Worried sick about being denied

[mbattle95]

My husband is Canadian by birth and I am American by birth with dual German citizenship by heritage. We met October 2017 online (facebook) and started becoming romantic January of 2018.

We provided proof of our first contact on October 2017 (my husband is the sponsor obviously and he messaged me first) and provided proof of our contact up until we became romantic and then beyond that. 10 pages of proof like they asked for of facebook messages and texts and 11 hour FaceTime calls. We also provided 20 photos, different places and different times (so we could only provide one from our wedding on that criteria) but we have plenty of pictures of us with my family, his friends, basically about almost half, maybe a quarter of the pictures were with other people.

On top of that, his mom and friend and then my mom and family friend wrote letters backing up the genuine-ness of our relationship (recommended by immigration consultant).

And I also took screenshots of social media posts from our insta's and facebooks showing a very public relationship. I also provided photocopies of his plane tickets to the States and entry stamps at the U.S. border for his visits to me (they want to see that your sponsor visited you too and not just you visited them I guess?)

We didn't get formally engaged and our wedding ceremony was small bc my American family is poor and a lot of them don't have passports and couldn't shell out the money for passports. Also my husband isn't very close with his siblings (he has 8) so we definitely couldn't have all of them there with their kids and significant others. It would've been way too expensive and we are both young, I'm 24 and he's 25. His parents, grandparents, and family friends were there and so were mine (I only have one living grandparent)

Also my husband is on ODSP but is employed full time which we provided proof of both as well.

I keep reading stories about people being denied and I'm so worried this proof isn't enough. Like our application package wasn't that thick because I just put in what they asked for on the checklist but I see people submitted like almost 100 pages of proof and I'm flipping out.

 

[21Goose]

Don't worry. You have provided plenty of proof. Genuine couples don't usually have too many issues - even if you get interviewed, passing will be easy enough.

 

[phaeo]

All you can do is submit the proof you have, right? Personally I don't think you need 100s of pages, if they wanted that much stuff, they'd ask for it! There's a reason they only limit you to 10 pages of correspondence and 20 photos - they don't want to be sifting through stacks of paper. They might give your case a little more scrutiny since you met online, but since you have documentation that you guys have actually had face-to-face contact, that you are in constant contact with each other, and that your families know, you've done everything you can to show that you guys really are in a relationship. They might ask you for additional documents once it gets to a visa office if they feel like they need some more proof. They will give you a chance to satisfy any doubts they have before they deny your application! I know it's so easy to say, but all you can do for now is just wait and see how your application progresses, and answer any requests they send your way. You will develop some pretty serious skills at waiting patiently during this process Good luck!

 

[mbattle95]

All you can do is submit the proof you have, right? Personally I don't think you need 100s of pages, if they wanted that much stuff, they'd ask for it! There's a reason they only limit you to 10 pages of correspondence and 20 photos - they don't want to be sifting through stacks of paper. They might give your case a little more scrutiny since you met online, but since you have documentation that you guys have actually had face-to-face contact, that you are in constant contact with each other, and that your families know, you've done everything you can to show that you guys really are in a relationship. They might ask you for additional documents once it gets to a visa office if they feel like they need some more proof. They will give you a chance to satisfy any doubts they have before they deny your application! I know it's so easy to say, but all you can do for now is just wait and see how your application progresses, and answer any requests they send your way. You will develop some pretty serious skills at waiting patiently during this process Good luck!

Yeah, to me, 100s of pages of proof would seem even more suspicious than not. And at the end of the day, they are real people looking through the apps, not robots, and thousands of apps to go through. Submitting way more than you have to would be almost rude. I totally forgot to add that we didn't explain that we didn't get formally engaged, but like you said, they'll ask what they need to before they flat out reject us. We provided that we have a joint bank account under the financial support section, which should be good proof too. Ugh. We'll see. No sense worrying since it's already sent in. Easier said than done though right

 

[mbattle95]

Don't worry. You have provided plenty of proof. Genuine couples don't usually have too many issues - even if you get interviewed, passing will be easy enough.

