WE MET ON LINE - GETTING MARRIED - What are my chances?

[Nafla]

I met my soon to be husband online in October last year. We will be getting married in September this year, I will be travelling to him in "our" native country. I wish to bring him over to Canada using outland spousal sponsorship. What are my chances of success or failure?. We do not have any photos together from before. The only photos will be from our marriage ceremony at the Registrar's office. We have lots of Skype chat history and emails; would that count at all? I use calling cards to phone him as they are cheaper, my phone records show the calling card number only not his. I also feel like our lack of "old photos together' will slow the process, or will not convince the immigration officer well enough.....I dont know! Has anyone succeeded or failed in a similar situation. I am an eligible sponsor for sure. Is meeting online considered serious in the immigration world?

 

[Makool]

the most important thing about your situation is to convince the officers that your relationship is genuine, so everything as emails, pictures, airplane tickets, everything that is going to make your case stronger it will be helpful, take in consideration that if you go there (the place where he lives) to spend some time togueter know each other maybe some weeks or more this important for immigration as you are trying to know your partener, family, culture etc etc.....the more evidence you have that your relationship is genuine the more chances you have to be successful in your sponsorshi[p.

good luck

 

[bobshynoswife]

Have you met him in person?? If not, you will have some difficulty. What country are you from? In India, for example, it's not as big of a problem, but in most countries it is really hard to prove the genuineness of your relationship when you didn't meet before getting married. Meeting online is not a problem - I met my husband online, but I travelled overseas to visit with him 7 times before we got married, so we have proof of the relationship growing.

One idea for you though is that my husband and I took screen captures every few weeks of us talking on skype, so the picture shows both of us, and the time and date. I also took screen captures whenever he 'met' any of my friends/family, and also when he was interacting with our kids (eg, my 6 year old daughter was doing her home-reading homework over skype, so we have a picture of her reading him a story)

If you are really not going to spend any time together before you get married, I would advise you plan the wedding for the end of your trip so that you can show that you spent 2 weeks together before getting married. Regardless of what immigration thinks, I would caution you to do that anyways, as people are not always the same in person as they are on phone/email.

More info about your relationship and country of origin would be helpful in giving more advice.

 

[nylalisa]

As bobshynoswife said, its tricky but possible. I met my husband online and after nearly a year of talking, I went for a trip to visit him. It was planned for just short of three weeks. He was living in Greece but from India. We knew we were getting married and had talk to the parents before hand, so they arranged everything. The wedding took place in the last week of my trip, we flew from Greece to India. Prior to this we spent two weeks alone in Greece, getting to know each other in person, which I have to agree is completely different than online/phone. We were set about getting married though.

My case has just been approved. I had an interview in India with him. Well I should say he had the interview but I flew back to be there in case they wanted to talk to me. I spent the week prior to the interview with him. I had all the skype and oovoo chats we did printed, about 600 pictures (from Greece, the wedding and the current trip). We had bills from the wedding, our honeymoon and gifts we had bought each other and our families, cards, letters. You name it, we probably had it. So be prepared before and after the wedding by gathering proofs. Its not easy but if you are serious and committed, then prepare.

 

[Kaycee1]

I don't think meeting online is a concern - many many of us have met our partners/spouses that way if you look through the forum. Its almost more normal nowadays than to have met in person!! As everyone has said, the problem is just providing enough proof - so keep all your receipts, records, take lots of photos in different places, different times, with family members if possible.

 

[canadianwoman]

You can use any travel receipts as proof as well: keep plane tickets, boarding passes, hotel receipts, restaurant receipts, receipts from activities done together, and photos from any trips taken to see each other, and from trips taken together.
If I were you, I'd start using a phone method that provides you with a bill that has his number on it. Phone cards are almost worthless as evidence - though if it is all you have, send them in.