Need some advice please - Inland application and extending visitor visa

[ConfusedandInLove]

Hello everyone,

I am quite new to this and have been reading threads for days and would like to ask for some advice please.

Just a summary of our situation - we want to get married next spring (May) but my visitor visa expires in January. In short, I would like to apply for an extension of visitor visa on grounds that I would like to continue visiting with my fiance while I plan our wedding, we get married and while we prepare our Spousal Sponsorship Application. We need some advice on our situation as we have discussed getting married sooner potentially as well and we are not sure what is the best to do. Ultimately we just want to be together and have a life together.

Background:
I came here on a visitor visa to stay with my (now) fiance and travel the local areas. We met online end last year and quickly became good friends talking each day by February. I told him I am planning a trip to Canada and he offered that while I visit I can stay with him. Our friendship grew fast and soon we were talking on video every day. Because neither of us expected to meet someone and connect so perfectly online, we did not define that we had a relationship and struggled with the thought of an online relationship. I continued to submit my visa application and by the time I received it, he already decided to visit me in my country and landed a few days later. During this visit our romantic relationship quickly evolved. We flew to Canada together for my visit and his return. A few weeks in he asked me to stay in Canada with him.

For the Spousal sponsorship after we are married, we do have proof - daily chat and video logs, photos of our travels together and dates. We have some cards and not many receipts (as we weren't planning on falling in love and having proof, we didn't keep those things but will from now.)

We want to live together and have a life together as husband and wife, the only reasons we do not want to get married immediately is because we would like some of my family to attend (and they would need to get visas) and we do not want CIC thinking we got married in order for me to stay as that is not the case. I would also like to have my dream wedding and that needs a bit of planning.

Therefore we thought I could apply for an extension of my visa (my fiance can support me and I have a business in my country (I am not sure if I will be allowed to receive money via my business while being in Canada?) - the reason to extend my visa would be to continue visiting with my fiance while we plan our wedding and then consequently while we complete the Spousal Sponsorship application.

Questions:

1. Do you have any knowledge or experience that CIC would allow extension based on grounds of planning a wedding, getting married and then preparing a spousal sponsorship application? (We plan to do an Inland application)

2. Will it be a problem considering when I applied for my visa we were still only friends and now we are in love and engaged? I can provide proof and write a cover letter with my application for extension.

3. Should we include the receipt for payment of the fees for the Sponsorship application with my application for extension of a visitor visa to proof that we are in fact serious?

4. Should we also include proof such as a receipt for the wedding venue with the Visa extension application?

Thank you

 

[profiler]

First off, are you trying to extend your stay? Or is the visa officially expiring?

 

[ConfusedandInLove]

The visa is expiring mid-January

 

[profiler]

The visa is expiring mid-January

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

If it was me, I wouldn't tell them about a wedding or a PR application. I would send the visa request in now with an invitation letter from your fiance. You will want to provide all the proofs as you usually would. Notify them of the wedding when you file for your PR with your Marriage Certificate.

Given that you have already been granted a visa, I cannot see it being an issue for you to be granted a multiple entry visitor visa. Keep in mind, applying for a PR inland, you have to maintain status in Canada. It is also not recommended that you leave until they have made a decision. So, you may want to also apply for an Open Work Permit at the same time. This will take 4 months to get, so you should apply for all of this shortly after your wedding. You will have overlapping statuses for some time, but that's better than none at all.

Remember to take LOTS of pictures. They love selfies, seeing you two together, family integration (kids if there is any), family functions, etc.

Good luck with everything!

 

[ConfusedandInLove]

Thank you! I appreciate the advice!

I am just worried, will they not have a problem if we apply for Spousal Sponsorship and PR just a few months after getting the visa extension and we didn't mention any plans of getting married on the visa extension application?

 

[profiler]

Thank you! I appreciate the advice!

I am just worried, will they not have a problem if we apply for Spousal Sponsorship and PR just a few months after getting the visa extension and we didn't mention any plans of getting married on the visa extension application?

My wife came here a few times on her Multiple Entry Visitor Visa. We planned and completed a wedding during one of her trips. She went home to straighten out her affairs, find a renter for her apartment, and to get government paperwork required for her PR application. This included a new Passport. She had to apply to have the visa (which is nearing expiry too) transferred to her new passport -- this requires them re-issuing the foil. We have since put in a PR application.

They have already granted her OWP. And we appear to be on the streamline to have our application processed at a faster rate.

I share this story so you can see, it's not uncommon. I am sure it will be fine

 

[maria_mirabela]

Thank you! I appreciate the advice!

I am just worried, will they not have a problem if we apply for Spousal Sponsorship and PR just a few months after getting the visa extension and we didn't mention any plans of getting married on the visa extension application?

You worry too much, but that's normal
I met my husband online too, last year. I came to Canada for winter holidays (about 2 weeks) on a visitor visa and back in May this year; we got married in June and applied for PR inland mid-July. I didn't mention anything about my plans to the CBSA officer when I arrived here, I simply said the purpose of my trip was tourism - had a wedding to attend to ;D.
The relatively short-time history of your relationship shouldn't be a problem as long as you and your husband can prove a genuine relationship (never crossed my mind to worry about my short relationship history - and I normally worry about everything!). I personally had submitted phone calls log (we were talking daily), pictures (right, a lot of selfies and happy faces), FB chats, Skype logs, e-mails and supporting letters from friends and neighbours. I think you will be just fine as long as there's no huge age gap between the two of you, or cultural, social, financial gaps. Also, the fact that your parents are attending the wedding is a big + (make sure you get pics, lots of them, as profiler said before!).

I wish you all the best and congrats on your wedding!