Getting Married in Canada

[dublinfunk]

Hi,

Is it better to get married in Canada rather than out of country? I was thinking for easier verification, We would have a wedding in country rather than outside?

Cheers!

 

[Aquakitty]

I suppose if you are from a non-english country it might save some hassle, but I don't think it matters as long as you have a legal marriage in whatever country you pick. The important thing (if you are from a non visa-exempt country) is to have a wedding that is within your cultural norms. If your culture has large weddings with different ceremonies, then follow through with that.

And, of course, take lots of pictures.

 

[dublinfunk]

Hi,

What do you mean when you say to have a wedding within cultural norms? We were planning a simple civil wedding in Canada with a minister and a few friends only.

 

[canadianwoman]

For example, let's say a man who immigrated from India as a teenager with his family gets married to an Indian woman. They are both Hindi, and the marriage is arranged. In their culture, this is perfectly normal. So then what is also perfectly normal is a very large wedding over several days with many different rituals and steps. The visa officer will expect to see evidence that the marriage was arranged, and that a culturally normal wedding and reception was held. If they do not marry this way, they had better explain why upfront in the application.

A couple from Canada and Ireland would not have this cultural norm. In their case, it would be perfectly normal to have a big, lavish wedding, and it would also be perfectly normal to have a small civil wedding, or a small religious ceremony with only a few family members and friends. For any of these choices, the visa officer will not be suspicious. I suggest you make even the simplest ceremony look special: get dressed up, exchange rings, have flowers, have some family and friends, have a reception after even if it is just dinner at a restaurant with your witnesses, take photos, and go on a honeymoon. Anything less than that will have to be explained, but probably will not hurt your chances of getting PR.

 

[Bunny2021]

Hi,

What do you mean when you say to have a wedding within cultural norms? We were planning a simple civil wedding in Canada with a minister and a few friends only.

I had a simple civil wedding in Canada with my husbands immediate family and only my best friend who was my witness. In total there was about 8 people. My parents didn't make it for various reasons. This was fine, and CIC didn't ask me to submit any extra documents besides the ones I already had regarding this issue. But like Canadianwoman said, it depends on what's normal for your culture. Also, if you plan on having a small wedding be prepared to explain why there is not a lot of people or any family members if only friends are planning to attend. good luck !

 

[louise8118]

Check to see when you can get the official marriage certificate. Here in Michigan it's a few days but I heard differently from some provinces.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Check to see when you can get the official marriage certificate. Here in Michigan it's a few days but I heard differently from some provinces.

exactly. Logistically for application purposes, it's good to check where it will take the shortest amount of time to get your marriage certificate. CIC doesn't care where you get married. As long as it's a legal marriage, where it's done won't have any impact on the application.

 

[dublinfunk]

Thanks! well we are planning to get married in Canada for the reason that we want to have a simple wedding and don't want to spend a lot on a lavish wedding back home and be in debt when we finally come to Canada. We want to save our money for the future and have a simple civil wedding.

Thus we wont have a big lavish wedding as it is accustomed to back home. I hope that will not be a problem. We were just planning to get married in a park with our family and friends in tow maybe around 15-20 people max.

 

[canadianwoman]

That sounds fine. Just document everything.

 

[Bunny2021]

That sounds quite nice actually. As long as you have solid proof of relationship I can't see this being an issue. The wedding is just a contributing factor they look at when assessing the relationship, so as long as you can prove your relationship is genuine, you should be fine. It sounds like your doing a lot more than I did for my wedding make sure to take a lot of pictures of the wedding and reception
with family and friends, gift exchanges (if any) pictures of the honeymoon (if you have one) congratulation letters from family and friends. Anything you can think of that you feel is compelling evidence to prove the marriage is genuine.

 

[Bunny2021]

I also forgot to mention, we had our wedding in Ontario. After the wedding we had to wait 6 weeks for it to be registered in the system before we could order the marriage certificate. Took about 1 week to process after ordering. So in total took about 7 weeks after the wedding to have the official certificate. I think it's different for every province/ territory.

Check to see when you can get the official marriage certificate. Here in Michigan it's a few days but I heard differently from some provinces.

 

[annakrystyna13]

I keep telling everyone on different threads, that what CIC is really looking for as Proof of genuine relationship is all or some of the following:
- joint back accounts
- joint mortgage or rental lease
- joint utility bills
- life insurance naming the spouse as sole beneficiary
- mail delivered to both spouses at the same address (it doesn't necessary have to have both names on it every single time, but they need to
see the both spouses receive mail at the same address)

 

[scylla]

I keep telling everyone on different threads, that what CIC is really looking for as Proof of genuine relationship is all or some of the following:
- joint mortgage or rental lease
- joint utility bills
- mail delivered to both spouses at the same address (it doesn't necessary have to have both names on it every single time, but they need to
see the both spouses receive mail at the same address)

The above evidence is only necessary for common law. It's not required for couples who are married. Many couples here don't have the opportunity to cohabitate until after the PR application has been approved. So it's impossible for them to provide proof of cohabitation.

 

[annakrystyna13]

Yes you are correct, it is not required for spousal but it's still the best evidence a couple can provide. This is what an Immigration Officer said to a married couple during an interview.
But if you are applying outland than make sure you provide lots of other evidence of communication etc.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

But if you are applying outland than make sure you provide lots of other evidence of communication etc.

Not necessarily. People applying outland that live together don't need communication proofs. Such proofs are really only required for couples living apart.