Protected person (PR) sponsoring conjugal partner from Africa

[fortunezim]

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!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

A quick Google search shows that South Africa recognizes customary marriages as legal, which means that Canada does too.

When did your husband become a PR?

 

[Aquakitty]

Well, if you can meet in South Africa, why can't you just get a court wedding done there for the certificate and have another "white" wedding in Canada? There is really no physical barrier to your marriage in this case so this could cause a problem.

 

[Rob_TO]

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.

That is not an acceptable reason to apply conjugal. If you can get married, that is what you're expected to have done. CIC is quite clear on this in their guide explaining conjugal apps. If you proceed with the conjugal app, you should realistically expect an eventual refusal. You will make things 100x easier on yourself if you just get married in a court ceremony in S.Africa and apply as a married couple.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
5.45. What is a conjugal partner?
If a Canadian and a foreign national can get married or can live together and establish a common-law relationship, this is what they are expected to have done before they submit sponsorship and immigration applications.
The conjugal partner category is mainly intended for partners where neither common-law partner status nor marriage is possible

 

[fortunezim]

Thanks for your replies

Canuck: Yes they are. We are actually attaching something to that effect. He became PF in May 2006.

Aqua kitty Rob TO: Thanks, that could be our option

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Canuck: Yes they are. We are actually attaching something to that effect. He became PF in May 2006.

That's fine. So as I said, Canada will recognize that you are already married and can apply as such now. Register the marriage in SA and get the actual marriage certificate.

 

[fortunezim]

Thanks Canuck

This gives me hope.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi

A quick Google search shows that South Africa recognizes customary marriages as legal, which means that Canada does too.

Not sure if that will work: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/service/customary-marriages
Registering Customary Marriages
Customary marriages must be registered within three months of taking place.

If it's been longer than 3 months since the ceremony, they may be too late to officially register it as a legal marriage. So may need to still go through with the court marriage or a new customary ceremony. I have no clue on this topic though, just what I read on the attached link.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Not sure if that will work: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/service/customary-marriages
Registering Customary Marriages
Customary marriages must be registered within three months of taking place.

If it's been longer than 3 months since the ceremony, they may be too late to officially register it as a legal marriage. So may need to still go through with the court marriage or a new customary ceremony. I have no clue on this topic though, just what I read on the attached link.

I was going by Wikipedia page on "Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998." The actual text of the Act does allow for marriages to be registered beyond the 3 month period if the registering officer is convinced it's a genuine marriage.

 

[fortunezim]

Well, we didnt get our customary marriage registered in SA because we're not SouthAfrican Nationals. They need you to have a south african ID so as to register. So I guess that won't work

from all your contributions, I think its better for him to fly down as soon as possible so we can have a court wedding,

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Well, we didnt get our customary marriage registered in SA because we're not SouthAfrican Nationals. They need you to have a south african ID so as to register. So I guess that won't work

from all your contributions, I think its better for him to fly down as soon as possible so we can have a court wedding,

That's a shame about the ID requirement. Yes, it would be better for him to fly down so you can have a court wedding.

 

[Kavesana]

Hi Guys, i hope i will get a solution from this, i come to Canada 2011 with my two kids left my husband home, we married customary in 2003, I applied to sponsor him, everything was went well until the VO question about our marriage, They want us to submit a civil certificate or the application will be declined, we only get 30 days. I submitted all kind of proof we had on our wedding and most important we have kids and i submitted proofs of birth certificates with the application, me and the kids ate on his life insurance and medical insurance. I Cannot go back home in this short notice and get married, i am a mother with kids in school.

The visa office is Pretoria and my country Namibia. Is there anything else i can do? Please help

 

[mikeymyke]

It sounds like you guys just had a ceremonial marriage and not a legally recognized one. Why didnt you guys do that before immigrating here? The rules clearly state that your marriage has to be legally recognized to be valid

If thats the case, you really have no choice but to get legally married in order to sponsor him, as he's technically not your husband in CIC's view, so therefore he cant be sponsored