More info about relationship - need your opinion&knowledge

[keesio]

For IRCC/CIC, it is important to follow cultural norm. I don't know enough about cultural norms in Iraq so i cannot comment. But I know that for Indian couples, IRCC/CIC prefers to see a large wedding since they consider that to be the cultural norm. Not having that will cause them to scrutinize the whole relationship.

 

[Dawoodal]

Sorry I am a little confused, if she is now legally your wife why did you not live together or consummate the marriage? You said it was because of tradition and culture? If that is the case then the wedding is not just a declaration to people. Is it that you are technically legally married, but in the eyes of the culture and tradition that doesn't take place until after the wedding? Like would her father be ok with her spending a honeymoon with you without the actual wedding?

In India if you get married in a court you are 100% legally married. But if someone didn't do a big Indian wedding like most do in the culture then that can be something that could draw attention to the file. Not sure if its the same in Iraq.

Slightly similar. However, some skip the engagement party and straight to the wedding. Some throw one small party then live together. It depends on the family and their financial capabilities. But the most common is to have a wedding with a white dress etc.

Here is where I'm stuck. Our FB relationship status is engaged. Not married. In the eyes of the culture is what she is afraid of putting married with no wedding would upset so many people that they were not invited to the wedding and her parents would not allow it. It's a very annoying and absurd to care about what people would say but to me I do not care a bit.

So now I can't provide that as an evidence of social media relationship. Because its gonna say married all over the forms but this screenshot from FB is engaged.

 

[niamahmoud]

Slightly similar. However, some skip the engagement party and straight to the wedding. Some throw one small party then live together. It depends on the family and their financial capabilities. But the most common is to have a wedding with a white dress etc.

Here is where I'm stuck. Our FB relationship status is engaged. Not married. In the eyes of the culture is what she is afraid of putting married with no wedding would upset so many people that they were not invited to the wedding and her parents would not allow it. It's a very annoying and absurd to care about what people would say but to me I do not care a bit.

So now I can't provide that as an evidence of social media relationship. Because its gonna say married all over the forms but this screenshot from FB is engaged.

At this point, I don’t think a FB post or status matters as much as what facts are and what you will be telling the IRCC/CIC.

If you intend to marry later and apply within this time (12 months) it will be scrutinized to a certain extent. But I understand the financial difficulties that will and can arise.

 

[Dawoodal]

We have seen previous examples of refusals because the court marriage isn't really a true marriage because you must wait for the wedding ceremony to live together and consummate the marriage. There was a similar case on this forum in the past couple months.
it seems like it is a step in between.

Court marriage plus a celebration party (engagement party). There are also many pictures that shows we are a couple. Long phone calls. Way too many texts. It is a relationship. They need to know that it is genuine and it is !

 

[canuck78]

Can you live together and sleep together? No. Don't know how you are defining this a full marriage. It is more like an engagement further confirmed by the fact that you are calling yourself engaged.

 

[YVR123]

I remember reading some member posting about similar situation and the agent questioned about the missing of the ceremony and the white dress and not living together with her husband. And her marriage was not view as "completed". She was going into appeal. (or re-apply)
Not sure if you are from the same culture background and if you are considered as engaged or married yet.

 

[canuck78]

I remember reading some member posting about similar situation and the agent questioned about the missing of the ceremony and the white dress and not living together with her husband. And her marriage was not view as "completed". She was going into appeal. (or re-apply)
Not sure if you are from the same culture background and if you are considered as engaged or married yet.

Believe that case may have been from Lebanon but as I mentioned before they were denied.

 

[ashpash22]

I think you have to imagine that you are called for an interview and they start asking questions about your marriage, it could be very difficult for you to make this make sense to them. They will ask about a honeymoon and they have asked people before if they have been intimate and questions like "what side of the bed do each of you sleep on" and they may ask questions about culture and if the way you have gotten married without a wedding and without a honeymoon is normal for you or not. Of course in many cases a simple court wedding has been approved (typically in many western cultures) but like others are saying, they unfortunately make their decisions based on the cultural norms for your background. Part of what they look for is if your friends and family consider you to be married/ in a relationship and if they were to ask someone then what kind of answer would they be getting? You seem to have said that not everyone views you as married and that could be a problem.

 

[Silka]

Exactly what I meant. It makes sense in theory but not in practical. It just makes your application stronger if you finalize the wedding and then apply.

