Fiance Visa, .. a better alternative

[Merlyns_Tim]

Hello I've been reading these forums for a long time now as I've waited for my wife's approval.
There are a lot of things in CIC rules that really don't make much senses (in my opinion).

When you go to the website to find out what your options are there are a few, .. but the only one that makes much sense to most of us as far as a logical option is if you have a fiance in another country, go there, marry her, and then come back and send in the paperwork to bring her here.

Ok so you do that, .. blow several thousand dollars on air fare, the wedding, traveling around meeting family, buying gifts, paying for dinners and all, .. and then you come back, have to leave the person you just married behind, and go through all kinds of paperwork while having no idea if, or just how long before you'll ever see this amazing women or man you just married again.

What if the CIC doesn't like them for some reason? They told you to marry them and now they're saying sorry, but we're not letting them into Canada? In a lot of cases your only option then is to move to where they are, which in many cases may mean quitting your job, filing for bankruptcy, taking an ex or exes back to court cause you can no longer pay support, and quite possibly never seeing your kids again. It's, again in my opinion a really stupid way for the CIC to handle marriages to someone from outside Canada.

My younger brother married a lady from the Philippines about 17 - 18 years ago and at that time Canada had a Fiance Visa. They went through all this paperwork crap to see if she could come to Canada first. Once approved (and trust me they had a nightmare with the CIC too) she was allowed to come over with a specified amount of time to get married. I dont know but to me that just seems like a heck of a better option vs. marrying someone and then wondering if the CIC is ever going to approve them or not.

There are other stupid rules but for now I'll just stick to this and see if anyone else thinks it's time to revive the Fiance Visa ;D

 

[truesmile]

Oh I don't know . . . you must already have blown "thousands of dollars" simply being in the place where you presumably met this wonderful woman. It can't be SO bad . . . some are paying or are prepared to pay TEN's of thousands of dollars for a phony marriage that will support an application to get them to Canada.

 

[marie_ann]

Hi Merlyns_Tim,

thats what I thought to myself too.. First getting married and if the application gets rejected, worrying again what to do.. What if the other person cannot come to the other person's country at all? Living a long-distance marriage..?!
Not to mention that CIC might always say that u got married only for immigration purposes..

 

[Merlyns_Tim]

Oh I don't know . . . you must already have blown "thousands of dollars" simply being in the place where you presumably met this wonderful woman. It can't be SO bad . . . some are paying or are prepared to pay TEN's of thousands of dollars for a phony marriage that will support an application to get them to Canada.

Not Necessarily Truesmile

My brother met his wife in the newspaper personals way back before we all had computers. They corresponded by snail mail for quite a while and the first time he ever touched her in person was right here in Canada when she landed (which was of course after lots of problems with the CIC) was after she had been approved for the Fiance Visa.
Before married her he had nothing. 17 years later they had a house in Canada paid for and also owned one in Quezon city (Manila) where they call home now.

Anyhow to me it makes a lot more sense than going to a country and marrying your gf or bf only to have the CIC then decide if you can have them or not.

 

[Merlyns_Tim]

Hi Merlyns_Tim,

thats what I thought to myself too.. First getting married and if the application gets rejected, worrying again what to do.. What if the other person cannot come to the other person's country at all? Living a long-distance marriage..?!
Not to mention that CIC might always say that u got married only for immigration purposes..

Exactly Marie_ann,

the way the CIC has it now's totally backwards. If they're going to tell you to go to another country and marry then they should not have the option of turning your spouse down once you've done everything that was asked of you. At least with a Fiance visa you wouldn't end up in a situation like I find myself in (and countless thousands more as well) where you haven't touched your bride for, ... speaking again for my own situation, 20 month, and not knowing when the heck they're finally going to let you have your wife, .. and in some cases "if".

 

[kyc221]

Hello I've been reading these forums for a long time now as I've waited for my wife's approval.
There are a lot of things in CIC rules that really don't make much senses (in my opinion).

When you go to the website to find out what your options are there are a few, .. but the only one that makes much sense to most of us as far as a logical option is if you have a fiance in another country, go there, marry her, and then come back and send in the paperwork to bring her here.

Ok so you do that, .. blow several thousand dollars on air fare, the wedding, traveling around meeting family, buying gifts, paying for dinners and all, .. and then you come back, have to leave the person you just married behind, and go through all kinds of paperwork while having no idea if, or just how long before you'll ever see this amazing women or man you just married again.

