sixty-seven said:
Hey guys! I'm planning to apply for PR through Federal Skilled program. But I recently got married and not sure if I'm eligible to add my spouse to my PR application due to such short length of marriage . I'm on work permit and she is on tourist visa now, but we've been dating, living and working together for almost 2 years. I passed my medical and about a month after we got married. I'm afraid that this would look like a marriage of convenience to CIC.
I would appreciate your help. Thanks!
I aggree with MiriamT
You are now officially married so the fact is that you have to mention or update your marital status (i.e married) in your Pr application and you have to provide the details of your wife in your application. so length of marriage has nothing todo with your eligibility to add your spouse. in other words you have no choice/option to skip her from your PR application. if you choose not to mention her or not to update your application you may face serious problems such as a Ban to enter into canada, loosing PR, rejection of application etc. besides this you may never be able to even sponsor her.
No matter you choose to add your wife as accompanying dependent or non-accompanying dependent still she has to undergo all the process (eligibility, background check, security etc) and your application will take the same amount of time which ever option you choose...( then logically why not to add her as accompanying dependent).
In case you add her in your application as accompanying dependent you will save a lot of time and you both will get Pr status at the same time. no hassle to be in sponsorship process and to fulfill extra sponsorship requirements plus additional long long processing time (2-3 years)to make her live with you permanently.
As your PR application is still in process you must add your spouse in your application as soon as possible. adding your spouse may or may not delay your processing but most likely it wont be noticeable or a huge delay if you provide all her documents in advance. the documents can be
1) her medical exam (upfront medical)
2) her identity documents (passport, national id, birth certificate etc)
3) your marriage certificate
4) required CIC forms ( family form, schedule A etc etc which ever are required by CIC in your immigration category)
5) her processing fee
6) any other documents which are generally required by cic for a spouse ( e.g police certificate, educational documents, job documents etc etc which ever applies to your wife)
Generally the time wasted during an application is when cic request a document so providing documents in advance which are generally necessary/mandatory can/may help you prevent any extra processing time.
Marriage of convenience: you must not worry or be afraid if your marriage is really genuine. your spouse will be living with you during the application process and in case if cic doubt your marriage they will give you chance to justify your stance before rejecting your application which can be an interview or proof of genuine relationship. So nothing to worry about a genuine marriage is easy to prove if it is really a genuine relationship. there are many on this forum who got married during their PR application process and got their PR smoothly. Nothing to worry about most likely your marriage wont look like a marriage of convenience.
i hope this helps and best of luck with your new life and PR application.