Thaicdn

To whom ever can provide an helpful answer:

I am wanting to start process to bring my Thai fiance to Canada. She has
recently visited me here in Canada (when we officially engaged) and I have
visited her in Thailand this past May. For sometime I heard from people
³don¹t marry in Thailand, or don¹t tell Cdn govt if you do². But today I
called CIC centre and asked for package and asked the person and they said
that marriage (in Thailand) helps prove commitment and does not slow down
process at all. They said to just wait until it had been at least 1 year of
contact before applying (which would be end of January 2004). My fiance & I
plan to marry in March, and the fellow at CIC said then apply after that.

Does anyone have opinions regarding this, or suggestions for best
(preferably proven) course of action?

Thank you.


    > Marriage does simplify things for the visa officer. You can get started with
    > the documents and forms so that they are ready for submission as soon as you
    > are married.
    > --
    > Jim Humphries, former visa officer

Mm

Re-post: Newbie Question re Family Sponsorship VisaI married in the Philip=
pines which is probably as similar a country to Thailand as any, as far as =
CIC is concerned. My spousal sponsorship of my wife sailed through, and we =
are just waiting for her passport to be returned with the visa. So here are=
my opinions:

The advice of the CIC representative sounds reasonable about waiting for at=
least a year of contact. Wait until after the wedding. It would be ideal i=
f it was a church wedding with bridesmaids, photos etc, and if your parents=
could attend it would show family backing. But your wedding style is perso=
nal.

Try and have lots of evidence of her and your visits, such as airline ticke=
t copy, photos, hotel receipts for trips together, passport pages copies sh=
owing entry/exit stamps. We had 7 months of contact before engagement, and =
got married a year after that. Just try to provide as much evidence as poss=
ible in your application package of the genuineness of your evolving relati=
onship instead of leaving some of it in a drawer and waiting to see if CIC =
will ask for it in an interview. We weren't required to have an interview, =
which of course shortened the waiting period.

Be very careful about how you both answer ALL questions in ALL the forms. M=
y wife just met an educated woman (a teacher) who is applying as a sponsore=
d spouse, and luckily my wife offered to help her out and found that her fo=
rms which were ready for sending back to Canada had several errors and omis=
sions. She also advised her of government certifications of the important d=
ocuments in the Philippines.

You said you asked CIC for the package. Yes they can send it, but all the f=
orms are on www.cic.gc.ca . Keep in mind that one or more of the forms coul=
d change by the time you are ready to fill them in, so the package they sen=
d to you could be partly out of date by the time you are married and apply.=
So keep up to date on the website.

Good luck. I hope this helps. My opinions based on my one experience.

Thaicdn

in article ooKnb.75632$EO3.11059@clgrps13, MM at wrote on
10/28/03 23:56:

    > I married in the Philippines which is probably as similar a country to
    > Thailand as any, as far as CIC is concerned. My spousal sponsorship of my wife
    > sailed through, and we are just waiting for her passport to be returned with
    > the visa. So here are my opinions:
    >
    > The advice of the CIC representative sounds reasonable about waiting for at
    > least a year of contact. Wait until after the wedding. It would be ideal if it
    > was a church wedding with bridesmaids, photos etc, and if your parents could
    > attend it would show family backing. But your wedding style is personal.
    >
    > Try and have lots of evidence of her and your visits, such as airline ticket
    > copy, photos, hotel receipts for trips together, passport pages copies showing
    > entry/exit stamps. We had 7 months of contact before engagement, and got
    > married a year after that. Just try to provide as much evidence as possible in
    > your application package of the genuineness of your evolving relationship
    > instead of leaving some of it in a drawer and waiting to see if CIC will ask
    > for it in an interview. We weren't required to have an interview, which of
    > course shortened the waiting period.
    >
    > Be very careful about how you both answer ALL questions in ALL the forms. My
    > wife just met an educated woman (a teacher) who is applying as a sponsored
    > spouse, and luckily my wife offered to help her out and found that her forms
    > which were ready for sending back to Canada had several errors and omissions.
    > She also advised her of government certifications of the important documents
    > in the Philippines.
    >
    > You said you asked CIC for the package. Yes they can send it, but all the
    > forms are on www.cic.gc.ca <http://www.cic.gc.ca> . Keep in mind that one or
    > more of the forms could change by the time you are ready to fill them in, so
    > the package they send to you could be partly out of date by the time you are
    > married and apply. So keep up to date on the website.
    >
    > Good luck. I hope this helps. My opinions based on my one experience.
    >

Thank you for you and Jim Humphries for both your helpful replies.

Thaicdn

in article ooKnb.75632$EO3.11059@clgrps13, MM at wrote on
10/28/03 23:56:

    > I married in the Philippines which is probably as similar a country to
    > Thailand as any, as far as CIC is concerned. My spousal sponsorship of my wife
    > sailed through, and we are just waiting for her passport to be returned with
    > the visa. So here are my opinions:
    >
    > The advice of the CIC representative sounds reasonable about waiting for at
    > least a year of contact. Wait until after the wedding. It would be ideal if it
    > was a church wedding with bridesmaids, photos etc, and if your parents could
    > attend it would show family backing. But your wedding style is personal.
    >
    > Try and have lots of evidence of her and your visits, such as airline ticket
    > copy, photos, hotel receipts for trips together, passport pages copies showing
    > entry/exit stamps. We had 7 months of contact before engagement, and got
    > married a year after that. Just try to provide as much evidence as possible in
    > your application package of the genuineness of your evolving relationship
    > instead of leaving some of it in a drawer and waiting to see if CIC will ask
    > for it in an interview. We weren't required to have an interview, which of
    > course shortened the waiting period.
    >
    > Be very careful about how you both answer ALL questions in ALL the forms. My
    > wife just met an educated woman (a teacher) who is applying as a sponsored
    > spouse, and luckily my wife offered to help her out and found that her forms
    > which were ready for sending back to Canada had several errors and omissions.
    > She also advised her of government certifications of the important documents
    > in the Philippines.
    >
    > You said you asked CIC for the package. Yes they can send it, but all the
    > forms are on www.cic.gc.ca <http://www.cic.gc.ca> . Keep in mind that one or
    > more of the forms could change by the time you are ready to fill them in, so
    > the package they send to you could be partly out of date by the time you are
    > married and apply. So keep up to date on the website.
    >
    > Good luck. I hope this helps. My opinions based on my one experience.
    >

