Common law sponsorship - Request more Proof of Cohabitation

[mf2040]

Hello!

We submitted our application in 2019, AOR Aug 2019.

Along with the Police Certificate request, we had a request for further information regarding our "cohabitation" and proof of relationship.

"Proof of Cohabitation: You did not provide sufficient evidence of cohabitation. Please provide additional evidence of cohabitation that could be used to confirm whether a sponsored spouse or partner has been continuously cohabiting with their sponsor for at least 1 year prior to the receipt of the application (2019/08/16). These may include: Joint bank accounts or credit cards indicating both you and your sponsor's names, Jointly signed ownership of residential property, Jointly signed residential leases, Jointly signed mortgage or purchase agreement, insurance and/or beneficiary forms, Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone), Important documents of both parties showing the same address (i.e identification documents, driver’s licenses, and insurance policies). Please do not send any electronic media items, such as CDs, DVDs, or VHS tapes."

Along with the Sponsorship application, we also submitted a Work Permit. These are the following documents we provided:

Rental agreement 2017-2018
Rental Agreement 2019-2020
Statutory Declaration of Common Law (Notarized)
Joint bank account proof - void cheque with both of our names on it
Joint phone bills

I called CIC and I was told that "proof of living together" was not good enough as proof of cohabitation.

I don't want to go there, but my partner and I are a same-sex couple. Could this be affecting the "proof" that we need to provide to not be insufficient?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[scylla]

Hello!

We submitted our application in 2019, AOR Aug 2019.

Along with the Police Certificate request, we had a request for further information regarding our "cohabitation" and proof of relationship.

"Proof of Cohabitation: You did not provide sufficient evidence of cohabitation. Please provide additional evidence of cohabitation that could be used to confirm whether a sponsored spouse or partner has been continuously cohabiting with their sponsor for at least 1 year prior to the receipt of the application (2019/08/16). These may include: Joint bank accounts or credit cards indicating both you and your sponsor's names, Jointly signed ownership of residential property, Jointly signed residential leases, Jointly signed mortgage or purchase agreement, insurance and/or beneficiary forms, Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone), Important documents of both parties showing the same address (i.e identification documents, driver’s licenses, and insurance policies). Please do not send any electronic media items, such as CDs, DVDs, or VHS tapes."

Along with the Sponsorship application, we also submitted a Work Permit. These are the following documents we provided:

Rental agreement 2017-2018
Rental Agreement 2019-2020
Statutory Declaration of Common Law (Notarized)
Joint bank account proof - void cheque with both of our names on it
Joint phone bills

I called CIC and I was told that "proof of living together" was not good enough as proof of cohabitation.

I don't want to go there, but my partner and I are a same-sex couple. Could this be affecting the "proof" that we need to provide to not be insufficient?

Thank you so much in advance.

No - being a same sex couple doesn't impact things. You are light on evidence.

- Did you submit any tax evidence? Have you both declared yourselves as common law to CRA? This is one of the strongest evidence you can provide and pretty much required if you are living in Canada.
- Submit actual bank statements that prove you've held a joint bank account for more than one year. The void cheque only shows you have an account together now and doesn't prove common law.
- How old were the joint phone bills you submitted? Were they from at least a year ago?
- Do either of your have a work place insurance policy where you've declared the other as a dependent or beneficiary? This is good evidence if you can show you did this a year ago or over a year ago

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello!

We submitted our application in 2019, AOR Aug 2019.

Along with the Police Certificate request, we had a request for further information regarding our "cohabitation" and proof of relationship.

"Proof of Cohabitation: You did not provide sufficient evidence of cohabitation. Please provide additional evidence of cohabitation that could be used to confirm whether a sponsored spouse or partner has been continuously cohabiting with their sponsor for at least 1 year prior to the receipt of the application (2019/08/16). These may include: Joint bank accounts or credit cards indicating both you and your sponsor's names, Jointly signed ownership of residential property, Jointly signed residential leases, Jointly signed mortgage or purchase agreement, insurance and/or beneficiary forms, Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone), Important documents of both parties showing the same address (i.e identification documents, driver’s licenses, and insurance policies). Please do not send any electronic media items, such as CDs, DVDs, or VHS tapes."

Along with the Sponsorship application, we also submitted a Work Permit. These are the following documents we provided:

Rental agreement 2017-2018
Rental Agreement 2019-2020
Statutory Declaration of Common Law (Notarized)
Joint bank account proof - void cheque with both of our names on it
Joint phone bills

I called CIC and I was told that "proof of living together" was not good enough as proof of cohabitation.

I don't want to go there, but my partner and I are a same-sex couple. Could this be affecting the "proof" that we need to provide to not be insufficient?

Thank you so much in advance.

Agree with scylla. I'm not surprised you recieved a request. Your cohabitation proofs are quite weak. It has zero to do with being a same-sex couple.

The Stat Dec really isn't a proof, hence why it isn't actually requested for sponsorship.

A void cheque is not a common-law proof. It does not in any way show that you lived together for at least one continuous year. You could have been added to the account the week before. You need actual bank statements covering at least a one year period.

You don't say what time period the phone bills were for. If they covered at least one continuous year, they are good.

Get other address proofs covering at least a year. Other mail, tax documents, school letters, payslips, doctor/dentist letters, Amazon shipping receipts, etc.

 

[mf2040]

No - being a same sex couple doesn't impact things. You are light on evidence.

