GF coming from Taiwan, When/how to marry?

[hurric]

My girlfriend has lived in BC for 9 years before as an international student while going to university and then working based on her work permit which expired after 3 years and she wasn't approved for PR because her work wasn't deemed class B professional and we did a sloppy job on the application form (worked at college as assistant) so she went back to Taiwan in 2013.

It's been 1.5 years now she's in Taiwan and I have known her about 2 years before she left. We plan to marry and I want to sponsor her to live with me but we're not planning a "wedding celebration" until at least 1 year after she comes here.

What should I do in this case? I want to have a wedding thru a religious way who will register it for us. I'm not sure if her parent will attend from Taiwan as it's a long distance away. Is just going to a marriage office with 2 witnesses enough? who should those witnesses be? I want to start her application process so she can apply for work as soon as possible and seems like Outland is the faster way but not sure when we should start the process or how? Then can I have the actual wedding later on? Should I put that on the application?

Should we marry as soon as she comes here? Will this be a 'red flag' if we just show up and register?

How will this affect the application. Should I start anything now? I'm working full time here and have very limited time off during the year. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

(Summary: gf is in Taiwan, plans to come as visitor and I want to fastest application so she can work and we plan to have marriage ceremony about 1 year from now after she comes but we should be legally married to even start it so what should I do?)

 

[Christoph100]

Correct me if I am wrong,
You won't be able to sponsor until your GF becomes your spouse either through Marriage or Common Law.

 

[llij21]

My girlfriend has lived in BC for 9 years before as an international student while going to university and then working based on her work permit which expired after 3 years and she wasn't approved for PR because her work wasn't deemed class B professional and we did a sloppy job on the application form (worked at college as assistant) so she went back to Taiwan in 2013.

It's been 1.5 years now she's in Taiwan and I have known her about 2 years before she left. We plan to marry and I want to sponsor her to live with me but we're not planning a "wedding celebration" until at least 1 year after she comes here.

What should I do in this case? I want to have a wedding thru a religious way who will register it for us. I'm not sure if her parent will attend from Taiwan as it's a long distance away. Is just going to a marriage office with 2 witnesses enough? who should those witnesses be? I want to start her application process so she can apply for work as soon as possible and seems like Outland is the faster way but not sure when we should start the process or how? Then can I have the actual wedding later on? Should I put that on the application?

Should we marry as soon as she comes here? Will this be a 'red flag' if we just show up and register?

How will this affect the application. Should I start anything now? I'm working full time here and have very limited time off during the year. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

(Summary: gf is in Taiwan, plans to come as visitor and I want to fastest application so she can work and we plan to have marriage ceremony about 1 year from now after she comes but we should be legally married to even start it so what should I do?)

as per my opinion, maybe you can do civil wedding at the moment as it will be easier for you to get her.. you can't sponsor her as common law partner if you two has not lived in together.. Try to have a simple celebration where her and your family are there and take lots of pictures as those will serve as proofs that your relationship to her is genuine..

 

[hurric]

That was my question. Do we still need to have a "celebration" to count it as our wedding? I really do want a real wedding but I can't plan that now when she's not even here. I just want her to be able to come here and get her work permit and we will marry in 1-1.5 years. I understand we can't start the process until we're officially married but I was hoping If I can do that while she comes here as visitor (preferably soon after she comes so we can start on the long process of OUTLAND application)

She will be coming here alone. Does the fact that she used to live in Canada have anything to do with it? we have tons of pictures (Even this year we met up in europe) and had a trip together so there's no shortage of pictures but do we need lots of wedding pictures as our celebration and proof that we're actually married?

can i just go to court and have a civil wedding and start the process or that'll cause suspicion? I mean it doesn't make sense if she comes here and I have no planned anything or invited anyone and we suddenly marry. If I go to taiwan, same thing, I can't take all my family there to have a wedding and I only have 2 weeks free.

 

[Kayaker]

Under the circumstances, maybe your best bet is to have a civil marriage first, apply for PR, then have the "wedding celebration" later. You can't apply unless you marry - whether that looks suspicious or not depends on how convincing proof of "genuine relationship" you can produce, and if you can explain the logic behind this so that the VO is convinced this is not a marriage of convenience. A marriage certificate qualifies you two to apply - but whether it will be granted or not (or whether she will be interviewed or not) depends on the rest of the evidence you compile.

By the way, my husband and I had a civil marriage in Japan (only my parents were present) in Dec 2013. (The next day we did have wedding photos taken in full regalia, and we included these photos in the application.) We applied in Feb 2014. After that I came to "visit" my husband in Canada and we had a wedding reception this summer. (Small party of 20 people, his family, my parents, and several friends.) We plan on sending our VO photos and additional evidence of this reception. (Our application is still in process.)

 

[turntopage47]

If you were in a romantic relationship before she left Canada then it might not be that big of a red flag.
The bigger red flag and concern for CIC tends to be couples that met online and get married on the first visit.
This would depend on what religions you two are also.

Is there any way you can go to Taiwan to marry her?
The marriage doesn't need to take place in Canada.

 

[hurric]

I could go to Taiwan to marry her but that would probably delay it and cost twice as much as I want a wedding here with my family as well. We were dating before and have tons of friends and pictures to show and chat records. I just want quickest way to get married while doing it properly. Maybe going Taiwan getting married and coming back together is an option.

 

[tink23]

Did you live together for 12 months or longer when she was living in Canada? If yes, and you have proof of this, you can apply now as common law. If not, then yes, you will have to get married.

 

[Christoph100]

I could go to Taiwan to marry her but that would probably delay it and cost twice as much as I want a wedding here with my family as well. We were dating before and have tons of friends and pictures to show and chat records. I just want quickest way to get married while doing it properly. Maybe going Taiwan getting married and coming back together is an option.

We had a civil marriage in my wife's country of residence.
Civil marriage is the quickest way.


I think a civil marriage will be more then sufficient and you can have the large ceremony later on (same as our plan )
You could have it done in Taiwan or wait till she arrives here in Canada as a visitor and marry during this time.
Having it done in Taiwan and trying to come into Canada as a couple may prove a bit difficult as her status will be visitor and immigration/cbsa may want some sort of proof she will leave when her time is up.
It might be best to wait till she gets to Canada and marry here under Civil Marriage.

As for your wife working she will not be able to work until her PR is all approved

 

[hurric]

Thanks for the reply. My concern was raising a red flag if we marry as soon as she comes as visitor. We dated 2 years before buy not sure what evidence cic accepts that our relationship is genuine. Sounds like it's better she comes here as visitor, we do civil marriage and complete the application with visa extension and send it all as outland type and hope it all works out. Thanks for the advice

 

[Kayaker]

You could submit the following evidence: photos of you two together since the time you started dating (hopefully you have a lot to choose from), any love letters or cards you exchanged, photos, tickets and hotel receipts etc. from when you two met up in Europe, stuff like that. Not sure how much weight it carries, but we also submitted screenshots of Facebook showing photos of us together that we posted (with comments from our friends - to prove that lots of people knew about our relationship) and relationship status change (to "engaged" and eventually to "married") with all the congratulatory comments from everyone. Also, we asked some of my friends, and some of his, and family members from both sides, to write a "testimonial" letter saying how they met us and what they know of us (that we're in a genuine loving relationship). These letters weren't notarized and I don't know how much importance they have in CIC's eyes, but we figured it wouldn't hurt.