A candidate who already received an ITA and was submitting documents, with a marriage planned the following month, asked whether they could update the application to add a spouse afterward.
- Submit the application first, then marry after AOR. One member advised: submit now, wait for Acknowledgment of Receipt (AOR), then get married, then update the application to add the spouse — this approach reportedly doesn't reduce your CRS score.
- An alternative, considered safer: wait until after the completeness check. A second member suggested marrying only once the application has passed IRCC's completeness check, since that confirms the file is officially in process with all other conditions already met — reducing the risk of complications from adding a spouse mid-review.
- Both approaches agree on the core principle: don't get married before submitting/before AOR, since your application at time of ITA reflects your single status, and marrying too early risks needing a spouse-inclusion update before the file is even properly in the system.
Takeaway: get your application submitted and past at least AOR (and ideally the completeness check) before marrying, then formally update the application to add your spouse afterward.