can i apply right after wedding reception ?

[pjd- hk]

i've been checking on this website for quite a while. I am from Hong kong, and my fiance is a canadian. We live in different countries so we just see each other twice a year. I've been saving the records (plane tickets, airwaybill of sending the presents, skype ,email etc) all along the relationship of the past 2 years (lucky that i learnt to save all these things in the beginning from this website !)

We will get marrried in cananda next summer ( just a very simple wedding reception where his core family memebers will attend, my parents won't be coming) and we will have a wedding reception in hong kong by the end of next year. (which hosts guests of 50 people)
I think our case is pretty straightforward (we are both educated, this is our first marriage with no children), so I hope I can get the whole process done much shorter than the claimed 18 months of Hong Kong office.

Our plan is to apply for the visa after wedding in June/July. But I heard that the immigration offiecers put emphasis on the wedding reception photos. I am wondering if this will be a disadvantage for me when I apply immediately after the reception in June, because the reception is surely a mini one. ( just his parents will attend and I may not even wear a typical wedding gown ! )

Anyone can give opinions to me ?
Many thanks !

 

[ashunandal]

i've been checking on this website for quite a while. I am from Hong kong, and my fiance is a canadian. We live in different countries so we just see each other twice a year. I've been saving the records (plane tickets, airwaybill of sending the presents, skype ,email etc) all along the relationship of the past 2 years (lucky that i learnt to save all these things in the beginning from this website !)

We will get marrried in cananda next summer ( just a very simple wedding reception where his core family memebers will attend, my parents won't be coming) and we will have a wedding reception in hong kong by the end of next year. (which hosts guests of 50 people)
I think our case is pretty straightforward (we are both educated, this is our first marriage with no children), so I hope I can get the whole process done much shorter than the claimed 18 months of Hong Kong office.

Our plan is to apply for the visa after wedding in June/July. But I heard that the immigration offiecers put emphasis on the wedding reception photos. I am wondering if this will be a disadvantage for me when I apply immediately after the reception in June, because the reception is surely a mini one. ( just his parents will attend and I may not even wear a typical wedding gown ! )

Anyone can give opinions to me ?
Many thanks !

yes you are right, sending application right after reception can cause doubts in VO's mind. you should wait for at least 1 month after reception and yes you need to wear a typical wedding gown to prove that reception is real, you were excited about wedding and reception and it was not organised only for immigration purpose.

 

[pjd- hk]

Thanks ashunandal ! Then I have to demand to my fiance that I have to wear a typical wedding gown (lace dress with a bit of tails) and hold a flower bouquet on my hand. My fiance just wanted to sign off the papers and that's it. He didn't even care what to wear. He just wants to have a low-key wedding ceremony. But I know this could raise a red flag in the application. I feel like now we have to arrange the wedding to convince the VO that our relationship is genuine even though we prefer low-profile stuff. :

 

[Fencesitter]

DO NOT apply directly after getting married. It's a HUGE red flag and could possibly lead to delays or refusal. Take it easy and live as a married couple for at least a year before applying. If you rush to apply, it will definitely look like a marriage of convenience. Think of the bigger picture. The stronger the case, the more likely you'll be approved. If you risk submitting your application now, it could be a long, long wait before your evenutally approved.

Most cases get accepted, but it's those who rush things that end up having troubles later on.

Just my two cents.

FS

 

[smokijoe]

I am assuming there is no right and wrong time for applying for spousal sponsorship. It is all down to the 2 individuals and the quality of proof they include in their application.
For instance, my wife and I met in September 2010. Got married in April 2011 and applied for PR in August 2011. We were issued with our COPR in April 2012. we encountered no problems whatsoever with our application. We even forget to include her Option C printout.
Now saying that, I am not saying that all persons would have the same outcome as ourselves, but I am convinced that it is the proofs that count more than the timeframe from wedding to application.

 

[pjd- hk]

Thanks guys. I hope my piles of evidence are solid enough. Now I would think I will wait for a few months after the reception in canada. (It make take a month already to prep all the docs). If I apply before the wedding banquet in Hong kong, can I submit the photos of the banquet later as additional photos ?

 

[KJG]

Thanks guys. I hope my piles of evidence are solid enough. Now I would think I will wait for a few months after the reception in canada. (It make take a month already to prep all the docs). If I apply before the wedding banquet in Hong kong, can I submit the photos of the banquet later as additional photos ?

Yes you can submit photos later and make sure in your application you detail the reception you will be holding.....include guest list, venue....etc. and you can definitely apply right after the wedding since you have had a relationship for awhile now

 

[TSauretBaxter]

This is what I was going to suggest. Step 1 took us 3 months. So by the time the file got transferred to the VO, I had already taken anothe trip to visit my husband, and changed my name legally. So we have recently submitted additional proof of our relationship after our file was transferred to the VO. I did not wear a wedding dress. We got married at city hall, and planned to have a proper reception later on when we could afford more. This is what we wrote on our application. However we have not yet been approved. But I believe the proof is worth more than something as silly as a wedding dress. When you enter in to marriage.. it's about the comittment you make to the person, not where it takes place or what you wear!

