Assembling the Outland Common Law PR pack

[Gary_87]

Hey guys!

I think me and my fiance have assembled a personal checklist of things we need to do for our application. Things are coming slowly together. Our aim is to try and get everything done before the end of the month! It's going to be a bit crazy!

Here is our checklist. I was wondering if anyone has the time to have a look through it and see if there is anything that we are missing or very obvious mistakes etc.

Thanks in advance!

For Sponsor

- Document Checklist (IMM 5491)
- Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344)
- Sponsorship Evaluation (IMM 5481)
- Sponsor Questionnaire (IMM 5540)

EXTRA

- Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union (IMM 5409) With this form, we don't have a cosigner so it wont be completed HOWEVER we do want to get one of these done to strengthen our case - any ideas on where we can get one?

- Change status on CRA account to common-law as of January 1st 2013

- Letter from Employer

- Option C from CRA along with a letter or a paystub.

For Applicant

- Generic Application For for Canada (IMM 0008)
- Schedule A - Background/Declaration (IMM 5669)
- Additional Family Information (IMM 5406)
- Sponsored Spouse/Partner Questionnaire (IMM 5490)

EXTRA

- Additional Dependants/Declaration (IMM 0008DEP) Not sure about this one. Only for kids I think

- UK Police Certificate Applied for!
- Australian Police Certificate Applied for!
- Medical + 3 or 4 pictures
- Copy of UK Birth certificate
- Prove common-law relationship (statutory declaration, CRA file etc) In this just the evidence part? Or is this area where we supply other forms of proof? Such as official proof etc?
- 8 recent immigration photos of myself Completed!

Both of Us

- copy of our passports, information page, and copy of my current visa and status in Canada Do I need to scan my copy of my work permit also? Even though it will expire during the application process and I will transfer to a visitor visa?


Evidence and Proof

- Letter from previous Landlord We CANNOT get this notarized which is annoying ... will it cause any problems?
- Appartment Lease
- Joint Bank Account
- Car Ownership and Insurance Papers
- Copies of Letters and E-mails
- Screenshots of Facebook (Engagement Announcement, view our history together)
- Photos of us together (Printed 3 photos per page with a caption stating when and where it was taken) How many should we provide?
- Photos of us with each others parents
- Copies of our parents correspondance
- At least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of our relationship supporting our claim that the relationship is genuine
- Letters from our employers
- Pictures of the engagement ring
- Evidence of wedding such as invites, wedding list, receipt of venue etc

 

[parker24]

Hey guys!

I think me and my fiance have assembled a personal checklist of things we need to do for our application. Things are coming slowly together. Our aim is to try and get everything done before the end of the month! It's going to be a bit crazy!

Here is our checklist. I was wondering if anyone has the time to have a look through it and see if there is anything that we are missing or very obvious mistakes etc.

Thanks in advance!

For Sponsor

- Document Checklist (IMM 5491)
- Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344)
- Sponsorship Evaluation (IMM 5481)
- Sponsor Questionnaire (IMM 5540)

EXTRA

- Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union (IMM 5409) With this form, we don't have a cosigner so it wont be completed HOWEVER we do want to get one of these done to strengthen our case - any ideas on where we can get one?

- Change status on CRA account to common-law as of January 1st 2013

- Letter from Employer

- Option C from CRA along with a letter or a paystub.

For Applicant

- Generic Application For for Canada (IMM 0008)
- Schedule A - Background/Declaration (IMM 5669)
- Additional Family Information (IMM 5406)
- Sponsored Spouse/Partner Questionnaire (IMM 5490)

EXTRA

- Additional Dependants/Declaration (IMM 0008DEP) Not sure about this one. Only for kids I think

- UK Police Certificate Applied for!
- Australian Police Certificate Applied for!
- Medical + 3 or 4 pictures
- Copy of UK Birth certificate
- Prove common-law relationship (statutory declaration, CRA file etc) In this just the evidence part? Or is this area where we supply other forms of proof? Such as official proof etc?
- 8 recent immigration photos of myself Completed!

Both of Us

- copy of our passports, information page, and copy of my current visa and status in Canada Do I need to scan my copy of my work permit also? Even though it will expire during the application process and I will transfer to a visitor visa?


Evidence and Proof

- Letter from previous Landlord We CANNOT get this notarized which is annoying ... will it cause any problems?
- Appartment Lease
- Joint Bank Account
- Car Ownership and Insurance Papers
- Copies of Letters and E-mails
- Screenshots of Facebook (Engagement Announcement, view our history together)
- Photos of us together (Printed 3 photos per page with a caption stating when and where it was taken) How many should we provide?
- Photos of us with each others parents
- Copies of our parents correspondance
- At least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of our relationship supporting our claim that the relationship is genuine
- Letters from our employers
- Pictures of the engagement ring
- Evidence of wedding such as invites, wedding list, receipt of venue etc

Looks great, but I think if you are applying common law, you shouldn't be engaged. I'm not 100% but if you are going to get married, you should get married THEN apply.

 

[orly]

Looks great, but I think if you are applying common law, you shouldn't be engaged. I'm not 100% but if you are going to get married, you should get married THEN apply.

Not sure if it's a problem to be engaged.

 

[parker24]

Okay I did a little research.

If you mention your wedding plans, they will more than likely put your application with the married, but won't be processed until you ARE married, so it might be better to get married first if possible.

See here:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/common-law-engaged-should-we-get-married-before-we-apply-t47553.0.html

(see post number 4)

 

[Rob_TO]

Okay I did a little research.

If you mention your wedding plans, they will more than likely put your application with the married, but won't be processed until you ARE married, so it might be better to get married first if possible.

