Sponsoring from Afghanistan

[Outlandish]

Hi everyone,

I will be sponsoring my fiance from Afghanistan in the near future. I will be travelling to Afghanistan for our wedding ceremony in May2012 and I was wondering:
1) Can I start the sponsorhip process before the wedding takes place (we have been engaged for ~5 months now)?
2) When exactly do I need to show proof of my marriage during the sponsorship process?
3) Since there is no Canadian visa office in Afghanistan and my fiance has family in Pakistan, is it recommended to sponsor through Pakistan or is the wait time the same? Or can I give two different addresses (residential and mailing?)

Thank you
 

[Arezou]

Hi everyone,

I will be sponsoring my fiance from Afghanistan in the near future. I will be travelling to Afghanistan for our wedding ceremony in May2012 and I was wondering:
1) Can I start the sponsorhip process before the wedding takes place (we have been engaged for ~5 months now)?
2) When exactly do I need to show proof of my marriage during the sponsorship process?
3) Since there is no Canadian visa office in Afghanistan and my fiance has family in Pakistan, is it recommended to sponsor through Pakistan or is the wait time the same? Or can I give two different addresses (residential and mailing?)

Thank you
 

Dear Outlandish,
For your first question, i think if you have the marriage certificate you can start your process,  i mean If you want to apply under spousal sponsorship class.
For your second question, you have to show from beginning the proof of your marriage if you want to apply under spousal class.
I checked the web site of embassy of Canada in Pakistan and it shows you should apply through this embassy for your wife's immigration. The processing time is 26 months. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/missions/islamabad.asp
By the way you can have a look at needed documents for spousal sponsorship too which are as follows based on CIC :
If you are being sponsored by your spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner, you must send evidence of the relationship such as;

• Proof of your sponsor's visits such as airline ticket coupons, boarding passes, copies of pages of your sponsor's passport showing entry/exit stamps

• Wedding photographs depicting all the rituals of a traditional wedding,

• Wedding reception and post wedding photographs,

• Evidence of continued contact with sponsor such as phone bills, letters and e-mails and

• Marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriages.
    

[AAL1984]

Hi, I believe all Afghan citizens residing in Afghanistan applying for sponsorship have to apply through Islamabad.

When you apply to sponsor your wife, you have to send the marriage certificate with the application, so whatever official Afghan marriage certificate you get - you will send a copy of that with the application.

In another thread you had asked about income, there are no income requirements when sponsoring your spouse -the only exception is that you can't be on welfare (note EI is not considered welfare).

Hope that helps.

[Outlandish]

Dear Outlandish,
For your first question, i think if you have the marriage certificate you can start your process,  i mean If you want to apply under spousal sponsorship class.
For your second question, you have to show from beginning the proof of your marriage if you want to apply under spousal class.
I checked the web site of embassy of Canada in Pakistan and it shows you should apply through this embassy for your wife's immigration. The processing time is 26 months.
By the way you can have a look at needed documents for spousal sponsorship too which are as follows based on CIC :
If you are being sponsored by your spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner, you must send evidence of the relationship such as;

• Proof of your sponsor's visits such as airline ticket coupons, boarding passes, copies of pages of your sponsor's passport showing entry/exit stamps

• Wedding photographs depicting all the rituals of a traditional wedding,

• Wedding reception and post wedding photographs,

• Evidence of continued contact with sponsor such as phone bills, letters and e-mails and

• Marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriages.
    

Aha, all right, so no way of starting the process unless I've got the marriage certificate.
Thank you and I will be back with more questions in the near future.

[Outlandish]

Hi, I believe all Afghan citizens residing in Afghanistan applying for sponsorship have to apply through Islamabad.

When you apply to sponsor your wife, you have to send the marriage certificate with the application, so whatever official Afghan marriage certificate you get - you will send a copy of that with the application.

In another thread you had asked about income, there are no income requirements when sponsoring your spouse -the only exception is that you can't be on welfare (note EI is not considered welfare).

Hope that helps.

Great, you guys have been really helpful.

Also, I do have emails and chat logs as a form of proof, but so far they have all been in my language and not English. Will this be a problem? Do the emails/chat logs/texts have to be in a language the officials can understand or do they just want the reassurance that we are in contact.

[CharlieD10]

All material or documents not in English or French must be translated by a certified translator, or it will be disregarded.