Move back home from Saudi Arabia

[sunsh1negrl]

Greetings from Saudi Arabia

I am a Canadian-born citizen currently living in Saudi Arabia. My husband and I were married in a religious ceremony in Canada 2011 which I understand is not legally recognized by the government. However we are legally married according to the Saudi government, our oldest was born in Canada while our youngest was born in Saudi Arabia. My question today is what do I need to do for us to move back to Canada and for my husband take citizenship? Do I need to apply from Canada or can he go on a visa and apply for PR afterwards? Also how long does it take for any procedure?

Thank you for reading & I hope you all have a great day

 

[Gumper]

Greetings from Saudi Arabia - I am a Canadian-born citizen currently living in Saudi Arabia. My husband and I were married in a religious ceremony in Canada 2011 which I understand is not legally recognized by the government. However we are legally married according to the Saudi government, our oldest was born in Canada while our youngest was born in Saudi Arabia. My question today is what do I need to do for us to move back to Canada and for my husband take citizenship? Do I need to apply from Canada or can he go on a visa and apply for PR afterwards? Also how long does it take for any procedure? Thank you for reading & I hope you all have a great day

OK, hate seeing a "shutout" on here so I'll give it a stab: I assume your 1st son is automatically a Canadian citizen (you may need to formalize that if you haven't already), so it's likely your husband and 2nd son who will require sponsoring. (Your husband will become a Permanent Resident 1st before he can become a Canadian citizen.) Is Saudi Arabia a visa-exempt country, i.e. can your family travel to Canada without requiring a Temp Resident Visa (like a "visitor visa")? Depending on that, and your employment scenario, you will have to decide whether to apply 'outland' (from SA) or 'inland' (from inside Canada). Information on process, times, & the pros & cons of both can be found in abundance on this forum and also the CIC web site. I assume a 'legal marriage' certificate from SA will suffice for purposes of proving your marriage (translation into EN/FR required) -- did you not register your marriage in Canada from a civil pov, I think that's what matters regardless of which religious option you chose. Hopefully others will chime in here....look for a thread on here too for applicants from Saudi (and the corresponding visa office). Good luck!

 

[truesmile]

From the information posted, the 2nd son is also a Canadian Citizen. It's the 2nd son's eventual children who will not automatically be Canadian Citizens.

I'm curious however, why would the religious ceremony "in Canada" NOT be recognized by the Canadian government?

 

[Gumper]

From the information posted, the 2nd son is also a Canadian Citizen. It's the 2nd son's eventual children who will not automatically be Canadian Citizens.

Unless the 2nd son's children are born IN Canada, then they would surely be Canadian, yes?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I am a Canadian-born citizen currently living in Saudi Arabia. My husband and I were married in a religious ceremony in Canada 2011 which I understand is not legally recognized by the government. However we are legally married according to the Saudi government, our oldest was born in Canada while our youngest was born in Saudi Arabia. My question today is what do I need to do for us to move back to Canada and for my husband take citizenship? Do I need to apply from Canada or can he go on a visa and apply for PR afterwards? Also how long does it take for any procedure?

If Saudi Arabia recognizes your marriage as legal, then Canada will as well, as long as it does not break any Canadian laws.

If you haven't yet applied for your second child's Canadian Certificate of Citizenship, you should do so as soon as you can.

I'm assuming your husband is Saudi. With a Canadian wife and Canadian children, there is little chance that he will be approved for a visitor visa, as his ties to Canada are stronger than his ties to Saudi Arabia.

You should start an outland sponsorship app as soon as possible. You don't need to be in Canada to do this. The Visa Office would be Abu Dhabi; posted processing time shows 80% of apps are done in 15 months, so with a straightforward app, it would probably take around 10 months.

I'm curious however, why would the religious ceremony "in Canada" NOT be recognized by the Canadian government?

I assume that it was strictly a religious ceremony performed by an officiant that was not officially licensed to perform marriages; therefore, the "marriage" couldn't actually be registered and so is not legally recognized.