See here:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/common-law-engaged-should-we-get-married-before-we-apply-t47553.0.html

(see post number 4)

In our common-law app we included the facebook post when we announced our engagement to everyone... and included a pic of my fiancee wearing the engagement ring. We stated in the relationship area we would be getting married the following year, as it obviously adds to the relationship being genuine. It was never a problem at all during our application and it was approved no problem as common-law. I think in practically all common-law relationships they eventually lead to marriage at some point.

I find it hard to believe its a common practice from the VOs, that simply announcing an engagement would cause the app to get shelved (though it definitely has happened). Would be curious to know if this is an anomaly from a certain visa office... or if its a more common operating procedure from CIC and we just happened to get lucky.

 

[orly]

Looks good Gary.

I provided about 20 photos (married now, 5 year relationship previous to that). They're looking for reasonable proof - not a complete catalogue of your life so don't worry about sending in hundreds of photos. On each photo list where it was taken and the event (if there is one). The date it was taken (can be rough like "July 2012" or "Summer 2011") and who is in the photo (and if space, their relationship to you).

I didn't send in any letters or emails either.

My wife and I used:
- copies of rent cheques from the last place we lived in
- proof of our joint bank account
- about a dozen engagement/wedding cards
- copies of our passport stamps / flight itineraries (as we lived apart for a chunk of our relationship)
- screenshots of my UK bank account showing transfers to paypal...and then screenshots of paypal transfers to my wife (used to help pay for wedding)
- we don't have joint utility bills so we sent in a hydro bill that has our address and my wifes name on it. Then I supplied my Ontario drivers licence which shows the same address (proves we do live together)
- Include a scan of your visa/permit

Useful tip: Write your full name, date of birth and your partners full name and date of birth on any loose sheet of proof. This helps the visa office / official to keep track of all the bits of paper and if they ever get separated they have a chance to find out who it belongs to.

 

[Gary_87]

thanks for the replies guys!

it seems silly to leave out the engagement stuff as that's the truth. and we are so commited to each other this is where we are at now. they want to see if an aplication is true and genuine and leaving this out would be suspicious on my opinion.

anyone agree or is it a bad idea?

 

[Gary_87]

is anyone able to answer any of the questions I have in bold here?

and are there any other opinions about the engaged thing?

were applying for commonlaw not fiance. we are engaged and it shows our commitment to each other. if we get married during the process of this then well send them our marriage cert. but were hoping it comes before then.

 

[figgy]

my partner just landed after applying outland through sydney even though he has been here almost 2 years on a work permit.

we were not engaged until after we had sent the application but we mentioned in our relationship letter that we were in a committed relationship and talking about getting engaged and married as our next step.... we then sent the application and got engaged over xmas and we didn't let the CIC know as "engaged" is not a marital status and they had already made a decision on his pr

just mention you are engaged and will be getting married in the future.... and include engagment pics etc

- we didn't include a stat declaration of common law union and we approved no prob.... so that's up to you
- we included probably 80 photos, we travelled a lot of the world together so most travelling pics and also pictures of us with eachothers families.
- the only thing we got notarized was a letter from my sister....we had a couple other letters from family members but didn't get them notarized
- make sure you apply soon after getting your aussie police checks, they technically expire after 1yr but CIC wont accept after 3 months! so we had to get adittional aussie checks and UK checks which is a MASSIVE HASSLE
- we sent a copy of his work permit with the copy of the passport picture page

 

[Gary_87]

thankyou figgy! there's so many different experiences. it all comes down to each individual application I guess. we already have a wedding date set and booked plus invites sent out ... does anyone think that's wise to include? or should we just say we plan on getting married in the near future? say were engaged but leave out the wedding details?

also what is a relationship letter? was this something extra?

 

[figgy]

I have heard some people mention that when they say they are about to get married, CIC puts it into the married pile and waits for you to send the marriage certificate. .... I don't know if this is true or not, but if it were me, I would say that we are engaged and the wedding will take place later on in the year and talk about family being invited etc.


relationship letter was the part that asks for any additional info that would help explain the relationship (or something along those lines) and is at the bottom of one of the forms.... basically we talked about how we met and hoe our relationship progressed etc and where we are now in our relationship. it's a good way to explain your situation with travel etc

 

[Gary_87]

so its something extra you added on? another sheet of paper?

well no doubt say we are engaged. but maybe its best not to say when we will get married. say it'll happen in the near future or later this year and not tell them we have it all booked in august?

it just seems silly to leave anything out...

 

[blueangel371115]

so its something extra you added on? another sheet of paper?

well no doubt say we are engaged. but maybe its best not to say when we will get married. say it'll happen in the near future or later this year and not tell them we have it all booked in august?

it just seems silly to leave anything out...

I am in a similar boat here. I asked a similar qustion and the consus at the time was to wait until we were married to file. But then again, my wedding is in October to we may end up married before it is issued thus being issued in the wrong last name ( I am taking his).

 

[Rob_TO]

I am in a similar boat here. I asked a similar qustion and the consus at the time was to wait until we were married to file. But then again, my wedding is in October to we may end up married before it is issued thus being issued in the wrong last name ( I am taking his).

If you are from a wealthier nation (USA, UK, Australia etc), there is really no need to wait until marriage to apply, if you are already common-law. The outland approval rate for these countries for both married and common-law is around 95%, so why delay the application any further than it needs to be?

 

[figgy]

yes our relationship letter was added on and explained our relationship in more detail than the forms ask for. its on one of the forms... it says to include additional info that will show that the relationship is true and on going i just can't remember which one