Sponsor wife - India (after engagement & court marriage) - PLEASE HELP !

[amvk]

I am Canadian PR - last month i went to india, got engaged and did a court marriage.

Now i am planning to apply for my wife's immigration and once immigration process is done , then have a traditional wedding

now i have some photos from engagement function which i can show as marriage, some photos where we were out together which we can show as honeymoon photos etc , also i have a wedding card printed

so can i apply for immigration - i am going crazy with all this  - pls help me

[scylla]

See the following thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sponser-wifeindia-t70303.0.html

You should wait until you've had the full traditional wedding before you sponsor her.

[amvk]

Yes but i have some photos etc to show engagement reception as my wedding reception, some travel photos as my honey moon photos etc - will it help, marriage cert is already issued

[scylla]

Did you read the link I provided? The scenario there appears to be exactly the same as yours.

[brin]

There is no hard and fast rule that you cannot apply after your civil marriage. You are legally married!!! But what we've been seeing is that New Delhi wants to see the traditional wedding happening as it's the norm in India! (I guess the reason is that the traditional wedding is what Indians consider the actual marrige). That being said, it depends on your each case.

ie: it might just be that you wanted to have a civil marriage as a personal choice(waste if money etc). It all depends on how strong your case is and how you present it. If you've known your wife only for abt an Yr and you just went and signed the marriage pappers, obviously this is going to raise concerns.

You are taking a chance...I think it's better if you say you are planning to have the traditional wedding later. This way, if they don't want to give you the visa with the civil wedding, they'll just ask you to get married traditionally in order to proceed with the application.

[fprince]

I am Canadian PR - last month i went to india, got engaged and did a court marriage.

Now i am planning to apply for my wife's immigration and once immigration process is done , then have a traditional wedding

now i have some photos from engagement function which i can show as marriage, some photos where we were out together which we can show as honeymoon photos etc , also i have a wedding card printed

so can i apply for immigration - i am going crazy with all this  - pls help me

Brin is 100% right and let me add a few words ..cos we are dealing with ND...

Having Indian roots, if you can think about this scenario you can try it... but imagine what the IO's in ND are trained to look for? situations like this....
They are declining a lot of applications these days due to scenarios like this..so you decide if you want to take the risk..and you for a fact should know that marriages do not happen this way in India

I understand your motive but its hard to get an approval for immigaration and them believing that you will do a traditional wedding after the visa is issued....what's the hold up? is their first and foremost question and you can not answer it saying " i am waiting for the PR papers ".........doing that will just make your case being desperate to get the PR, which is a huge red flag.

If you apply now you will get a reply back from CHC ND asking you proof for traditional wedding, pics, etc etc..
you will most probly need to do one..so do it on your own..and then apply...

Try posting this same question in a thread for applicants in ND India forum and you will get a 95% " don do it " answer..

All the best...my advice, go back get a proper wedding done and apply peacefully so you don put urself and your wife under stress.

[asiddiq]

This kind of marriage lacks genuineness. I don't mean this marriage is not genuine. As long as the marriage is registered / legal in your country, it is recognized by Canada also. Question is if the marriage was entered for immigration purpose only? ( Visa officers question about these kind of marriages)

Since your marriage is a court marriage, seems to me that you both might had problem from your families or rites. Am I correct? Good news is that even it was not done Indian traditional way, your marriage is officially okay. But, from Visa officer's side, it will be a red flag. Because, your marriage nature also falls in "Marriage of Convenience" criteria as per Canadian Immigration policy. If it's your 1st marriage, then it makes the VO more careful.

One thing I want everybody to know that Visa officers will judge your case ONLY based on the documents you submit. Without physical meeting, It's really very difficult for a VO to decide on case. Therefore, submission of your application with strong and reliable supporting evidences are very essential for assessment. When VO does not see such reliable supportings, he / she does not feel comfortable enough to decide.

In your case, It's very important to have PRE-Marriage and POST-marriage relationship, because you decided to have court marriage which are not Typical Indian Tradition.  Visa officer will most likely to see how much strong was your intimacy before marriage? And how much are you developing after marriage. In your case, VO will like to see more evidence than that of other traditional marriage cases. Give it more colourful, like your together activities; such as, your residing in US together by showing Rental lease agreement, Joint account, vacation pictures, lots of pictures together, pictures with friends etc.

My suggestion is to you, if possible, try your best level to convince your families ( If this is your case, Family or rite problem), arrange a cordial reception program with attendance of both family members, relatives, friends, neighbours. Go for family trip with family members and spend some time with them and have lots of photographs with them also. Just give it little more time to adjust between you and your family members ( both sides) and then apply. You could be considered. Your chances of interview calling is very much sure. So, gather as much evidence as you could which will make your relationship more reliable and effectionate.

Remember, Canada immigration are taking serious efforts to track these kind of marriages and to put more careful attention to these marriage cases, like court marriage, love marriage, Big age gap, Big educational gap, etc.

Hope me and other members advice will help you prepare yourself and your wife well enough to go for sponsorship.

take care. Good luck   

[canadianwoman]

Yes but i have some photos etc to show engagement reception as my wedding reception, some travel photos as my honey moon photos etc - will it help, marriage cert is already issued

Definitely do not lie on the application! If you claim your engagement photos are photos of your marriage, and them claim travel photos are photos of your honeymoon, you will be claiming that you did have a traditional Indian wedding. The visa officer will question your wife very closely at the interview - are you sure she won't slip up and make a mistake? If the visa officer finds out you lied about these things, your wife's visa will be refused and she will be banned for 2 years for misrepresentation. As just one example of how this could go wrong, if you use the engagement photos as your wedding photos, then you will have no proof of the engagement party.
Even if the VO does not find out about the deception, he/she might still refuse the visa. In that case, at the appeal, and if the appeal is refused, when you reapply, you will have to continue to use the deceptive evidence, and will not be able to use the stronger evidence - the traditional marriage - that you will by then have, since if you admit you lied on the first application, you won't win the appeal and probably not the 2nd app either.

It would be much better to just have the traditional wedding celebration, and then submit the application. It might not even take any more time - since you will be more likely to get accepted, and the processing is faster for cases that look genuine.