Reply #30: it would do ... [View All]

[iverglas]

... if it wasn't pas très catholique -- if it was all kosher. ;)

Moving here and then falling in love and then getting married and then applying isn't the order of things that the authorities tend to look for.

Moving here without knowing him/her first kind of makes it look like one was on a fishing expedition for a bride/groom. And one can't "move here" without being admitted for residence anyhow.

Applying for residence is done from outside, is the way they like to see it done. This of course causes a conundrum, if one has no one to marry unless one comes here and finds someone. Again ... if it were that easy, millions would be doing it!

If one does manage to do this -- find someone one loves and wishes to marry in Canada -- one had best be prepared to explain the process. I always told my clients the two archetypal stories from my real-life experience, to prepare them for the eventualities -- or at least to prepare them to encounter the eventualities, since the whole point was that one could not really be prepared for them.

Immigration officer (we'll call him "Wayne", because that was his name) interviews Sid and Samira separately, Sid first.

Wayne: So, what did you have for breakfast?
Sid (puffing himself up with pride): Well, I had an orange and some coffee, and I made toast for Samira!

Next up, Samira.

Wayne: So, what did you have for breakfast?
Samira (sneering): Well, he had an orange and some coffee, and he burnt my toast.

Wayne laughs uproariously, and tells me to call Sid in. End of interview, application approved. You can't fake that!

Then, immigration officer (we'll call her "Georgette", which wasn't her name, because she's still in the system) interviews Jean-Paul and Jeanine, Jean-Paul first.

Georgette: So, where did you spend your wedding night?
Jean-Paul: At my apartment.

Next up, Jeanine.

Georgette: So, where did you spend your wedding night?
Jeanine: At my apartment.

Georgette looks cynical / like she wishes she hadn't just heard that, looks at me, I say Hey, don't ask me; I wasn't there. (The clients had been particularly unforthcoming with me, so it was on their heads.) Georgette ultimately informs the clients she is giving them the benefit of the doubt, and approves their application.

Six months later, with Jeanine all landed, Jean-Paul and Jeanine stroll into my office looking for a divorce. And get referred to separate counsel.

Immigration officers are not generally dummies. Now, the way things go these days, spousal applicants may not even get interviewed, especially if the application is made from outside Canada. But there are always those eventualities.

But let me not impediment to the marriage of true minds admit! I mean, I would, since I think marriage is a bullshit thing, but otherwise you have to cohabit for a year or two or something, so the thing gets complicated, not to say impossible, if it's cross-border and the parties aren't of the independent means they'd need for a couple of years of cross-border cohabiting. Remember, though -- one doesn't have to fall in love with an object of desire of the opposing sex!

Speaking of which, we seem to have had our first same-sex marriage in the family. My brother's son tells us that his mother has taken a wife. I mean, not just "a" wife, the woman she's been living with for some years now. I've always thought that five years with my brother filled anybody's lifetime quota for putting up with men. But hey, he's available, if anyone's interested in a really obnoxious middle-aged child of the 60s ... and you thought I was ...