Inland spousal - RED FLAGS?

[Mar198]

Hey guys,

We would appreciate your advice a lot.

I am a PR and I got recently married to my girlfriend and we are thinking of applying for inland sponsorship.
But we are really concerned about few facts about us that might get questioned a lot:

1) we are both females
2) there is 16 years difference between us (36 vs 20)
3) I have a master degree while my girlfriend left university to come to Canada and be with me
4) our parents did not attend our wedding due to distance and cost and we had just a small civil ceremony but they are highly approve of our relationship and we can easily get them to write letters. They are not religious and neither are we.
5) we have tons of photos of us together, hiking, skiing, selfies; we do not have many photos with friends tho cos... well, we are those ones who do not have many friends and spend time just with one another haha
6) we have a proof of emails before we lived together and still have millions of daily conversations while she has been here

We have been living together for the last 10 months here in Canada and we have all the paperwork proving us living together, paying bills etc.
We have a joint account too - both credit account and spendings.

What makes us worry is our age difference and my wifes lack of work experience (she is guaranteed a job at my workplace once she obtains a work permit) and dropping studies, which we think might be a red flag.
We both are from visa exempt European countries.

How would that look to your eyes guys? Anyone has had similar case please?

 

[Sarahannclarke5]

Hey guys,

We would appreciate your advice a lot.

I am a PR and I got recently married to my girlfriend and we are thinking of applying for inland sponsorship.
But we are really concerned about few facts about us that might get questioned a lot:

1) we are both females
2) there is 16 years difference between us (36 vs 20)
3) I have a master degree while my girlfriend left university to come to Canada and be with me
4) our parents did not attend our wedding due to distance and cost and we had just a small civil ceremony but they are highly approve of our relationship and we can easily get them to write letters
5) we have tons of photos of us together, hiking, skiing, selfies; we do not have many photos with friends tho cos... well, we are those ones who do not have many friends and spend time just with one another haha

We have been living together for the last 10 months here in Canada and we have all the paperwork proving us living together, paying bills etc.
We have a joint account too - both credit account and spendings.

What makes us worry is our age difference and my wifes lack of work experience (she is guaranteed a job at my workplace once she obtains a work permit) and dropping studies, which we think might be a red flag.
We both are from visa exempt European countries.

How would that look to your eyes guys? Anyone has had similar case please?

Just my opinion, but I dont think its worrisome. The age might be something they look at, but not a huge deal. Same with the educational difference.
I would get letters from family and friends who support your marriage and include it with your application.
Good luck!

 

[Mar198]

@Sarahannclarke5 --- thank you for your input

 

[canuck78]

How long were you in a relationship before getting married an how much time did you spend together if long distance? Being from 2 European countries there is less incentive to move to Canada and therefore less concern about immigration fraud. Does depend on your countries of origin. In general also agree that there are not huge warning flags.

 

[smallcoffee]

I don't see any issue with your situation

 

[Mar198]

How long were you in a relationship before getting married an how much time did you spend together if long distance? Being from 2 European countries there is less incentive to move to Canada and therefore less concern about immigration fraud. Does depend on your countries of origin. In general also agree that there are not huge warning flags.

Hey @canuck78
Thank you for your reply.
We were in a long distance for 5 months, we have proof of emails but we just met once in person before she dropped studies and flew to Canada (she can get a letter from her studies coordinator confirming reasons of leaving uni). We had been living together for 8 months beforr we got married.
We are of Polish and Dutch citizenships.

@smallcoffee - thsnk you, hope you are right too

 

[np08]

The age difference is a red flag, but like any red flag, can be explained and alleviated by other things. Another thing that would catch my eye is the short relationship prior to her move, but the fact that you decided to wait instead of immediately getting married and applying after like 7 months of total relationship should help, imo. You will have around a year (depends on when you apply) of cohabitation on top of those five months so that definitely improves your situation.

Is she from Poland or the Netherlands?

