getting married for travel benefits

[metaphys]

A friend of mine recently jokingly suggested that we get married so that she could travel for long term in Canada and I could travel throughout all of europe without being restricted by short-duration tourist visas.

Neither of us are religious, or romantic for that matter.. and this would strictly be a marriage of convenience. Likely a temporary one.

Real quick.. without getting into details.. are there any big glaring holes in our thinking? Neither of us would want to be forced to stay in either country for a long time in order to "validate" the marriage. Also, we'd probably not be travelling together. Is this at all feasible? Affordable? Forget ethical.. we'd be fine with it from a moral standpoint. What barriers exist to prevent this kind of thing? Anyone done this and has some tips or afterthoughts to share?

Note.. this is NOT a means of eventually gaining citizenship.. it's strictly for long term travel benefits.

I'm Canadian, and she's Croatian.

Thanks!

 

[surleplateau]

I don't know about Crotia/EU travel, but for you to sponsor her, you'd have to proof a LOT of evidence that it is a genuine marriage/relationship. And she could get called in for an interview as well (and the interviewer may need you there, too).

And then the kicker is that once you have successfully completed her PR sponsorship, you both need to continue to live together, in Canada, for 2 years (Condition 51). If you end up in a *genuine* relationship with someone else, that would put your Fraud Wife's PR in jeopardy and possibly set you up for criminal/fraud charges (or if your neighbors/coworkers sniff out that it's not a real relationship).

To maintain PR, there are minimum limits to how much time she must live in Canada (or live abroad with her sponsor). Understand permanent resident status:

When you are a permanent resident, you can live outside of Canada, but must live in Canada for at least two years in a five-year period. If you live outside of Canada for longer, you may lose your permanent resident status.

And to cap that all off, supposing that you *do* success in your FRAUDULENT sponsorship, if she decides to come to Canada and collect social assistance, YOU will be responsible for that, for the first 3 years of her sponsored PR.

It's a huge lie to get caught in. Only a moron would suggest it's a good idea. This is not a Hollywood movie.

And how could I forget: YOU WOULD BE FUCKING UP THE SYSTEM FOR EVERY OTHER LEGITIMATE SPONSORSHIP.

 

[Aquakitty]

Aside from what Surleplateau said you claim this : "A friend of mine recently jokingly suggested that we get married so that she could travel for long term in Canada and I could travel throughout all of europe without being restricted by short-duration tourist visas."

How would her having a PR help at all with this? Does marriage to an EU person give you this right automatically or something?

A much better idea is for her to get a working holiday visa. If you sign up now she has a good chance to get in next year: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/index.asp?country=hr&cat=wh

 

[scylla]

I think the main problem (leaving the legal/fraud issues aside) would be the fact that you need to prove your marriage is genuine with far more than a marriage certificate. So at a minimum, you'd probably have to spend around a year before you get married and submit the application doing the stuff people normally do before they decide to get married (i.e. visiting each other on all of your holidays, traveling together whenever possible, sending normal "couple" emails to each other many times daily, creating joint bank accounts, adding each other to insurance policies, visiting each other's families, etc.). When the wedding is held, you'll want to make sure your parents are there and close friends as well (otherwise CIC will question why not and it will cast doubt on your relationship). Long story short, if you want the fraud to succeed, it's going to take a lot of work, money and sacrifice (and the participation of your family and friends in the scheme).

 

[kangamoose]

A much better idea is for her to get a working holiday visa. If you sign up now she has a good chance to get in next year: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/index.asp?country=hr&cat=wh

And as a Canadian you can get similar visa for European countries

http://global-goose.com/travel-tips/working-holiday-visas-for-canadians/

Working holiday visa's are easy to get (I'm currently on my second), a far cheaper option and you don't have to lie your way into getting one.

 

[chakrab]

croatian can easily get an eTA to travel to Canada. Why the intent and need for fraud on such a simple matter.

Applying for an eTA is a simple online process that takes just a few minutes. You will need your passport, a credit card, and an email address. It costs $7 CAD to get an eTA and it will be valid for up to five years.