 

[pjd- hk]

thanks TSauretBaxter and KJG for your suggestions ! The only weak thing in our relationship is we never lived together. Throughout the last 2 years, we just basically stayed together physically for around 2 months. But I am the beneficiary in his company insurance. I hope this could offset the weak point, plus other evidence.

 

[Isometry]

If a small wedding without a traditional wedding dress is consistent with the rest of your relationship from an outside viewpoint, then go for it. You can explain your choice in your application, and as long as it's reasonable and justified, that's fine.

You absolutely don't have to wait a year after you get married to apply, especially since you're a long distance couple. You've been together for at least 2 years already, you're not rushing it. Applying to live together as soon as possible is what a newlywed couple would be expected to do, right? No-one wants to live on the other side of the world from their new husband/wife.

Many people applying have never lived together. The important thing is that you've spent time together when you could, and can demonstrate that you are behaving like a real long-distance couple does.

 

[KJG]

thanks TSauretBaxter and KJG for your suggestions ! The only weak thing in our relationship is we never lived together. Throughout the last 2 years, we just basically stayed together physically for around 2 months. But I am the beneficiary in his company insurance. I hope this could offset the weak point, plus other evidence.

My husband and I don't live together either...he is cuban and cannot leave his country at this time and I am canadian and cannot live there as I have no means to work there. Living together is not a prerequisite. I would say the majority of applicants do not live together.

 

[TSauretBaxter]

thanks TSauretBaxter and KJG for your suggestions ! The only weak thing in our relationship is we never lived together. Throughout the last 2 years, we just basically stayed together physically for around 2 months. But I am the beneficiary in his company insurance. I hope this could offset the weak point, plus other evidence.

That's similar to my situation. We stayed together for 2.5 months at the longest. Other than that it's been only 7-10 day trips. I also have him listed as my benificiary on my company life insurance. To me, you wouldn't go through the process of changing your name legally and you wouldn't list him as your life insurance policy benificiary (or vice versa) if it was all a fraud. But this is just that way I see it of course lol. Like I said we haven't been approved, so I won't now for sure. I've been concerned he will get called for an interview (I am the Canadian sponsoring my husband from Mexico), because that will delay the process even longer. So with the additional info we just submitted, I don't have anything else to offer as proof. But your advantage is that you can start preparing now before you are married. If I knew now what was required for our application, I could have tried to prepare more. But I'm still mostly confident the app will go smoothly.

 

[xxpazaway]

I am assuming there is no right and wrong time for applying for spousal sponsorship. It is all down to the 2 individuals and the quality of proof they include in their application.
For instance, my wife and I met in September 2010. Got married in April 2011 and applied for PR in August 2011. We were issued with our COPR in April 2012. we encountered no problems whatsoever with our application. We even forget to include her Option C printout.
Now saying that, I am not saying that all persons would have the same outcome as ourselves, but I am convinced that it is the proofs that count more than the timeframe from wedding to application.

Its true! I and my husband got married in city hall on september 2012 and then after i gathered all the documents not included the marriage certifcate، i sent out our application and recieved by cic vegreville on october 2011. No family from both sides came to our wedding just two witness with atleast 8 photos in all, no reception photos and take note pregnant and gave birth after four day. As of now im stilk waiting for my papers turn,. All i can say, jut gathered as much proof as u can to prove the genuines.

 

[Zouk Princesse]

There is absolutely no reason to wait a whole year to apply. As mentioned, there are no living requirements for married couples, you're not going common law. In fact, delaying your application unnecessarily could actually hurt your application. I've read several cases on Canlii where the judge has questioned why the sponsor waited several months after the wedding to submit the application, reason being as someone else mentioned, a genuine couple would want to be together as soon as possible.

The VO will look at your application in its entirety, not just pick apart random pieces. Given that everyone has diffenent situations, don't look for hard fast "rules". The best thing you can do is take a good honest look at your relationship, and present it in the most comprehensive and supported way possible. Be honest about any potential red flags or weaknesses in your relationship, and address them up front with supporting evidence to show how you've overcome them.

One thing VOs do tend to check for is anything in your relationship/wedding/marriage that is outside the norms for your culture (I personally think it is wrong to stereotype people this way, but that's just what they do). So do make sure that if you're doing anything "unusual" , that you address it up front and explain why it was done this way. The idea is to prepare your application such that any question a VO might ask, you've already provided them with the answer.

 

[sfp123]

Glad I found this thread!

My same-gender partner and I are planning to apply as spouses, rather than common law, because there are a few things that might complicate a common law relationship (first and foremost the fact that it hasn't been a full calendar year that we've been living together, and I don't want to delay applying longer than necessary). However, since we aren't married - just engaged - this means that we will need to get married before we can apply. We aren't planning to have The Big Wedding until next summer, so whatever we do before then will be small and not fancy. I don't even want a traditional wedding dress for the big wedding! Just not my style. In any event, we will probably end up submitting our application quite soon after getting married, because we don't want to stay apart any longer than necessary. There are some conflicting opinions in this thread, but it sounds like as long as you can document your relationship really well, and answer any questions, it shouldn't be a problem to apply pretty soon after the official wedding? I hope that's true!!

We would get married sooner if we could, but we live in a state that doesn't recognize our relationship, so we'd have to travel back to Canada or across the country in order to get married. Since we won't be able to do that for the next couple of months, it's just pretty likely that it'll happen really close to the application date...