13 years age gap, mention it or not?

[maggie465]

Hi, my husband and I have an age difference of 13 years. I didn't pay attention to this age gap in our application. However, I was reading through some topics and saw that for some people it was one of the reasons to have an interview or a reason to be rejected. On the internet one says they prefer an age difference < 10 years, someone said < 15 years.

So I was wondering, should I add something about our age gap in the application or just leave it out. Mentioning it might save an interview or might be a reason for an interview...

What did other people do that had an age difference?

 

[scylla]

My husband and I have a 16 year age gap (I'm the younger one and the one who was sponsoring him).

We called out the age gap in our relationship summary. We said something along the lines of "even though we have an age gap of 16 years, we share many similarities..." - and then went on to describe all of the ways in which we were similar (i.e. education, professional background, income, group of friends, travel habits, etc.).

 

[itscoezy]

My husband and I have a 16 year age gap (I'm the younger one and the one who was sponsoring him).

We called out the age gap in our relationship summary. We said something along the lines of "even though we have an age gap of 16 years, we share many similarities..." - and then went on to describe all of the ways in which we were similar (i.e. education, professional background, income, group of friends, travel habits, etc.).

My common law partner and I are 12.5 years apart, I'm the younger one (sponsoring him). We did mention it in our application but we didn't focus on it. We just brought it up casually and used one sentence to explain why it wasn't a big deal for us.

Goodluck

 

[CharlieD10]

If it might be an issue in the overall context of your relationship, bring it up and explain why it isn't. Don't wait for CIC to question it, it is never a good idea. Show them you are aware of why your relationship might fall outside "the norm" and explain why that isn't a big deal for you. As you can see, others have successfully sponsored partners with age differences that might give pause, but because they brought it out there was no issue taken with it.

 

[maggie465]

Thank you so much for the response!

 

[KJG]

If it might be an issue in the overall context of your relationship, bring it up and explain why it isn't. Don't wait for CIC to question it, it is never a good idea. Show them you are aware of why your relationship might fall outside "the norm" and explain why that isn't a big deal for you. As you can see, others have successfully sponsored partners with age differences that might give pause, but because they brought it out there was no issue taken with it.

Hi CharlieD10...I think you are so right. There is an age difference between myself and my spouse as well and frankly I never thought to mention it in the relationship part because it does now does not cross my mind...but in the proof I submitted I did include emails and our discussions about age difference etc. because I had a hard time dealing with it....north american views are not easy to change.....you know if a man is older and dates a younger woman all is good...if a older woman dates a younger man he is just using her....so took me awhile to get over that but when I am with my husband I never feel the age difference!

 

[Fencesitter]

I'm 9 years older than my wife, but we never mentioned anything about our age difference, at least not directly. I mentioned how I helped her with her studies and understood what it was like to be a student, but that was pretty much it. I never even thought about it.

FS

 

[CharlieD10]

I'm 9 years older than my wife, but we never mentioned anything about our age difference, at least not directly. I mentioned how I helped her with her studies and understood what it was like to be a student, but that was pretty much it. I never even thought about it.

FS

Like I mentioned, it really only matters in the overall context of your relationship. In your case, you have an "older" Western male with a "younger" Eastern female. That will not ring many bells for anyone, as in either cultural context, an older male and younger female is considered "within the norm". On the other hand, if your wife had been the Canadian and the older one, several bells might ring for whoever examines that file.

So it goes with age differences and other differences. It is looked at in context of the relationship being deemed genuine. The immigration officer is likely asking themselves, "What's normal for this country/culture/age group/religion? Where does this relationship fit into that context? If it's outside the context, just how far outside is it? Just outside so that it might be an emerging trend and should not be immediately discounted? Or so far outside it is not plausible on the face of it?"

 

[AW2011]

My spouse and I are have a range of almost 20 years. :-*
I don't like the term of "age gap" as it makes you feel like something is lacking and needs to be filled. :'(
We are of same-sex marriage and didn't elaborate our age range in our application as it's not as much of a judgmental issue in
the same-sex world than the opposite-sex world. 8)

 

[Fencesitter]

Like I mentioned, it really only matters in the overall context of your relationship. In your case, you have an "older" Western male with a "younger" Eastern female. That will not ring many bells for anyone, as in either cultural context, an older male and younger female is considered "within the norm". On the other hand, if your wife had been the Canadian and the older one, several bells might ring for whoever examines that file.

So it goes with age differences and other differences. It is looked at in context of the relationship being deemed genuine. The immigration officer is likely asking themselves, "What's normal for this country/culture/age group/religion? Where does this relationship fit into that context? If it's outside the context, just how far outside is it? Just outside so that it might be an emerging trend and should not be immediately discounted? Or so far outside it is not plausible on the face of it?"

What about cultural and religious differences? I mean, I'm a white Canadian and she's Chinese. Major cultural differences...but religion is not really an issue, as I am a non-practicing Catholic...I mean, will this ring any bells for whoever looks at our case? We've been together for a long time, so obviously we have accepted the cultural differences.

FS

 

[CharlieD10]

What about cultural and religious differences? I mean, I'm a white Canadian and she's Chinese. Major cultural differences...but religion is not really an issue, as I am a non-practicing Catholic...I mean, will this ring any bells for whoever looks at our case? We've been together for a long time, so obviously we have accepted the cultural differences.

FS

I'm black, my husband is white Canadian, and he's non-practicing Catholic and I'm not much of anything after being raised in a non-denominational Christian home and we were married in an Anglican ceremony (hooray for the Church of England!) because we couldn't get a registry wedding done in time. We had no issues, and as I recall from our GCMS notes, they never questioned any of these things.

In your case, I doubt they will either. If you presented as a devout Catholic, and yet married your wife in a non-Catholic ceremony, maybe that would ring a bell or two, but otherwise, it really won't.

It's about how the couple is presented that makes CIC question things. Remember they look at how compatible you are based on how you have presented yourselves. Two never-married, not very religious, educated people who live together then get married and have a child will suffer less scrutiny than one divorced/one never-married, different religious beliefs, different levels of education couple, even if the first couple come from different races/culture and the second couple is the same race and culture. From everything I have read, CIC places less emphasis on things like race and culture (naturally) than on things like personal history and education.

They don't ask you all those questions about how educated you are and what you have been doing with yourself since you were 18 or in the last 5 years just for the sake of asking. There's good reason behind those questions!

 

[podkayne8]

Just chiming in - My husband and I have an 11 year age gap. I'm the older one. I know the woman being older raises eyebrows for some people but I think our evidence and photos spoke well for themselves, so we didn't address it in our application.

 

[Kaycee1]

I'm 16 1/2 years older than my husband, and we were approved in just under 5 months. As long as your relationship seems legitimate, I think the age gap will be ignored. They can see the age difference by looking at the dates anyway, you can't really hide it!

 

[ccunnington]

My wife and I have a 17 year difference..me being the older..didn't mention it specifically in the application. I don't think its too much of a big deal. If the VO asks about it, just explain it to them. There are likely bigger red flags than age difference, but who knows. Each visa office and officer is different, and if they wake up on the wrong side of the bed one morning in a bad mood, that could influence their decision just as much as an age difference!

 

[KJG]

I'm 16 1/2 years older than my husband, and we were approved in just under 5 months. As long as your relationship seems legitimate, I think the age gap will be ignored. They can see the age difference by looking at the dates anyway, you can't really hide it!

exactly!!!!