A few things...

[semper ardens]

Sure hope every immigration story has a happy ending!  As for my husband & I, we are still trying to get all our ducks in a row to simply BEGIN ours, heh. So I'd be extremely grateful if someone could make a few things clear for me.

Firstly, I am the sponsor. I'm currently unemployed but in college. If I note this in the sponsorship application & then acquire a job after it's sent out, is it possible to update at a later time (to increase our chances)? & if it makes any difference, my husband will be doing the outbound process so he can reap the benefits of continuing to work in America, where he currently resides. So it's not as if a source of income is lacking.

Secondly, we were legally wed in October of this year (yay!) & were instructed to wait 8 weeks before sending out for the marriage certificate. Is it mandatory to include a copy of said certificate with the application? Or can we begin the process based on the marriage simply being registered? I'd hate to be putting things on hold if there's no need. It's probably a no-brainer but with it being the age of computer record keeping & all one sometimes doesn't need physical documentation... so, I ask just to be sure...   

Thanks in advance!   

[scylla]

You were married in Ontario - yes?

Don't wait. Send the request for a marriage certificate now. I know they say 8 weeks. But on the advice of someone else from this site, we submitted ours immediately and had the certificate in hand three weeks after our wedding.

[semper ardens]

Yes, in the heart of Toronto to be exact! 

So I take it the certificate should be included when we send our application? & I had a feeling the time estimate was exaggerated--I should have just taken a chance but better late than never, right! Lesson learned; this is why it pays to lurk this forum, ha! Thanks for passing on the advice!

[scylla]

Yes - the certificate is listed as a mandatory document and should be included with the original application. I know a few people on this forum have sent theirs later. However I don't know (don't remember) what the impact of this was and/or if it created any delays. With CIC, it's always best to try to provide everything together / at the same time.

I was married in Toronto as well (Oct 2009).

[Indigo]

I agree: apply for the certificate now. They will process it once the marriage is registered.

I wish I knew this when we got married. We waited 10 weeks because we thought that was what we had to do, wait 8-10 weeks before applying for the certificate. We somehow thought we would get mail telling us our marriage was registered. Of course that never came, and after the 10 weeks were over I started to research on Google. Turned out that many people applied for the certificate rightaway and got it earlier than 10 weeks. Also, when we finallygot the certificate, we found out that our marriage was registered about 2 weeks after it took place. A two month delay for nothing! Aw well, we've come to terms with it.

[ccbrasil]

Good luck with your application!

About u being in College, since the spousal category is not subject to financial requirements it shouldnt matter as long as you are not on wellfare, however, when you get a job you should tell them so they update your file!