MM,

I just have a few more questions re your helpful insight I hope you (or
others) might find time to answer.

You say your spousal sponsorship sailed through, but you are waiting for
wife¹s passport to be returned. Does this mean she is landed in Canada? If
so, how long approx. did it take from the time you submitted your
application? Was all this recently (post 2001 or prior 2001)?

Is a Philippine wedding recognized by Canada &/or did you need to be married
in Canada too? Did your Philippine wedding require licensing verified by
Canada? Does anyone know what might be required regarding proof/legality of
Thai wedding, and if it will be recognized as official in Canada?

Thanks for your time.


in article ooKnb.75632$EO3.11059@clgrps13, MM at wrote on
10/28/03 23:56:

    > I married in the Philippines which is probably as similar a country to
    > Thailand as any, as far as CIC is concerned. My spousal sponsorship of my wife
    > sailed through, and we are just waiting for her passport to be returned with
    > the visa. So here are my opinions:
    >
    > The advice of the CIC representative sounds reasonable about waiting for at
    > least a year of contact. Wait until after the wedding. It would be ideal if it
    > was a church wedding with bridesmaids, photos etc, and if your parents could
    > attend it would show family backing. But your wedding style is personal.
    >
    > Try and have lots of evidence of her and your visits, such as airline ticket
    > copy, photos, hotel receipts for trips together, passport pages copies showing
    > entry/exit stamps. We had 7 months of contact before engagement, and got
    > married a year after that. Just try to provide as much evidence as possible in
    > your application package of the genuineness of your evolving relationship
    > instead of leaving some of it in a drawer and waiting to see if CIC will ask
    > for it in an interview. We weren't required to have an interview, which of
    > course shortened the waiting period.
    >
    > Be very careful about how you both answer ALL questions in ALL the forms. My
    > wife just met an educated woman (a teacher) who is applying as a sponsored
    > spouse, and luckily my wife offered to help her out and found that her forms
    > which were ready for sending back to Canada had several errors and omissions.
    > She also advised her of government certifications of the important documents
    > in the Philippines.
    >
    > You said you asked CIC for the package. Yes they can send it, but all the
    > forms are on www.cic.gc.ca <http://www.cic.gc.ca> . Keep in mind that one or
    > more of the forms could change by the time you are ready to fill them in, so
    > the package they send to you could be partly out of date by the time you are
    > married and apply. So keep up to date on the website.
    >
    > Good luck. I hope this helps. My opinions based on my one experience.

Mm

Re: Re-post: Newbie Question re Family Sponsorship Visa
MM,

I just have a few more questions re your helpful insight I hope you (or oth=
ers) might find time to answer.=20=20

You say your spousal sponsorship sailed through, but you are waiting for wi=
fe's passport to be returned. Does this mean she is landed in Canada? If =
so, how long approx. did it take from the time you submitted your applicati=
on? Was all this recently (post 2001 or prior 2001)?=20=20

Is a Philippine wedding recognized by Canada &/or did you need to be marrie=
d in Canada too? Did your Philippine wedding require licensing verified by=
Canada? Does anyone know what might be required regarding proof/legality =
of Thai wedding, and if it will be recognized as official in Canada?

Thanks for your time.

Waiting for my wife's passport to be returned means we received the letter =
from the embassy saying that her permanent resident visa is ready to be iss=
ued and so to send in her passport to get her visa, and so she sent it in a=
nd we are waiting for the return of the passport with the visa. We expect t=
hat she'll land before Christmas. The application was sent in to Mississaug=
a in late July, 2003. So it sailed through. They already sent us back all o=
ur personal photos, letters, receipts, evidence of genuine relationship etc=
. so it is unlikely that a stumbling block will happen now.=20

A Phillipine wedding is recognized in every country of the world if it is r=
ecognized in the Philippines. Well, that's what I assured her and when she =
asked her cousin lawyer he said "Of course". I don't know CIC's methods of =
verifying a marriage, but we proved its validity by having the marriage con=
tract certified and validated in the method that the Phillipines government=
requires for marriages with foreigners, i.e. certified by the National Sta=
tistics Office and then validated by Malicanang (government department of t=
he palace) and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. If we hadn't d=
one that then I'm sure either the embassy would have asked us to do it or e=
lse they'd have taken the time to do it themselves, so time was saved there=
.You'll have to do your own research on the Thai government websites to fin=
d out if they have any requirements for validating marriages with foreigner=
s. Spend a few hours now to possibly save a few months later.

Our very quick processing in no way means you can expect the same for spons=
oring a Thai. Cirumstances vary in every case and every country (even if Ph=
ilippines seems to be a similar type of country to Thailand for sponsoring =
a spouse). Just telling you our experience. Dig into the Thai government we=
bsites and maybe Thai wedding information websites to find more answers. I =
think that's all I can tell you.=20