 

[Ineffable]

A friend of mine recently jokingly suggested that we get married so that she could travel for long term in Canada and I could travel throughout all of europe without being restricted by short-duration tourist visas.

Neither of us are religious, or romantic for that matter.. and this would strictly be a marriage of convenience. Likely a temporary one.

Real quick.. without getting into details.. are there any big glaring holes in our thinking? Neither of us would want to be forced to stay in either country for a long time in order to "validate" the marriage. Also, we'd probably not be travelling together. Is this at all feasible? Affordable? Forget ethical.. we'd be fine with it from a moral standpoint. What barriers exist to prevent this kind of thing? Anyone done this and has some tips or afterthoughts to share?

Note.. this is NOT a means of eventually gaining citizenship.. it's strictly for long term travel benefits.

I'm Canadian, and she's Croatian.

Thanks!

There are people on this forum who are waiting, desperately, to be reunited with their loved ones facing emotional and financial hurdles, and you want to fake a marriage and apply for a visa because you're inconvenienced by travel?

What is wrong with you?

That you have the gall to post on here is amazing . . .

 

[Aquakitty]

There are people on this forum who are waiting, desperately, to be reunited with their loved ones facing emotional and financial hurdles, and you want to fake a marriage and apply for a visa because you're inconvenienced by travel?

What is wrong with you?

That you have the gall to post on here is amazing . . .

Some rather immature 20 year olds who are clueless I'd imagine, but it is amusing.

croatian can easily get an eTA to travel to Canada. Why the intent and need for fraud on such a simple matter.

Applying for an eTA is a simple online process that takes just a few minutes. You will need your passport, a credit card, and an email address. It costs $7 CAD to get an eTA and it will be valid for up to five years.

Problem solved, but I'm still curious as to how a marriage to an EU person helps with travel.

 

[Gemmie]

I believe this person is a troll.

And we should never feed a troll.

 

[DanSlh]

There are people on this forum who are waiting, desperately, to be reunited with their loved ones facing emotional and financial hurdles, and you want to fake a marriage and apply for a visa because you're inconvenienced by travel?

What is wrong with you?

That you have the gall to post on here is amazing . . .

+1
Btw, don't waste your time talking to kids.
It doesn't worth it.

 

[Ineffable]

+1
Btw, don't waste your time talking to kids.
It doesn't worth it.

Normally I wouldn't, especially since I teach teenagers (AKA those the same maturity as the O.P.), but there's a line, and he lept over it.

Every once in a while I prefer to play "Whack-a-troll." Today was that day.

 

[metaphys]

You calling me immature? Some of you need to look at yourself in the mirror and take a look at your judgemental and accusatory replies. Some of you need to get off your high horses and accept that everyone has the right to ask a simple question without getting accused of killing babies or trolling.

No I'm not a troll, I legitimately had this random girl jokingly propose that we get married in order to extend our ability to travel in each other's zones, and while I never gave any real consideration to the thought of casually getting married for this reason, I was curious as to whether this would work and I wanted to learn why it wouldn't work which is when I decided to give this forum a chance to clarify things for me.. which was a mistake judging by some of your overreactions and borderline threats. Man the internet is such a nasty place and it isn't because of people like me oh no, it's because of people like some of you that let their emotions get the best of them and have nasty tempers to begin and always assume the worse out of everyone.

Oh and to those who say get a work-vacation permit instead because they are "so easy" to get well NO they are not easy if you're above the age of 30 or 35 depending on countries. If you're over the age of 35 then getting anything but a shitty 90 day tourist visa is very hard even if you have no intention on working abroad and just want to stay there for longer than 90 days.

My own fault for not travelling more when I was younger and had no money eh? Oh well better late then never. I should have just used google instead and saved myself some stupid replies from people who claim to know (and wrongly so) things about me based on a post I made.

You're right about it being a bad idea to spend time talking to kids.. the problem is your age doesn't qualify you as a non-kid anymore, I seriously can't believe the level of irony at some of your commenters patting each other's backs at trying to belittle me and judge me for asking a question and then trying to question my own maturity or intelligence.

 

[metaphys]

How would her having a PR help at all with this? Does marriage to an EU person give you this right automatically or something?

