Think we will get residency? Opinions Pleeease :(

[zabrinaw]

Details:

• I'm canadian and 18 years old, my husbands Dominican and just turned 20 last week
• We met in April 2009, I came here twice (August and December until January (For holidays
• I moved here in March 2010, and I'm still living here.
• We applied twice for a TRV and rejected both times
• We got married August 13, 2010
• We want to apply sometime this month
• We have photos, chatlogs (millions of pages but theres maybe 50 or so), phone bills, letter from one of my friends, letter from his neighbour, a family friend and his old boss saying that he's a responsible individual, facebook accounts that show our relationship as married to each other and our number of friends highlighted.

What do you guys think? And is there anything else we can use for proof? I'm nervous just because of the past visa attempts, we explained that they were for him to meet my family before we got married and for vacation too, but when we applyed we just put for vacation because obviously they wouldn't let fiances go together.

 

[HoneyBird]

Re: Think we will get residency?

Evidences:


-letters from relatives/friends supporting the relationship indicating it’s genuine.


-plane ticket stubs



-photocopies from your passport



-pictures from all your trips to visit her

Label the photos month/year/where

If you visited her for birthdays/Christmas/valentine’s day etc those are considered special holidays for couples and show that you are there for her in those times. So make sure and label 'christmas' or valentine's day to the back.



-marriage certificate


-pictures of wedding ceremony

-pictures of the wedding reception

-wedding cards etc.

-pictures of the honeymoon!


-pictures of you meeting her family/friends/coworkers for like dinners, lunches, at Christmas time, at family weddings, on vacations etc and vice versa. Label these! Month/year/where/who



-receipts for hotel, restaurant, and activities during your visits with her and vice versa





-financial evidence

- joint bank accounts,

- joint credit cards

- joint leases or records of joint purchases

- any wills, estate planning docs,

- life insurance beneficiary etc



-Phone bills from your phone's & phone bill's from her phone's


-Chat logs from Skype


- saved text messages – download them from the phone to the computer to print.



-Phone cards: Not normally accepted as evidence because it does not show who you have called.But you can request the card company in Canada and they will supply you with the info for up to 6 months.



-letters to each other/ cards to each other For letters and cards they want the envelopes as well if possible to show the date and that you actually mailed them.

- Photos of gifts and gift receipts for birthdays/anniversaries/Christmas etc.


-emails and correspondence from before and after the relationship.

-emails/letters/etc showing communication with her family and vice versa e.g. her mother, sister, brothers etc.



-facebook communication e.g. comments on photos of the two of you, messages for congratulations on the marriage etc.

 

[smrty]

sorry no one can tell you if you will get it or not. just do what the application says to do and just hope that you get it

 

[zabrinaw]

sorry no one can tell you if you will get it or not. just do what the application says to do and just hope that you get it

I know that obviously I just mean like, based on experiences and everything the officers look at, just opinions, I'm not asking for a for sure answer.

 

[limanoid]

I really don't think your facebook status saying you two are married or the number of friends you have (in common, I guess you are talking about?) really will make your relationship authentic. Most of my friends on facebook who say they are married are just joking!

But your other proofs look fine... As for you applying twice for TRV and getting denied before marrying -- yeah, that might look suspicious and strange. And the fact that you guys are both so young might make them look at it closely.. It doesn't mean you'll be denied... it'll just mean they will be very careful with your application! So just supply a lot of evidence!

Are you living with him? Get some evidence of that... Also, a photocopy of your passport pages will show you traveling there or else plane ticket stubs. And look at all those suggestions that honeybird gave. Get as much as possible!

 

[RobsLuv]

You need to provide proof that your marriage is legal - whatever type of document they issue in the country where you were married should be sufficient, but it should also be a "certified" copy - as in a document that proves the marraige was "recorded" by the ruling government authority. For example, in Canada marriages are recorded provincially. You also need to provide proof that he did not marry you just to get status in Canada - this is called "genuine" or "bonafide" relationship. You prove that with photos, letters, proof of time spent together, documentation of the development of your relationship prior to marriage, etc.

Married couples do not have to prove they are living together - if it weren't for the fact that you are able to live in his country, you wouldn't be living together either. What makes him eligible to be sponsored is your legal marriage. But the more time you've spent together (whether actually cohabitating or just visiting each other), the stronger the proof of your "genuine" relationship . . . so it's not that the fact that you're living together is not important, it's just that living together is not a requirement unless you're applying as common-law partners (which you won't be).