What if the CIC doesn't like them for some reason? They told you to marry them and now they're saying sorry, but we're not letting them into Canada? In a lot of cases your only option then is to move to where they are, which in many cases may mean quitting your job, filing for bankruptcy, taking an ex or exes back to court cause you can no longer pay support, and quite possibly never seeing your kids again. It's, again in my opinion a really stupid way for the CIC to handle marriages to someone from outside Canada.

My younger brother married a lady from the Philippines about 17 - 18 years ago and at that time Canada had a Fiance Visa. They went through all this paperwork crap to see if she could come to Canada first. Once approved (and trust me they had a nightmare with the CIC too) she was allowed to come over with a specified amount of time to get married. I dont know but to me that just seems like a heck of a better option vs. marrying someone and then wondering if the CIC is ever going to approve them or not.

There are other stupid rules but for now I'll just stick to this and see if anyone else thinks it's time to revive the Fiance Visa ;D

I agree Fiance Visa should be an option. They would just need to ask for similar proof of relationship to approve a Fiance. If the non-canadian part of the couple has no chance of getting a TRV for Canada, how are they supposed to know their fiance's Canadian life and family before getting married?

In my case it was important for us to know each other's families and worlds before taking our relationship to the next step, since we met on the internet. I was lucky enough to get a Working Holiday visa and spent a full year with my now-husband with him in Canada, but what about those couples that don't have similar options?

Is there any info on why they took it out as an option?

 

[Merlyns_Tim]

I agree Fiance Visa should be an option. They would just need to ask for similar proof of relationship to approve a Fiance. If the non-canadian part of the couple has no chance of getting a TRV for Canada, how are they supposed to know their fiance's Canadian life and family before getting married?

In my case it was important for us to know each other's families and worlds before taking our relationship to the next step, since we met on the internet. I was lucky enough to get a Working Holiday visa and spent a full year with my now-husband with him in Canada, but what about those couples that don't have similar options?

Is there any info on why they took it out as an option?

In all honesty I have no idea why the Fiance Visa was removed. They were just as strict (my brother and his wife had nightmares trying to get her approval to come over) and I'm sure had to go through similar scrutiny, but once they allowed it she came, and they married shortly after. It's been a good life for them both, and after 17 - 18 years of marriage I couldn't find fault with the way they were allowed Fiance Visa's back then. The other good thing about it was once you're married you don't have to live apart like the system we have now forces you to.
In my case it's been 20 months since I've been able to touch my wife, and no matter how you look at it that's just wrong.

 

[steaky]

In all honesty I have no idea why the Fiance Visa was removed.

Probably because of increased case of fraud.

 

[aerogurl87]

When you go to the website to find out what your options are there are a few, .. but the only one that makes much sense to most of us as far as a logical option is if you have a fiance in another country, go there, marry her, and then come back and send in the paperwork to bring her here.

Not necessarily, since that would mean an increased amount of people going to different countries and finding someone they barely know and sponsoring said person. Which leads to an increase in the probability of fraudulent marriages.

Ok so you do that, .. blow several thousand dollars on air fare, the wedding, traveling around meeting family, buying gifts, paying for dinners and all, .. and then you come back, have to leave the person you just married behind, and go through all kinds of paperwork while having no idea if, or just how long before you'll ever see this amazing women or man you just married again.

You can apply inland in which case you don't have to leave your spouse. Or you can apply for them to get a visitor visa, in which case you don't have to be apart or they can get a work visa or a student visa. Lots of options for those who can figure out a solution to living together after getting married. Or you can apply as common law and don't have to get married (which is what my boyfriend and I are doing). And if you really love someone, do you really look at spending thousands to get to know them as a burden? I know when I met my boyfriend I was a broke college student making about $7.25 a hour and working part time. Yet I managed to scrounge up enough money to come see him for two weeks after talking online for 3 months. It was hard, but worth going through for the man I love. Plus, shouldn't you be getting to know them in person and meeting their friends and family before you marry them? I'd think most people would want to know what they were getting themselves into fully before tying the knot.

What if the CIC doesn't like them for some reason? They told you to marry them and now they're saying sorry, but we're not letting them into Canada? In a lot of cases your only option then is to move to where they are, which in many cases may mean quitting your job, filing for bankruptcy, taking an ex or exes back to court cause you can no longer pay support, and quite possibly never seeing your kids again. It's, again in my opinion a really stupid way for the CIC to handle marriages to someone from outside Canada.