 

[sunsh1negrl]

OK, hate seeing a "shutout" on here so I'll give it a stab: I assume your 1st son is automatically a Canadian citizen (you may need to formalize that if you haven't already), so it's likely your husband and 2nd son who will require sponsoring. (Your husband will become a Permanent Resident 1st before he can become a Canadian citizen.) Is Saudi Arabia a visa-exempt country, i.e. can your family travel to Canada without requiring a Temp Resident Visa (like a "visitor visa")? Depending on that, and your employment scenario, you will have to decide whether to apply 'outland' (from SA) or 'inland' (from inside Canada). Information on process, times, & the pros & cons of both can be found in abundance on this forum and also the CIC web site. I assume a 'legal marriage' certificate from SA will suffice for purposes of proving your marriage (translation into EN/FR required) -- did you not register your marriage in Canada from a civil pov, I think that's what matters regardless of which religious option you chose. Hopefully others will chime in here....look for a thread on here too for applicants from Saudi (and the corresponding visa office). Good luck!

Hi Gumper, thanks for replying. My son Jason has a Canadian passport but my baby girl Alexandra is in the process of obtaining one when her papers are ready. We inquired at the Canadian embassy in Riyadh about the procedures about getting her citizenship. I know that even if a child is born in Canada and has a Canadian birth certificate *but has a foreign passport*, the airlines here will not let him board. Lost out on 2 tickets back to Canada at the airport in Abu Dhabi. We did not register our marriage in the civil courts but we do have a Saudi marriage license. (One cannot book hotels without a paper saying a couple is married here LoL). I've tried looking through the forum for more information but couldn't find much. BTW today I talked to my friend back in Canada and she said the government is preparing to change the laws to make it even MORE stricter for spouses of Canadians to come to Canada -- even if they have children. Has anyone heard of this?? It's supposed to take effect in the next couple of months and I have been advised to apply ASAP at the visa office in Khobar.

 

[sunsh1negrl]

From the information posted, the 2nd son is also a Canadian Citizen. It's the 2nd son's eventual children who will not automatically be Canadian Citizens.

I'm curious however, why would the religious ceremony "in Canada" NOT be recognized by the Canadian government?

Correct -- my daughter's children will not be automatically Canadian if she delivers outside of Canada. AS for the religious ceremony, I checked the Canadian Foreign Affairs website and it said they do not recognize religious ceremonies done in Canada. Prolly to weed out any fakes?

 

[sunsh1negrl]

If Saudi Arabia recognizes your marriage as legal, then Canada will as well, as long as it does not break any Canadian laws.

If you haven't yet applied for your second child's Canadian Certificate of Citizenship, you should do so as soon as you can.

I'm assuming your husband is Saudi. With a Canadian wife and Canadian children, there is little chance that he will be approved for a visitor visa, as his ties to Canada are stronger than his ties to Saudi Arabia.

You should start an outland sponsorship app as soon as possible. You don't need to be in Canada to do this. The Visa Office would be Abu Dhabi; posted processing time shows 80% of apps are done in 15 months, so with a straightforward app, it would probably take around 10 months.


I assume that it was strictly a religious ceremony performed by an officiant that was not officially licensed to perform marriages; therefore, the "marriage" couldn't actually be registered and so is not legally recognized.

Hi Canuck in UK, yes my husband is a Saudi national. I was confused earlier why he would not be approved for a visit visa but my BFF cleared it up. I was thinking to do an outland application. Our religious marriage was performed by someone who was not licensed to marry couples except according to our religious laws.

 

[Gumper]

Sounds like you have everything in order now sunsh1negrl (get your CDN passports for your kids & get the sponsorship process going for your husband). Re: marriage processes/legalities, I didn't get married in Canada but as far as I can recall I think it's pretty standard when you get married in a religious setting you also arrange to have your marriage recognized civilly -- ie just asking the pertinent level of government for the licence that you take timee to sign on your (religious) wedding day. I didn't think they care what kind of religious ceremony you choose after that. Nevertheless you got married in SA (where ironically enough the 'religious' and 'civil' procedures may be one & the same?), I think Canada recognizes any such 'legal' arrangements in effect in the local country. Good luck with your application!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Re: marriage processes/legalities, I didn't get married in Canada but as far as I can recall I think it's pretty standard when you get married in a religious setting you also arrange to have your marriage recognized civilly -- ie just asking the pertinent level of government for the licence that you take timee to sign on your (religious) wedding day.

All officiants in Canada, religious and civil, must be officially licensed to perform marriages. If the officiant isn't, as in the case of the OP, it is not a legally recognized marriage even if they obtained a marriage licence.