Out-of-status/Lack-of-status: How Do We Register Our Marriage?

[raj_shah]

This forum is truly a lifesaver. Thank you for this resource.

A bit about us:
I arrived to Canada in 2002, did my undergrad, met a girl at the university, and we started a relationship. I graduated, did my immigration, did a post-grad and I'm a citizen. She went through a difficult period in university and went out of status.

We were in relationship and committed to each other so it didn't seem like a big deal. We did attempt to restore her status but were afraid of possible separation. With me building a career, we got busy in domestic life. The COVID-19 outbreak has been a wake-up call. I am worried sick of catching COVID-19 and giving it to her.

Getting married:
We have been living together as a couple ever since we met but we want to get married. The problem is she doesn't have any government-issued IDs other than her birth certificate which needs translation. I have had her birth certificate translated. I called Vital Statistics and was told she needs a government-issued picture ID to apply for a marriage license. Without it, Vital Statistics won't register the marriage.

I don't know what to do here. How do people in our situation register the marriage and apply for marriage license?

 

[Spousalsponsorshipca]

Hey! I was wondering is she has a valid passport?? I went through vital statistics and only showed my passport to get the licence.

 

[scylla]

This forum is truly a lifesaver. Thank you for this resource.

A bit about us:
I arrived to Canada in 2002, did my undergrad, met a girl at the university, and we started a relationship. I graduated, did my immigration, did a post-grad and I'm a citizen. She went through a difficult period in university and went out of status.

We were in relationship and committed to each other so it didn't seem like a big deal. We did attempt to restore her status but were afraid of possible separation. With me building a career, we got busy in domestic life. The COVID-19 outbreak has been a wake-up call. I am worried sick of catching COVID-19 and giving it to her.

Getting married:
We have been living together as a couple ever since we met but we want to get married. The problem is she doesn't have any government-issued IDs other than her birth certificate which needs translation. I have had her birth certificate translated. I called Vital Statistics and was told she needs a government-issued picture ID to apply for a marriage license. Without it, Vital Statistics won't register the marriage.

I don't know what to do here. How do people in our situation register the marriage and apply for marriage license?

You don't have to get married to sponsor her for PR. If you have been living together for several years, then you are common law and can sponsor her as your common law partner.

Note that she will need a valid passport to apply for PR (regardless of whether you are married or common law). I would get on that asap.

 

[raj_shah]

Hey! I was wondering is she has a valid passport?? I went through vital statistics and only showed my passport to get the licence.

She does have a passport but it has been expired since 2012.

You don't have to get married to sponsor her for PR. If you have been living together for several years, then you are common law and can sponsor her as your common law partner.

Note that she will need a valid passport to apply for PR (regardless of whether you are married or common law). I would get on that asap.

Well now I feel really dumb.

I've paid a deposit for the wedding venue, got her a bridal dress and we have no less than four bridesmaids and groomsmen. We have sent out the wedding invites and were looking forward to our wedding day.

I can't seem to make a good decision in immigration matters, I swear.

 

[scylla]

She does have a passport but it has been expired since 2012.

Well now I feel really dumb.

I've paid a deposit for the wedding venue, got her a bridal dress and we have no less than four bridesmaids and groomsmen. We have sent out the wedding invites and were looking forward to our wedding day.

I can't seem to make a good decision in immigration matters, I swear.

No need to feel dumb. You can certainly still get married. You just don't need to be married in order to sponsor her for PR. You can sponsor her as your common law partner.

She needs to have a valid passport in order for you to sponsor her for PR. An expired passport won't do it. She needs to renew her passport. I would start this process as soon as possible.

 

[armoured]

I've paid a deposit for the wedding venue, got her a bridal dress and we have no less than four bridesmaids and groomsmen. We have sent out the wedding invites and were looking forward to our wedding day.

Go ahead and have your wedding if the officiant agrees, even if it's 'only' a private (non-civil) wedding

Your common law status will be sufficient to sponsor, you don't "need" the civil status of married. And that's distinct from your wedding ceremony. (A ceremony may help, though, in terms of convincing that the relationship is bona fide).

Background: in much of the Western world (Europe), there are two events - the civil ceremony (eg. at city hall) and religious ceremony. Only the civil ceremony (marriage) has any legal meaning.

Marriage in Canada is generally the same, except that the officiant (e.g. minister or imam or rabbi or whatever) is deputised to carry out a civil marriage on behalf of the government. So the religious ceremony happens and the minister fills out and submits the necessary forms for the civil marriage (with witnesss, etc) in parallel - even though they are technically separate, they often happen the same day - but they don't have to be at the same time. (Note, 'religious' here doesn't mean much, it can be any wedding style you like) You can have an [insert religion here] wedding separate from the civil ceremony.