Can we apply soon after marriage or we need to wait for a month and take photos and then submit our case to embassy?

 

[canuck78]

Can we apply soon after marriage or we need to wait for a month and take photos and then submit our case to embassy?

Wish I could find the posting that was exactly like your case. They applied after the court ceremony and were refused since they have not had the public ceremony. The agent referred to the fact that they could not live together yet or consummate the marriage so they were refused. The CIC agents are familiar with cultural traditions and this will happen in your case as well. You'll then have to pay to repeat things like the medical because they are expired. Hopefully someone else can find the thread. Sounds like in general you haven't spent a lot of time together as a couple. CIC would like to see progression of photos together at various occasions. Sure you can apply after the wedding if you have your various documents and marriage registration.

 

[niamahmoud]

Can we apply soon after marriage or we need to wait for a month and take photos and then submit our case to embassy?

You can apply anytime after marriage. But preferable after a good amount of photos and proof of the wedding and your relationship are produced.

 

[Dawoodal]

Can you live together and sleep together? No. Don't know how you are defining this a full marriage. It is more like an engagement further confirmed by the fact that you are calling yourself engaged.

legally and religiously, we are husband and wife. Yes we haven't lived together but the reason is the following.. this is my logic: I did not want to consummate the marriage for 1 week then leave and see her after a year when the application is done, i wanted to start our lives together and do not get separated then resume our marriage.

I wanted her to come to Canada first then we can go to Cuba for our honey moon. or go somewhere for our honey moon then Canada.

 

[Dawoodal]

Wish I could find the posting that was exactly like your case. They applied after the court ceremony and were refused since they have not had the public ceremony. The agent referred to the fact that they could not live together yet or consummate the marriage so they were refused. The CIC agents are familiar with cultural traditions and this will happen in your case as well. You'll then have to pay to repeat things like the medical because they are expired. Hopefully someone else can find the thread. Sounds like in general you haven't spent a lot of time together as a couple. CIC would like to see progression of photos together at various occasions. Sure you can apply after the wedding if you have your various documents and marriage registration.

we did a public ceremony. there was a party attended by 40 people. Does it have to be a wedding with a white dress? we are both originally not from the country we got married at. we dont know many people and we did not need to throw a big wedding. we dont have plenty of people to attend.

i have photos of us when we were kids, i have photos of just BBQ, photos hanging out, photos kissing outside, inside my place and even on the kitchen table sitting and eating together. photos from the celebration (party), photos from court, photos of both families having dinner with us sitting next to each other, restaurant pictures. i have about 3000 photos from 3 weeks.

"Sure you can apply after the wedding if you have your various documents and marriage registration" - please explain, i have the marriage certificate, bank statement of our joint account, plenty of text messages and calls, my parents and my air plant tickets, i even have recipes from every cafe/restaurant we went to (doesnt have our names). am i missing anything?

 

[elomam]

legally and religiously, we are husband and wife. Yes we haven't lived together but the reason is the following.. this is my logic: I did not want to consummate the marriage for 1 week then leave and see her after a year when the application is done, i wanted to start our lives together and do not get separated then resume our marriage.

I wanted her to come to Canada first then we can go to Cuba for our honey moon. or go somewhere for our honey moon then Canada.

This maybe makes sense for you, but look at it from CIC point of view. There are high risks that your application will raise red flags and be really scrutinized, and also a high risk of refusal.
If I were you I won't bet on it.
Side-note : I don't know but maybe IRCC agents for BGC purposes would look at your facebook accounts and would see "engaged" rather than married, which certainly would complicate things for you...

 

[Silka]

Wish I could find the posting that was exactly like your case. They applied after the court ceremony and were refused since they have not had the public ceremony. The agent referred to the fact that they could not live together yet or consummate the marriage so they were refused. The CIC agents are familiar with cultural traditions and this will happen in your case as well. You'll then have to pay to repeat things like the medical because they are expired. Hopefully someone else can find the thread. Sounds like in general you haven't spent a lot of time together as a couple. CIC would like to see progression of photos together at various occasions. Sure you can apply after the wedding if you have your various documents and marriage registration.

No no, i am not doing court marriage. I am doing proper marriage in Pakistan according to my culture. We invited 1100 people on our wedding hehehe my question is can i apply soon after my cultural wedding or i need to wait for a month or so. We have last 2 year communication record as well based on facebook and whatsapp