Getting married in Turkey as a refugee

[Qusar]

Hello, I applied for asylum in 2020 and passed the court in the same year. I got the permanent residency card in November 2021. I am going to Istanbul next month, I want to marry my fiancee. I will start a sponsorship application for her in March. I have been in Canada for 5 years and did not receive any help from the state. My main question is can Canada not give pr to my wife? So, can they approach our marriage with suspicion? What should I pay attention to in this regard?

Unfortunately, I have never lived with my wife before and we do not have a history of living under the same house.

 

[armoured]

My main question is can Canada not give pr to my wife? So, can they approach our marriage with suspicion? What should I pay attention to in this regard?

Unfortunately, I have never lived with my wife before and we do not have a history of living under the same house.

You will need to apply just like any other citizen or PR:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/apply.html

Suggest read through and start filling out based on what you know.

Whether there can be suspicion or not: from the forms should become more clear. They'll look for evidence of your relationship, communication, time spent physically together, mutual support (incl financial), photographic evidence of the two together (and activities, etc), as well as the marriage itself and who attended.

Can they look at it with suspicion? Yes, if thye think the marriage/relationship is not genuine. Show them evidence it is genuine.

Note, if your spouse is also a refugee (eg in Turkey) then there may be more scrutiny (i.e. that this is not a way to get status in Canada without going through refugee process, i.e. a marriage of convenience). You deal with that as above - demonstrate it is genuine.

Good luck.

 

[Qusar]

You will need to apply just like any other citizen or PR:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/apply.html

Suggest read through and start filling out based on what you know.

Whether there can be suspicion or not: from the forms should become more clear. They'll look for evidence of your relationship, communication, time spent physically together, mutual support (incl financial), photographic evidence of the two together (and activities, etc), as well as the marriage itself and who attended.

Can they look at it with suspicion? Yes, if thye think the marriage/relationship is not genuine. Show them evidence it is genuine.

Note, if your spouse is also a refugee (eg in Turkey) then there may be more scrutiny (i.e. that this is not a way to get status in Canada without going through refugee process, i.e. a marriage of convenience). You deal with that as above - demonstrate it is genuine.

Good luck.

thank you for your response. No, she is not a refugee and will come to Turkey from Azerbaijan to get married. The problem is that when we were in our own country, we didn't have any photos of us together. However, my family went to the girl's house with 10-12 people and they had a banquet there. Do you think the pictures taken from the banquet can be presented as evidence?

 

[canuck78]

thank you for your response. No, she is not a refugee and will come to Turkey from Azerbaijan to get married. The problem is that when we were in our own country, we didn't have any photos of us together. However, my family went to the girl's house with 10-12 people and they had a banquet there. Do you think the pictures taken from the banquet can be presented as evidence?

If you both weren’t pictured at the banquet then that isn’t an evidence of a relationship.

 

[Qusar]

If you both weren’t pictured at the banquet then that isn’t an evidence of a relationship.

The banquet took place when I was in Canada. The most consistent evidence I will present to the IRCC will be the wedding photos that I will have taken at the marriage office in Istanbul. I consider the photos of my family with the girl's family as additional supporting photos. Do you think this will work?

 

[canuck78]

The banquet took place when I was in Canada. The most consistent evidence I will present to the IRCC will be the wedding photos that I will have taken at the marriage office in Istanbul. I consider the photos of my family with the girl's family as additional supporting photos. Do you think this will work?

Not really strong support. You can include it but Canada wants to see proof of you both as a couple and more than just on the wedding day.

 

[Qusar]

Not really strong support. You can include it but Canada wants to see proof of you both as a couple and more than just on the wedding day.

Then no one can bring someone they met after settling in Canada to the country as his wife? What proof can the IRCC ask me for? Do I have to live in Istanbul for 1 year with the woman who will be my wife?

 

[armoured]

The problem is that when we were in our own country, we didn't have any photos of us together. However, my family went to the girl's house with 10-12 people and they had a banquet there. Do you think the pictures taken from the banquet can be presented as evidence?

You decide what is the best evidence (and you can write short letters of explanation about it). But no, I agree it is not particularly good evidence (although perhaps some allowance for specific circumstances in refugee case - I do not know and I do not know your specifics or the cultural context).

But in current world of smartphones etc - it will look very strange and not very believable if you cannot find photos of you together if you spent time together (and you are both under 100 years of age). Ask friends, family etc, if they have not captured some photos.

If evidence is weak in one area, you should try to compensate with better evidence in other areas.

 

[canuck78]

Then no one can bring someone they met after settling in Canada to the country as his wife?

Yes it is possible but harder. Would suggest you spend more time together after the wedding doing things in Turkey if you aren’t able to do things as a couple before the wedding. You should document these activities. You may also want to take another trip to visit your spouse during the sponsorship process.

 

[armoured]

Then no one can bring someone they met after settling in Canada to the country as his wife? What proof can the IRCC ask me for? Do I have to live in Istanbul for 1 year with the woman who will be my wife?

Read. the. instructions.

Read the forms. Start to go through the forms. YOu will see from there what is needed.

And don't over-react - no-one said it will be impossible - we are providing suggestions on how to put together a better application.

 

[Qusar]

You decide what is the best evidence (and you can write short letters of explanation about it). But no, I agree it is not particularly good evidence (although perhaps some allowance for specific circumstances in refugee case - I do not know and I do not know your specifics or the cultural context).

But in current world of smartphones etc - it will look very strange and not very believable if you cannot find photos of you together if you spent time together (and you are both under 100 years of age). Ask friends, family etc, if they have not captured some photos.

If evidence is weak in one area, you should try to compensate with better evidence in other areas.

The problem is that my serious relationship with her took off in 2018 after I came to Canada. Do you think we can present our correspondence (e-mail, whatsapp) of 4-5 years as proof?

 

[Qusar]

Yes it is possible but harder. Would suggest you spend more time together after the wedding doing things in Turkey if you aren’t able to do things as a couple before the wedding. You should document these activities. You may also want to take another trip to visit your spouse during the sponsorship process.

Thank you for your information.

 

[canuck78]

The problem is that my serious relationship with her took off in 2018 after I came to Canada. Do you think we can present our correspondence (e-mail, whatsapp) of 4-5 years as proof?

Have you read the application? You will see that correspondence can be included.

 

[armoured]

The problem is that my serious relationship with her took off in 2018 after I came to Canada. Do you think we can present our correspondence (e-mail, whatsapp) of 4-5 years as proof?

Yes, you can provide that.

Again - read the instructions and the forms.

Note: you present 'proof' that you are legally married.

The rest is 'evidence' supporting the case that the relationship is genuine. This is important because there is not a single bit of evidence that will be 'proof' - they will look at it all together. (And refer to my first post where I listed the types of evidence - and there are other types as well).

It's up to you to make the best case, and since you are preparing your application, you can also take steps to improve/add to the types of evidence you have.

 

[Qusar]

Have you read the application? You will see that correspondence can be included.

How and where can I find applications? Can you please share a link with me? Thank you in advance.