His having applied for TRVs twice, and not being approved, will not affect the processing of the PR application - and it will not look "suspicious". It is completely reasonable that he would apply to visit Canada to meet your family, etc., but it's also completely normal that he was refused. Non-visa-exempt foreign national spouses of Canadian citizens or PRs are routinely refused TRVs because, by virtue of the relationship itself, they cannot demonstrate that they actually intend to return home after their visit.

I agree that your FB status, and the number of friends you have in common, will mean absolutely nothing to the officer who is assessing your application. And just because you are young doesn't mean you'll be assessed more stringently than anyone else. Read through Sections 5.25 - 5.26 of the OP2 Processing Manual for more information on the types of evidence you can provide to support your "genuine relationship".

 

[buddhadimple]

We used Facebook print-outs too. Maybe it doesn't mean much on its own, but when there are letters of support from mutual friends (who are mutual friends on Facebook as well), I think it can be a helpful back-up to the important evidence.

 

[HoneyBird]

We used Facebook print-outs too. Maybe it doesn't mean much on its own, but when there are letters of support from mutual friends (who are mutual friends on Facebook as well), I think it can be a helpful back-up to the important evidence.

OH DEAR. Well I used my facebook stuff because my husband and I met on facebook.

As for the poster with friends that have themselves married on facebook but are not...ummmm..why would they do that?

 

[smrty]

because facebook is fake!

i can have 10 accounts and pretend to be mutual friends and write mutual things on the walls.. and pretend to be married.. facebot doesn't require a marriage certificate to confirm marriage...

anyway facebook is weak... just sayin'

 

[bobshynoswife]

We used Facebook print-outs too. Maybe it doesn't mean much on its own, but when there are letters of support from mutual friends (who are mutual friends on Facebook as well), I think it can be a helpful back-up to the important evidence.

I think Facebook is good evidence. It shows the date that relationship status was changed, it shows that your relationship is out in the open, that both sides of family and friends know about it. We included screen captures of our status changes, wedding photos posted and comments from friends and family on both sides. I'm also on an internet forum with a group of women for the past 12 years, and I printed out copies of my posts from telling them when we first met, and how each of our visits went. I even printed out the post showing my 'board friends' the wedding dress i had picked out - this was 2 weeks after getting engaged, and a full year before we actually got married (in the same dress) so it proves that we did not rush into marrying. We were approved in record time, so I think when you are dealing with a difficult country, there is never too much proof.

To the OP, you are applying from a difficult country. The fact that you are living together is great! Make sure you have a lot of photos, and try to have evidence of combined affairs. emails, chat logs, postcards/letters/greeting cards, text messages, phone bills, money transfers, facebook messages....all of this is useful. Gather as much as you can and make it as organized as possible. For example, we had over 1000 emails, so we took screen captures of our inboxes showing all the emails, and then printed off one full email per week.

Travel evidence too - boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, photos from your trips to visit him. His denied TRVs won't matter at all, since he was trying to come to Canada to visit YOU. That's a good thing!

Good luck!

 

[bobshynoswife]

because facebook is fake!

i can have 10 accounts and pretend to be mutual friends and write mutual things on the walls.. and pretend to be married.. facebot doesn't require a marriage certificate to confirm marriage...

anyway facebook is weak... just sayin'

No one is saying that your facebook relationship status is proof that you are actually married!

If facebook is the ONLY evidence you have, you're screwed because it could be faked. However, as an addition to other evidence, especially shown over time (say, a year of facebook posts - would someone fake that?) I think it is good evidence.

I have never heard of anyone on facebook pretending to be married. Then again, I only use facebook to communicate and keep in touch with REAL friends and family, and have never even considered creating a fake account. I'm sure 99% of facebook users are the same.

 

[javcil]

Just wondering ... if you're 18, is your marriage legal in Canada?

 

[kelKel]

I met my boyfriend on facebook as well. Most of our earliest contact was via facebook. I also talk to his mother over facebook so I do think in some cases it can be good proof a relationship is genuine with other supporting documents. If we consider facebook to be weak then all emails sent though yahoo, hotmail, gmail could very well all be faked as well.

 

[smrty]

everything can be faked if you plan it properly.. you can change the dates on the emails... its not hard...
you can fake anything.
haven't you ever heard of russian spies

 

[kelKel]

Agreed!