Best Strategy for Canadian Citizen marrying Brazilian

[mark_k]

Hello all,

I am a semi-retired Canadian male citizen who desires to marry my Brazilian sweetheart next year in Brazil, and am looking for assistance in determining the best strategy in fulfilling my primary goals which are as follows:

1) We'd like to live part time in Canada and part time in Brazil (I'm guessing approximately 8 months per year in Canada)
2) Somehow arrange our affairs so that we can live together continuously after getting married whether that be in Brazil or Canada.

The facts:
    · I own a house in Canada, and she owns one in Brazil, so accommodation isn't a problem.
    · I've never been married. She is a Brazilian citizen and was married and divorced early in life and has 2 grown boys (29 and 30).
    · When we marry, my wife will be taking my last name.
    · I've been to Brazil 11 or 12 times -always on a tourist visa (they're good for 5 years, 90 days per entry, but extendable to 180 days max per year).
    · I'm planning on going to Brazil for 3 months early on in 2011 to make plans together with my sweetheart and then returning later in the year to marry her.

From things I've read, it looks like it would be best to sponsor my future wife in order to obtain PR status for her.  I would continue to enter Brazil using a tourist visa.

My questions:
1) What strategies should I use in applying for the spousal sponsorship for my future wife?  Can I start the process before getting married?  (Ideally I'd like to bring her back to Canada shortly after marrying)
2) It sounds like doing an outland application would be best, but I want to figure out a way to remain with her after we're married, so how do I do that if she can't get a Canadian tourist visa, and I can only stay in Brazil for a maximum of 180 days?
3) Should we use her maiden name for the PR application?... or should I have her get a new passport using her new last name and then use her new name for everything?

Any and all advice will be much appreciated.  Thank you very much.

[wilder1047]

I shall take a swing at this, I will only be able to give you general advice, nothing specific to Brazil.

You can start the process before getting married, you have 3 options in which you can sponsor - Married, Common-Law or Conjugal. Those also range from easiest to most difficult when proving how genuine your relationship is. Common-Law would take a fair amount of evidence such as co-signatures on a lease or anything like that. I couldn't even imagine trying to pull a Conjugal Sponsorship out of a hat.. I'm paranoid enough and I'm married!!

To a certain extent, it's better to bite the bullet, and just wait until after you are married, you can start the application immediatley afterwards. What you could actually do is start working on the paper work now, get it all sorted, account the information to be accurate to after your married ie, have her married name on the app. and as soon as you're married, send it off. You will obvioulsy need to get a new passport with her new married name on it first.

As for staying with her after marriage, that's a difficult one which I am still trying to get a definitive answer (non-existent in the immigration world) it appears to be region specific. For my Wife, I am able to use the confirmation letter of my eligibility to sponsor her as leverage to get her into Canada on a Temporary Resident Visa. This does not seem to be the case everywhere however, and infact seems to make it even more difficult for some places. 180 days to be with your wife after you're married is a priviledge I'm sure about 95% of us wish we could have. Some of us on here have to wait for the entire application process, which can be well over a year in some cases.

You will just have to research the specific region, try and find out previous accounts of other people trying to do the same thing as yourself. and....

Good Luck To You!!!!

[toby]

I shall take a swing at this, I will only be able to give you general advice, nothing specific to Brazil.

You can start the process before getting married, you have 3 options in which you can sponsor - Married, Common-Law or Conjugal. Those also range from easiest to most difficult when proving how genuine your relationship is. Common-Law would take a fair amount of evidence such as co-signatures on a lease or anything like that. I couldn't even imagine trying to pull a Conjugal Sponsorship out of a hat.. I'm paranoid enough and I'm married!!

And, common law requires that you live together for a year or more, which you have not.  So get married first, and submit the marriage certificate etc etc with your application.


As for staying with her after marriage, that's a difficult one which I am still trying to get a definitive answer (non-existent in the immigration world) it appears to be region specific.

