Questions about 'unusual' wedding and timeframe

[MissRepresentation]

My (Canadian) partner and I have known each other for over 2 years and lived together since May 2013. We're both in Canada now (BC) and are planning to get married and apply for spousal sponsorship. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on a couple of things.

1- We want to get married in order to make it official, but we're going for a civil ceremony as short and to the point as possible. No vows, no wedding dress, no 'I do' questions, or anything like that. We think that marriage is a very personal thing between two people and we believe that having a typical wedding ceremony would feel uncomfortable, as we're two extremely private individuals. Basically we don't believe in all the hype about white weddings and if we could, we'd just get the license signed and sent off without any ceremony at all. However, we understand that that's not possible, so we're just planning a 'minimalist' wedding: have the officer come to our place, sign the paper in front of the witnesses, and maybe have some lunch with his parents and neighbours. Would this raise any suspicions when we submit our application later on? We just don't want to have to put on a full performance for the sake of making it 'credible' when we really don't believe in all those 'extras'.

2- I'm on a visitor visa which is valid until September. I'm guessing I'll have to extend my stay as a visitor while we wait to hear from CIC. What would be a good time frame to send our application? Maybe August? Earlier than that?

Thanks a bunch.

 

[mikeymyke]

Depends if in your country of origin, a civil ceremony is generally acceptable in their culture.

 

[rhcohen2014]

My (Canadian) partner and I have been known each other for over 2 years and lived together since May 2013. We're both in Canada now (BC) and are planning to get married and apply for spousal sponsorship. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on a couple of things.

1- We want to get married in order to make it official, but we're going for a civil ceremony as short and to the point as possible. No vows, no wedding dress, no 'I do' questions, or anything like that. We think that marriage is a very personal thing between two people and we believe that having a typical wedding ceremony would feel uncomfortable, as we're two extremely private individuals. Basically we don't believe in all the hype about white weddings and if we could, we'd just get the license signed and sent off without any ceremony at all. However, we understand that that's not possible, so we're just planning a 'minimalist' wedding: have the officer come to our place, sign the paper in front of the witnesses, and maybe have some lunch with his parents and neighbours. Would this raise any suspicions when we submit our application later on? We just don't want to have to put on a full performance for the sake of making it 'credible' when we really don't believe in all those 'extras'.

2- I'm on a visitor visa which is valid until September. I'm guessing I'll have to extend my stay as a visitor while we wait to hear from CIC. What would be a good time frame to send our application? Maybe August? Earlier than that?

Thanks a bunch.

1 - just make sure you have pictures and show lots of proof of your relationship. We had a small ceremony too - only 22 people were there. I submitted a list of everyone present (including photographer/officiant), receipts from the dinner we hosted for our family, pictures with other people in them, etc. Just explain on the application that you aren't comfortable with a large wedding. I've seen other people post about sending in notarized letters from family/friends confirming the relationship is real. This might be a good idea since your attendance will be limited.

2 - as soon as you are done with the paperwork, send it in. It's better to get it in sooner than later. It doesn't matter where you are at the time. I sent mine when i was in canada on a visitor pass, and have since left. They don't know either way.

 

[MissRepresentation]

22? I bet we'll have an even smaller attendance. Chances are we'll actually be cooking dinner ourselves so we won't have any receipts to show. But I get your point.

Can you really leave Canada while you're waiting to hear from CIC after submitting the application? For some reason I thought that the main applicant has to stay in the country when it's filed as an inland application.

 

[rhcohen2014]

22? I bet we'll have an even smaller attendance. Chances are we'll actually be cooking dinner ourselves so we won't have any receipts to show. But I get your point.

Can you really leave Canada while you're waiting to hear from CIC after submitting the application? For some reason I thought that the main applicant has to stay in the country when it's filed as an inland application.

I missed that you are applying inland. We applied outland, and i would recommend doing some research about it. Depending on where you are from, inland can take significantly longer. There are threads on here for each application month, and spreadsheets have been created to track the timeframe. You are correct if you are applying inland... you basically can't leave or else you can risk being denied re-entry. Since I am outland, i can go back and forth.
From what I read on here, the time frame listed on the websites aren't totally accurate. US/Canadian outland sponsorship has been taking 8-10 months, rather than the 12+ months listed. I've read inland takes that long just to get through the first stage!

