How long after marriage to apply

[Pandagrumble]

My partner (Canadian) and I (American) had earlier this year applied for conjugal partner as we had been mistaken in thinking it applied to us. Our application was refused as we came to realize we misunderstood that our situation did not meet the severity that most people who apply in that category have in barriers for marriage and living together.
So we stepped away from the process for a while and he later proposed. We aren’t the type of people to want a large wedding and have always said we’d want to keep it simple like a courthouse marriage.
My questions are 1. Will it look bad on us for not having a large or expensive ceremony? 2. Is there a period of time we should wait to apply after getting married especially as we were previously refused? We don’t want to make another dumb mistake and not be able to start our lives together so if anyone has experience or knowledge about this we’d truly appreciate it. Thank you for reading!

 

[cass59]

i dont think you have much to worry about! your marriage is legit and a courthouse should be fine! i wouldnt wait

 

[canuck78]

Courthouse marriage is fine as long as it make sense based on your religious and cultural background. It would be best to at least have a small celebration with friends/family and take pictures. It doesn’t have to be expensive but documentation is important so having pictures of the ceremony and a dinner with friends and family. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Backyard bbq is fine if that’s what you want but pictures are important.

 

[Pandagrumble]

Thank you for your reply! Yeah that’s what we were thinking, just having a celebration or gathering after but nothing huge. My partner spoke with a lawyer and she suggested the bigger the wedding the better but that’s not us. We don’t really have strong cultural or religious backgrounds on either side. We just wanted to have something small at this point in time so we can start our lives together with maybe having something more ceremonial at a later time.

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for your reply! Yeah that’s what we were thinking, just having a celebration or gathering after but nothing huge. My partner spoke with a lawyer and she suggested the bigger the wedding the better but that’s not us. We don’t really have strong cultural or religious backgrounds on either side. We just wanted to have something small at this point in time so we can start our lives together with maybe having something more ceremonial at a later time.

If you have a long history of dating each other with pictures and lots of time together in person a small wedding is fine. For arranged marriages, long distance couple marrying or marriages between couple who are from a conservative religious sect usually should have a bigger wedding that is more culturally appropriate since there isn’t a ton of history with the. Together as a couple.

 

[Pandagrumble]

If you have a long history of dating each other with pictures and lots of time together in person a small wedding is fine. For arranged marriages, long distance couple marrying or marriages between couple who are from a conservative religious sect usually should have a bigger wedding that is more culturally appropriate since there isn’t a ton of history with the. Together as a couple.

We’ve been together over 3 years and visit each other at least every two months or so or as soon as is possible. I’d like to think that proof enough but some of these refusal stories gets one a bit worried haha

 

[Hurlabrick]

We’ve been together over 3 years and visit each other at least every two months or so or as soon as is possible. I’d like to think that proof enough but some of these refusal stories gets one a bit worried haha

It is all about 'cultural norms'. Is it normal for a Canadian and a US citizen to have a small 'court wedding'? Unless you are descended from say a first generation set of parents from a country that typically has huges and protracted weddings, then a court wedding in itself is not a red flag.

 

[keesio]

It is all about 'cultural norms'. Is it normal for a Canadian and a US citizen to have a small 'court wedding'? Unless you are descended from say a first generation set of parents from a country that typically has huges and protracted weddings, then a court wedding in itself is not a red flag.

Totally agree with the above. It is all about "cultural norms". I recall one US applicant got married in the living room of a friend and had another friend do the ceremony.The bride and groom were dressed casually (jeans, etc). They had two other relatives there as witnesses and took like 4-5 photos. They had no issues with the sponsorship application.