Seeking Advice for Spousal Sponsorship with Less Than 2 Years in a Relationship

[Nedi27]

Had you known each other prior to being in a relationship?

We had a short relationship history, 2 months dating and 7 months married before applying. No issues or challenges from IRCC so far, not even an interview.

However, my family had known his family for years, so I wonder if that helped our case.

No, we didn't know each other prior in our relationship. That’s why I’m doing more research first. Since our relationship is still relatively new, we decided to wait for a year before applying. We’re also still debating between having a religious (Catholic) wedding or a civil one.
To be honest, a church wedding would be quite challenging, especially with the short timeframe for preparation. A civil wedding seems to be the more feasible option for us.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a debate on the forum—I’m genuinely just seeking advice. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of wedding did you have?

 

[txtoca]

No, we didn't know each other prior in our relationship. That’s why I’m doing more research first. Since our relationship is still relatively new, we decided to wait for a year before applying. We’re also still debating between having a religious (Catholic) wedding or a civil one.
To be honest, a church wedding would be quite challenging, especially with the short timeframe for preparation. A civil wedding seems to be the more feasible option for us.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a debate on the forum—I’m genuinely just seeking advice. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of wedding did you have?

We had a very small church wedding, in my family's home. Only the closest of family and friends, a marriage officiant, and a photographer... no more than 20 people total.

A church wedding doesn't have to be big and expensive and complicated. It should be all about the happy couple... and getting a few pictures to submit with your application doesn't hurt!

 

[armoured]

No, we didn't know each other prior in our relationship. That’s why I’m doing more research first. Since our relationship is still relatively new, we decided to wait for a year before applying. We’re also still debating between having a religious (Catholic) wedding or a civil one.
To be honest, a church wedding would be quite challenging, especially with the short timeframe for preparation. A civil wedding seems to be the more feasible option for us.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a debate on the forum—I’m genuinely just seeking advice. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of wedding did you have?

Different question: are you living together / how long will you have been living together when you apply?

 

[canuck78]

No, we didn't know each other prior in our relationship. That’s why I’m doing more research first. Since our relationship is still relatively new, we decided to wait for a year before applying. We’re also still debating between having a religious (Catholic) wedding or a civil one.
To be honest, a church wedding would be quite challenging, especially with the short timeframe for preparation. A civil wedding seems to be the more feasible option for us.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a debate on the forum—I’m genuinely just seeking advice. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of wedding did you have?

Have you spoken to your local church? A simple small ceremony should be possible and not that complicated to arrange. Think the most time consuming part would be arranging and doing for the pre-marital counselling. How time consuming and complex this would vary significantly between churches. Church ceremonies can be similar to court ceremonies although most think of more elaborate ceremonies when imagining a church wedding.

 

[armoured]

No, we didn't know each other prior in our relationship. That’s why I’m doing more research first. Since our relationship is still relatively new, we decided to wait for a year before applying. We’re also still debating between having a religious (Catholic) wedding or a civil one.
To be honest, a church wedding would be quite challenging, especially with the short timeframe for preparation. A civil wedding seems to be the more feasible option for us.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a debate on the forum—I’m genuinely just seeking advice. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of wedding did you have?

I repeat my previous point: I think that unless you are very religious or from a group/ethnicity/whatever where a church wedding is REQUIRED (meaning absolutely expected of you), the question is largely irrelevant. (Esp if it's going to end up being a small ceremony with not many people anyway - a 'civil' ceremony can be large or small too)

There are more important factors here (although all together can matter): first and foremost, are you living together / will you be living together before you apply. If not, how much physical time have you spent together.

 

[Nedi27]

I repeat my previous point: I think that unless you are very religious or from a group/ethnicity/whatever where a church wedding is REQUIRED (meaning absolutely expected of you), the question is largely irrelevant. (Esp if it's going to end up being a small ceremony with not many people anyway - a 'civil' ceremony can be large or small too)

There are more important factors here (although all together can matter): first and foremost, are you living together / will you be living together before you apply. If not, how much physical time have you spent together.

We can't live together because she's overseas and I'm here in Canada. I went for a visit for almost a month to propose and we live together during my whole visit. I'm planning to go back again for at least 3 weeks to do a civil wedding and I'm bringing my parents with me so that they can attend the wedding. We've met online and we've been in a relationship for 7 months, will be 10 months after the wedding and be 1 year when we complete and submit the application (outland). So in total 2 visits for the length of our relationship.

 

[Nedi27]

Have you spoken to your local church? A simple small ceremony should be possible and not that complicated to arrange. Think the most time consuming part would be arranging and doing for the pre-marital counselling. How time consuming and complex this would vary significantly between churches. Church ceremonies can be similar to court ceremonies although most think of more elaborate ceremonies when imagining a church wedding.

The counseling and the waiting period are the hard parts, and honestly, almost all churches have the same requirements. To be honest, we just don’t want to wait anymore—we’re both not young anymore, and we’re at a stage in life where, if we want to start a family, the sooner we can be together, the better.

 

[armoured]

We can't live together because she's overseas and I'm here in Canada. I went for a visit for almost a month to propose and we live together during my whole visit. I'm planning to go back again for at least 3 weeks to do a civil wedding and I'm bringing my parents with me so that they can attend the wedding. We've met online and we've been in a relationship for 7 months, will be 10 months after the wedding and be 1 year when we complete and submit the application (outland). So in total 2 visits for the length of our relationship.

Your religious wedding issue is, as I was trying to underline, a distraction. The real potential issue with your app is it's an online relationship, a fairly short one, and very few in-person visits.

Honestly I can't figure out your timeline. Repeat your best bet is to spend as much time together physically BEFORE getting married, document well, etc.

I don't feel enough reliable information here to say much more. There are aspects like which country and culture that may be important. If your spouse has not applied for a visa to visit Canada, that could play an important role - if you were able to reside and be residing together when applying, would be a much better app.

 

[MJSPARV]

We can't live together because she's overseas and I'm here in Canada. I went for a visit for almost a month to propose and we live together during my whole visit. I'm planning to go back again for at least 3 weeks to do a civil wedding and I'm bringing my parents with me so that they can attend the wedding. We've met online and we've been in a relationship for 7 months, will be 10 months after the wedding and be 1 year when we complete and submit the application (outland). So in total 2 visits for the length of our relationship.

Earlier I had posted and mentioned that I was sponsored just shy of our 2nd anniversary and it was a very smooth and quick process. But now reading more details about your timeline I want to make sure it is clear that we were just shy of two years of MARRIAGE and had been a couple for 3 years total (and had known each other as friends for over three years before dating). We also had an infant together. That’s a big difference from your situation. I’d read your original post as being one year wedding anniversary when you submit, not one year of a relationship.

Your timeline is very very short and online. I’d focus on meeting at least once more before marriage if at all possible. Is your fiance from a country where a TRV is needed? Even if you delay the wedding to fit in more time in person before the wedding, I personally think that will make your application much stronger which can make it faster. Getting the genuineness of your relationship questioned significantly delays your processing. It’s not a path you want ircc to go down.


@armoured I’m not going to reopen the discussion on religious weddings from earlier, but many thanks for your explanation! I must have missed your reply to my post. My apologies if I came across a bit b*tchy in my post - I was fighting a headache and was annoyed at how you were characterizing my post, when it turns out it wasn’t even exclusively my post you were referencing. Sorry!