civil wedding and any red flags?

[erwinjohn997]

Hello folks.
I just read one thread here that civil wedding is really ground for refusal? how true is it?
I am from Philippines and were planning to have civil ceremony since both of us are in same sex.

We don't have our families here in Canada so what I did is I ask my sister to make a letter about our relationship ( I think this will also a good evidence to submit eh?).

In our entire relationship, we are in long distance, but he visited me once last February 2014 in the Philippines and I also visited him here in Canada as an international student. Our relationship is almost 2 years and 6 months now. we have a lot of Facebook chat logs and pictures as well.

Were living in one house here in Calgary and we have all joint in our names such as bank, bills, credit card etc.

I am planning to ask 2 more friends of mine to write a letter about our relationship, since I already ask one of my family member to write one for us.

I am also planning to submit 1 posted mail and one hand on letter he send to me while we are in long distance relationship

We invited 10 people to attend our wedding and were planning to have a reception after that.

were planning also to have our honeymoon in US on December after we submit our application, but were gonna submit the plane ticket we bought in our application.

any redflags or any advice to make our case strong?

 

[SamHom]

What's your current status in Canada? Will you be doing inland application or outland?

There's a distinction between a civil ceremony and a small ceremony. Civil is simply that it's not related to religion. Civil really shouldn't matter at all. Smaller ceremony could matter. When it comes to red flags, it all depends on the culture. If for example an Indian couple is getting married, but they only have a small ceremony, that is likely a red flag for CIC considering the fact that in Indian culture people generally have big, even huge weddings. In your case however, from what I can understand, you're marrying a Canadian. In Canada smaller ceremonies are surely common, even more so if they are civil, so it shouldn't be an issue to my knowledge. I think the key is, does it make sense that you are having a smaller ceremony?
You guys have also been together for a long time, and it does seem like you have a lot of evidence. Again, it really shouldn't be an issue. However I can't tell with 100% certainty.

When it comes to the letters, if I am not mistaken, it is required that you provide them with at least 2 letters from separate individuals, each. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry, read it wrong, you wrote "we don't have our families here in Canada". Is your partner from the Philippines too? And how is the culture when it comes to weddings, are smaller weddings common and acceptable there?

Even if they aren't, the fact that you don't have your families in Canada should be enough reason for it to make
sense that you have a smaller ceremony.

 

[erwinjohn997]

What's your current status in Canada? Will you be doing inland application or outland?

There's a distinction between a civil ceremony and a small ceremony. Civil is simply that it's not related to religion. Civil really shouldn't matter at all. Smaller ceremony could matter. When it comes to red flags, it all depends on the culture. If for example an Indian couple is getting married, but they only have a small ceremony, that is likely a red flag for CIC considering the fact that in Indian culture people generally have big, even huge weddings. In your case however, from what I can understand, you're marrying a Canadian. In Canada smaller ceremonies are surely common, even more so if they are civil, so it shouldn't be an issue to my knowledge. I think the key is, does it make sense that you are having a smaller ceremony?
You guys have also been together for a long time, and it does seem like you have a lot of evidence. Again, it really shouldn't be an issue. However I can't tell with 100% certainty.

When it comes to the letters, if I am not mistaken, it is required that you provide them with at least 2 letters from separate individuals, each. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

thanks for your quick reply. my permit will expires on 2017 oh I thought the 2 statutory deceleration is only my family and friends. anyways thanks for your response )

 

[SamHom]

thanks for your quick reply. my permit will expires on 2017 oh I thought the 2 statutory deceleration is only my family and friends. anyways thanks for your response )

I just edited the last part of my response starting at "sorry" since I read it wrong.

 

[erwinjohn997]

What's your current status in Canada? Will you be doing inland application or outland?

There's a distinction between a civil ceremony and a small ceremony. Civil is simply that it's not related to religion. Civil really shouldn't matter at all. Smaller ceremony could matter. When it comes to red flags, it all depends on the culture. If for example an Indian couple is getting married, but they only have a small ceremony, that is likely a red flag for CIC considering the fact that in Indian culture people generally have big, even huge weddings. In your case however, from what I can understand, you're marrying a Canadian. In Canada smaller ceremonies are surely common, even more so if they are civil, so it shouldn't be an issue to my knowledge. I think the key is, does it make sense that you are having a smaller ceremony?
You guys have also been together for a long time, and it does seem like you have a lot of evidence. Again, it really shouldn't be an issue. However I can't tell with 100% certainty.

