Marriage during application

[Szymon]

Hi all,

Wondering if someone out there might be able to help.

My Canadian partner and I both live in the UK and are planning on making a Family Class application under the common-law criteria fairly soon. We have very recently gotten engaged and are now trying to plan wedding times as well as when to apply for my PR in Canada.

It is our understanding that there is no issue with us submitting the application as "common-law" and later updating the CIC that we are now married. Issues arise if we get married in between the time that the application is approved and prior to actually landing in Canada.

Is this the case? Namely it is our understanding that if we apply under common-law for my PR we cannot get married between the time the application is approved but prior to me actually landing in Canada.

 

[scylla]

There are no issues getting married while your application is in progress. Go ahead as planned...

The issue you've read about is where people apply for PR as individuals (single) through a program such as skilled worker, get a visa as a single person, get married, and then land in Canada as a single person without declaring their partner. This scenario doesn't apply to you.

 

[saria1]

Hi all,

Wondering if someone out there might be able to help.

My Canadian partner and I both live in the UK and are planning on making a Family Class application under the common-law criteria fairly soon. We have very recently gotten engaged and are now trying to plan wedding times as well as when to apply for my PR in Canada.

It is our understanding that there is no issue with us submitting the application as "common-law" and later updating the CIC that we are now married. Issues arise if we get married in between the time that the application is approved and prior to actually landing in Canada.

Is this the case? Namely it is our understanding that if we apply under common-law for my PR we cannot get married between the time the application is approved but prior to me actually landing in Canada.

Move forward with lots of caution though. This is taken from the CIC:

"5.46. Can conjugal partners be substitutes for fiancé(e)s?

Conjugal partners are NOT substitutes for fiancé(e)s. CIC decided that it no longer wanted to be
in the business of assessing future relationships or the intention of two individuals to establish and
maintain a conjugal relationship. Thus, there is no fiancé(e) category in the IRPA and Regulations.
If they intend to apply as spouses, Canadians and their foreign national fiancé(e)s are expected
to be married before the immigration process takes place, i.e., the foreign national must be
married to the Canadian sponsor and apply to immigrate as a married spouse.
Fiancé(e)s are individuals who intend to marry and intend to establish a conjugal relationship. In
most cases, they have not yet established a conjugal relationship. They intend to combine their
affairs and become mutually interdependent, but have not yet done so. Even if they have a sexual
relationship, they have not yet achieved the level of mutual interdependence that characterizes a
conjugal relationship although they intend to do so at some point when they marry.
Most traditional fiancé(e)s cannot meet the definition of conjugal partner. They have not merged
their affairs and established the required mutual interdependency. As well, conjugal partners must
have established a sexual relationship, and traditional fiancé(e)s would be unlikely to meet this
criterion."

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

I would think you would want to keep your engagement under wraps, as not to plant questions in their mind. But if you read further, you can change status from conjugal to married during the process.

 

[scylla]

Move forward with lots of caution though. This is taken from the CIC:

"5.46. Can conjugal partners be substitutes for fiancé(e)s?

Read the OP's post again. They are applying as common law - not conjugal. So what you have quoted doesn't apply to their situation. Again, they are free to get married.

 

[saria1]

Read the OP's post again. They are applying as common law - not conjugal. So what you have quoted doesn't apply to their situation. Again, they are free to get married.

You are very correct, I didn't read her right! I hope she ignores my previous post. 8)