Appeal the decision in that case. CIC aren't psychics and are human, so they do make mistakes. That doesn't mean you have to give up though. And when someone moves to Canada they go through these exact situations anyway. So either way, someone is going to have to make a sacrifice and move to another country. I gave up two job offers for good jobs before I came here almost 2 years ago on a work visa. I gave up seeing my nephews grow up, being near my best friends and all of my family, to move to Canada.

My younger brother married a lady from the Philippines about 17 - 18 years ago and at that time Canada had a Fiance Visa. They went through all this paperwork crap to see if she could come to Canada first. Once approved (and trust me they had a nightmare with the CIC too) she was allowed to come over with a specified amount of time to get married. I dont know but to me that just seems like a heck of a better option vs. marrying someone and then wondering if the CIC is ever going to approve them or not.

So if she wouildn't have gotten through, you think your brother would have just given up on their relationship? Because if that's the case, then I think you should rethink if that person is worth it in the first place. The reason CIC wants to know you are married or common law or in a conjugal relationship, is because they want to know that you are fully committed to being with your spouse long term. A fiance shows a certain level of commitment, but not full commitment in their eyes. It's the same reasoning behind why the military doesn't consider fiances and girlfriends to be family. You aren't fully committed to each other yet in their eyes and may be just "testing the waters". So the possibility that you may up and leave them when you land, is greater.

 

[steaky]

Appeal the decision in that case.

Appeal is time consuming and there are no guarantee of success.

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t118616.0.html

 

[blueangel371115]

Probably because of increased case of fraud.

That's exactly it. I read somewhere, not sure exactly but it was a reputable source I know that much, that the CIC just doesn't have time to verify if said couple actually got married .Rather than going their separate ways after PR is granted. So it is a blessing, in my opinion, as they can spend more time processing applications as opposed to policing couples to prevent fraud.
Now, as posted before, if a couple is commited to each other the wait is doable (at 3 months to a year as most apps seem to process. though the 2 years some wait is very inconenient and frustrating. And utterly ridiculous. Which is my arguement here.) . And, personally, I'd hate to have my application to take longer because of it. Yeah I'd love to move now, as there are great job options in my field, and I want to stay with my fiance and build a home with him permanently, but I feel the process is slow enough already without adding to it. So I can wait the extra time. I'd rather not if I could. But, I can wait a year until my wedding until I file, to spare a husband and wife being separated during this process. And I have read this occuring, some a year plus. Yes it is a little frustrating to wait and I am anxious, I can stay with him until then. But I know how frustrated I'd be if that was me. Being apart from him for that long, especially after we were married. Here is my two cents here.

 

[fromadistance]

How about Canada adopt similar policies of the U.K and grant a work permit instead of P.R and the couple prove that they r still together in a legitimate relationship 2 years down the line and then apply for P.R, in the case of the U.K its called Indefinite leave to remain? I would much prefer my husband here with me on a work permit than waiting 15 months apart until he gets P.R.

In the U.S where the 2 year conditional P.R (temp greencard) is in effect, it takes 5-6 months for applicants to get their process completed. How about they try to meet those timelines??

 

[amikety]

Once again, because of misuse and fraud. Criminals ruin everything.

I'd love the work visa option, but it reeks of fraud. You'd have people having babies or trying to get someone pregnant to cry H&C grounds and clog up the already full appeal system.

And that's just ONE example.

 

[kyc221]

So the option is not to add new categories, but to make the current ones more efficient. Because if there's something I think we all agree on, is that waiting 12+ months is almost unbearable.

There's many suggestions in this forum as to how CIC could make this process both effective and efficient. Let's hope that one day they'll actually be taken into consideration.

 

[aerogurl87]

Appeal is time consuming and there are no guarantee of success.

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t118616.0.html

It is, but it's doable as well. Or hey, you could always try to immigrate to your spouse's country. My main point is though, I'm happy you have to show that you are actually committed to each other before getting PR. I mean yeah you can easily fake a marriage, but divorces are messy and expensive and it makes more people think twice about sponsoring someone. I'm from the US and I've seen enough crap about people milking the system to realize that although CIC's practice could use a major overhaul, they work better than letting someone in the country who claims they are gonna get married. Only to have the spouse run off as soon as they hit American soil and then disappear. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. I do wish the processing times were shorter though.