My only concern about the interview is that my husband has a learning disability and ADHD. so while obviously he knows me well and stuff like that, I just worry what he'd be like in an interview setting where he'd have to recall stuff. He gives off the appearance of being "slow" when you talk to him. He's not, he just takes longer to process things and he processes differently than people without learning disabilities. All immigration will know is that he is on ODSP for a disability, but disability is not legally allowed to disclose what disability. My husband provided a letter confirming his ODSP (so did his caseworker) and left the number for his caseworker on it, so if immigration needs to, they can contact her and she might be able to tell them what his disability is, and I would hope they take that into consideration if we do need an interview. :O I guess we'll see though.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

My only concern about the interview is that my husband has a learning disability and ADHD. so while obviously he knows me well and stuff like that, I just worry what he'd be like in an interview setting where he'd have to recall stuff. He gives off the appearance of being "slow" when you talk to him. He's not, he just takes longer to process things and he processes differently than people without learning disabilities. All immigration will know is that he is on ODSP for a disability, but disability is not legally allowed to disclose what disability. My husband provided a letter confirming his ODSP (so did his caseworker) and left the number for his caseworker on it, so if immigration needs to, they can contact her and she might be able to tell them what his disability is, and I would hope they take that into consideration if we do need an interview. :O I guess we'll see though.

Any interview would be for you, not him. IRCC will not contact his caseworker.

 

[mbattle95]

Any interview would be for you, not him. IRCC will not contact his caseworker.

oh??? well that's a relief. l watch too many movies in which they take the couple into separate rooms and ask them questions and see if their answers match up. Real life is obviously not Hollywood though lol.

 

[Hurlabrick]

oh??? well that's a relief. l watch too many movies in which they take the couple into separate rooms and ask them questions and see if their answers match up. Real life is obviously not Hollywood though lol.

Highly unlikely that a Canadian / US couple would get interviewed (this is NOT the US process in the film 'Green Card'!). If your proof is strong enough and 'ticks the boxes' on the CIC guidelines, you will be fine.

 

[mbattle95]

Highly unlikely that a Canadian / US couple would get interviewed (this is NOT the US process in the film 'Green Card'!). If your proof is strong enough and 'ticks the boxes' on the CIC guidelines, you will be fine.

LOL I was thinking of that Sandra Bullock movie "The Proposal".

 

[phaeo]

Yeah, to me, 100s of pages of proof would seem even more suspicious than not. And at the end of the day, they are real people looking through the apps, not robots, and thousands of apps to go through. Submitting way more than you have to would be almost rude. I totally forgot to add that we didn't explain that we didn't get formally engaged, but like you said, they'll ask what they need to before they flat out reject us. We provided that we have a joint bank account under the financial support section, which should be good proof too. Ugh. We'll see. No sense worrying since it's already sent in. Easier said than done though right

Yep, easier said than done for sure! I worried a lot about our application once we sent it too, but most people don't have that many issues really. I think it is actually pretty hard to fake a genuine relationship, and they're pretty experienced at this stuff. They've probably seen every kind of complicated or unusual situation you can think of. It really sounds like you provided them with all they'll need, so fingers crossed for you guys!

 

[mbattle95]

Yep, easier said than done for sure! I worried a lot about our application once we sent it too, but most people don't have that many issues really. I think it is actually pretty hard to fake a genuine relationship, and they're pretty experienced at this stuff. They've probably seen every kind of complicated or unusual situation you can think of. It really sounds like you provided them with all they'll need, so fingers crossed for you guys!

The most complicated thing about our relationship is maybe the fact that we got married a year after dating (a year and 3 months after first talking to each other) and our small wedding. But we went to an IRCC approved immigration consultant and she told us not to worry because through our proof it was pretty evident that we are genuine. But it makes me wonder... what kind of proof were genuine couples submitting who got denied :O

 

[canuck78]

Any interview would be for you, not him. IRCC will not contact his caseworker.

The most complicated thing about our relationship is maybe the fact that we got married a year after dating (a year and 3 months after first talking to each other) and our small wedding. But we went to an IRCC approved immigration consultant and she told us not to worry because through our proof it was pretty evident that we are genuine. But it makes me wonder... what kind of proof were genuine couples submitting who got denied :O

The biggest issue is whether you can support yourself financially. If your spouse is still receiving ODSP but is working full-time he must not be earning very much. There will be concerns about how you can support yourselves. Do you work? Have you accumulated savings? Are you receiving any form of government support in the US? Have you spent a lot of time together in person?

