Spousal PR Application after Court Marriage in India

[Canuckia]

Hello Peeps -

I have been living in Canada since 2017 as PR. I'm from India originally and currently visiting my family in India since 4 months after my father contracted Covid and was hospitalized. I started talking to a girl in India through WhatsApp since late 2020. She flew down to my city in India to meet me and we liked each other. We got traditionally engaged (not the exact engagement ceremony where you exchange rings but a traditional way of finalizing the couple to get married later on, in presence of family (mine and hers), relatives (my) and a holyman from temple reciting the holy versus. There were pictures taken.).

Now with Covid situation in India, we are planning to get married in a court instead of taking the long traditional marriage route. After the Court Marriage, I'm planning to return to Canada and file her papers for Spousal PR.

I want to know if I'd face any hiccups in the application process given the fact that we married in a Court and I returned to Canada soon after marriage?

@canuck78

 

[Canuckia]

Any inputs people?

@canuck78 , @scylla

 

[canuck78]

Hello Peeps -

I have been living in Canada since 2017 as PR. I'm from India originally and currently visiting my family in India since 4 months after my father contracted Covid and was hospitalized. I started talking to a girl in India through WhatsApp since late 2020. She flew down to my city in India to meet me and we liked each other. We got traditionally engaged (not the exact engagement ceremony where you exchange rings but a traditional way of finalizing the couple to get married later on, in presence of family (mine and hers), relatives (my) and a holyman from temple reciting the holy versus. There were pictures taken.).

Now with Covid situation in India, we are planning to get married in a court instead of taking the long traditional marriage route. After the Court Marriage, I'm planning to return to Canada and file her papers for Spousal PR.

I want to know if I'd face any hiccups in the application process given the fact that we married in a Court and I returned to Canada soon after marriage?

@canuck78

Yes you may encounter problems given that your marriage does not follow typical traditions, this was a very quick marriage and you had a traditional engagement so it is unusual to go for a court marriage. With covid you never know if IRCC will be more lenient. Are you planning on having a real ceremony?

 

[Canuckia]

We are not going to get married traditionally again later point of time. I was planning to get married in court and then file for the spousal application.

 

[canuck78]

We are not going to get married traditionally again later point of time. I was planning to get married in court and then file for the spousal application.

Would suggest against that. Have a small traditional ceremony. You have very little time together in person, you had an engagement ceremony that is more traditional although slightly changed due to covid I assume so a court marriage seems unusual and primarily to speed up sponsorship.

 

[Canuckia]

We are inclined towards court marriage because of Covid situation in India. Having a small traditional marriage is a possibility but I’m just being careful about health of parents. And yes the traditional engagement happens at my home instead of a venue with large gathering because of Covid. So I believe, Court marriage is a no go for me if I were to sponsor my would be wife. But do you think the VO would straight away reject the application or put the onus on us to prove the marriage is genuine? How hard is it to convince the VO given the facts that we’ll be submitting our chat history, the engagement pics, court marriage pics with parents with the explanation why we had to do a court marriage instead of traditional marriage because of Covid?

 

[Sandy2020]

We are inclined towards court marriage because of Covid situation in India. Having a small traditional marriage is a possibility but I’m just being careful about health of parents. And yes the traditional engagement happens at my home instead of a venue with large gathering because of Covid. So I believe, Court marriage is a no go for me if I were to sponsor my would be wife. But do you think the VO would straight away reject the application or put the onus on us to prove the marriage is genuine? How hard is it to convince the VO given the facts that we’ll be submitting our chat history, the engagement pics, court marriage pics with parents with the explanation why we had to do a court marriage instead of traditional marriage because of Covid?
[/QUOTi

 

[canuck78]

We are inclined towards court marriage because of Covid situation in India. Having a small traditional marriage is a possibility but I’m just being careful about health of parents. And yes the traditional engagement happens at my home instead of a venue with large gathering because of Covid. So I believe, Court marriage is a no go for me if I were to sponsor my would be wife. But do you think the VO would straight away reject the application or put the onus on us to prove the marriage is genuine? How hard is it to convince the VO given the facts that we’ll be submitting our chat history, the engagement pics, court marriage pics with parents with the explanation why we had to do a court marriage instead of traditional marriage because of Covid?

Why couldn’t you have a small traditional marriage? Your dating history has been very traditional even if slightly modified for the engagement ceremony. Had your dating history been very Western, you’d lived together, not had the engagement ceremony, etc. then a court marriage would be more appropriate. IRCC wants to see people have genuine marriages not marriages that will allow people to apply for sponsorship as soon as possible. It is very common for couples to have an engagement ceremony and have a court marriage soon after so they can start their sponsorship as soon as possible. In most cases they then have a large traditional ceremony a year later. Not sure how a small traditional ceremony would be much different than a court marriage. If anyone needs to travel you can explain why they couldn’t be there. If you insist on doing the court marriage I would make sure to go on a honeymoon and also announce all over things like social media that you are married so there is no concern that the court marriage is only your “immigration marriage”.

