Marriage of convenience: do we run the risk?

[SassyBee23]

Hi all -

Canadian PR very very close to finalizing application for US citizen spouse. I'm terrified of making any tiny mistake that might jeopardize our application, so i come to you for help and reassurance!

My husband and I dated for 3.5 years after a very normal relationship, met in school, dated, some long distance, etc.
We got engaged March 2015 and essentially eloped while i was visiting him in the US in May 2015 and I've since returned to Canada. Only his mom, aunt and uncle, and his baby niece wersirens thee present and served as witnesses. My family was unable to leave Canada (work and school) because our marriage was spur of the moment and we have always planned to have a big vow renewal/reception after we were able to move in together right away after (it seemed sad and anti climactic to me to have a big wedding and then spend the next year apart while waiting for immigration, whether we chose to move to the US or Canada).
We have never officially lived together nor do we have joint accounts, but I'm the primary beneficiary on his life insurance and our friends and families know about our relationship since it starts, plus we have pictures and texts/Facebook messages/posts etc. that show that we have a normal young adult relationship.

My fear is that they will see it as a non genuine marriage because we didn't dress up much for the wedding and my parents and our siblings weren't in attendance...i know elopements aren't uncommon, but in this scenario i know they can come across as suspicious.
Should my husband explain in the spouse questionnaire that we had our little courthouse wedding because we didn't have time to coordinate schedules and travel plans with everyone in three different countries and that we plan on doing a big celebration later or would it be best just to say that we chose to be financially conservative and not have a big traditional wedding at all...i don't know?

Any input or advice is welcome! Thanks!

 

[deweysmith]

U.S. Citizens rank very low on the "stand to gain" scale for CIC. Life in Canada vs the USA is so similar that they won't scrutinize your relationship that much. Explain yourself on the forms and include some proof of an ongoing relationship over the last three years, and a continuing relationship now, and you'll be just fine. CIC doesn't care what the reason is that you didn't have a big wedding, as long as there is a reason. Be truthful, you don't have a lot to worry about in this situation.

 

[SassyBee23]

U.S. Citizens rank very low on the "stand to gain" scale for CIC. Life in Canada vs the USA is so similar that they won't scrutinize your relationship that much. Explain yourself on the forms and include some proof of an ongoing relationship over the last three years, and a continuing relationship now, and you'll be just fine. CIC doesn't care what the reason is that you didn't have a big wedding, as long as there is a reason. Be truthful, you don't have a lot to worry about in this situation.

Thank you! I figured that they wouldn't care too much with him being American through and through (that is, neither he nor anyone in his family for at least 3 generations has ever held any other citizenship) since he stands nothing to gain and is moving only to be with me, but it is incredibly reassuring hearing it from someone else. I have about 60 pictures of us with friends and family that span 3 years (minus the time that we were apart while I was in Canada) and the only proof I can provide for an ongoing relationship is that we talk daily, so some screenshots of messages? What other forms of proof would they want to see? Unfortunately, we lacked the foresight to preserve things like phone bills from when I lived in the States and we'd call each other regularly, as well as ticket stubs from our dates and stuff like that, so I mostly have hundreds of thousands of messages from our conversations and emails, haha.

 

[deweysmith]

Thank you! I figured that they wouldn't care too much with him being American through and through (that is, neither he nor anyone in his family for at least 3 generations has ever held any other citizenship) since he stands nothing to gain and is moving only to be with me, but it is incredibly reassuring hearing it from someone else. I have about 60 pictures of us with friends and family that span 3 years (minus the time that we were apart while I was in Canada) and the only proof I can provide for an ongoing relationship is that we talk daily, so some screenshots of messages? What other forms of proof would they want to see? Unfortunately, we lacked the foresight to preserve things like phone bills from when I lived in the States and we'd call each other regularly, as well as ticket stubs from our dates and stuff like that, so I mostly have hundreds of thousands of messages from our conversations and emails, haha.

If you state you use texts, iMessage, FaceTime, etc on the form, and include the 60 photographs, I think you'll be just fine. Screenshots would be helpful, but I don't think it's particularly necessary.

 

[Celandrius]

I was worried about that myself. Not being dressed up enough, I mean I got married to my husband in jeans and a tshirt... It went through fine though. Just include any kind of skype calls, text messages and etc, and you should be okay.

 

[Aquakitty]

If it helps, we dressed up old fashioned and rode a tandem bike through a drive-thru wedding in Las Vegas and had no problems. We organised all our chat convos over the years (I didn't print out all of them, that would be insane, instead just picked out relevant bits from each year) and had tons of pictures, tickets etc. We also had no family at our wedding and explained the reasons simply. From what you said I think you have nothing to worry about. Americans becoming Canadian is more of a downgrade in some ways, as far as immigration goes.

 

[SassyBee23]

I was worried about that myself. Not being dressed up enough, I mean I got married to my husband in jeans and a tshirt... It went through fine though. Just include any kind of skype calls, text messages and etc, and you should be okay.

Thank you!! That's such a relief to hear! I wore an ivory lace shirt and dressy pants, but I had no interest in wearing a dress, haha.

I'm honestly at the point where I'm questioning and triple checking every little thing. I don't want to get rejected for a stupid mistake!
In fact, there's a question on the Sponsor Questionnaire I'm seriously doubting right now...
# 9 - Do friends and family know about your relationship with your spouse?
I answered yes, of course, but do I need to provide any explanation in the box? Or is that just if you answer no?

