Spouse sponsorship advice needed

[Abby Yommi]

It is a pleasure to be part of this forum.
My wife and I got married two weeks ago in Barbados and we are about to start the spouse sponsorship application.
She is a Canadian (white), she works for the city of Toronto and she has good financial and social records. And am an African but I live in Finland with a working visa. We have never been married and no kid is involved. We met around November 2016 online and we have been communicating daily since then. meanwhile, our first meeting together was in Barbados in March 2017 and she came to visit me in Finland in August. We also visited Sweden together during her visit. I wanted to visit her last December but my TRV was refused based on the fact that my ties to Canada is strong (She sent me an Invitation letter) and my job position(Job position not related to my course of study). Both our parents were not present during our court wedding in Barbados but they are fully aware of our relationship... Am 33 and she is 31.
After going through so many cases on this forum am a bit nervous about the commencing the application. Our relationship is genuine and we have our evidences( mostly pictures, Facebook and Instagram profile pics, every communication via WhatsApp for more than a year) but I will like to seek for people’s opinions concerning the following;
1. Is meeting online not a concern to the visa officer?
2. Will my recent visa refusal not affect our application?
3. Should we wait for some months before file in the application?
4. I need suggestions on how we can prove the marriage and the relationship is genuine.

 

[KBH]

1. No, meeting online will not have a negative impact on your application. It is an extremely common way for couples to meet in this day and age. What they find more concerning is if you meet online and your wedding is the first time you ever meet in person, or if you have only spent a couple of days together in person before getting married. It sounds like you guys had a couple of in-person visits before you got married, so that is less of a concern.
2. No, it will not have a negative impact on your application as long as you are up front and list the refusal on the applicable forms (some of the forms will ask you if you have ever previously attempted to enter Canada or if you have ever been refused entry to Canada). You can get in trouble if you do not answer honestly, but there is no reason not to be honest, because it will not have a negative impact on your application.
3. No, there is no reason for you to wait
4. The most important thing you can do is make sure that you have documentation to meet all the requirements on the application checklist. Review that as soon as possible so you can start gathering your documentation. Instead of leaving it up to you to determine what will make the relationship seem genuine, they have listed some very specific requirements (such as proof of financial support, proof of being on each other's insurance policies, etc). As long as you can provide the required documentation, have photos to support your relationship and wedding and visits and communications, you will be putting yourself in a good spot. Including a letter of explanation as to why no parents were at the wedding will be a requirement as well.

 

[Abby Yommi]

1. No, meeting online will not have a negative impact on your application. It is an extremely common way for couples to meet in this day and age. What they find more concerning is if you meet online and your wedding is the first time you ever meet in person, or if you have only spent a couple of days together in person before getting married. It sounds like you guys had a couple of in-person visits before you got married, so that is less of a concern.
2. No, it will not have a negative impact on your application as long as you are up front and list the refusal on the applicable forms (some of the forms will ask you if you have ever previously attempted to enter Canada or if you have ever been refused entry to Canada). You can get in trouble if you do not answer honestly, but there is no reason not to be honest, because it will not have a negative impact on your application.
3. No, there is no reason for you to wait
4. The most important thing you can do is make sure that you have documentation to meet all the requirements on the application checklist. Review that as soon as possible so you can start gathering your documentation. Instead of leaving it up to you to determine what will make the relationship seem genuine, they have listed some very specific requirements (such as proof of financial support, proof of being on each other's insurance policies, etc). As long as you can provide the required documentation, have photos to support your relationship and wedding and visits and communications, you will be putting yourself in a good spot. Including a letter of explanation as to why no parents were at the wedding will be a requirement as well.

Hello KBH,
Your response means a lot to me..I reqlly appreciate. You analyzed my worries perfectly. We will commence the application as soon as possible.

 

[jordo]

Agreed with above. It sounds like you have a lot of solid evidence and you'll just need to make sure you have everything required from the checklists.

One set of evidence that is asked for and sometimes misunderstood is letters from friends and family to show they are aware of your relationship. This is important since neither of your parents were at the wedding.

In my wife's application, we sent a Christmas card addressed to both of us from my parents. This is an example of an informal letter. We also had screenshots of facebook posts between the my wife and I during different events in our relationship where our friends and family also commented on.

We also asked a select group of friends and family on both sides to provide a formal letter stating that we are in a genuine relationship and importantly How and Why they know that to be true. So, a statement from their point of view about the relationship. Wording usually goes something like this: "I am __________ and I've known Jordo and his wife for _______ months or years. I attest that they are in a genuine relationship/marriage because of_________________."

 

[Abby Yommi]

Agreed with above. It sounds like you have a lot of solid evidence and you'll just need to make sure you have everything required from the checklists.

One set of evidence that is asked for and sometimes misunderstood is letters from friends and family to show they are aware of your relationship. This is important since neither of your parents were at the wedding.