 

[mbattle95]

The biggest issue is whether you can support yourself financially. If your spouse is still receiving ODSP but is working full-time he must not be earning very much. There will be concerns about how you can support yourselves. Do you work? Have you accumulated savings? Are you receiving any form of government support in the US? Have you spent a lot of time together in person?

He's actually cut off ODSP as he makes 16.10 an hour now and is full time (his employer put this in the employment letter). Once you make over a certain amount, you stop receiving it and my husband has met that income cut off. I also don't receive any government support and am in graduate school to be a special education teacher in Ontario, meaning I have full intentions of working here and not just doing nothing. I'm also a substitute teacher here in Georgia (so yes, I do work as well). And we spent a week together (March 17th-24th 2018), then three months together (May 6th-August 12th 2018), then two weeks (October 4th-16th 2018) , another three weeks (December 22nd- January 19th 2019), A month (February 8th-March 9th) another two weeks (March 24th-April 7th), and now 2 months (May 28th- August 6th). So yes, a lot of time together in person.

 

[canuck78]

He's actually cut off ODSP as he makes 16.10 an hour now and is full time (his employer put this in the employment letter). Once you make over a certain amount, you stop receiving it and my husband has met that income cut off. I also don't receive any government support and am in graduate school to be a special education teacher in Ontario, meaning I have full intentions of working here and not just doing nothing. I'm also a substitute teacher here in Georgia (so yes, I do work as well). And we spent a week together (March 17th-24th 2018), then three months together (May 6th-August 12th 2018), then two weeks (October 4th-16th 2018) , another three weeks (December 22nd- January 19th 2019), A month (February 8th-March 9th) another two weeks (March 24th-April 7th), and now 2 months (May 28th- August 6th). So yes, a lot of time together in person.

You were the one who said he was on ODSP. It will depend on whether he has been working longterm or just started working. Especially if he was on ODSP for a long period of time. Not sure how much supply teaching you have been able to do but as primarily a graduate student ai would imagine you don’t have a lot of savings.

This is not related to spousal sponsorship but have you contacted the licensing board for teachers in Ontario? I know Ontario has pretty strict requirements in terms of licensing. There also maybe many years until you can get onto a supply list or get a short term teaching contract or a teaching job due to the surplus of teachers in Ontario plus the recent cuts. Not sure what the situation is for special education teachers these days.

 

[mbattle95]

You were the one who said he was on ODSP. It will depend on whether he has been working longterm or just started working. Especially if he was on ODSP for a long period of time. Not sure how much supply teaching you have been able to do but as primarily a graduate student ai would imagine you don’t have a lot of savings.

This is not related to spousal sponsorship but have you contacted the licensing board for teachers in Ontario? I know Ontario has pretty strict requirements in terms of licensing. There also maybe many years until you can get onto a supply list or get a short term teaching contract or a teaching job due to the surplus of teachers in Ontario plus the recent cuts. Not sure what the situation is for special education teachers these days.

Yeah I know. He does receive it like just because he is making the income cut off doesn't mean now he's like forever cut off from ODSP he'll go back on it if god forbid he loses his job or for some reason starts making less like they lower his income (which I don't think is possible).However he receives aid depending on his income. So less aid the more he makes until he doesn't receive any. So right now he doesn't receive it, but like he's on the ODSP plan and has a caseworker for if ever he loses his job for whatever reason etc because my husband does have a disability. He got this job in April. He's been on it for 5 years while simultaneously working (some jobs he's had he's made the cut off amount) but the immigration consultant said that that's not an issue since you can be on disability to sponsor and he is working and making enough right now and has had jobs in the past like he's not just now working for the first time. I am able to do a lot of supply teaching as I live in a very populated county. Idk the consultant didn't seem too concerned about any the ODSP and income, etc, and we expressed our concerns, and she's IRCC licensed. She told us exactly what to do (ODSP caseworker provide a letter and my husband provide a letter) and both letters confirmed that his aid fluctuates depending on his income.