 

[Majromax]

I'm honestly at the point where I'm questioning and triple checking every little thing. I don't want to get rejected for a stupid mistake!

Don't worry about rejection. Immigration is not an adversarial process. The CIC agent is an inquisitor trying to detect cases of fraud, not a prosecutor trying to stop your application in specific.

Complete and valid applications (that is, ones where everything's signed and you're not trying to sponsor an invalid family member) are also not rejected out of hand. If there's something odd about it, CPC-Ottawa will ask for more information. Some users here have had requests for things like birth certificates. One unfortunate user apparently had the entirety of her "proof of relationship" section go missing and had a request for it. (I think that got straightened out after MP intervention, but my point is that the application still wasn't rejected out of hand.)

Many other users, especially for US citizen spouses, have a perfectly smooth process and the only thing they hear about the application after sponsorship approval is when the confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) arrives in the mail.

 

[deweysmith]

Don't worry about rejection. Immigration is not an adversarial process. The CIC agent is an inquisitor trying to detect cases of fraud, not a prosecutor trying to stop your application in specific.

Complete and valid applications (that is, ones where everything's signed and you're not trying to sponsor an invalid family member) are also not rejected out of hand. If there's something odd about it, CPC-Ottawa will ask for more information. Some users here have had requests for things like birth certificates. One unfortunate user apparently had the entirety of her "proof of relationship" section go missing and had a request for it. (I think that got straightened out after MP intervention, but my point is that the application still wasn't rejected out of hand.)

Many other users, especially for US citizen spouses, have a perfectly smooth process and the only thing they hear about the application after sponsorship approval is when the confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) arrives in the mail.

This is probably the most important thing to take from this thread. Unless you filled out a form incorrectly or are missing one, CIC won't rubber stamp you REFUSED and that's it. Instead, if there is a problem or any doubt, you will get a request for more information, or be called in for an interview. It's only after those fail that an application would be refused.

 

[SuiGeneris]

Sassy, I just got married on June 24th, lol. It was done in front of a judge, just him and I, no family, no friends. No wedding, nothing. Just a certificate. And we plan to submit our app this Aug. Our reason is that we can't afford it! However I've generated a rock solid case supported by a wide variety of concrete evidence so I'm not worried.

 

[SassyBee23]

This is probably the most important thing to take from this thread. Unless you filled out a form incorrectly or are missing one, CIC won't rubber stamp you REFUSED and that's it. Instead, if there is a problem or any doubt, you will get a request for more information, or be called in for an interview. It's only after those fail that an application would be refused.

Yeah, I understand. I'm a little bit of a worrier.
I am concerned about not filling the forms correctly - for example, the question 9 of the Sponsor Questionnaire, in which I'm not sure if I need to provide an explanation for yes or no answers, or just no.

 

[Majromax]

Yeah, I understand. I'm a little bit of a worrier.
I am concerned about not filling the forms correctly - for example, the question 9 of the Sponsor Questionnaire, in which I'm not sure if I need to provide an explanation for yes or no answers, or just no.

That question needs an explanation only for "No" answers. If you haven't looked at it in detail, I suggest going over the instruction guide. Towards the end it goes through those questions. In your case:

[quote author=CIC]
Question 13: Check ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’ to indicate if your friends and family know of your relationship with your spouse/partner.

If you answer ‘‘No’’, explain why they do not know.

Question 14: Check ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’ to indicate if your spouse/partner has met your close friends of family.

If you answer ‘‘No’’, explain why.[/quote]

 

[keesio]

Hi all -

Canadian PR very very close to finalizing application for US citizen spouse. I'm terrified of making any tiny mistake that might jeopardize our application, so i come to you for help and reassurance!

My husband and I dated for 3.5 years after a very normal relationship, met in school, dated, some long distance, etc.
We got engaged March 2015 and essentially eloped while i was visiting him in the US in May 2015 and I've since returned to Canada. Only his mom, aunt and uncle, and his baby niece wersirens thee present and served as witnesses. My family was unable to leave Canada (work and school) because our marriage was spur of the moment and we have always planned to have a big vow renewal/reception after we were able to move in together right away after (it seemed sad and anti climactic to me to have a big wedding and then spend the next year apart while waiting for immigration, whether we chose to move to the US or Canada).
We have never officially lived together nor do we have joint accounts, but I'm the primary beneficiary on his life insurance and our friends and families know about our relationship since it starts, plus we have pictures and texts/Facebook messages/posts etc. that show that we have a normal young adult relationship.

My fear is that they will see it as a non genuine marriage because we didn't dress up much for the wedding and my parents and our siblings weren't in attendance...i know elopements aren't uncommon, but in this scenario i know they can come across as suspicious.
Should my husband explain in the spouse questionnaire that we had our little courthouse wedding because we didn't have time to coordinate schedules and travel plans with everyone in three different countries and that we plan on doing a big celebration later or would it be best just to say that we chose to be financially conservative and not have a big traditional wedding at all...i don't know?

Any input or advice is welcome! Thanks!

Actually I don't think you have much to worry about at all. Canadian/US couples have a low bar to clear regarding relationship proof and I'd say you are in decent shape. 3.5 years of dating before marriage is very good. You had some family there at your wedding. That is good. You are a primary beneficiary of his life insurance? That is very good. And you have proof of all the above in chats, pictures, and other documentation? All good.

There have been Canadian/US couples with less evidence than yours whom had no issues with sponsorship. Just concentrate on putting together a well organized application and I'd imagine you will be just fine.