The upshot for you is that 1) go ahead and have your public wedding, it will strengthen your PR application - even if not necessary for the immigration application - that you are in a real, public, recognised-by-society common law relationship; 2) your long common law relationship is enough to apply, no need to wait for the wedding; 3) if/when you want to formalise the marriage from civil law perspective, you can do so at city hall or in whatever form works (talk to your officiant).

Hence having the proper identification (passport) really only pertains to timing of the civil marriage (if the officiant agrees). You'll need whatever identification is required (probably at minimum a passport) for the civil marriage, and you can't apply for PR for your spouse without a passport anyway.

So go ahead and have your wedding ceremony whenever you like, but you can't move forward with civil marriage or PR without the proper documents. (For PR you don't need to be married, cmmon law is sufficient) Getting a current valid passport for your spouse is the main immediate task for PR purposes.

 

[canuck78]

She does have a passport but it has been expired since 2012.




Well now I feel really dumb.

I've paid a deposit for the wedding venue, got her a bridal dress and we have no less than four bridesmaids and groomsmen. We have sent out the wedding invites and were looking forward to our wedding day.

I can't seem to make a good decision in immigration matters, I swear.

You can’t have more than a small wedding for the foreseeable future. Most embassies won’t renew passports unless you have valid status in the country.

 

[raj_shah]

You can’t have more than a small wedding for the foreseeable future. Most embassies won’t renew passports unless you have valid status in the country.

Yes, it is a small wedding with 50 odd friends and family. This is what is allowed legally under COVID-19 restrictions at the moment.

You are right about the embassy, we haven't received any help from her embassy in renewing her passport. Does that mean I can't sponsor her?

Go ahead and have your wedding if the officiant agrees, even if it's 'only' a private (non-civil) wedding

Your common law status will be sufficient to sponsor, you don't "need" the civil status of married. And that's distinct from your wedding ceremony. (A ceremony may help, though, in terms of convincing that the relationship is bona fide).

Background: in much of the Western world (Europe), there are two events - the civil ceremony (eg. at city hall) and religious ceremony. Only the civil ceremony (marriage) has any legal meaning.

Marriage in Canada is generally the same, except that the officiant (e.g. minister or imam or rabbi or whatever) is deputised to carry out a civil marriage on behalf of the government. So the religious ceremony happens and the minister fills out and submits the necessary forms for the civil marriage (with witnesss, etc) in parallel - even though they are technically separate, they often happen the same day - but they don't have to be at the same time. (Note, 'religious' here doesn't mean much, it can be any wedding style you like) You can have an [insert religion here] wedding separate from the civil ceremony.

The upshot for you is that 1) go ahead and have your public wedding, it will strengthen your PR application - even if not necessary for the immigration application - that you are in a real, public, recognised-by-society common law relationship; 2) your long common law relationship is enough to apply, no need to wait for the wedding; 3) if/when you want to formalise the marriage from civil law perspective, you can do so at city hall or in whatever form works (talk to your officiant).

Hence having the proper identification (passport) really only pertains to timing of the civil marriage (if the officiant agrees). You'll need whatever identification is required (probably at minimum a passport) for the civil marriage, and you can't apply for PR for your spouse without a passport anyway.

So go ahead and have your wedding ceremony whenever you like, but you can't move forward with civil marriage or PR without the proper documents. (For PR you don't need to be married, cmmon law is sufficient) Getting a current valid passport for your spouse is the main immediate task for PR purposes.

Thank you so very much for this informative post.

We both cannot thank you enough. We are running into all sort of issues and have no idea what to do. We knew this process was going to be stressful but this is certainly the most uplifting bit of information I've managed to find this week. Thank you!

 

[armoured]

Thank you so very much for this informative post.

We both cannot thank you enough. We are running into all sort of issues and have no idea what to do. We knew this process was going to be stressful but this is certainly the most uplifting bit of information I've managed to find this week. Thank you!

Note, because you have a long common law relationship, if spouse has to leave the country to get new passport, you can apply outland (from home country). The spouse departing does not 'break' the common law relationship (but be sure you have very good documentation of your period living together - pay careful attention to the types of proof required to document a common law relationship).

Your ceremony - even if not legally a marriage - will still help convince that it is a real relationship recognised by others (you'd include a note that you could not complete civil marriage legally because of lack of documentation but decided to have your personal private ceremony).

Then the unfortunate issue is that you may be apart while the outland PR application is being processed (long), and getting a visa to return may simply not work.

I know nothing about the passport issue, depends on home country. Obviously spouse will need some travel document - some countries will issue short-tenor or temporary passports (and I don't know if those can be used for civil marriage in Canada).

Good luck.

 

[armoured]

One small note to add about a "ceremony" - when I said the officiant must agree, each religious institution may have their own rules about what they'll perform. But they can or may agree to have some sort of ceremony, calling it anything at all, like a "blessing of the union." Or you can have anyone at all officiate, it just won't have any legal status.

Some ministers would do this type of blessing ceremony back when gay marriages were not legal; and of course lots of people just have ceremonies according to their own taste.