Need help filling out the Statutory Declaration of Common Law Union (IMM 5409 E)

[andreiger]

I got it notarized from a local notary who notarizes english documents. Not all of them do it in non-english speaking countries. I went to like 3 places until found someone who "supported" english.

1 - If in Canada this should be easy, just take it to a notary public
2 - Outside of Canada, that was my case. As I said, find a notary who accepts english documents.
The Canadian Embassy surely does that, I've seen cases of other folks here saying how nice and willing to help they were. However, since Canadian Embassy is too far away from where I was, I had to try first the regular public notary offices, thankfully found one that accepted it.

Hello marineking,

I see you went through the entire process, congrats for that!
I'm still confused and perhaps you can help me with:

- the "number of years" - I've been living with my gf for 1y and 10 months. Now... should I write 1 or 2 in that field? probably by the time IRCC checks my application there are 2 years already, but don't want to risk that. (I'm inclined to say 1, although we've been living for nearly 2 years.)

- secondly, the "TO" field, in the first section of the IMM 5409. Should I say "Ongoing" there, or should I write down the exact date when I notarize the form?

Thanks in advance mate!

 

[marineking]

- the "number of years" - I've been living with my gf for 1y and 10 months. Now... should I write 1 or 2 in that field? probably by the time IRCC checks my application there are 2 years already, but don't want to risk that. (I'm inclined to say 1, although we've been living for nearly 2 years.)

My case was similar and I did put the equivalent of 1 in your case, meaning, I've only counted full years. Right after the "full years" field, there are fields for the start and end dates which you can specify the exact dates.

- secondly, the "TO" field, in the first section of the IMM 5409. Should I say "Ongoing" there, or should I write down the exact date when I notarize the form?

I wrote down the date when the form was signed. I don't know if "Ongoing" would be accepted or not.

 

[andreiger]

My case was similar and I did put the equivalent of 1 in your case, meaning, I've only counted full years. Right after the "full years" field, there are fields for the start and end dates which you can specify the exact dates.


I wrote down the date when the form was signed. I don't know if "Ongoing" would be accepted or not.

Thank you so much for your precious help!
This saves me from some headaches.

The only problem I have now is that all notaries in Amsterdam can only legalise my and my girlfriend's signature. They don't want to sign the IMM form itself. Also the embassy refused to help us. Still looking around and calling all notaries I can find, otherwise I think I'll just send it to IRCC together with the legalised signatures + apostille from the notary. As well as proofs of addresses from the municipality and some bills that both of us have at the same address.

Thx again!

 

[marineking]

It is odd that the Canadian embassy has refused to help you. I really don't know what to do in your case. I've read somewhere (maybe in this forum) that without the notary certification, it wouldn't be considered a statutory document. I suggest you ask around to see what alternatives you might have before submitting the doc without the notary signature, maybe even call IRCC and explain that the embassy didn't support you.

 

[andreiger]

Yes it's really odd the embassy refused to help.
They have sent us either to Dusseldorf or Vienna where there are Canadian offices for VISA related enquiries, which is really weird.
I also found a notary in The Netherlands who's willing to help, but he's asking me 600€.. which is quite much for a signature.

Will continue my research and make some decision next week.

 

[Raj1712]

On this form, what is the meaning of this———-day of————of the year———?

Thank in advance

 

[marineking]

On this form, what is the meaning of this———-day of————of the year———?

Thank in advance

That's the date the document was signed. You'll fill up the day of the month, the month and the year.

For example, if it was signed today, it would be:

this 20th day of January of the year 2020​

 

[Raj1712]

That's the date the document was signed. You'll fill up the day of the month, the month and the year.

For example, if it was signed today, it would be:

this 20th day of January of the year 2020​

Thank you soo much .

 

[tapioca]

They did it and the notary even gave her business card in case CIC wants to contact her. No need for extra reals, I guess some people are just inherently nice. And some others, well...

Hello MarineKing!
I'm happy to know you successfully went through the process and landed in Canada.
About the person's title and signature on the IMM 5409 form, which one of the three titles did the person choose (Notary, C. of Oaths, C. of Affidavits) and, also, did they sign as the person who administered the declaration?
Cheers!

 

[marineking]

Hello MarineKing!
which one of the three titles did the person choose (Notary, C. of Oaths, C. of Affidavits) and, also, did they sign as the person who administered the declaration?

Title was Notary Public.

Yes, they signed in the "Signature of the person who administered the declaration" field. According to this forum, this is what makes it a notarized document, and that's kinda the hardest part: to find a notary willing to sign the document. If you found it, then the hardest part of this document is done.

