Requirement for traditional wedding ceremony India

[gizman]

Hello folks! I (Canadian citizen) just want to mention my whole situation here just so the folks reading this have the whole context. I met a girl in my last visit to India (February) through a family friend with the intention of marriage (arranged marriage). We went on a few dates and then I came back to Canada In March. We have kept talking on phone and we finally have decided to get married. Now my dad is suffering from ALS and because of that I haven't been able to travel back to India since and I also don't want to do a big/traditional ceremony for our wedding right now. We prefer to get married in the court right now and perform the rituals and the whole celebration once my family is not in so much stress due to my dads situation. If we just get married in court, would that look bad on our application? I really don't want to have our application be rejected and if that's what it takes to get our visa accepted I'm willing to spend the money and have a marriage like that right now but I would like to avoid that if possible.

Also since my wife has applied to a visitor visa already, do you know if there are better chances for our case if she comes here and we get married here and apply. I feel like this would be a stronger case since she would be living here with me (which is not possible in India because I can't leave my dad here), we would be able to open joint accounts etc.
Here is the thread where it is mentioned it's important to have a traditional wedding for a country like India https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/spouse-sponsorship-without-traditional-wedding-ceremony-plz-help.355320/?fbclid=IwAR0AQXOWgTcPz1K-6kSx2BDIsUA9Zvvj21OosS7siei4xaHlTAqTOMi_RwA

 

[scylla]

Hello folks! I (Canadian citizen) just want to mention my whole situation here just so the folks reading this have the whole context. I met a girl in my last visit to India (February) through a family friend with the intention of marriage (arranged marriage). We went on a few dates and then I came back to Canada In March. We have kept talking on phone and we finally have decided to get married. Now my dad is suffering from ALS and because of that I haven't been able to travel back to India since and I also don't want to do a big/traditional ceremony for our wedding right now. We prefer to get married in the court right now and perform the rituals and the whole celebration once my family is not in so much stress due to my dads situation. If we just get married in court, would that look bad on our application? I really don't want to have our application be rejected and if that's what it takes to get our visa accepted I'm willing to spend the money and have a marriage like that right now but I would like to avoid that if possible.

Also since my wife has applied to a visitor visa already, do you know if there are better chances for our case if she comes here and we get married here and apply. I feel like this would be a stronger case since she would be living here with me (which is not possible in India because I can't leave my dad here), we would be able to open joint accounts etc.
Here is the thread where it is mentioned it's important to have a traditional wedding for a country like India https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/spouse-sponsorship-without-traditional-wedding-ceremony-plz-help.355320/?fbclid=IwAR0AQXOWgTcPz1K-6kSx2BDIsUA9Zvvj21OosS7siei4xaHlTAqTOMi_RwA

If it's an arranged marriage then you really want to have a traditional / big marriage. Otherwise there will be concerns this is a marriage of convenience and you'll have an uphill battle getting approved.

Yes, if she gets a TRV, you get married here through a simple court marriage and then you live together for a bit before submitting the application, that should strengthen your position. Chances are probably 50/50 the TRV will be approved, depending on her profile.

 

[canuck78]

You can have a traditional marriage but you aren’t required to have a big expensive traditional marriage. Given your traditional ways of meeting the expectation is that you’ll also follow a more traditional wedding ceremony. If your future spouse is unable to get a TRV just explain why your parents aren’t able to attend your wedding in India and you can even indicate that you are having a small traditional ceremony (compared to most Indian weddings) because of your parents are unable to attend due to health issues. As long as you have some family at your ceremony that should be fine. It is important that your future spouse show strong ties to India, her own savings and hopefully past travel to places like the US, UK, Australia, etc. for the best chance of approval.

 

[gizman]

@scylla or @canuck78 do you have any recommendation for a very experienced immigration agent who can guide us through this process ideally in kitchener/waterloo or GTA?

 

[scylla]

@scylla or @canuck78 do you have any recommendation for a very experienced immigration agent who can guide us through this process ideally in kitchener/waterloo or GTA?

Hire a lawyer if you want advice. Stay away from agents / consultants.

 

[lolo2022]

@scylla or @canuck78 do you have any recommendation for a very experienced immigration agent who can guide us through this process ideally in kitchener/waterloo or GTA?

Redbird Immigration in Hamilton is very good. It’s run by a lawyer and he’s very experienced.

 

[canuck78]

@scylla or @canuck78 do you have any recommendation for a very experienced immigration agent who can guide us through this process ideally in kitchener/waterloo or GTA?

There are certain things that can’t be overcome like lack of ties to a country so would see what the lawyer is charging and whether it is worth it. Is your future spouse working? In a decently paid longterm job? Do they have savings? Own property? Have they travelled internationally in the past 5-10 years especially to countries like the US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc.?

 

[gizman]

There are certain things that can’t be overcome like lack of ties to a country so would see what the lawyer is charging and whether it is worth it. Is your future spouse working? In a decently paid longterm job? Do they have savings? Own property? Have they travelled internationally in the past 5-10 years especially to countries like the US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc.?

I don’t think it’s the trv that I want some help with. That’s already been filed and I don’t think anything can be done now (is that right?). I want help with the spousal sponsorship, someone who can guide us with all the proofs needed, stuff like whether we should apply inland or outland if we have a choice and if we do that does it make a difference where we get married?

 

[gizman]

Also would be nice to have someone look over the application if we made a silly error or something like that

 

[canuck78]

Also would be nice to have someone look over the application if we made a silly error or something like that

Applying for a TRV is fairly simple. Just make sure to declare any previous visa rejections around the world.

 

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

From what I've read, if you two as a couple are part of the Indian culture, IRCC would expect you to have the traditional, multiple-day wedding, especially if it's arranged (one of the IMM forms actually asks if the marriage is arranged). It would be a huge red flag for the IRCC agent if you and/or your partner have Indian background and not have a big wedding.

Having said that, it's not a "requirement" per se, but if you decide to skip the big wedding, you will need to make sure to put a lot of effort to compensate for that in your application.

My wife and I had a super small wedding at city hall, and despite us not being related to the Indian culture, we put extra proof to compensate for the small wedding.

I saw a training document for IRCC spousal sponsorship case agents teaching them how to determine if a marriage is genuine, and it really made me put extra effort in the documentation lol. Granted, the training document is from 2007, but who knows which criteria are still being used today.