 

[Canuckia]

Ok. Thanks for the advice

 

[JTR]

Hi ,
I had my court marriage on March 2023 and I applied for spousal PR on May 2023 my biometrics and medical was completed by August 2023 and even we got the sponsor eligibility letter, I got an additional request from IRCC on October 2023 and since then the application is stuck, we had our ceremonial wedding on April 2024, as suggested by the agency we didn’t submit these photos to IRCC but we submitted photos of our travels and outings together we did in April 2024, can anyone suggest if it’s a good idea to submit all our ceremonial photos using a web form ? Now I can’t trust my visa agency as they are so unresponsive for my emails and they take nearly one week for any follow ups , I have contacted MP and came to know my case is considered non routine, and currently I have requested for GCMS notes as well , can anyone please suggest if I can submit my ceremonial wedding photos at this point of time?? Any help will be really appreciated!!!

 

[scylla]

Hi ,
I had my court marriage on March 2023 and I applied for spousal PR on May 2023 my biometrics and medical was completed by August 2023 and even we got the sponsor eligibility letter, I got an additional request from IRCC on October 2023 and since then the application is stuck, we had our ceremonial wedding on April 2024, as suggested by the agency we didn’t submit these photos to IRCC but we submitted photos of our travels and outings together we did in April 2024, can anyone suggest if it’s a good idea to submit all our ceremonial photos using a web form ? Now I can’t trust my visa agency as they are so unresponsive for my emails and they take nearly one week for any follow ups , I have contacted MP and came to know my case is considered non routine, and currently I have requested for GCMS notes as well , can anyone please suggest if I can submit my ceremonial wedding photos at this point of time?? Any help will be really appreciated!!!

Yes submit them. Also include a letter that indicates when and where you had the ceremonial wedding, how many people attended, etc. Also get rid of your agent.

 

[JTR]

Yes submit them. Also include a letter that indicates when and where you had the ceremonial wedding, how many people attended, etc. Also get rid of your agent.

Thank you for the quick response, really appreciate!!!

 

[canuck78]

Hi ,
I had my court marriage on March 2023 and I applied for spousal PR on May 2023 my biometrics and medical was completed by August 2023 and even we got the sponsor eligibility letter, I got an additional request from IRCC on October 2023 and since then the application is stuck, we had our ceremonial wedding on April 2024, as suggested by the agency we didn’t submit these photos to IRCC but we submitted photos of our travels and outings together we did in April 2024, can anyone suggest if it’s a good idea to submit all our ceremonial photos using a web form ? Now I can’t trust my visa agency as they are so unresponsive for my emails and they take nearly one week for any follow ups , I have contacted MP and came to know my case is considered non routine, and currently I have requested for GCMS notes as well , can anyone please suggest if I can submit my ceremonial wedding photos at this point of time?? Any help will be really appreciated!!!

Some of these consultants give awful advice. If this was an arranged marriage with minimal time spent in person waiting for your traditional wedding ceremony and applying after than could have resulted in faster processing. This is especially the case if you didn’t publicize the court marriage to friends and family, online, etc.

 

[JTR]

Some of these consultants give awful advice. If this was an arranged marriage with minimal time spent in person waiting for your traditional wedding ceremony and applying after than could have resulted in faster processing. This is especially the case if you didn’t publicize the court marriage to friends and family, online, etc.

Thanks for the advice,mine was an arranged marriage, but in March 2023 right after our court marriage ,we held a ring exchange function with nearly 100 people and we gave both court marriage photos and function photos as proof, but still IRCC asked for additional documents, including if there is any other marriage certificate, and after submitting them haven’t heard from IRCC, I raised a web form but no response the only update I got through the MP is my case is now Non routine, really worried as it’s almost 18 months

 

[YVR123]

Thanks for the advice,mine was an arranged marriage, but in March 2023 right after our court marriage ,we held a ring exchange function with nearly 100 people and we gave both court marriage photos and function photos as proof, but still IRCC asked for additional documents, including if there is any other marriage certificate, and after submitting them haven’t heard from IRCC, I raised a web form but no response the only update I got through the MP is my case is now Non routine, really worried as it’s almost 18 months

if you and your spouse spent any time after the marriage (you visiting her or she coming to Canada...etc), include that in the letter of explanation as well.
I am shock that your agent told you not to include info about the wedding ceremony in April.
Now IRCC likely have doubt with your marriage and think that's a paper only marriage for immigration purpose only.

So show that your marriage is real and you have been spending time with your spouse.