ANY RED FLAGS?

[zainy]

Hello all,

I would really appreciate if I can get some feedback regarding my application below and spot any red flags. We are hoping to send in the application as soon as my FBI prints are back (unfortunately, their new IT software has delayed the processing time).

- My husband (27) and I (25) were introduced by a mutual friend and our first mode of communication was via email end of last year (Nov 2013). My husband is a Canadian citizen and I am a Kenyan citizen however, I lived in the U.S for 7+ years and was working when we met.

- We immediately connected and a month later, he came to visit me and my family in the U.S (Jan 2014). This was the first time we saw/met each other.

- Our relationship escalated and he proposed at the end of January (01/2014) right after I met his parents in Canada. He also met my extended family in Canada thereafter.

- We decided not to have a formal engagement party because we wanted to save the money and put it towards our wedding. We just had dinner with my family and called it a day.

- I came to Canada on a visitor visa and we decided to get married in June (in Canada). Due to our Indian culture, we had a week long wedding in Toronto with several of our family and friends who attended from various parts of the world including my parents who flew in from Kenya. We have pictures and a marriage certificate to show.

- I then moved in with my husband and we currently live together.

- I am applying via the Outland route through the Nairobi VO.

- I know our relationship timeline is fairly short, but to be honest, things kind of just took off. We have emails, Skype conversations, and messages as proof of our relationship.

- I intend on living with him while my Outland is being processed and will keep extending my visitor visa as I have been doing.

Before I met my husband, I was in a brief relationship with another man. We had gone to court and gotten married so we could begin my paperwork. Things went south shortly after and we didn't go through with the marriage or paperwork and were granted an annulment in 2013. We were granted an annulment versus a divorce because the judge considered our situation to not fit a "true" marriage especially since we were younger and did not live together due to cultural barriers, didn't have any kids, and were in the relationship for a couple of months.

I can understand why this would pose as a concern for some, but I have the annulment certificate and can have the lawyer write a brief summary of our relationship and why things didn't work out if necessary.

Are there any red flags in our relationship that I have to include further proof for? My husband and I are including our pre-engagement, wedding, honeymoon, and post-wedding pictures and descriptions.

I really appreciate all the help. Thank you all!

 

[tink23]

Your relationship is a very short timeline, which followed a quick previous marriage an annulment. I think you will really have to show how your relationship with your husband is a true marriage, and how you have gotten to know each other well, despite the short timeline. You said in your previous marriage you were young, but you got married less than a year before you began a relationship with your current spouse, so how have you grown and changed in that short period for this to be different? So I would just be very open about everything. How you know each other well even though you got married quickly and how you plan to be emotionally supportive of each other as you continue to grow in your relationship. Good luck with everything. Include detailed and thorough information and laying everything out on the table, and hopefully you won't have mch difficulty. Good luck.

 

[zainy]

You said in your previous marriage you were young, but you got married less than a year before you began a relationship with your current spouse, so how have you grown and changed in that short period for this to be different?

I see what you mean. I will elaborate on this for the CIC. Thank you!

 

[Kayaker]

A detailed personal statement, describing your first marriage and annulment, and describing how you have changed since then, and why you believe this marriage is more true and long-lasting than the first would be good to write.

My husband and I had a short courtship too, and he wrote a 2 or 3 page essay, and I wrote an 11 page statement showing why this made sense to us, what reasons we had for making the choices we made, and how and why we feel we are prepared for this step. CIC won't be convinced if you write "well things just took off." (not saying you would write that! just pointing out an example.) You will want to explain your whole thought process.

CIC may or may not read all your chat logs, skype conversations, etc. Those things are considered secondary proof, I believe. (My stuff was returned to me and they looked untouched. They were in the same clip we put them in.) But they WILL read your personal statement (one of the forms in the end tells you to add anything that you feel would prove your relationship. You can write an essay there.) and I believe it will count for a lot. Take your time and try to write a good one. You could even ask other people to read it, and ask them if it makes sense, ask them if they have any more questions about your relationship. You want that statement to be convincing, you want the reader to go away fully understanding why you made the choices you made.

Of course, pictures are good proof - a picture is worth a thousand words. Photos from the wedding showing lots of friends and family would be good. You could include a guest list, showing what relatives attended, who came from where, etc. If there are any group photos, include them.

 

[keesio]

Your relationship is a very short timeline, which followed a quick previous marriage an annulment.

I agree with tink23. Those are the only minor red flags and can be addressed in a note explaining everything. Everything else looks good. Sounds like you had a big long wedding ceremony with lots of relatives from both sides who traveled far to get there. That is really good.

 

[zainy]

A detailed personal statement, describing your first marriage and annulment, and describing how you have changed since then, and why you believe this marriage is more true and long-lasting than the first would be good to write.

My husband and I had a short courtship too, and he wrote a 2 or 3 page essay, and I wrote an 11 page statement showing why this made sense to us, what reasons we had for making the choices we made, and how and why we feel we are prepared for this step. CIC won't be convinced if you write "well things just took off." (not saying you would write that! just pointing out an example.) You will want to explain your whole thought process.

CIC may or may not read all your chat logs, skype conversations, etc. Those things are considered secondary proof, I believe. (My stuff was returned to me and they looked untouched. They were in the same clip we put them in.) But they WILL read your personal statement (one of the forms in the end tells you to add anything that you feel would prove your relationship. You can write an essay there.) and I believe it will count for a lot. Take your time and try to write a good one. You could even ask other people to read it, and ask them if it makes sense, ask them if they have any more questions about your relationship. You want that statement to be convincing, you want the reader to go away fully understanding why you made the choices you made.

Makes sense. Thank you for the detailed explanation!

