Hello! I'm not really entirely sure how to kick this question off so I'll start with some facts. My wife and I married roughly a month ago (I'm a US citizen, and she's Canadian, my sponsor) After being in an online / long distance relationship after nearly a year. I had visited her for a little over a week (the same week in which we got married) , and I in my infinite wisdom decided not to take any photos. At all, really. It's not something I do often, nor does my spouse. I see now that this was a huge mistake, as now I don't have any photographic proof of my initial visit, or our signing (it was a small, private ceremony). There's a long paper trail however, including a letter from our officiant attesting that they did in fact officiate us. I'll add the fact that, we have yet to actually submit our application as we're running everything through a firm that's representing us. The matter of our total lack of photos due to the fact that we had only known one another online prior to last month has been mentioned to our lawyer, and he recommended I arrange another visit to Canada and, well, actually take photos this time, as well as have some letters written by friends and family confirming that our relationship is genuine. This is easy enough for us to put together, and I know her father and brother would be willing to show up in photos and provide statements as well. I worry however, that I've totally messed things up by not taking photos during that first visit, and I don't know how seriously the pictures from my second trip will be taken once we finally do officially send the application off. I know my case is a bit odd, but I figured I'd check here and see if can get some thoughts on the matter, it's been causing the both of us a fair bit of worry. We've got a long track record of gifts exchanged and mailed between us, and nearly two years' worth of message through social media, but the concern is that our lack of photos is going to become a major roadblock. I certainly do appreciate any input on this matter. Thanks a ton!
Lack of photos for spousal sponsorship / LDR
- Thread starter DT4586
- Start date
I don’t think not having photos is a dealbreaker. But it may arouse some suspicion. We had lost our wedding photos so we attached a LOE.
Since you don’t have sufficient photographic evidence, your case is going to depend on the chats, socials(screenshots and transcripts)and letters of family support and evidence to support you did visit.(tickets, restaurant bills, shopping etc).I don’t know if you celebrated your wedding with a honeymoon but maybe this is an opportunity to do that and make some memories of it.
all the best and I hope it works out for the both of you!
Since you don’t have sufficient photographic evidence, your case is going to depend on the chats, socials(screenshots and transcripts)and letters of family support and evidence to support you did visit.(tickets, restaurant bills, shopping etc).I don’t know if you celebrated your wedding with a honeymoon but maybe this is an opportunity to do that and make some memories of it.
all the best and I hope it works out for the both of you!
In general getting married during an initial visit is frowned on by IRCC. Is there a reason there have been no in person visits before getting married? Not taking any photos on a wedding day is also extremely unusual. Were both your families at the wedding? Did none of them take pictures? I would suggest visiting at least one more time but would suggest at least 2 visits before submitting your sponsorship application and at least a visit during your sponsorship period and send in a webform advising IRCC of the visit with proof. Written proof of being somewhere or of a relationship only goes so far which is why things like pictures are important.
I would say it's very unusual not to have any photos at all of the wedding and essentially zero photos of your time together.
It sounds like you got married on your first trip to visit each other in person. Is that the case? If so, I would recommend at least 2 more trips together (more would be better) before you submit the application. Make sure you take photos together. Marrying on the first trip you see each other in person is generally a red flag to IRCC of a possible marriage of convenience.
I would absolutely not submit the application based on just one single trip and no photos.
Applicant USAian, sponsor Canadian. There's no reason not to travel and spend more time together. Definitely do not submit until more time physically spent together.
Photos important, but it's more the online exclusive and no time spent together.
Totally agree. Right now this application looks like one big red flag.
We had discussed getting married for months prior to my first visit, and I wasn't initially entirely comfortable with the idea, but our time together had reaffirmed it. As for the reason I didn't visit prior, it's incredibly difficult for me to get enough time off work for such a thing. I saw marriage of convenience mentioned further down, and I understand that the way we did things might give that impression. We might have been a bit over-eager in all honesty, and didn't quite understand just how indepth this all went, as we didn't even start consulting a firm in depth until after the fact. I'm certainly not in any hardship and moving countries actually negatively impacts my finances a lot, but it's our preference. The firm I've been consulting didn't even mention the possibility of this being viewed as a rushed marriage just for the purpose of getting into Canada..
I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, even though it's not quite what we'd have liked to hear.
Another thing tha in hindsight might negatively influence this is that I'm the one providing proof of finances, rather than my spouse, who is the sponsor. She's been more or less "Working" as an at home caretaker for one of her disabled family members so she hasn't been able to maintain a job. I know our firm will try to present this all in the best light possible but there's only so much that can be done.