no parent at our wedding

[GG and B]

Hi!

I'm currently in the process of filling out the sponsorship paperwork (outland) and when I got to that point of the application, I also started to worry. We got married with only our 2 witnesses (plus one of their partners) attending - simply because we wanted it to be small... well and also because we're a same sex couple and my parents certainly did not like that in general, so we didn't even bother thinking about inviting them and to be fair my wife said we just won't have any family at our wedding. But I'm thinking, why would it be necessary for the parents to approve the marriage? We're adults and can make our own decisions without anyone having to approve, right? Or am I totally wrong and should actually be worried?

 

[km9203]

Hi!

I'm currently in the process of filling out the sponsorship paperwork (outland) and when I got to that point of the application, I also started to worry. We got married with only our 2 witnesses (plus one of their partners) attending - simply because we wanted it to be small... well and also because we're a same sex couple and my parents certainly did not like that in general, so we didn't even bother thinking about inviting them and to be fair my wife said we just won't have any family at our wedding. But I'm thinking, why would it be necessary for the parents to approve the marriage? We're adults and can make our own decisions without anyone having to approve, right? Or am I totally wrong and should actually be worried?

It depends I think on where you are from. In some cultures, parents do have to approve the wedding but then in some countries too, gay couples are frowned upon/illegal. Where are you from? You could write a letter explaining why it was small, your parents aren't accepting of you being gay etc.

 

[GG and B]

It depends I think on where you are from. In some cultures, parents do have to approve the wedding but then in some countries too, gay couples are frowned upon/illegal. Where are you from? You could write a letter explaining why it was small, your parents aren't accepting of you being gay etc.

Thank you for your response km. I'm from Germany and my wife is a Canadian citizen. Germany doesn't approve gay marriage as equal, it's still only a "civil union" here. But we got married in Canada, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I am explaining it in the application just how I wrote it above: "None of our families attended. My parents didn't quite approve of our relationship and would have never attended and we found it fair that because of it neither of our families would attend."

 

[keesio]

Not having parents at a wedding is a concern, in particular where large weddings are a cultural norm. However, to lessen the visa officer's concern, you have to explain why the parents were not there.

However, I would not say your parents did not attend the wedding because they are of a higher caste. Just say they couldn't be there, they do approve of the wedding, and are planning a smaller celebration for the two of you later. A letter of support from them will help as well.

CIC is aware of local customs so if the reasons why her parents didn't come is in line with standard customs, it is likely ok to explain that to CIC (making sure you also explain that they gave their blessings via phone)

 

[canadianwoman]

A German and a Canadian would almost certainly not have a problem having a small ceremony. Explaining that your parents are not completely accepting of your relationship is fine.

For a couple of Indian background, the visa officers do expect family to attend. They also expect arranged marriages to be arranged normally - that is, if one set of parents would not accept the match because they are of higher caste, the marriage would not have been arranged at all. It sounds like the marriage was not arranged, so I would explain that it was a love match and increase the amount of evidence you send that shows the relationship is genuine.