Re Supporting Documents to Prove Accompanying . . .
You quote the proper source describing the supporting documents to be included with the PR TD application.
In addition to including a copy of all passports and other travel documents, as described in the instructions, the main thing is to submit supporting documents that:
-- prove the marriage relationship (certificate of marriage is sufficient)
-- prove the spouse is a Canadian citizen (passport plus certificate of citizenship is sufficient)
-- prove the PR and Canadian citizen spouse ordinarily reside together
For a PR married to and living with a Canadian citizen outside Canada, and they are a couple who are living in the same household nearly all the time, in addition to copies of drivers' licenses for both showing same address, and documentation of home ownership by both, a few additional documents showing the same residential address will ordinarily suffice to prove they are ordinarily residing together. Not many needed. Just a sample of bills or bank statements, some showing the PR's address and others showing the Canadian citizen's address (as the same of course), any documents from government sources (such as tax documents comparable to the Canadian NoA) showing your name and the address for example, and others showing your spouse's name and the address. Of course any formal documents showing the address as the same for both of you would be particularly good (like a property tax bill in both your names).
But . . .
It is difficult to judge whether you are in or approaching a grey area. Hard to say if this needs much attention.
Generally all the days the couple are ordinarily residing together get credit, including days one is traveling without the other, so no need to do an accounting for days one is traveling without the other.
Thus, for example, if the couple are ordinarily residing together, neither having a regular place of abode elsewhere, even if the citizen was traveling away from "
home" on business a lot, more than a dozen weeks every year, even then all the days they maintain their primary residence in the same home get credit.
Obviously, however, there's a practical, credible limit to this. One day a month at "
home" is not likely to pass muster. Five days a month probably a no-go. How about a hundred days a year? Not sure. Two hundred and fifty days a year? Probably no problem.
How about two hundred days a year? That is still more than half the time. I am still not sure, but probably OK, particularly since that would add up to well more than 730 days physically together over the five year RO calculation period.
We do not see many cases where there is a focus on a more precise accounting of days the couple were actually together. That is not the usual approach -- again, the usual approach is to count days the couple "
ordinarily reside together," which is essentially those periods of time the couple maintain their primary residence in the same dwelling.
However, the precise calculation of days physically together has been a key element in some cases. In these situations "
accompanying" could be interpreted so as to count days physically together (in most respects, for the RO credit "
accompanying" has a particular meaning which is not about counting days physically together; big, complicated subject dealt with elsewhere), and days together totaling at least 730/5 years could be a more or less bottom-line (we have not seen enough of these cases to know with confidence). So, as
@steaky noted, you have not revealed how many days you and your PR-spouse are physically together; hopefully that number is more than half the time (might be tough to credibly claim to be ordinarily residing together if you are residing apart more than together), but physically together at least 730 days within the previous five years.
What effect does this have in deciding what information and supporting documents to submit?
. . . particularly in regards to show/prove the PR is accompanying their Canadian citizen spouse outside Canada?
If you are
living at home, so to say, at least or very near to half the year, probably OK to just include the usual documents showing your PR-spouse's address is the same as your address, and perhaps a brief letter-of-explanation addressing the lengthy for-work separations, and positively clarifying (assuming it is true) you ordinarily reside together but the separations are compelled by work.
If you are separated significantly more than half the year, and especially if that is for extended periods at a time (rather than regular going back-and-forth), I am not sure how to approach that. For one thing, I am not at all sure to what extent too much information could invite questions and cause problems. My general sense is that so long as you well document that your primary address is the same as your PR-spouse's primary address, and that is where you regularly and consistently return to as home, and the total days actually together are, say, more than 800 days in the last five years, at the very least 730 days during the last five years, that together with the LoE should suffice . . . but I am well shy of sure . . . we just have not seen enough cases similar to this to know much about what the visa office will focus on.
If for example, say, you are really
cutting-it-close to the 730 days credit needed to comply with the RO. Do you include, as part of the LoE perhaps, detailed travel history to show you were physically together for at least 730 days in the relevant five year period? Or do you rely on the general documentation of each of you maintaining your primary residence at the same address and generally acknowledge extensive travel separately with a brief LoE explaining work demands? For you to decide (well, actually it is for the PR-spouse to decide; they are the one responsible for what gets submitted).
Please come back and update the forum about how you approach this and how it goes.
