Hi everyone!
I’m new here and plan to send in my application around Jan/Feb 2019, but I was hoping to get some tips from everyone
To keep our story short,
My Mexican boyfriend and I met in Feb. 2016 while I was on vacation, and stayed in touch every single day since. We officially began dating in May 2016, he visited me in December 2016 for 3.5 weeks, as well as visiting in June 2017 for 2 months. Then, I visited him in Mexico in January 2018 for one month where we stayed with his family in Guadalajara, as well as staying 2 weeks in a resort together with his parents. Our last visit with each other was June 2018 when he stayed with me and my family for 7 weeks, and his next trip here is in 37 days. I have absolutely no doubts about showing the genuineness of our relationship as I have ample proof of chats, FaceTime calls, emails, plane ticket purchases, gifts, photos with each other’s family, etc. I will also be submitting letters from both my family and his as well as from my cousin who introduced us in my application.
What I am most worried about is that since we are rather young (I am 21, he is 24) we don’t have a lot (if any) joint assets that CIC requests like leases, insurance policies, etc because he does not live here yet and we are both students. We will be living with my mother when he is here, so the proof of joint financials is not really applicable in my situation. Any suggestions on how to address this so it is not a big red flag? However, I have paid for all of our plane tickets/trips/have sent him money before so there is proof that I will be able to support him.
Secondly, we are not yet married (will be in December). However, we’ve chosen to do a small court wedding for now, with neither of our families present out of respect for his family who cannot be here due to financial reasons, and we also are not financially ready to host a big wedding. We do however plan to have a big ceremony in the next few years with both of our families present, but I’m worried that CIC will see lack of family present as a big red flag. Keeping in mind, the cultural tradition for Mexican weddings is first a small court marriage followed by a larger, religious ceremony on a different date (as only court marriages are recognized as legal in Mexico), so I am hoping I can explain this in my application. Being long distance for 2.5 years, our relationship has always been on display to our families as everyone is eager to ask questions/be involved, etc. We would like our official marriage to be an intimate setting for the 2 of us, as a memory we know is only shared with one another. Of course, we do plan to have a big celebration within the next few years with everyone present.
Please let me know any helpful tips I can use while submitting my application so CIC understands the dynamics of my situation. Anything will be appreciated- thank you!!!