secret marriage is it possible to apply for spousal?

[on-hold]

Perhaps I expressed myself badly -- the people who are pointing out that the OP probably doesn't want trouble are right; but at the same time, they are telling her to do something that has a strong element of sexism in it. CIC is actually perfectly fine with non-traditional weddings. Consider these two examples:

- a gay man from the Philippines is sponsored by his Canadian partner after a civil ceremony in Canada
- a Filipina woman with two children who is separated from her husband is accepted as a conjugal partner of a Canadian man

Neither gay marriage nor second marriages are accepted in the Philippines, but CIC accepts them. However, when a young woman violates tradition, that is looked on as a black mark against her marriage. I have never felt that that is acceptable -- the 'cultural' criteria let CIC make value judgments that would never be permitted in on Canadian territory. I'm sure that there are many applicants from Europe and America who get married simply, alone, in civil ceremonies, and aren't expected to provide proof of a 'traditional' Swedish wedding or the like.

My apologies if I was incoherent and rude.

 

[HubbYsWiFeY]

This thread shows the hazards with CIC -- and society -- scrutinizing weddings. The OP is an adult, she has the right to get married however she wants, and I'm sure that she has excellent reasons for doing so. Maybe her family is deeply conservative and objects to her choosing who she marries; maybe her father is a bipolar lunatic; maybe there are financial objections around the issue of dowry and whatnot. The fact is, not everyone has a big cultural wedding where two families celebrate; some people can't wait to get away from their family and their culture. I've known several people from SE Asia who felt that way, and they were all women who strongly objected to the burdens that their culture put specifically on them. Getting out of that is a huge relief.

In traditional societies, there are plenty of people who don't like the traditions -- that doesn't make them bad people. So how about you lay off the OP, mumbling about 'red flags' and whatnot, if she decides to control her own marriage. CIC is staffed by adults, you can write them a letter describing your relationship and exactly why you had the marriage you did.

On-hold,
U made some good points.....

 

[keesio]

CIC is actually perfectly fine with non-traditional weddings.

Yes but this varies greatly via the region. The CIC has some sexist policies and certainly discriminate by region. I have always said that their policy of scrutinizing relationships where the woman is older than the man has a sexist vibe to it because it does. But the reason why they do this is because many parts of the world is sexist. And what CIC strives to look for is "normal". As in, "is this relationship/marriage standard in that region"? A US/Canadian couple where a woman is divorced and 10 years older than her husband and elopes to a small wedding in a cottage in Musoka will not draw as much scrutiny because the standards of marriage is always evolving here (and a bit lax to be honest). But CIC has rejected applications where a couple from South Asia got married quickly in a small ceremony and the woman is 5 years older and has a higher education than her husband sponsor. According to CIC, that is "abnormal" for that community. Couples where the male is 30 years older than his wife got approval with little issue while a couple where the woman is 15 years older got a lot more scrutiny. On the flip side, CIC will never accept a conjugal relationship of a US/Canadian couple while it is more common with applicants where divorce is hard to come by like the Philippines

The fact is that there is a way CIC scrutinizes applications and for the best chance of success people need to know how they think.

 

[Mapleson]

Perhaps I expressed myself badly -- the people who are pointing out that the OP probably doesn't want trouble are right; but at the same time, they are telling her to do something that has a strong element of sexism in it. CIC is actually perfectly fine with non-traditional weddings. Consider these two examples:

- a gay man from the Philippines is sponsored by his Canadian partner after a civil ceremony in Canada
- a Filipina woman with two children who is separated from her husband is accepted as a conjugal partner of a Canadian man

Neither gay marriage nor second marriages are accepted in the Philippines, but CIC accepts them. However, when a young woman violates tradition, that is looked on as a black mark against her marriage. I have never felt that that is acceptable -- the 'cultural' criteria let CIC make value judgments that would never be permitted in on Canadian territory. I'm sure that there are many applicants from Europe and America who get married simply, alone, in civil ceremonies, and aren't expected to provide proof of a 'traditional' Swedish wedding or the like.

My apologies if I was incoherent and rude.

First of all, it would be an issue of discrimination, not sexism. It doesn't matter to the CIC if it's a young, single, straight woman or young, single, straight man that's violating tradition. The gay and previously married individuals meet their own typical profiles due to the laws in the Philippines. The issue is that of trying to separate legitimate marriages from fraudulent marriages. Those that are more typical receive less scrutiny because they match the traditional profile of a legitimate marriage. Those that deviate from the norm are scrutinized more because they is obviously some reason to not conform.

It is discriminatory, but only as a tool to streamline "typical" applications and focus time and resources on "atypical" applications that have the higher rate of fraud.

 

[bigredmoose]

Why do I feel like you're biting my head off? ??? I was simply just making a suggestion on what the person should do not "changing the world". I do understand why CIC considers non-traditional weddings to be an indication for immigration fraud. Technically in my "culture" I should be throwing a wedding and having a reception with all my family. But I didn't not. Then again I'm Canadian and my husband is American. I am not familiar with OP's culture and was just merely helping out. If OP can throw a traditional wedding for her culture, go for it, but if they can't, then explain why or else fear the interview and the red flags. I'm for OP getting married and getting PR, I just don't want them to mistakenly get rejected for not explaining themselves properly.

Yeesh. :-\

I owe you an apology! I'm sorry, yours was not the post that I had intended to quote! I will delete my post now.

 

[SergiiK]

I am not CIC officer but even to me marriage after "distance relations" sounds like fraudulent one. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets rejected.