- Did you submit any tax evidence? Have you both declared yourselves as common law to CRA? This is one of the strongest evidence you can provide and pretty much required if you are living in Canada.
- Submit actual bank statements that prove you've held a joint bank account for more than one year. The void cheque only shows you have an account together now and doesn't prove common law.
- How old were the joint phone bills you submitted? Were they from at least a year ago?
- Do either of your have a work place insurance policy where you've declared the other as a dependent or beneficiary? This is good evidence if you can show you did this a year ago or over a year ago

We have declared each other as common law through CRA, what page would I have to take a picture of in order to submit?
Would we have to submit the entire tax assessment?
Would internet bills also work? We usually pay for that together but using separate accounts at times.
My partner has workplace insurance and I am added as a beneficiary, and dependant. It does say that that has been the case since 2017, but the coverage effective dates are updated to 2019 since she has to re-enrol every year. Would I have to provide a letter explaining that?

Thank you

 

[scylla]

We have declared each other as common law through CRA, what page would I have to take a picture of in order to submit?
Would we have to submit the entire tax assessment?
Would internet bills also work? We usually pay for that together but using separate accounts at times.
My partner has workplace insurance and I am added as a beneficiary, and dependant. It does say that that has been the case since 2017, but the coverage effective dates are updated to 2019 since she has to re-enrol every year. Would I have to provide a letter explaining that?

Thank you

Keep in mind that you're trying to prove at least a year of cohabitation from the time you submitted your application. So a screen shot now of the CRA page won't cut it unless it shows a date you updated this. Provide your tax returns as evidence. You should only have to provide a page or two.

Internet bills certainly work. Typically you can print them to pdf. They need to date back at least a year from the time you submitted your application and show both of your names.

I would have your partner request a letter from work (or the workplace insurer) indicating when you were added to the policy.

 

[mf2040]

Keep in mind that you're trying to prove at least a year of cohabitation from the time you submitted your application. So a screen shot now of the CRA page won't cut it unless it shows a date you updated this. Provide your tax returns as evidence. You should only have to provide a page or two.

Internet bills certainly work. Typically you can print them to pdf. They need to date back at least a year from the time you submitted your application and show both of your names.

I would have your partner request a letter from work (or the workplace insurer) indicating when you were added to the policy.

We have a screenshot of it saying that we became common law in 2017, and have tax returns we can submit.

The joint bank account we opened 8 months prior to submitting, and phone bills 7 months prior to submitting. Should we add this anyway, or would it hurt our application? As a couple, we slowly put our lives together, so we didn't make all of these things right away.

 

[scylla]

We have a screenshot of it saying that we became common law in 2017, and have tax returns we can submit.

The joint bank account we opened 8 months prior to submitting, and phone bills 7 months prior to submitting. Should we add this anyway, or would it hurt our application? As a couple, we slowly put our lives together, so we didn't make all of these things right away.

Definitely submit the tax returns and screen shot.

You need evidence that shows an entire year. Unfortunately the joint bank account and phone bills can't be used as evidence of that.

Anything else you can think of?

 

[mf2040]

Definitely submit the tax returns and screen shot.

You need evidence that shows an entire year. Unfortunately the joint bank account and phone bills can't be used as evidence of that.

Anything else you can think of?

Oh no!

I have letters from my insurance addressed to where we lived, we have amazon receipts, other mail.

 

[mf2040]

Definitely submit the tax returns and screen shot.

You need evidence that shows an entire year. Unfortunately the joint bank account and phone bills can't be used as evidence of that.

Anything else you can think of?

My partner and I get mail sent (more important documents) to her parents home, as a mailing address. Within the application, we have also put our mailing address as her parents address. Should we provide letters, etc. from this address too?

Thank you! I know I'm asking a lot of questions and I really appreciate the help.

 

[k.h.p.]

My partner and I get mail sent (more important documents) to her parents home, as a mailing address. Within the application, we have also put our mailing address as her parents address. Should we provide letters, etc. from this address too?

Thank you! I know I'm asking a lot of questions and I really appreciate the help.

Not if you both don't live there... you're trying to prove that you have lived together for 12 months. If you're providing addresses where you don't live, that doesn't prove cohabitation.

 

[mf2040]

Not if you both don't live there... you're trying to prove that you have lived together for 12 months. If you're providing addresses where you don't live, that doesn't prove cohabitation.

We both have bank statements (separate accounts), pay slips, amazon receipts, etc. So include anything that shows that we both have the same address covering that time period?

 

[scylla]

My partner and I get mail sent (more important documents) to her parents home, as a mailing address. Within the application, we have also put our mailing address as her parents address. Should we provide letters, etc. from this address too?

Thank you! I know I'm asking a lot of questions and I really appreciate the help.

No. Mail sent to her parents home isn't helpful. If anything this may create confusion. It's a shame you didn't have these documents sent to your shared address - this would have been far far better. But what's done is done.

You need evidence that shows at least a year of cohabitation at your shared address.

 

[OverIt]

We both have bank statements (separate accounts), pay slips, amazon receipts, etc. So include anything that shows that we both have the same address covering that time period?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Things that show you both have the same address at the same time.

What is the rental agreement you provided? Is it just a letter signed by you and your partner? Is it a document created by you and your partner? Or did you and your partner sign the agreement with the building you live/lived in?

 

[k.h.p.]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Things that show you both have the same address at the same time.

What is the rental agreement you provided? Is it just a letter signed by you and your partner? Is it a document created by you and your partner? Or did you and your partner sign the agreement with the building you live/lived in?

Just make sure that even if the documents show you and your partner have the same address, that it doesn't cause confusion if it's a separate address from your residential address. Bills and things sent to a mailing address that is different from a residential address do not prove cohabitation.

 

[michaeltoronto]

We’re also a July 2019 same-sex couple. We submitted 2018-2019 lease agreement, CRA returns, driver license and Ontario ID cards for both PA and sponsor, tenant insurance, credit card statements, and police certificate showing home address for the PA. We also signed the common law affidavit form. We included letters from friends and family testifying that we have been living together for a year, but these were not notarized so maybe they didn’t do much.

I hope that helps!