Common law, engaged - should we get married before we apply?

[Lifer]

My fiancee and I are common-law and hope to get married in Canada.

We've learned that we must go to Bangkok to get the medical examinations and police certificates, and Bangkok is also where we would have to go if we want to register our marriage with Canada. So, we thought that it might make things go smoother if we got married here in Thailand, since we're going to Bangkok anyways, and proceed with the wedding ceremony in Canada as originally planned.

Is this a good idea? I could see it being good because 'married' is clearer than 'common-law' and it should be easier to prove that we are a legitimate loving couple. On the other hand, we wouldn't be having an extravagant wedding ceremony here in Thailand, so it would look like a marriage of convenience, which is bad. And to be fair, it WOULD be out of convenience, because if not for Canadian immigration we'd be waiting to get married in Canada where my family and friends can attend. But we really are planning to get married! Only question is, is it better to do so now, or wait for Canada, as we originally planned?

 

[Leon]

If you apply as common law stating that you are engaged to be married, they will probably shelf your application until you are married anyway so you might as well get married before you apply.

 

[Lifer]

can anyone confirm this? Seems like a pretty big deal!

 

[BeShoo]

Well, Leon has posted almost 7900 times in this forum, so he's familiar with how things go, but there are those who would disagree.

So long as you have evidence of a solid common law partnership, an engagement to be married should be irrelevant. However, the documentation in many places states that "fiancé(e)s" are not eligible to be sponsored and that if you're intending to get married, you should do it before you apply. The difference is that you are applying to sponsor a common-law partner, not a fiancé, even though that person alos happens to be a fiancé. Hopefully, whichever IO you get will understand the subtle difference.

 

[Leon]

I remember a couple on this forum that this exact thing happened to. They were engaged, applied under common law stating that they were engaged, then found out that their application had been put on the shelf to wait for their wedding. The visa officers seem to do what they want sometimes. I think it's better to give them a clear cut case. Either apply common law without mentioning the engagement or get married before applying.

 

[BeShoo]

If the officer who reviews your case makes an erroneous decision, you can always appeal, but you don't want to do that. That probably takes an additional year and could get expensive, so you're better off with a clear application in the first place.

 

[iarblue]

Leon is correct trust him......if they get wind you are thinking of getting married they will likely not put the process through.And if there is nothing holding you back from getting married they would of course prefer you were,common law is a very hard process to prove.

 

[canadianwoman]

If you do apply common-law, do not say you are engaged and will be getting married in Canada, and do not refer to your common-law spouse as your fiance(e). The visa officer will probably not consider you to be common-law partners, but instead fiancees, and fiancees cannot be sponsored.
If I were you, I'd make it easier on myself and have a small wedding in Thailand. You can then say you will be having a bigger reception in Canada when you are both there.

 

[whoopi83]

The way I see things is, if you can meet the requirements for common law spouses and do not wish to marry at this time, then apply common law and omit your engagement.

As some have said above, there is no category for engaged couples as this is looked at as a promise to marry after a set period of time. CIC are looking for you to be in a committed relationship, genuine and with all the trimmings that go with a marriage.

Yes it could be easier to marry but then again perhaps not. A common law relationship is de facto and needs additional evidence to support your claim that you are living in a marriage type relationship and that you have combined your affairs to the degree necessary to show this. A marriage is de jure, i.e. a legal recognition and of which you do not need necessarily to meet cohabitation criteria but again, you will always need to show that you have combined your affairs sufficiently to qualify.

There are common law and married couples who have been denied through not showing evidence but I personally would not agree that common law is any more difficult to prove than a genuine marriage. All you have to do is make sure that you can support either application with evidence.

Good luck.