In my wife's application, we sent a Christmas card addressed to both of us from my parents. This is an example of an informal letter. We also had screenshots of facebook posts between the my wife and I during different events in our relationship where our friends and family also commented on.

We also asked a select group of friends and family on both sides to provide a formal letter stating that we are in a genuine relationship and importantly How and Why they know that to be true. So, a statement from their point of view about the relationship. Wording usually goes something like this: "I am __________ and I've known Jordo and his wife for _______ months or years. I attest that they are in a genuine relationship/marriage because of_________________."

Hi Jordo,
This will definitely go a long way. I really appreciate your support

 

[Wakki]

It is a pleasure to be part of this forum.
My wife and I got married two weeks ago in Barbados and we are about to start the spouse sponsorship application.
She is a Canadian (white), she works for the city of Toronto and she has good financial and social records. And am an African but I live in Finland with a working visa. We have never been married and no kid is involved. We met around November 2016 online and we have been communicating daily since then. meanwhile, our first meeting together was in Barbados in March 2017 and she came to visit me in Finland in August. We also visited Sweden together during her visit. I wanted to visit her last December but my TRV was refused based on the fact that my ties to Canada is strong (She sent me an Invitation letter) and my job position(Job position not related to my course of study). Both our parents were not present during our court wedding in Barbados but they are fully aware of our relationship... Am 33 and she is 31.
After going through so many cases on this forum am a bit nervous about the commencing the application. Our relationship is genuine and we have our evidences( mostly pictures, Facebook and Instagram profile pics, every communication via WhatsApp for more than a year) but I will like to seek for people’s opinions concerning the following;
1. Is meeting online not a concern to the visa officer?
2. Will my recent visa refusal not affect our application?
3. Should we wait for some months before file in the application?
4. I need suggestions on how we can prove the marriage and the relationship is genuine.

Please make sure you provide honest answers in your spousal application.

In the IRCC form IMM5669....Section 4 Question "d", make sure you indicate "Yes", as you had earlier been denied a visitor visa.
Also, provide a brief detail after Section 4 Q k.

Have seen folks in this forum run into problems because they did not provide honest answer to this Question.

Make sure your documents like marriage certificate are genuine, properly fill the forms, provide documentation according to the IRCC Sponsorship Checklist and you will be okay.

Meeting online is not a problem.

In addition to the earlier comments posted by others to your questions, will advise you include in your sponsorship application evidence like flight tickets, airport arrival info, etc from your wife visit to Finland in August, this could help indicate you both had contacts and relationship before your marriage.

Refer....IRCC Spousal Sponsorship Checklist......Q 7.....PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP TO SPONSOR.
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/kits/forms/imm5533e.pdf

 

[keroubunny]

It is a pleasure to be part of this forum.
My wife and I got married two weeks ago in Barbados and we are about to start the spouse sponsorship application.
She is a Canadian (white), she works for the city of Toronto and she has good financial and social records. And am an African but I live in Finland with a working visa. We have never been married and no kid is involved. We met around November 2016 online and we have been communicating daily since then. meanwhile, our first meeting together was in Barbados in March 2017 and she came to visit me in Finland in August. We also visited Sweden together during her visit. I wanted to visit her last December but my TRV was refused based on the fact that my ties to Canada is strong (She sent me an Invitation letter) and my job position(Job position not related to my course of study). Both our parents were not present during our court wedding in Barbados but they are fully aware of our relationship... Am 33 and she is 31.
After going through so many cases on this forum am a bit nervous about the commencing the application. Our relationship is genuine and we have our evidences( mostly pictures, Facebook and Instagram profile pics, every communication via WhatsApp for more than a year) but I will like to seek for people’s opinions concerning the following;
1. Is meeting online not a concern to the visa officer?
2. Will my recent visa refusal not affect our application?
3. Should we wait for some months before file in the application?
4. I need suggestions on how we can prove the marriage and the relationship is genuine.

Hello,

1.I dont think meeting online be a concern to the visa officer or through your application as long as you'll be able to provide enough evidence that you guys have genuine relationship.
2. That I dont know..coz I actually have a different case from you, but surely other members will be able to give you info later on..
3. Im not sure about no.3 so i'll skip it, sorry
4. You can provide pictures of you 2, it would be best if you have like some friends on the pictures to prove that your friends are aware of your relation, you can take screenshots of your messaging,even better if you still have the screenshot of message from when you started messaging each other, but then again, its a case to case basis, soon enough you will find out how many pictures you need to provide when you have your checklist, coz for me we only provided maximum of 20pictures.

 

[VUPtoYOW]

I have the same situation as you, both of our parents weren't present during our civil marriage, but they are fully aware of our relationship so they are going to give us letters attesting your relationship.