When it comes to the letters, if I am not mistaken, it is required that you provide them with at least 2 letters from separate individuals, each. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry, read it wrong, you wrote "we don't have our families here in Canada". Is your partner from the Philippines too? And how is the culture when it comes to weddings, are smaller weddings common and acceptable there?

Even if they aren't, the fact that you don't have your families in Canada should be enough reason for it to make
sense that you have a smaller ceremony.

by the way were applying outland this December.

yes it is accepted since Philippines is in third world country so many people don't have money to afford a big ceremony that's the reason why they use the civil wedding. and I think gay marriage is not requiring to have a big ceremony right? 'coz some people are close minded hehe

my partner is a PR and he is also a filipino.

 

[SamHom]

by the way were applying outland this December.

yes it is accepted since Philippines is in third world country so many people don't have money to afford a big ceremony that's the reason why they use the civil wedding. and I think gay marriage is not requiring to have a big ceremony right? 'coz some people are close minded hehe

my partner is a PR and he is also a filipino.

I definitely think that a civil ceremony would be very common in the gay community. The size of the ceremony however I would have no idea about. But like I said, if it makes sense to have a small ceremony, it should be fine. However if you did have a lot of friends and a lot of relatives in Canada, and you also had a good amount of money to your disposal, but still chooses to have a small ceremony, it could be a red flag. But in your case, even then, I would still think that you're most likely going to be fine.

Hopefully a more reputable member comes on the thread and confirms that what I am saying is right haha!

 

[SamHom]

Btw...pretty sure a PR has to stay in Canada while applying to sponsor someone, so that honey moon may not be a great idea.

 

[superman2012]

we don't have families here in Canada, but we already meet our parents and siblings.

were really in tight budget because both of us are studying that's why we only inviting 10 people to attend the wedding
nyways thank you very much for your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[superman2012]

Btw...pretty sure a PR has to stay in Canada while applying to sponsor someone, so that honey moon may not be a great idea.

my partner who is PR will travel abroad to visit his family on February in the Philippines. and I called CIC and they said that if I am going to apply outland my partner can go abroad in any length as long as he always check for his email so that if CIC needs additional documents my partner can send it as soon as possible.

We gonna apply outland so we are allowed to go out Canada right?

 

[SamHom]

my partner who is PR will travel abroad to visit his family on February in the Philippines. and I called CIC and they said that if I am going to apply outland my partner can go abroad in any length as long as he always check for his email so that if CIC needs additional documents my partner can send it as soon as possible.

We gonna apply outland so we are allowed to go out Canada right?

I am not sure that is the case. This is something you have to look more closely into before taking any action, but I believe the PR has to stay inside Canada while applying to sponsor someone whether it's an inland or outland application.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

my partner who is PR will travel abroad to visit his family on February in the Philippines. and I called CIC and they said that if I am going to apply outland my partner can go abroad in any length as long as he always check for his email so that if CIC needs additional documents my partner can send it as soon as possible.

We gonna apply outland so we are allowed to go out Canada right?

No. Your partner must reside in Canada throughout the entire sponsorship process. A short trip, no more than a few weeks, is fine but anything more than that and you risk the application.

 

[SamHom]

No. Your partner must reside in Canada throughout the entire sponsorship process. A short trip, no more than a few weeks, is fine but anything more than that and you risk the application.

Wouldn't the application be at risk even for just a week technically though?

 

[keesio]

Wouldn't the application be at risk even for just a week technically though?

No. One week is fine

 

[erwinjohn997]

No. Your partner must reside in Canada throughout the entire sponsorship process. A short trip, no more than a few weeks, is fine but anything more than that and you risk the application.

hi
can you give us the source where you find that thing? because I called CIC and they said that my partner can go travel abroad for one month. he just want to have vacation there