Are we "good enough"?

[xebex]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on mine and my boyfriends situation, and let me know if we are "good enough" to be accepted as a common-law couple for sponsorship.

I'm scared that because I'm in Canada as a tourist and have to go home in November (I don't want to extend my visitor record again, because i want to go home for Christmas), they will see that our relationship isn't common-law because we won't be living together come December.

We will however have lived together for a year prior to me going home and I plan to go back to live with him six weeks later to stay as a visitor until my PR is granted. But how do i explain on the app form (there doesn't seem to be appropriate space for this) that although i'm applying outland and am home for xmas, i plan to go back in 6 weeks to live with him again?

I don't want them to think we are living apart, but what if customs don't let me re-enter? Then we have no choice but to live apart, but will already have submitted the form, declaring we are living together. Argghh! What address do i put down? If i put our Canadian address down then how is it an outland application anymore?

Here's some history for a clearer idea of our relationship, and the evidence needed to prove it.

• I'm British, he's Canadian.
• We met on a trek in Nepal in November 2010 - Had the most perfect whirlwind holiday romance.
• We were in an online relationship for 12 months after meeting, i went to see him in Canada for a week in January 2011, then he came to see me for my birthday in June 2011.
• After my birthday I decided to quit my job, rent my flat out and move to Canada as a tourist (i am 34, too old for a working holiday visa) to spend time with him, learn to ski get to know his friends and family etc.
• I moved to Canada on Oct 31st 2011, and after my 6 months tourist record expired i applied for an extension which was granted until November 31st 2012, I only asked for a 7 month extension because I want to go home to visit family for christmas.
• We don't have much evidence of joining our finances, i have no job so he pays for pretty much everything, i have bought hims gifts but dont know if i have the receipts!
• We have about 60 photos of us together over the past 2 years
• We have flight tickets and other evidence of holidays together
• We have a joint bank account
• We have emails, letters and chat history
• I'm not sure how to prove we have been living together for a year other than letters from freinds and neighbours as i'm not on any bills and he owns his house.

 

[LeisaP]

as for the going back for christmas thing. this wont be a problem because you lived together 12 consecutive months prior to going home for christmas. so your fine in that sense

the papers dont give you much room to write. so if you need to add any descriptions write them in a word document and note on the form see attatchment 1-a or something like that
this is what we did

also. if you get notarized letters from him or someone close saying you lived together from this day to this day.thats should be okay.

the joint bank account is great

also you need to get a declaration of common-law. you need to go to a local notary office. and tell them you want to see a commisioner to sign a declaration of common-law form
they will have the right paperwork for you.
its pretty much a legal paper saying you state to the government you are in a legal common-law relationship.
you and your partner sign this and so does the commisioner.(theres a small fee for this. i think it was between 30-50 bucks. but i honestly cant remeber it was cheap though)

im pretty sure this is mandatory.
we are common-law to and we had to get this form.

ive heard of some people who didnt get it and before they got their visa they were asked for this form.

other than that it seems like there is sufficient evidence.

if your not on bills make sure you tell them in the application why you are not on his bills. also its best to have that letter notarized aswell.

if you have any more questions feel free to ask!. we applied as common-law aswell so i can tell you what we put for our evidence if you would like to know

 

[xebex]

thanks for your reply!

i feel a bit better about going home for xmas now!

yes i'd like to know what you submitted as evidence.

My main concern is that apart from our joint bank account we don't have much evidence that we have joined our finances, mainly because he is paying for everything.

If we were married, would we still have to prove we had joined finances and prove that we lived together?

 

[LeisaP]

im not to sure what you have to prove if you were married. but according to what i have read on this forum if you are married you dont have to prove any combined finances nor the length of time you lived together, you just have to provide strong evidence the relationship is genuine.

here is the list of things we sent. maybe this will help you get an idea of what you can add to your evidence.


we sent about:
-300-400 pictures of events in a timeline journal from when we met till when we sent in the app.(including intimate pictures such as hugging and kissing, but nothing sexual)
-6 or 7 letters from friends, family and employers stating they knew of our relationship and what they thought of it. im not sure if its necessary them be notarized. ours werent.
- a notarized common-law declaration. we got this at a notary office.
- our rental lease with both our names on it.
-bills with both names on it, hydro, cable, internet
- joint bank account
- joint costco card
-a car under both of our names
- proof we purchased a dog together
- my spouse has life insurance with me as his beneficiary
- letters from employers. we happen to work for the same person.
- receipts from gifts we have given eachother
- facebook logs
-facebook logs of our parents talking to eachother (they are facebook nerds, never met in real life, but they talk online Tongue )
- plane tickets of trips we took together
-my brother passed away and my spouse flew with me to attend the funeral so we posted items from the funeral, proof that he came with me
- pictures of him with my family.
- events tickets, movies, sports events, etc.

hope this helps a bit.

 

[AnaMaria]

I think if you get letters stating that you lived with him from this date to that date and have them notarized, your application is probably good enough.

I think what is more challenging for you is to visit him after Christmas at home. Staying in Canada for a year and coming back after a very short period of time, not having a job might flag immigration officer the purpose of "visit".

 

[Creampop]

yea coming back could be worrisome... what reason did you use for your extension? you have been here on a visitor's visa but you keep using the word "moved" bad word no no LOL you were just visiting, you say moved to a CBSA officer and your going home no questions asked... No you don't have to prove combined finances or prove how long you have lived together once you married, but if you have been divorced check with your province, divorced non-residents in Ontario must obtain authorization from the Ministry of Government before getting a Marriage Certificate of course each province is different so just check to make sure.

 

[Sweden]

Hey xebex,

For the list of things to prove a common law relationship, you can have a look at this thread http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/family-class-sponsorship-b5.0/

You will find a post from LeisaP that is the same more or less, but also from OhCanadiana that is very detailed.

I am not sure about the re-entering Canada, it's always a risk, but being from a visa exempt country, you might be OK... but there is always a risk as it is up to the officer at the border.

About common-law - it looks good to me ( but I'm not CIC of course!). You just need to be very detailed and explain why you don't have bills, but the fact that you quit your job and moved to Canada to be with your boyfriend is a pretty good indication about how serious you are. Might not want to use the word "move" but somehow they should get the idea!

Gather all the proofs, start writing a timeline (when you moved, etc) and start adding the proofs, and try to see it with an external eye - would it be convincing? is there any "red flag" in your application - if yes, then address it right away, it's better than waiting for CIC.

There are plenty of people applying outland while staying in Canada, so you can use your Canadian address for everything. If you are not let back in the country, then your boyfriend will be there to open the letter. It doesn't change your application - it's still outland.

From the list you posted, you seem to have already quite a lot of evidences, and as long as you can explain that you are not on the lease etc, you should be good !

Good luck in filling out everything, and putting the application together - it takes time and energy but it's worth it!

There is UK thread http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-outland-london-uk-applications-t49436.5325.html if you want to join there to read about people going through London VO and see a bit what are the waiting times etc ( I'm also going through London and just got the sponsorship approval, so now I'm waiting to hear from London...).

Cheers!

Sweden