No photographs- spousal sponsorship (New Delhi)

[Ashmi]

Hi,
I'm getting married to a Canadian citizen and I'm from India. The whole sponsorship process will take 12 month so we are planning to register our marriage and start with the process of sponsorship and later on we are planning to do the traditional wedding according to our culture in India.
As this is a arranged marriage we don't have much photographs together, but few pictures we took when he came to visit me. We are planning to take pictures when we do the registration of the wedding, both our parents and siblings will be present.we have lot of call and text records too. We have know each other from last 6 month. This registrstion of wedding is only to speed up the sponsorship process.

I have read a lot about the importance of photographs to the application and I'm worried that the Vo will think that our relation is not genuine due to the unavailability of ceremonial photographs, especially in India.

Your suggestion will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[AmyR]

From what i have read around this forum, the visa officers are very very interested in looking at cultural photographs which prove that the wedding was a genuine one. For the subcontinent, they know how extended families are involved in weddings and hence such weddings are often assumed to be more genuine than the ones where such celebrations are not done (for any valid reason).
My sincere advice wud be to apply for the process after having all the ceremonies done so that u have enough evidence to prove to them about ur genuine relationship. Again this is my advice based on my understanding of Pakistani and indian cases on this forum. Best wud be to seek help from NDVO thread here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/new-delhi-ndvo-2016-spousal-sponsorship-outside-canada-t390498.13755.html

All the best

Hi,
I'm getting married to a Canadian citizen and I'm from India. The whole sponsorship process will take 12 month so we are planning to register our marriage and start with the process of sponsorship and later on we are planning to do the traditional wedding according to our culture in India.
As this is a arranged marriage we don't have much photographs together, but few pictures we took when he came to visit me. We are planning to take pictures when we do the registration of the wedding, both our parents and siblings will be present.we have lot of call and text records too. We have know each other from last 6 month. Th

 

[wait_so_long]

I concur with AmyR.

Definitely wait until after your marriage ceremonies have been completed, so you have evidence from that event. It may sound like you are prolonging the time that you are apart, but that could extend to three of four years if your application is refused and it has to go to appeal. Come check out the spousal appeals section. There are several cases there where people did not follow the local traditions and were refused, although their marriage was definitely legal, and acceptable.

I also think that the new process requires at least 20 photos to prove your relationship.

 

[wait_so_long]

Please read this story about a married couple that have a child together, but still denied the chance to be together:

https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2016/12/17/couple-accused-of-having-fake-marriage-despite-their-child.html

You need to put together a strong application, and they do take local customs, traditions, and biases into consideration.

 

[d_heart_s]

I also think that the new process requires at least 20 photos to prove your relationship.

Not quite - 20 photos is their preferred maximum.

 

[wait_so_long]

Not quite - 20 photos is their preferred maximum.

Sorry, my mistake. But the closer to the maximum, the better, i would think.

Back when we applied, we had sent in hundreds of photos, and several hundred pages of correspondence, and were still refused.

 

[avatarkyoshi]

Sorry, my mistake. But the closer to the maximum, the better, i would think.

Back when we applied, we had sent in hundreds of photos, and several hundred pages of correspondence, and were still refused.

What happened after you were rejected? :-[

 

[wait_so_long]

What happened after you were rejected? :-[

We had the option of withdrawing the application, or filing an appeal. We decided to file an appeal. Come to the spousal appeals section to see what the appeal process is like; you don't want to go there if you can avoid it. You put your lives on hold for three years, sometimes more. But the elation that you feel when it's finally over!

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t87619.0.html;msg5367201#msg5367201

 

[avatarkyoshi]

We had the option of withdrawing the application, or filing an appeal. We decided to file an appeal. Come to the spousal appeals section to see what the appeal process is like; you don't want to go there if you can avoid it. You put your lives on hold for three years, sometimes more. But the elation that you feel when it's finally over!

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t87619.0.html;msg5367201#msg5367201

So did it work out for you in the end? :'(

 

[avatarkyoshi]

Hi,
I'm getting married to a Canadian citizen and I'm from India. The whole sponsorship process will take 12 month so we are planning to register our marriage and start with the process of sponsorship and later on we are planning to do the traditional wedding according to our culture in India.
As this is a arranged marriage we don't have much photographs together, but few pictures we took when he came to visit me. We are planning to take pictures when we do the registration of the wedding, both our parents and siblings will be present.we have lot of call and text records too. We have know each other from last 6 month. This registrstion of wedding is only to speed up the sponsorship process.

I have read a lot about the importance of photographs to the application and I'm worried that the Vo will think that our relation is not genuine due to the unavailability of ceremonial photographs, especially in India.

Your suggestion will be greatly appreciated!!!

You should just apply after the traditional ceremony. Anything less than the cultural practices is almost never accepted, especially when it's an arranged marriage.

 

[wait_so_long]

So did it work out for you in the end? :'(

still waiting ......

 

[wait_so_long]

You should just apply after the traditional ceremony. Anything less than the cultural practices is almost never accepted, especially when it's an arranged marriage.

Here is an old discussion related to this topic. I've seen this come up in the appeals section a few times as well.

But the OP's original question was "No photographs ....", to which I would say don't even bother right now. It does not sound like they even have the rudimentary evidence required to substantiate a genuine marriage at this point. Waiting a little while now can save them years of agony.

 

[Ashmi]

Sorry, my mistake. But the closer to the maximum, the better, i would think.

Back when we applied, we had sent in hundreds of photos, and several hundred pages of correspondence, and were still refused.

I'm so sorry! Hope everything is sorted and you are united with your loved ones. This is what I'm scared of, I don't want to do anything that would jeopardise my chances to unite with my husband.

 

[Ashmi]

From what i have read around this forum, the visa officers are very very interested in looking at cultural photographs which prove that the wedding was a genuine one. For the subcontinent, they know how extended families are involved in weddings and hence such weddings are often assumed to be more genuine than the ones where such celebrations are not done (for any valid reason).
My sincere advice wud be to apply for the process after having all the ceremonies done so that u have enough evidence to prove to them about ur genuine relationship. Again this is my advice based on my understanding of Pakistani and indian cases on this forum. Best wud be to seek help from NDVO thread here

All the best

Hi,
I'm getting married to a Canadian citizen and I'm from India. The whole sponsorship process will take 12 month so we are planning to register our marriage and start with the process of sponsorship and later on we are planning to do the traditional wedding according to our culture in India.
As this is a arranged marriage we don't have much photographs together, but few pictures we took when he came to visit me. We are planning to take pictures when we do the registration of the wedding, both our parents and siblings will be present.we have lot of call and text records too. We have know each other from last 6 month. Th

Thank you for suggestion!! I would like to know if it is possible to give photographs in later stage of the process? Basically after we get our sponsorship approval? By may first week we are planning to send in our application and by June first week we'll be having our traditional photographs too. Is it possible to that?

 

[wait_so_long]

Sorry, I forgot to provide the link for above:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t355320.0.html

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sponsor-wife-india-after-engagement-court-marriage-please-help-t71873.0.html

Hi

A court marriage will be a big red flag. You will need STRONG relationship proofs to overcome the lack of a traditional wedding. If all you have is a few pictures from the past year, it will be an uphill battle.


To the other posters, before you comment on something such as this, consider the VERY big difference in backgrounds. You (or your sponsored spouses) are all from visa-exempt developed countries that are not considered a risk for Marriages of Convenience and where small court weddings are standard. A court marriage is very much against India's cultural norms of the large and traditional wedding. Anything that goes against cultural norms is always a big red flag to CIC.