Age gap, short relationship, met online: will IRCC think it's fake?

1. What is the test?

“

For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner or a conjugal partner of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership or conjugal partnership (a) was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act; or (b) is not genuine.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s.4(1) ↗

Two limbs: genuine, and not primarily for immigration. An officer who has doubts can ask questions in writing or call an interview. A refusal on this ground has to rest on one of those two limbs.

2. Does an age gap or meeting online count against us?

Not by themselves; the regulation doesn't list them. Questions come from combinations of facts: little time spent together in person, no shared finances or living arrangements, family who don't know about the relationship, inconsistent dates across the forms, a marriage shortly before a status expiry. Any one of those can have an innocent explanation; the application is where you give it.

3. What actually answers it?

Dated evidence of a shared life over time, from more than one source, and dates on the forms that match it. IRCC sets the limits: the common-law checklist (IMM 5589) caps photos at 20 with a short description of each, and Guide 5289 allows no more than 10 pages of messages or other proof of contact, translated if they aren't in English or French. Within those limits, choose dated items spread across the relationship. Married couples who answer yes to all four questions in item 7 of IMM 5533 don't need to send more proof at this stage. The categories are on what proof of relationship counts.

4. Where does an explanation go?

IMM 5532 asks how you met and how the relationship developed. Any explanation of the timeline goes there or in a letter of explanation attached to the relationship evidence. IRCC doesn't ask you to address an age difference.

5. On the form

The relationship form (IMM 5532) asks the dates and places; any letter of explanation and the evidence go with the checklist. In OpenVisa you enter each date once and it is used on every form that asks for it.