Sponsoring husband from Morocco

[jamali]

Hi all, sorry this is my second attempt to get some answers on here. I apologize if I am in wrong place. My husband and I had some questions. I am sponsoring him from Morocco. Is there a line that CIC draws for age difference. Ours is less than 20 yrs but in some photos he looks older. Also do I need to have my own home to sponsor? As my plan was to rent an apartment closer to his pr approval. We can expect a wait of 5-6 months once his app gets to Rabat? I did hire a lawyer but I feel I could have done a better job, saved time and money. Anyhow thanks in advance for any replies. Best wishes to all!

Hi MaryL, welcome to the forum. I'm not exactly sure where CIC draws the line for age difference But in a country like Morocco where marrying an older woman is not the norm i would guess it's about 6+ years. One thing that may make a difference is if the woman is still in her child-bearing years then maybe they won't scrutinize it too much. I don't think it makes much of a difference if you have your own home or not. I guess it would only matter if the VO questions your living arrangements for when your husband arrives.

Correct, it takes about 5-6 to hear something once your files reaches Rabat. Although they did call my husband after a couple months to ask him about an address in his forms

When did you send in your application? Why did you end up hiring a lawyer? Did you feel you had much red flags?

Good luck!

 

[habeeb]

I'm preparing a lot iknow everything about my husband hamdolilah and wil say the truth give me an example like what they will try to do what should I wear I should be verry elegante !!!

Ichraq they will ask you many questions about your husband like where does he live? Does he own a house or rent an apartment? Who does he live with? What does he do for work? What does his job entail (like specifically, does he go to an office or work in the community, does he meet with clients or work on the phone or on a computer)? What is his yearly salary? Who does he live with? Does he have any brothers, sisters? What are their names, his parents names? What family does he have in Canada, where do they live? What are his likes and dislikes? What do you have in common? What are your future plans (DON'T talk much on working or going to school here in Canada, focus more on what things you talk about doing together)? Are there any problems in his family? Did his friends and family come to the wedding? If not, why not? Do his family and friends now about you? Do your friends and family know about him? Have you met them or talked to them? How did you meet? How long did you know eachother before you married? When did you decide to get married? If you talked about marriage before you met in person you have to explain how you could do so without meeting in person first. Do you plan to have children? If not, why not? Do you use birth control medicine? What kinds of things do you enjoy doing together? If there is an age difference why did you marry someone younger/older? Why not someone your own age? They will certainly ask why you did not have a big traditional wedding? Was it to hide the fact of the marriage from friends and family? They will ask about you, do you work, how much money you make? Are you just married so you can make a better life in Canada? They can be very blunt and hard sometimes, that's why I say don't let them rattle you! Don't worry too much about what you wear, just look respectable, like as if you were going for a job interview. It shows that this is important to you.

 

[habeeb]

Hi all, sorry this is my second attempt to get some answers on here. I apologize if I am in wrong place. My husband and I had some questions. I am sponsoring him from Morocco. Is there a line that CIC draws for age difference. Ours is less than 20 yrs but in some photos he looks older. Also do I need to have my own home to sponsor? As my plan was to rent an apartment closer to his pr approval. We can expect a wait of 5-6 months once his app gets to Rabat? I did hire a lawyer but I feel I could have done a better job, saved time and money. Anyhow thanks in advance for any replies. Best wishes to all!

Welcome MaryL!! Sorry you didn't get an answer before, some days it gets quite hopping on here and it's easy to get lost in all the posts. Don't ever be afraid to keep asking

So, there is no official 'line' regards to age, we have a successful member on here who is 20 years older than her husband. That being said, Jamali is right. Just look at what is the norm amongst traditional Moroccan marriages and you will see very few men marry women more than 5 or so years older than they are. That does NOT mean, however that you will automatically be refused if there is a bigger age gap. It just means you have to go farther to prove you relationship is genuine. Make sure you use some kind of instant message program to take an opportunity to discuss seriously the age gap and why it doesn't matter to either of you. This way you can show the conversation to CIC. When you talk on cam, nothing is captured, which doesn't mean it's the end either. But do discuss it with your hubby.

As far as owning a house, no, it is not necessary at all. The main thing is your income. You have to show you have a stable job and income and can financially support your husband as if he will never bring any income to your household. It is part of the application for sponsorship to sign a declaration that you agree to support him for a period of 2 years from the day he lands in Canada, even if your marriage breaks up, he moves out and has to go on welfare you will be required to pay all of it back to the government (God forbid). There is also a minimum yearly income you must make in order to sponsor your spouse and any of your or his children. For just you and your spouse it's around $30 000. Here is the link where you can check this out, just scroll down to Table 1 to see the amounts depending on the number of dependent children.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5482Eguide.asp

As for time frame, yes you can expect 5-6 months once your file is transferred to Rabat before you hear from them if everything in your application is in order. But keep in mind that all depends on how smoothly things go. If there is any information missing in your file that they have to request, if your husband didn't do his medical upfront, or if you chose not to pay all the fees up front it will cause a delay.

Hope I've been helpful, and God be with you!