Well for starter, I never said that I wanted her to get PR in Canada. I never said that she'd be moving to Canada after we did this, big IF we did this. Maybe I would live with her. Maybe *I* could get some kind of improved residency status living with her in Croatia. And as a result of this then I could be free to travel througout the EU/Schengen zone. Yes I'm aware Croatia is not yet part of the Schengen zone but it should be very soon. I don't know if this works this way, but I know once you're in that zone you can pretty much travel freely within it with minimum resistance.

Could I then at one point travel back to Canada with her in tow, and she could take this time to travel Canada from east to west? This is kind of thinking that is going into this, not trying to screw the system. And people get married ALL THE TIME for convenience, to pay less taxes and so on and so on. Do you think everyone abides to the same thoughts that you need to be in love and want to be together forever and be good in your deity's name if you get married? Please don't get me started on projecting your ideals in regards to marriage on others now. Live and let live yea?

 

[Aquakitty]

You calling me immature? Some of you need to look at yourself in the mirror and take a look at your judgemental and accusatory replies. Some of you need to get off your high horses and accept that everyone has the right to ask a simple question without getting accused of killing babies or trolling.

No I'm not a troll, I legitimately had this random girl jokingly propose that we get married in order to extend our ability to travel in each other's zones, and while I never gave any real consideration to the thought of casually getting married for this reason, I was curious as to whether this would work and I wanted to learn why it wouldn't work which is when I decided to give this forum a chance to clarify things for me.. which was a mistake judging by some of your overreactions and borderline threats. Man the internet is such a nasty place and it isn't because of people like me oh no, it's because of people like some of you that let their emotions get the best of them and have nasty tempers to begin and always assume the worse out of everyone.

Oh and to those who say get a work-vacation permit instead because they are "so easy" to get well NO they are not easy if you're above the age of 30 or 35 depending on countries. If you're over the age of 35 then getting anything but a *censored word*ty 90 day tourist visa is very hard even if you have no intention on working abroad and just want to stay there for longer than 90 days.

My own fault for not travelling more when I was younger and had no money eh? Oh well better late then never. I should have just used google instead and saved myself some stupid replies from people who claim to know (and wrongly so) things about me based on a post I made.

You're right about it being a bad idea to spend time talking to kids.. the problem is your age doesn't qualify you as a non-kid anymore, I seriously can't believe the level of irony at some of your commenters patting each other's backs at trying to belittle me and judge me for asking a question and then trying to question my own maturity or intelligence.

Assuming you aren't a troll, so what if you are too old for a working holiday, the barriers to your travel are far less daunting than trying to get married and skirt the system to somehow help you. Working while travelling sucks anyways. You still haven't said how getting married to a Croatian would help you travel? If you are daunted by getting a visa to a country the process for Canada PR is much, much more difficult.

The people on this board are mad because either you are trolling us, or you are really ignorant of the system and the suffering we all go through to get our spouses into Canada. It's not easy and it costs much time and money, it's not to be taken lightly. Abuse of the system is not something that is welcome on this forum.

You want to get married then fake hundreds of photos and papers and get medical checkups and police certificates then live together for years so that you can travel easier? That is just ridiculous. If it helps you travel go become a Croatian instead, maybe it's easier and you get EU benefits

Edit: Ok you answered my question, thank you. You are on the spousal sponsorship board, of course I would think you are talking about PR status. Getting married doesn't really do anything, she would still be subject to the same visa rules regardless. Take a look at that eTA option for her.

If getting married helps you in Croatia somehow, go for it. It won't help you much in Canada without the PR, which is a waste of time for you for the reasons I mentioned.

I have no ideals about marriage whatsoever, cultures have arranged marriages all the time, but my disbelief is that you would want to go through the process for just travelling. There are far easier ways to get into Canada than getting married and going through PR.

 

[metaphys]

Well, I didn't realize this was the Spousal Sponsorship sub-forum. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone going through the troubles of getting their spouses over, I actually have a close friend who is still in this process and it sucks because he can't travel out of the country with me because he has to stay there with his wife for like 5 years.

Anyway I apologize if I rubbed anyone the wrong way.