Personally,i'd take pictures of your meal and document the day as much as possible, even if it's as silly as posting it to Facebook or instagram or what not. In my application I submitted screenshots of my Facebook page with our relationship history since we met and started dating. We had been dating about 3 years and were engaged and married within 3 months because we wanted to be able to start the application to be together permanantly.

 

[MissRepresentation]

Thanks for the detailed info. I'm a European citizen although I haven't lived in Europe for a while. Outland is not really an option for us as we think that the point of being together is ... well, being together. I don't know how long it'll take for our application to be processed, but time is not really a problem as long as I can renew my visitor pass so that we can be together while we are waiting for a decision.

Didn't think they would accept Facebook posts/pictures as proof of the relationship, but it's good to know.

Thanks again.

 

[JRPW]

22? I bet we'll have an even smaller attendance. Chances are we'll actually be cooking dinner ourselves so we won't have any receipts to show. But I get your point.

Can you really leave Canada while you're waiting to hear from CIC after submitting the application? For some reason I thought that the main applicant has to stay in the country when it's filed as an inland application.

The wife (Japanese) and I (Canadian) had no ceremony. We went to city hall, signed our papers and hand them in. No friends, no family present. We did this in Japan. Of course, our parents and friends knew about the marriage, but the wife and I thought planning a marriage was just a hassle. When we applied for an outland application, I wrote a letter detailing the reason why we had no formal ceremony. I stated that the wife had no religious affiliation and I was raised a Catholic, but had become disenchanted with the church. We made sure to provide enough proof of our relationship (pics, emails, letters, etc.). We had no issues.

 

[taffy7]

Thanks for the detailed info. I'm a European citizen although I haven't lived in Europe for a while. Outland is not really an option for us as we think that the point of being together is ... well, being together. I don't know how long it'll take for our application to be processed, but time is not really a problem as long as I can renew my visitor pass so that we can be together while we are waiting for a decision.

Didn't think they would accept Facebook posts/pictures as proof of the relationship, but it's good to know.

Thanks again.

You don't have to be living in Europe to apply outland .Outland is usually much faster .You can still stay in Canada while waiting for you application to be processed as long as you don't work and can maintain status .e.g visitors status.With an inland application you can not leave the country for any reason .With outland you can come and go.

 

[little_apple]

If your VO outland would be Vienna I would recommend applying inland. Processing time in Vienna increased from 8 months to 14 months within a year and it's still not much happening there. If your VO would be London, Rome or Paris then I recommend applying outland because these VO's are really fast

 

[MissRepresentation]

So could we both be living somewhere outside Canada and submit an outland application? Or would he (the Canadian citizen) need to be in the country?

I know that as a visitor you're not allowed to work. Would freelance work done online for a non-Canadian company qualify as 'work'? I've been supporting myself through this kind of work for the past 2 years and I intend to do so in the future too. Would this be a problem?

 

[little_apple]

So could we both be living somewhere outside Canada and submit an outland application? Or would he (the Canadian citizen) need to be in the country?

I know that as a visitor you're not allowed to work. Would freelance work done online for a non-Canadian company qualify as 'work'? I've been supporting myself through this kind of work for the past 2 years and I intend to do so in the future too. Would this be a problem?

You can do freelancing work for a non-Canadian company.
Because he is a Canadian citizen you both can live everywhere you want and apply outland. But he needs a lot of proof that he will move back to Canada when you get your PR (job offer, rental agreement or other proof)

 

[JRPW]

So could we both be living somewhere outside Canada and submit an outland application? Or would he (the Canadian citizen) need to be in the country?

I know that as a visitor you're not allowed to work. Would freelance work done online for a non-Canadian company qualify as 'work'? I've been supporting myself through this kind of work for the past 2 years and I intend to do so in the future too. Would this be a problem?

Correct. Your sponsor (Canadian citizen) can be living outside of Canada. However, he must provide proof that he will return to Canada once you receive your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR). I was living in Japan when the wife and I applied for her PR. I wrote a detailed essay outlining our plan to reestablish in Canada once the wife received her COPR. I didn't have a job offer in Canada, but I had six letters written by family members (two cousins, parents, sister) and friends stating that they were aware of our plans. I also included a copy of my renewed Canadian driver's license and bank statement showing my investments.

I believe that you can do freelance work online while waiting. However, I'm not totally sure.