 

[Alurra71]

Hello all,

I would really appreciate if I can get some feedback regarding my application below and spot any red flags. We are hoping to send in the application as soon as my FBI prints are back (unfortunately, their new IT software has delayed the processing time).

- My husband (27) and I (25) were introduced by a mutual friend and our first mode of communication was via email end of last year (Nov 2013). My husband is a Canadian citizen and I am a Kenyan citizen however, I lived in the U.S for 7+ years and was working when we met.

- We immediately connected and a month later, he came to visit me and my family in the U.S (Jan 2014). This was the first time we saw/met each other.

- Our relationship escalated and he proposed at the end of January (01/2014) right after I met his parents in Canada. He also met my extended family in Canada thereafter.

- We decided not to have a formal engagement party because we wanted to save the money and put it towards our wedding. We just had dinner with my family and called it a day.

- I came to Canada on a visitor visa and we decided to get married in June (in Canada). Due to our Indian culture, we had a week long wedding in Toronto with several of our family and friends who attended from various parts of the world including my parents who flew in from Kenya. We have pictures and a marriage certificate to show.

- I then moved in with my husband and we currently live together.

- I am applying via the Outland route through the Nairobi VO.

- I know our relationship timeline is fairly short, but to be honest, things kind of just took off. We have emails, Skype conversations, and messages as proof of our relationship.

- I intend on living with him while my Outland is being processed and will keep extending my visitor visa as I have been doing.

Before I met my husband, I was in a brief relationship with another man. We had gone to court and gotten married so we could begin my paperwork. Things went south shortly after and we didn't go through with the marriage or paperwork and were granted an annulment in 2013. We were granted an annulment versus a divorce because the judge considered our situation to not fit a "true" marriage especially since we were younger and did not live together due to cultural barriers, didn't have any kids, and were in the relationship for a couple of months.

I can understand why this would pose as a concern for some, but I have the annulment certificate and can have the lawyer write a brief summary of our relationship and why things didn't work out if necessary.

Are there any red flags in our relationship that I have to include further proof for? My husband and I are including our pre-engagement, wedding, honeymoon, and post-wedding pictures and descriptions.

I really appreciate all the help. Thank you all!

As the others have stated, you'll need to explain the difference between this current marriage and the previous one that ended in annulment. I would also be curious about this statement that I have bolded from your original post. Exactly what "paperwork" are you referring to? Was this man also a Canadian citizen? If you are referring to sponsorship paperwork in that statement, you'll have to have a REALLY good explanation about how this marriage is different to the previous, because it will appear to CIC that you are willing to do anything to get to Canada, up to and including a MoC.

Be sure to cover this thoroughly and good luck!

 

[Ponga]

Excellent point Alurra71, but...if that were true, the OP would only need to explain this IF the previous sponsorship paperwork had actually been submitted, correct?

 

[Alurra71]

Excellent point Alurra71, but...if that were true, the OP would only need to explain this IF the previous sponsorship paperwork had actually been submitted, correct?

If you get technical, yes, but if she were called for an interview or anything of that nature and it came out that this was the original intent, it's going to look very very badly on her.

I am only going based on what she has said. The paperwork WILL ask for previous marriages. Annulments still count. If the previous spouse was a Canadian citizen, you can see how it might appear to a VO.

 

[Ponga]

If you get technical, yes, but if she were called for an interview or anything of that nature and it came out that this was the original intent, it's going to look very very badly on her.

I am only going based on what she has said. The paperwork WILL ask for previous marriages. Annulments still count. If the previous spouse was a Canadian citizen, you can see how it might appear to a VO.

Yup; I sure can!

 

[keesio]

As the others have stated, you'll need to explain the difference between this current marriage and the previous one that ended in annulment. I would also be curious about this statement that I have bolded from your original post. Exactly what "paperwork" are you referring to? Was this man also a Canadian citizen? If you are referring to sponsorship paperwork in that statement, you'll have to have a REALLY good explanation about how this marriage is different to the previous, because it will appear to CIC that you are willing to do anything to get to Canada, up to and including a MoC.

Be sure to cover this thoroughly and good luck!

Good point.

But I think that one thing the OP has going for her with the second marriage is that not only did she had a big wedding vs a court wedding, they also had a fairly long engagement and they didn't apply for sponsorship yet even though they have been married for several months. So her second marriage does not seem like one of those "get married quick so we can get the application sent out" type of deals like her first marriage.

 

[zainy]

Thank you all once again for such great feedback.

Regarding my previous marriage - he was a U.S citizen and we had no relation to Canada or ever moving there. The only reason we went to the court and registered our marriage was to begin my U.S paperwork. Unfortunately, like I mentioned, we didn't go through with it and I canceled the paperwork since we hadn't lodged anything and I honestly didn't want to be one of "those" and use marriage only for paperwork. I will explain this to CIC in detail because I can understand why it would be questionable.

Just to confirm, on the forms where it asks if I was ever married before, I would answer in the affirmative and attach all annulment and related supporting documents even though the previous relationship was based in the U.S and with a U.S citizen, correct?

 

[sam_1985]

Thank you all once again for such great feedback.

Regarding my previous marriage - he was a U.S citizen and we had no relation to Canada or ever moving there. The only reason we went to the court and registered our marriage was to begin my U.S paperwork. Unfortunately, like I mentioned, we didn't go through with it and I canceled the paperwork since we hadn't lodged anything and I honestly didn't want to be one of "those" and use marriage only for paperwork. I will explain this to CIC in detail because I can understand why it would be questionable.

Just to confirm, on the forms where it asks if I was ever married before, I would answer in the affirmative and attach all annulment and related supporting documents even though the previous relationship was based in the U.S and with a U.S citizen, correct?

Yes! that is correct; any marriages/divorces etc.. regardless of location/time must be disclosed.