ogbeni said:
Hello Good people. I really appreciate the effort you guys are making to ensure that valuable information is readily availabe to prospective applicants. Now, i have few questions and i hope someone can help me out pls.
1. I am submitting my application in few weeks and i'm not sure if its advisable or even possible to include my fiance as wife (as in married). We are engaged at the minute and wedding comes up later in the year (2010)!
Thank you guys and hoping to read from someone!
IMHO, another way forward is to include her as a "common law partner" right now, and that is OK as far as CiC is concerned. You get additional points under the adaptability factor based on her qualifications. She bears her father's name, you state the date you began the relationship on the forms(IMM generic), marital status is "common law", and you mention her in your form IMM5406 and thats that. Mind you, CiC reserves the right to request for evidence of "Common-law" relationship when you forward your docs to the visa office later on - and that is where your engagement certs/docs/photos/videos may come in handy. Other things people use as evidence in the west includes joint bank statement, joint utility bills, joint tenancy agreements, joint mortgage/purchase contracts, life insurance policies etc. Separate docs showing same address for you and her may also suffice eg your rental/mortgage contract and her own bank statement reflecting same addy.
I do not know your visa office, but i would imagine that Accra might be a lil bit sensitive to the fact that Nigeria is largely a male dominated society and hence your inability to provide most of those docs with both names appearing on it. Up until recently married women weren't even allowed to procure passports without their husbands consent. If you do not have joint contracts, that shouldn't deter you from including her as your common-law partner, your engagement stuff should be sufficient for CiC. You do have to be mindful though, that you have to be living together, as common law partners, so your address history must tally from the date you commenced the "common-law" relationship(min duration is 1yr). If you do get married before you get your visas, its just a matter of sending your notarised marriage certs to CiC, and that wouldn't cause any delay cos its just a progressive transition from "common law" into "married", but if after marriage you do insist that she carries a new passport in her marital surname, then you would have to inform CiC about change of names and passports as well. or if not you could just leave your application as common law until the very end.
NB: Others with different opinions are not wrong, its quite possible to add family dependants right up until you get your Visa, but it entails filling in new forms, getting new bank drafts, police clearance etc they'd have to be examined medically, and background checks will have to be done too and that causes delay in applications especially in cases where the main applicants has reached an advanced stage in his processing before adding dependants, cos you'll have to wait for CiC to determine her eligibility before you both get your visas. If you include her right from the onset as common law, all those checks and medicals will be done all at once, thereby saving you valuable time. Just my 2kobo.
Its your call, whichever one you decide. Regards.