We had a religious wedding in India and under the Hindu Marriage Act we are considered legally married.
We did NOT however register the marriage and thus do NOT have a marriage certificate.
To get marriage certificate, both my wife and I should be present in person at the district Registrar's office.
We cannot travel to India until the end of this year due to COVID-19 and the recent H-1B "ban".
This page for assessing the legality of a marriage has the text:
The section titled What to do if a marriage is not legal where it occurred in the same assessing the legality of a marriage page does make it seem like we can apply as common law, but the tile of the section includes "if a marriage is not legal" which is clearly not our case.
Can we apply under common law relationship even though technically/legally we are considered married?
I do not want to misrepresent my situation by simply choosing common law and proceeding.
We did NOT however register the marriage and thus do NOT have a marriage certificate.
To get marriage certificate, both my wife and I should be present in person at the district Registrar's office.
We cannot travel to India until the end of this year due to COVID-19 and the recent H-1B "ban".
This page for assessing the legality of a marriage has the text:
We have been living together for 2 years now and have all the proof Canada could possibly ask of us like leases, finances, photos, videos etc EXCEPT for the marriage certificate.
The section titled What to do if a marriage is not legal where it occurred in the same assessing the legality of a marriage page does make it seem like we can apply as common law, but the tile of the section includes "if a marriage is not legal" which is clearly not our case.
Can we apply under common law relationship even though technically/legally we are considered married?
I do not want to misrepresent my situation by simply choosing common law and proceeding.