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trying to get my girlfriend here from the Philippines

J

jim_canada09

Newbie
Oct 30, 2013
5
0
I'm planning to go visit her in the spring to marry her. Does me marrying her shorten the processing time? Since we'd be married am I able to bring her back with me and apply for resident status from here?
 
Marrying her makes it so that you can bring her here, unless you are already common law, which does't appear to be since you are saying that you are going to marry her.

She can apply for a visa to come to Canada but you will not be able to bring her with you right after the wedding. Assuming that you are a Canadian Citizen you could stay with her in the Philippines until she gets her confirmation of permanent residence but you would need to show a desire to live in Canada.

Once you're married the likelihood of her getting a visitor visa goes down considerably because they will assume she will stay in Canada. There is no harm to a permanent resident application if you do try; but don't expect a visitor visa.
 
Ok, I've visited her a couple times and we've been in this relationship for about 4 years. So it's not like we just met and I'm marrying her just to get her here. We want to live a happy life together since I'm finally able to support us and start a family. And we've got pictures and documents of me visiting her.
Would you say our chances are really good?
 
When you get married you're certainly in a better position for the PR application, but not for the purpose of acquiring a visitor visa for your new wife.

She would need to apply for that now and get it without any reference to you. Otherwise, the chances of having it granted after marriage are VERY slim.
 
Yeah I know I'll be doing the PR application, does being married(rather than common law or conjugal) and having proof of a valid relationship help shorten the processing times?
 
jim_canada09 said:
Yeah I know I'll be doing the PR application, does being married(rather than common law or conjugal) and having proof of a valid relationship help shorten the processing times?
Click to expand...

Not really. Being married vs common-law doesn't have an effect on processing times.
And everyone needs proof of a valid relationship. Of course if you have enough proofs you hopefully don't need an interview, and that will speed up processing.
 
... what he said, with perhaps the exception in your case (based on what you have posted already) whereby 'common-law' will ADD a year of waiting (waiting to acquire 12 consecutive months of cohabitation that you can PROVE). Take photos at your engagement party (if there is one), at the wedding, at the reception, and on your honeymoon.

All of our proofs were pretty much limited to 60 photos (as suggested above, including some that you already have taken along the way) and a 3-sentence story-line. Your case looks good, just need a lot of "patience".

And forget 'conjugal', in your case you cannot apply as that.

Welcome to the forum!
 
So is it just a matter of when, not if. Do they typically deny someone only if it doesn't seem like a real relationship? For example, meeting each other online one day and getting married a week later
 
The most common reason for a denial is the visa officer does not believe the relationship is genuine. Either married or common-law, you also have to prove the relationship is real. You seem to have a lot of evidence of your relationship, so proving it is genuine should be easy.
They can deny for other reasons, such as criminality. As well, if they do not believe the couple will be able to support themselves in Canada, they will deny, but this is very uncommon.
 
Keep in mind that one of the main proofs CIC uses to determine if a marriage is real, is the type of wedding you have. So if at all possible try to have a good sized ceremony/reception with as much family and friends invited as possible. Show lots of pictures of you and your wife with various family members on each side. Showing big family support of the relationship is a big plus to a PR app.
 
Being married often requires less documentation to prove the status of the relationship. You just need a marriage certificate to prove you are married. Proving common-law requires a lot more supporting evidence.

There are many reason why someone can be denied PR. Suspicion of marriage of convenience is certainly one. Also any criminal record. Misrepresentation on the application can also be a reason (lying on your application form). Insufficient documentation (can't provide an identity document, etc). Sponsor unable to convince officials they have the finances to support the applicant, etc...
 
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