 

[tapioca]

Thanks for the quick answer, MarineKing!
My partner went back to the notary who celebrated the civil union and they accepted signing the IMM 5409 form in English (Brazil never ceases to amaze me).
They stamped it with their official Brazilian notary stamp and signed over it. They also stamped next to both our signatures with arrow stamps where the notary number appears AND stuck their big sticker to formally recognize who signed it (reconhecimento de firma).
Did your notary also put a sticker for your signatures on your form?
I'm concerned for they partly stuck this sticker onto the footer small print (there was virtually no space around the form to put it).

 

[Mel_da]

@marineking
I am willing to apply for express entry as skilled worker and I plan to go with my common law partner. I have some questions regarding the application , I'm a bit confused by all the forms to fill and wanted to have a confirmation from your side. can you please let me know which are all the forms that needs to be filled and sent except for IMM5409 (which I read about above ?
can you please tell how you got the step by step guide to complete the EE application with your common law partner ?
what are all the proves you have used that were sufficient to convince the IRCC about your relationship?

thank you again

 

[marineking]

I am willing to apply for express entry as skilled worker and I plan to go with my common law partner. I have some questions regarding the application , I'm a bit confused by all the forms to fill and wanted to have a confirmation from your side. can you please let me know which are all the forms that needs to be filled and sent except for IMM5409 (which I read about above ?
can you please tell how you got the step by step guide to complete the EE application with your common law partner ?
what are all the proves you have used that were sufficient to convince the IRCC about your relationship?

Regarding the forms: as far as common-law goes, all you need is the IMM5409 and the attachments supporting it. In the IRCC website you can find a comprehensive list of documents that you can attach for proof. You have to proof that you share a household together for at least the past 12 months.

I am not sure what step by step guide you are talking about. You can find many guides on this forum (This thread was particularly useful for me) and on the IRCC website. Furthermore, at the top of this board you can find some sticky posts with some step by step guides too, and feel free to ask any questions you may have after going through the guides.

Since we didn't jointly own properties, had no joint bank account or joint life insurance, the proofs we ultimately used were (feeling like I already wrote this somewhere but couldn't find it so here it goes again):

1. landlord reference letter (including both of our names and the date we moved in)
2. bills directed to us, sent to our address. We didn't have bills containing both of our names in the same bill so we used separate bills and it worked.
3. public deed declaring common law (this one arguably doesn't have any weight but we added it anyway)

Those have to be listed in section 4 of the form.
That's what we had available at that time but in the link above to the IRCC website you can find more ways to prove.

Hope it helps.

 

[tapioca]

@marineking
I am willing to apply for express entry as skilled worker and I plan to go with my common law partner. I have some questions regarding the application , I'm a bit confused by all the forms to fill and wanted to have a confirmation from your side. can you please let me know which are all the forms that needs to be filled and sent except for IMM5409 (which I read about above ?
can you please tell how you got the step by step guide to complete the EE application with your common law partner ?
what are all the proves you have used that were sufficient to convince the IRCC about your relationship?

thank you again

Hi Mel_da and marineking, here's a follow up on my case.
I got a recommended pass for my application after submitting a notarized IMM 5409 form with a letter of explanation including life insurance, a bit more than a year of rental receipts, and photos of me with my partner going back a few years.

 

[Mel_da]

Regarding the forms: as far as common-law goes, all you need is the IMM5409 and the attachments supporting it. In the IRCC website you can find a comprehensive list of documents that you can attach for proof. You have to proof that you share a household together for at least the past 12 months.

I am not sure what step by step guide you are talking about. You can find many guides on this forum (This thread was particularly useful for me) and on the IRCC website. Furthermore, at the top of this board you can find some sticky posts with some step by step guides too, and feel free to ask any questions you may have after going through the guides.

Since we didn't jointly own properties, had no joint bank account or joint life insurance, the proofs we ultimately used were (feeling like I already wrote this somewhere but couldn't find it so here it goes again):

1. landlord reference letter (including both of our names and the date we moved in)
2. bills directed to us, sent to our address. We didn't have bills containing both of our names in the same bill so we used separate bills and it worked.
3. public deed declaring common law (this one arguably doesn't have any weight but we added it anyway)

Those have to be listed in section 4 of the form.
That's what we had available at that time but in the link above to the IRCC website you can find more ways to prove.

Hope it helps.

Hii @marineking ,
Thank you very much for your return, I really liked the way you detailed the proofs (so clear!) . I am not sure about your origins, but i'am leaving in Turkey right now , and all the documents are in Turkish language (rental agreement, bills , residency certificate ..ect). I know I have to translate everything , is that enough ?
Can you please tell how did you proceed if the language of your documents was different than English or French (which are the only languages accepted by IRCC)?