 

[Ichraq]

Thanks a lot habeb u are so nice inshalah only today inshalah will let u know inshalah with good news

 

[withhardshipcomesease]

Welcome MaryL!! Sorry you didn't get an answer before, some days it gets quite hopping on here and it's easy to get lost in all the posts. Don't ever be afraid to keep asking

So, there is no official 'line' regards to age, we have a successful member on here who is 20 years older than her husband. That being said, Jamali is right. Just look at what is the norm amongst traditional Moroccan marriages and you will see very few men marry women more than 5 or so years older than they are. That does NOT mean, however that you will automatically be refused if there is a bigger age gap. It just means you have to go farther to prove you relationship is genuine. Make sure you use some kind of instant message program to take an opportunity to discuss seriously the age gap and why it doesn't matter to either of you. This way you can show the conversation to CIC. When you talk on cam, nothing is captured, which doesn't mean it's the end either. But do discuss it with your hubby.

As far as owning a house, no, it is not necessary at all. The main thing is your income. You have to show you have a stable job and income and can financially support your husband as if he will never bring any income to your household. It is part of the application for sponsorship to sign a declaration that you agree to support him for a period of 2 years from the day he lands in Canada, even if your marriage breaks up, he moves out and has to go on welfare you will be required to pay all of it back to the government (God forbid). There is also a minimum yearly income you must make in order to sponsor your spouse and any of your or his children. For just you and your spouse it's around $30 000. Here is the link where you can check this out, just scroll down to Table 1 to see the amounts depending on the number of dependent children.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5482Eguide.asp

As for time frame, yes you can expect 5-6 months once your file is transferred to Rabat before you hear from them if everything in your application is in order. But keep in mind that all depends on how smoothly things go. If there is any information missing in your file that they have to request, if your husband didn't do his medical upfront, or if you chose not to pay all the fees up front it will cause a delay.

Hope I've been helpful, and God be with you!

There's no income requirement for sponsoring a spouse, you just need to show that you're not bankrupt or collecting social assistance (welfare).

 

[MaryL]

Hello I'm married with my husbnd for almost 11 months and I stay with him 6 month in morrocco this year. I send all our papers in cic for 2 months. Now they say we need marriage document and more proof of relationship. We send translated certified copy in english, photocopy of Arabic and itineraries, tickets and photos of wedding and trips. I travel to Morocco now three times in total I stay 8 months. With plans to return again in about three months. I have a pretty good job, been with same company for more than 20 years. Our friends and families are supportive. I have more photos and plan to gather more evidence in case they ask. Am confident my husband will do well in an interview I'd asked. Just a timeline and more info...

 

[MaryL]

I hired a lawyer to make sure app was complete, to try and avoid delays and/or discrepancies in documents etc. CIC received the app on September 12,2014. Two weeks ago they email the lawyer and lawyer forwarded it to me. CIC ask for marriage document and more proof. I send latest itinerary, recent photos of trip to Meknes and Agadir, and scan original marriage document to lawyer and he also had a copy go translated original in English. Lawyer says CIC will take another two to three weeks to decide.

 

[MaryL]

I am responsible for my husband for three years not two. It changed in spring or early summer I think.

 

[habeeb]

Sorry, all, withharshipcomesease is correct. I saw the financial evaluation when I applied and thought it was applicable to sponsors but I went back now and re-read it again and it only applies to members of family class who are NOT spouses or dependent children. My mistake, I take it back!! Thanks for correcting me.

MaryL, funny you say the undertaking is for 3 years now, but on CICs website it still says 2. Do you have any links that show it's 3 now? I don't want to give wrong info!

Also MaryL, do you have any communications you can send in? Like text, email, chat logs etc? This may be also what they're looking for, that you maintain regular, meaningful communication between your visits.

I'm really surprised the lawyer did not instruct you to send in your marriage certificate along with a certified translation in your original application package, that's pretty standard.

 

[habeeb]

Ichraq I'm dying to know how did it go today??????? :-X :-X :-X :-X

 

[jamali]

Habeeb ... the undertaking is 3 years ... maybe you're thinking about Condition 51 where the PR has to live with their Canadian spouse for 2 years. If the marriage breakdowns, then the PR may get reported and be sent back to their country... in essence, you are responsible for 2 years and the third year if the marriage lasts longer than the second year

 

[jamali]

@ MaryL ....

how long did it take you to get sponsor approval? it sounds like your application is coming along quickly, but once they send out a request for more proof/information, the trend in the Rabat office seems to be that they have a "bring forward" date of about 3 months. I think your lawyer is being a bit optimistic but of course there's no harm in hoping they are right. Insha'Allah you will hear something soon.

 

[jamali]

Ichraq I'm dying to know how did it go today??????? :-X :-X :-X :-X

same here!!! how did it go Ichraq?

I thought she had said the interview was Wednesday, but I don't know where I read that ... I can't see if the interview is today or tomorrow ???

 

[MaryL]

The lawyer sent the certified translated original with application in September. Plus a photocopy of Arabic. I gave him all required documents. CIC ask for more. Was planning on making copies if some Facebook messages, but all from the beginning in August 2013 all the way to about November 2013 were deleted somehow. But yes plan to have copies of some recent conversations. I have not been approved yet. I believe the PR is conditional for three years as well.

 

[habeeb]

Jamali you're right! I was looking at the condition not the undertaking. Thanks for clearing it up