There is a policy of "Dual Intent" which holds that just because an applicant plans eventually to move to Canada (if PR is granted), that he/she may still qualify for a temporary visa if there is sufficient proof that he/she will return to Brazil before the temporary visa expires.  Sounds like sucking and blowing at the same time, I know, and this allows so much discretion for the Visa Officer that the policy is virtually unenforceable.

I agree with Wilder: it all depends on the Visa Officer you get.
 


Good Luck To You!!!!

I second that.

[HoneyBird]

Get married first.
IN the meantime, start looking through all the paperwork you need to do and start gathering the supporting documents e.g. photos, phone records, travel tabs etc etc. Just getting to know the process and collect information took me two months and for some here on the forum longer becuase they knew their spouses longer. Read more on the forum and see how people have documented their relationships to give you ideas and even how to collate all your information to send.
I dont think the embassy needs to know that you and your wife will be living some in Canada and some in Brazil.  Just stick with being semi retired and married and living in Canada.
And good luck!

[leroadrunner]

Get married first.
...

Well...I am in a similar situation, but slightly different.

Actually what I would do first is try to get a multiple visitor visa...that way she can come to canada when she wants over the next year, and then get married. Seeing as she has real estate in Brazil, this should not be too difficult to get.

Good luck!

[canadianwoman]

My questions:
1) What strategies should I use in applying for the spousal sponsorship for my future wife?  Can I start the process before getting married?  (Ideally I'd like to bring her back to Canada shortly after marrying)
2) It sounds like doing an outland application would be best, but I want to figure out a way to remain with her after we're married, so how do I do that if she can't get a Canadian tourist visa, and I can only stay in Brazil for a maximum of 180 days?
3) Should we use her maiden name for the PR application?... or should I have her get a new passport using her new last name and then use her new name for everything?

You cannot submit the application before you get married, but you can use this time to fill in the forms and gather evidence that your relationship is genuine. In particular, look at the evidence you have now and see if it is lacking - you're lucky in one way because you've got lots of time to remedy the deficiencies in your evidence. Keep phone bills - a phone her some way that keeps a record, even if it costs more. You can get records of Skype and instant messaging calls, btw. Keep all evidence of trips to see her - plane tickets, boarding passes, hotel and restaurant receipts, and lots of photos. Get evidence that shows you and her children have a relationship.
Staying with her on your 180-day visa is one option. See if she can get a TRV to visit Canada - she will need proof she will leave Canada at the end of it, such as a house in Brazil, a job, family, etc. (Dual intent is in the regulations, but few have had any luck getting the visa officer to apply it.)
It would most likely be quicker to use her maiden name for the PR application. Her getting a new passport and new ID with her married name may take a while after the wedding, delaying things a bit. She can always change her name after she gets the PR visa and lands.

[iarblue]

  Im married to a Brazilian and sponsoring her to Canada.You are planning to marry her so you might as well do it before you apply.Getting the passport changed and other articles in Brazil is actually pretty quick once she has the marrieage cert.But just to get married in Brazil they require a bit of info,relationship status form,long form birth cert,copies of these translated and certified by the Brazilian consulate in Toronto.
  I got married in Brazil then sponsored her so if you need info you can PM me if you like.

[Viviane]

Hello Everyone!

Well, talking more about marrying Brazilian people, I need some help or answers...Its hard to find, anyways...I'm from Brazil and my boyfriend from Canada - Vancouver. Our plans are to get married in the next year (February 2013) and come back to Brazil to have Reception and honeymoon in March 2013. My questions are:

- Can we to apply for my PR visa and come back to Brazil to reception and honeymoon while my PR is processing? If I have my Visitor Temporary visa...

or

- Can we to marry in Canada, come back to Brazil for reception and honeymoon and when we go back to Canada we apply for my PR visa?

or

- Do I must to need to stay in Canada during 10 months waiting for the answer from government and then come back to Brazil and have my reception?

What do I need to do?

Thank you

Viviane