Hi guys,
I have been scouring through the forum and finally decided that my situation is a bit unique so I decided to post.Forgive me for the long post but I feel I have to explain our situation clearly if im to get help.
I'm a 30 year old female from Zimbabwe, and my husband is 31 and he is PR. We are working on our conjugal partner application. I'll explain why I call him husband when we're applying under conjugal partner. We had our traditional customary marriage ceremony (dowry payments and celebration) in December 2015, hence in my country he is regarded as my husband. We dont have a marriage certificate. We have been together for 3 years. My husband is a political refugee who was granted PR in Canada. That being said, he is not able to come back to Zimbabwe for fear of persecution. I applied for TRV in September 2014 and it was rejected. Everytime he has visited we've always had to meet in South Africa since he can't travel to Zim. I guess thats our immigration barrier. Our traditional customary marriage was done at my uncle's house in South Africa and we had a lovely reception afterwards with 220 guests. We do plan on having our white wedding, hopefully in Canada. I would like to have a beautiful ceremony which will be memorable to us both and i'd love to have that opportunity. Thats the main reason why we didnt get a marriage certificate in South Africa.
We plan on including the following in our application:
-My visa refusal letter to canada
-Hubby's proof that he's a protected person
-Hubby's life insurance policy naming me as his beneficiary
-Hubby's work documentation where I'm listed as next of kin
-My medical insurance policy where he is listed as my spouse (my country recognizes customary marriages hence he's considered my spouse), hubby's parents are also listed as beneficiaries and inlaws
-Evidence of 2 properties that we are paying for in installments. One was purchased in October 2014, and the other in January 2016. The paperwork has both our names. Also receipts of payments with both our names.
-Evidence of communication. Whatsapp, skype, sms
-Power of attorney where hubby lists me as his agent in Zim
-Pictures of dowry payment ceremony and reception. Invitation card, save the date card, guestlist included
-Pictures of our relationship, including trips and holidays together
-Pictures of myself with his family in Zimbabwe. Hubby is not in these pictures
-Western union receipts and bank transfers showing money he has sent me during our relationship
-Sworn statements from family and friends
-Itineraries and passport stamps showing our travels together and his visits to South Africa during our relationship
Now, from reading around this forum I have learnt that conjugal applications are difficult to get approved. My fear is that the VO will ask why we didn't get married in SA. As mentioned already, we didn't want a rushed wedding, we want it to be special and memorable. After the dowry payments and ceremony in December, we can't afford that at the moment.
I just wanted to throw our case to you so that you can give opinions and suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
I have been scouring through the forum and finally decided that my situation is a bit unique so I decided to post.Forgive me for the long post but I feel I have to explain our situation clearly if im to get help.
I'm a 30 year old female from Zimbabwe, and my husband is 31 and he is PR. We are working on our conjugal partner application. I'll explain why I call him husband when we're applying under conjugal partner. We had our traditional customary marriage ceremony (dowry payments and celebration) in December 2015, hence in my country he is regarded as my husband. We dont have a marriage certificate. We have been together for 3 years. My husband is a political refugee who was granted PR in Canada. That being said, he is not able to come back to Zimbabwe for fear of persecution. I applied for TRV in September 2014 and it was rejected. Everytime he has visited we've always had to meet in South Africa since he can't travel to Zim. I guess thats our immigration barrier. Our traditional customary marriage was done at my uncle's house in South Africa and we had a lovely reception afterwards with 220 guests. We do plan on having our white wedding, hopefully in Canada. I would like to have a beautiful ceremony which will be memorable to us both and i'd love to have that opportunity. Thats the main reason why we didnt get a marriage certificate in South Africa.
We plan on including the following in our application:
-My visa refusal letter to canada
-Hubby's proof that he's a protected person
-Hubby's life insurance policy naming me as his beneficiary
-Hubby's work documentation where I'm listed as next of kin
-My medical insurance policy where he is listed as my spouse (my country recognizes customary marriages hence he's considered my spouse), hubby's parents are also listed as beneficiaries and inlaws
-Evidence of 2 properties that we are paying for in installments. One was purchased in October 2014, and the other in January 2016. The paperwork has both our names. Also receipts of payments with both our names.
-Evidence of communication. Whatsapp, skype, sms
-Power of attorney where hubby lists me as his agent in Zim
-Pictures of dowry payment ceremony and reception. Invitation card, save the date card, guestlist included
-Pictures of our relationship, including trips and holidays together
-Pictures of myself with his family in Zimbabwe. Hubby is not in these pictures
-Western union receipts and bank transfers showing money he has sent me during our relationship
-Sworn statements from family and friends
-Itineraries and passport stamps showing our travels together and his visits to South Africa during our relationship
Now, from reading around this forum I have learnt that conjugal applications are difficult to get approved. My fear is that the VO will ask why we didn't get married in SA. As mentioned already, we didn't want a rushed wedding, we want it to be special and memorable. After the dowry payments and ceremony in December, we can't afford that at the moment.
I just wanted to throw our case to you so that you can give opinions and suggestions.
Thanks in advance!