+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

elizash

Newbie
Apr 20, 2014
3
0
Hi, I have a sort of long post/situation/question here and I'd love some experienced well-thought responses.

My boyfriend (23) and I (24) have known each other in mostly an online capacity for about 1.5 years and have dated for about 1.25 years. We've met in person twice and we usually spend at least 3 hours a day on skype. We're visiting again soon and during this trip we were planning on having a very low key marriage/signing. Our families offer very different types of support. His mother has gone through the immigration process before and is fully supportive of us. My mother is pretty much the exact opposite and it's really hurting our confidence, but my sister has our backs.

Me: American female, 24yo. Associates in Business & Marketing, currently working as low ranking manager in a specialty retail boutique. I live with my parents, essentially rent free (<$100/month for minor costs).

Him: Canadian male, 23 yo. Studying for Bachelors in health-science, not currently working so he can focus. He lives with his mother, essentially rent free but pays a fair amount each month when he is working.

Simply put: We don't have a lot of stable income right now. Our plan was to marry on April 30, work on our family-class applications through to July-August, then submit. That would give us a year for him to finish school, find a job and work all summer, and me to work for a year and save for move and future expenses. Once I received PR I would move up and we would live together in some cruddy apartment until we were able to find jobs to appropriately support living more comfortably.

Given this information, is there any reason we would be denied? My main concern is financially because our relationship is genuine and we have enough friends and family to get past my parent's lack of support. There isn't currently an income requirement for spousal sponsorship, but it isn't like we're planning having me move up and then we just flounder until something saves us.

Thanks
 
Honestly you will be fine.

I am a full time student with two children and was approved to sponsor and our whole application was approved last week.
 
Hi elizash,

The key to your application will be showing CIC that you are presently unable to either live together (and therefore qualify for common-law) or marry (and qualify for spousal sponsorship). This will be the most difficult thing for you two --proving that you are in fact unable to qualify for anything but Conjugal sponsorship, especially since you're American and are not necessarily barred from living together or getting married.

However, if you do actually get married this month and apply under Spousal sponsorship, you should be OK as long as you have excellent proof of your genuine relationship and are able to explain why you aren't living together. If the reason you cannot live together is financial (i.e. he can't work in the U.S. and you can't work in Canada), I'm not sure the CIC will accept that (but please someone say otherwise if I'm incorrect!). Just remember that a marriage certificate does not guarantee approval - though, if backed by solid evidence, it seems it will definitely strengthen your app.

When compiling your app, include as much evidence of your relationship as possible - e.g. all the skype sessions/calls/texts/emails, etc (I even included emails I wrote to my family from when I first began dating my partner to show they were aware of our relationship from the very beginning). If you have photos/plane tickets/receipts, etc from the times you visited each other definitely include all that as well. Also include support letters from friends and family.

Good luck!
 
In a situation like this, "conjugal" is a complete non-starter. Get married and then apply normally. This should pose no serious problems, given the information you have provided.
 
Please join our thread for soon to be applying applicants!

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/anyone-want-to-join-a-thread-for-people-applying-in-the-near-future-t192720.0.html

Have a great day! ;D
 
elizash said:
Hi, I have a sort of long post/situation/question here and I'd love some experienced well-thought responses.

My boyfriend (23) and I (24) have known each other in mostly an online capacity for about 1.5 years and have dated for about 1.25 years. We've met in person twice and we usually spend at least 3 hours a day on skype. We're visiting again soon and during this trip we were planning on having a very low key marriage/signing. Our families offer very different types of support. His mother has gone through the immigration process before and is fully supportive of us. My mother is pretty much the exact opposite and it's really hurting our confidence, but my sister has our backs.

Me: American female, 24yo. Associates in Business & Marketing, currently working as low ranking manager in a specialty retail boutique. I live with my parents, essentially rent free (<$100/month for minor costs).

Him: Canadian male, 23 yo. Studying for Bachelors in health-science, not currently working so he can focus. He lives with his mother, essentially rent free but pays a fair amount each month when he is working.

Simply put: We don't have a lot of stable income right now. Our plan was to marry on April 30, work on our family-class applications through to July-August, then submit. That would give us a year for him to finish school, find a job and work all summer, and me to work for a year and save for move and future expenses. Once I received PR I would move up and we would live together in some cruddy apartment until we were able to find jobs to appropriately support living more comfortably.

Given this information, is there any reason we would be denied? My main concern is financially because our relationship is genuine and we have enough friends and family to get past my parent's lack of support. There isn't currently an income requirement for spousal sponsorship, but it isn't like we're planning having me move up and then we just flounder until something saves us.

Thanks

To all previous replies, READ before posting reply, she stated she want to get married first.
@elizash: I dont see any problem as long as your sponsor doesn't ask for welfare.
 
boomlet said:
The key to your application will be showing CIC that you are presently unable to either live together (and therefore qualify for common-law) or marry (and qualify for spousal sponsorship). This will be the most difficult thing for you two --proving that you are in fact unable to qualify for anything but Conjugal sponsorship, especially since you're American and are not necessarily barred from living together or getting married.

Per the OP's first post, are planning to get married. So this is a non-issue.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone, this makes us feel a lot better. At this point we're going to go forward with our original plan and not let bitter family get us down :)