia
    > > This question is
    > especially directed to those who have experience with how
    > > visa
    > officers think:
    > >
    > > I'm Canadian, engaged to an American. We currently
    > live together and can
    > > certainly show that we have a bona fide
    > relationship. I have unexpectedly
    > > had to take a job in Canada, and my
    > fiance would like to move with me.
    > > I've seen some advice about
    > marrying outside and applying that way. My
    > > question is whether it
    > looks bad to be applying for sponsorship
    > > immediately after a wedding.
    > We would push our wedding forward (we were
    > > thinking of summer 2005,
    > but instead would have a JOP service asap) in
    > > order to speed things
    > along - maybe have a nicer ceremony and an event for
    > > our families and
    > friends at a later date. Is there any reason this would
    > > be frowned
    > upon?
    > >
    > > Again, we can document our relationship--living together for
    > the past 6
    > > months on a shared lease, trips taken together for the
    > last 2 years,
    > > letters from family members etc. Even given that, is a
    > wedding for the
    > > sake of CIC a red flag for them? Given that some
    > immigration officers have
    > > been *forcing* couples to marry in order to
    > be admitted, it doesn't seem
    > > like they would mind us taking the
    > initiative ourselves! But I still worry
    > > whether it will appear
    > suspicious.
    > >
    > > Thanks! --Antonia
    > Hello Antonia,
    > I won't
    > let that stop me from applying straight away after the wedding, we
    > applied a month after our wedding, and that was because we were waiting
    > for the marriage certificate which you need as part of the requirements.
    > Am a british citizen, and my wife is canadian. As long as you can show
    > pictures of your wedding, engagement, trips together, with families and
    > all that, you will be fine. The sponsor doesn't get affected by the
    > earning clause that says you have to earn a certain amount to sponsor.
    > We did it all from inside canada, and it took 6 months. There a lady
    > in this forum called Renee, try looking for her thread under the got it
    > heading, she is also an american married to a canadian, she has a
    > timeline at the bottom of her posts. She explains things in a very clear
    > way, and she is very helpful to others in this forum. Here is a link to
    > some of her posts
    > ]http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t-
    > hreadid=216387&highlight=inland+spousal+applicatio n[/url]
    > Good luck
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com