Mr. Optimism said:
Hi everyone,
I hope everyone is okay and in the best of health. I have some questions and I am looking for some guidance. First, I will give a brief run down of situation. I am a young 27 year old Jamaican male who has never traveled before. In fact, I have been denied visitor for US three time and Canada twice. No criminal record, but on the basis of ties to home country and funds. I have been employed in a call center environment for well over 5yrs now.
My girlfriend is a Canadian Citizen, 5yrs older than I am. We were introduced over the phone by a friend of my mom who was in Canada back in December 2014. We exchanged numbers and became friends, nothing serious at the time. We took it a day at a time and developed feelings for each other. In the summer of 2015, she sent an invitation so I could apply for a TRV to visit and accompany her to a wedding. We were both naive to the process and the application was denied. The relation on the application was friends. We never met before and didn't know where life would take us. Neither did I have any intention of staying, I genuinely wanted the chance to travel because I was denied 3 times already by the US. That did not stopped us. After the wedding she came to visit me in Jamaica an we spent a week at a hotel on the north cost during that time see met my mom.
After she return, we begin to work on the reasons I was denied and we prepared a better application this time around. We did the application in November 2015 to travel for December 2015 but was denied again. The relation was still friends. They came back with reasons like no travel history, didn't have sufficient funds, ties and assets. Again, she travel to visit me in January 2016. We spent 7 days together at a hotel. The reason for the short trips is because she has a 5 yr old daughter back home and she holds position in her job so her life back home is pretty demanding.
Honestly, I have no urge to apply for another visit visa regardless of where. We are stressed out, because we are deeply in love and I cannot travel to even send some quality time with here and her family and it's really hard living apart. 7 days, two week visit is not enough for us. She said the next time she visit we would just get married and she would begin the paperwork. This would take place between Sept to Dec 2016 God's willing.
I have read some articles and my questions are:
1.) Would this seem like a marriage for convenience because I was denied trice by US and twice by CA?
a.) Would it be considered misrepresentation since we had friends and not girlfriend/partner on both applications I was denied?
2.) Would 1yr 9mths be enough time? (Yes, I understand marriage is a personal decision. But is this acceptable in the eyes of the VO or is it a "red flag"? )
3.) Would our 5yrs age difference be a factor?
** All here family lives in Canada, they migrated yrs ago. We are planning on a small wedding, so maybe only her mom, aunt, and brother would come depending on the time and the cost. I would also invite a handful from my side because, we are just doing something small at this time. Maybe at RGD or a package depending on the hotel we will stay the next time.
4.) Do they scrutinize the location of the wedding, how many persons attend, etc?
5.) What is the rough estimate to complete the filing process?
I am grateful for any feedback, please and thanks. Please let me know the stages of filing and submitting an error free application.
Thanks in advance.
Good morning, and welcome!
I'm no expert and I really don't know much about visitor visas, but I think if you present a strong application and address all concerns that you think immigration might have you should be successful! You may have to do an interview, but as long as you explain to them what you just explained to us here then you should be fine
Yes, one year and 9 months before getting married is enough time! There are plenty of people on here who have gotten married after less time than that and been successful with their applications, it's not the length of the relationship that's important they just want to make sure it's genuine so make sure you show them that! If you haven't already, make sure you document absolutely everything (phone calls, msgs, emails, cards/letters, travel documentation when she comes to see you, etc.)
The age difference shouldn't be a big deal, but that combined with the denied visitor visas and the relatively short relationship *may* be enough red flags for them to request an interview. Just try not to stress out about it and prepare yourself just in case. Plenty of people have interviews and are approved, you just need to be honest and show them your relationship is real
It's not the size of the wedding that's important, it's the thought that went in to it and how well you document it really. Take lots of pictures of yourselves with all the guests who do attend and make sure to included those in your application, along with an explanation of why you did a small wedding and you will be fine!
The spousal sponsorship application costs just over $1000CAD to submit and it is best to submit all fees upfront if possible. You do have the option of paying some of it ($75 application fee plus $475 for principal applicant) upfront and then waiting for them to request the rest (Right of permanent residence fee $490), but it may slow down your application a bit if you wait for them to request it. In terms of time, it looks like most people lately have been getting through in a year or less, but that can always change and if an interview is requested it could take longer than the average timeframe.
It is also recommended that you submit an upfront medical exam and police check along with your application when you apply. All forms and documents that are required can be found here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp#immigrate
Read through the guides carefully and you should be fine!
Hopefully this helps a bit, feel free to ask other questions you may think of. This forum is full of people who are all in the same boat as you so we're all here to help!
Best of luck!
