Hey everyone! I'm looking for some guidance and if anyone can share any personal experiences or just suggestions from knowledge, I would truly appreciate it. Thanks to this forum, I was able to get my own PR and have been in Canada for just over a year now. I will keep this as short, but I think I won't succed.
My family (from Pakistan but residing in UAE) recently introduced me to a woman from Pakistan who is currently in the UK (Wales), working full-time on a postgraduate work permit type thing, after completing her master's. I've only spoken to her twice now, but it is looking like there is good potential in this as we're a good match. I'm 36 and she's turning 33 in a few months, so we're already kinda late (according to our culture, of course). After reading hundreds of posts and comments here and checking other sources, it appears that a TRV before marriage is almost impossible (she can't really show strong ties to either Pakistan or Wales since she only has a full-time job in Wales but on a work permit), so inland spousal sponsorship would be out of the question. Her points through EE would probably be 459 at best (unless she starts learning French but that's asking too much, I feel).
That leaves outland sponsorship, which has its challenges given that this will be an arranged marriage (plus the 23 months processing time currently). Now, neither can I afford to nor are either of our families really looking at having a huge wedding (just the minimum ceremonies with just enough family that we can tolerate lol). I am starting to like her (those 2 calls were 5 hours long each, so still way too early I know) but we also did not want to get more serious and grow closer unless this was even possible. So here are my few questions:
1. Is the processing time for spouse sponsorship the usual 12 months again and the 23 months is for those previously in the system, or are we still looking at almost 2 years processing time?
2. How difficult is it to show the genuineness of the marriage if we get married? Maybe that'll be by the end of next year, so I could visit her and she could try visiting me, but I only get 9 days vacation (+3 personal days) in a year, so can't even visit much or really go on a honeymoon.
3. As part of making sure it does not appear a 'marriage of convenience', is there anything else I can do to mitigate it?
4. While I'm not making my decision based on this alone, but reading all of this, is this too risky and uncertain to even try? I would hate for her or anyone to live through so much uncertainty.
Sorry, I said I will keep it short, but I wanted to share what I've been thinking of since my family feels that I am being too pessimistic, but my own feelings is, despite her being a wonderful person, there are just too many risks involved. Any thoughts and opinions would be a great help. Thank you in advance for reading even if you can't reply!
My family (from Pakistan but residing in UAE) recently introduced me to a woman from Pakistan who is currently in the UK (Wales), working full-time on a postgraduate work permit type thing, after completing her master's. I've only spoken to her twice now, but it is looking like there is good potential in this as we're a good match. I'm 36 and she's turning 33 in a few months, so we're already kinda late (according to our culture, of course). After reading hundreds of posts and comments here and checking other sources, it appears that a TRV before marriage is almost impossible (she can't really show strong ties to either Pakistan or Wales since she only has a full-time job in Wales but on a work permit), so inland spousal sponsorship would be out of the question. Her points through EE would probably be 459 at best (unless she starts learning French but that's asking too much, I feel).
That leaves outland sponsorship, which has its challenges given that this will be an arranged marriage (plus the 23 months processing time currently). Now, neither can I afford to nor are either of our families really looking at having a huge wedding (just the minimum ceremonies with just enough family that we can tolerate lol). I am starting to like her (those 2 calls were 5 hours long each, so still way too early I know) but we also did not want to get more serious and grow closer unless this was even possible. So here are my few questions:
1. Is the processing time for spouse sponsorship the usual 12 months again and the 23 months is for those previously in the system, or are we still looking at almost 2 years processing time?
2. How difficult is it to show the genuineness of the marriage if we get married? Maybe that'll be by the end of next year, so I could visit her and she could try visiting me, but I only get 9 days vacation (+3 personal days) in a year, so can't even visit much or really go on a honeymoon.
3. As part of making sure it does not appear a 'marriage of convenience', is there anything else I can do to mitigate it?
4. While I'm not making my decision based on this alone, but reading all of this, is this too risky and uncertain to even try? I would hate for her or anyone to live through so much uncertainty.
Sorry, I said I will keep it short, but I wanted to share what I've been thinking of since my family feels that I am being too pessimistic, but my own feelings is, despite her being a wonderful person, there are just too many risks involved. Any thoughts and opinions would be a great help. Thank you in advance for reading even if you can't reply!