The studies thing isn't an issue as the difference there usually needs to be bigger to be worrisome. Her work experience has no effect on it. You both being women and families not attending the wedding is also fine for westerners (you should still write a short explanation, but no need to stress about it).

-------------

I personally had a similar case. Both women, our age difference is smaller (6 years), my wife (the sponsor) finished her degree and did some post graduate stuff while I dropped out of university in order to move sooner and eventually finish my degree in Canada, she had a stable job for five years while I had minimal work experience, no family at our wedding. I am European, she's a PR holder from a non-European country. We were, however, in a long distance for four years prior to my move. We got approved in 10 months.

 

[Mar198]

The age difference is a red flag, but like any red flag, can be explained and alleviated by other things. Another thing that would catch my eye is the short relationship prior to her move, but the fact that you decided to wait instead of immediately getting married and applying after like 7 months of total relationship should help, imo. You will have around a year (depends on when you apply) of cohabitation on top of those five months so that definitely improves your situation.

Is she from Poland or the Netherlands?

The studies thing isn't an issue as the difference there usually needs to be bigger to be worrisome. Her work experience has no effect on it. You both being women and families not attending the wedding is also fine for westerners (you should still write a short explanation, but no need to stress about it).

-------------

I personally had a similar case. Both women, our age difference is smaller (6 years), my wife (the sponsor) finished her degree and did some post graduate stuff while I dropped out of university in order to move sooner and eventually finish my degree in Canada, she had a stable job for five years while I had minimal work experience, no family at our wedding. I am European, she's a PR holder from a non-European country. We were, however, in a long distance for four years prior to my move. We got approved in 10 months.

Thank you for your detailed answer!
My wife is from the Netherlands. I'm Polish and have had a stable job in Canada for about 2,5 years. But I just recently got my PR.

As for the short relationship prior to her moving to Canada, we could not be separated for any longer

 

[Mar198]

@np08 - did you have an interview tho?

 

[np08]

@np08 - did you have an interview tho?

No. Interviews are rare for westerners, especially for inland applications.

 

[Mar198]

No. Interviews are rare for westerners, especially for inland applications.

Oh, that's encouraging as well.
Did they ask for any additional documents or you had sent plenty of evidence like emails etc in advance?

 

[np08]

Oh, that's encouraging as well.
Did they ask for any additional documents or you had sent plenty of evidence like emails etc in advance?

Nothing additional needed. We didn't need communication proof as it's an inland application. We had a very solid application based on the IRCC requirements and the things we sent, so we didn't really worry about it.

 

[Mar198]

Nothing additional needed. We didn't need communication proof as it's an inland application. We had a very solid application based on the IRCC requirements and the things we sent, so we didn't really worry about it.

Oh I see, good on you
Hope ours will go smooth too
We might need to explain few things like age difference and short long distance relationship prior to her move to Canada like you said but I'm hoping it will not be much of a pain

 

[np08]

Oh I see, good on you
Hope ours will go smooth too
We might need to explain few things like age difference and short long distance relationship prior to her move to Canada like you said but I'm hoping it will not be much of a pain

During the process, if you see any questions in the forms that you can't answer clearly, that you think might cause confusion or suspicion, get a blank sheet of paper, put the form name and question in the title/header, write your explanation, and attach to the form with a paperclip. You're allowed to write additional explanations and are encouraged to do so.

Forms are generic by their very nature, so they won't always cleanly apply to every single situation. So don't stress if you encounter something like that.

 

[Mar198]

During the process, if you see any questions in the forms that you can't answer clearly, that you think might cause confusion or suspicion, get a blank sheet of paper, put the form name and question in the title/header, write your explanation, and attach to the form with a paperclip. You're allowed to write additional explanations and are encouraged to do so.

Forms are generic by their very nature, so they won't always cleanly apply to every single situation. So don't stress if you encounter something like that.

Thank you for all the information!