Proof of relationship-photos: only wedding photos enough?

[waikiki]

In the Documents Cheklist-Immigrant, under point 9 it says: "If you are being sponsered by your spouse...you must send evidence of the relationship between you and your sponsor such as wedding photos...", so, strictly speaking, it would be enough to send ONLY wedding photos, isn´t that right? I´m asking because I was reading here, that many people sent dozens of pictures, also from holidays, birthdays etc. (I will be sponsoring my husband from abroad, we have to small children)

[ailooney]

Hi! I applied for open work permit so that's different from yours. But I was also asked to submit proof of relationship. They asked me to send photos even from our courtship to engagement and then on our wedding day. I also sent wedding videos, insurance policies to prove my husband as beneficiary. SO you can send any document to prove your relationship. The more evidence the better. You don't have to print everything though.

[QCSunshine]

Send photos from different periods of time, from different events and days, from throughout the time you have been together. We included ones that showed us with family and friends, and ones that were just us alone in various places or on vacation. It is good to for them to see that you have been together through time in your photos. Good luck! (And if you search various threads on here, you will find more details that might help as you are brainstorming what to include.)

[chelley]

Such as does not equate to only... As mentioned provide a sampling from across the relationship including wedding photos

[chelley]

I should mention that there are some cases where only wedding photos may be available... Legally recognized arranged marriages (when culturally acceptable) come to mind.... However if you are claiming a long standing relationship, in this day and age you'd best have at least a few photos that depict that, or a very good reason why you do not!

[waikiki]

Thanks everyone, I will send also other pictures as well.

[fprince]

• Dating
  Engagement
  Wedding
  Reception
  Honeymoon
  After marriage snaps.

Even if it is an arranged marriage it is good to send all these with receipts, hotel bills, air/rail tickets, etc.
Will make your case stronger, remember it is about painting a picture to the IO.
All the best

[waikiki]

Yes thank you. Our marriage was not arranged, but I now noticed they want pictures from the time before marriage as well.

[Romain]

Quite frankly why bother so much about zillions proof of relationship if you have been married for some time.
-> marriage certificate
-> birth certificate of kids (that should be a big one to me !!!)
-> can always add a photo of the wedding for entertainment purposes

But really history of relationship should really matters if
-> your are not married (no commitment)
-> wedding date is a little recent making some people to believe it 'could' be arranged...
The only reason why detailed proofs are necessary is when the 'partner' relationship is not well defined

[canadianwoman]

Quite frankly why bother so much about zillions proof of relationship if you have been married for some time.
-> marriage certificate
-> birth certificate of kids (that should be a big one to me !!!)
-> can always add a photo of the wedding for entertainment purposes

But really history of relationship should really matters if
-> your are not married (no commitment)
-> wedding date is a little recent making some people to believe it 'could' be arranged...
The only reason why detailed proofs are necessary is when the 'partner' relationship is not well defined

I agree that huge amounts of evidence are not always necessary, but be careful. A marriage certificate, birth certificates of children, and a wedding photo will not be enough! Even if you've been married a long time.
It also depends on what country you are applying from, and the nature of your relationship. A 'normal' relationship between two white people applying from a rich country does not need as much evidence as a relationship whwere the partners are very different and are applying through a 'third world' country.

[waikiki]

canadianwoman, yes, that makes sense to me. I could imagine that people who have a passport from a third world country would need more evidence than someone who has a European passport.

[Canadagirl85]

canadianwoman, yes, that makes sense to me. I could imagine that people who have a passport from a third world country would need more evidence than someone who has a European passport.

Is there any proof of this statement( not so much evidence needed if they are coming from a European country) because I really feel the same. I tried to look online to see if there was other posts about that subject. My wife is from Germany and we sent lots of pics of before we got married and after but I wondered if they really needed hundreds of pictures. Anyone heard of this?

[CharlieD10]

Is there any proof of this statement( not so much evidence needed if they are coming from a European country) because I really feel the same. I tried to look online to see if there was other posts about that subject. My wife is from Germany and we sent lots of pics of before we got married and after but I wondered if they really needed hundreds of pictures. Anyone heard of this?

A couple consisting of two people from countries with similar standards of living, similar infrastructure etc is MUCH LESS likely to be viewed suspiciously than one consisting of one person from Canada and one from a "Third World" (read: poor) country.  The foreign national in the second case is more likely to be viewed as using the Canadian to gain access to Canada in order to improve their economic status.  Take a look at the processing times for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.  Compare that to processing times for places like the US, the UK, Germany and other western European nations.  What do you see?  That's all the proof you need.

[medellinguy]

A couple consisting of two people from countries with similar standards of living, similar infrastructure etc is MUCH LESS likely to be viewed suspiciously than one consisting of one person from Canada and one from a "Third World" (read: poor) country.  The foreign national in the second case is more likely to be viewed as using the Canadian to gain access to Canada in order to improve their economic status.  Take a look at the processing times for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.  Compare that to processing times for places like the US, the UK, Germany and other western European nations.  What do you see?  That's all the proof you need.

sooo true...even more when you wife comes from a country with a civil war and lots of history of visa fraud within the canadian embassy...oh well...a lot of waiting to do..the good thing is they granted her a tourist visa once and she returned back to colombia...that gives us some hope our case could be processed a little bit faster. time will tell..

[CanadianDude]

Is there any proof of this statement( not so much evidence needed if they are coming from a European country) because I really feel the same. I tried to look online to see if there was other posts about that subject. My wife is from Germany and we sent lots of pics of before we got married and after but I wondered if they really needed hundreds of pictures. Anyone heard of this?

I think the immigration and visa office people are more credible than this.  They work in world regions not for ease of work per say but also to understand cultural things.  For example, although my wife and I had been dating by western standards for 2 years, we don't have much photos of this period because besides our parents blessings, it was not "propper" to be alone together.  That's just what cultural norms were, and no one really outside immediate family knew of our relationship.  However, since our marriage, well we have photos coming to us daily from friends and family that we didn't even realize were taken (let alone the thousands we have taken ourselves as well as professionally).  So instead we supplemented the "lack" of photos with phone records, marriage documents, chat and email transcripts etc...

I think the safest bet is to try your best and show through a collection of documents that your relationship is as long as you claim...if you have more of one type of proof than another, that's fine, as long as the story and timeline match.

Ps. In another post about a similar topic I reported that when sending our package to CIC Mississauga back in September, the agent told me not to send more than a dozen or so photos of one particular event (e.g., wedding) because they won't have time to look at them all.