My girlfriend and I are finishing our studies next year, and we want to move to Canada, where I will be completing a Master's degree and she will hopefully be able to find work. I am a Canadian citizen, born and raised, and she is a German citizen, trained as a foreign language teacher. I've been in Germany for the past four years.
As of writing, we've been living together for 18 months, so by the time we move to Canada in August 2012 (hopefully!) we'll have been living together much longer. However, as students, we don't have many of the documents usually demanded by the folk in charge of immigration.
We applied, as a couple, for a single appartment in our student housing, but because the housing arrangements are intended for individual students, we are registered under different room numbers (though it is the same "Wohneinheit", or living unit) for the purposes of rent contracts and mail, even though our official application was as a pair. We can, however, provide written confirmation from the people in charge of student housing, proving that we both applied as a couple in and have lived in the same living unit since March 2010.
We have also travelled together on several occasions, including once to Canada and several times to Switzerland, but none of our Swiss travel documents (train tickets) have names on them, only "2 adults". We have many photographs, however, as well as family members on both sides who will gladly vouch for the authenticity of the relationship (and of course our plane tickets from Germany to Canada and back).
Beyond that, though, we do not have any common insurance policies (as students, we are required to hold specific health insurance policies which are intended for and cheaper for students, and all other policies are more expensive) or any joint bank accounts (with no common investments, as students, we never saw the need), though since learning of the requirements, we have decided that we will open a common bank account as soon as we can.
Should we be worried that the application will fail? What other opportunities for permanent residency should we fall back on, if this application fails?
As of writing, we've been living together for 18 months, so by the time we move to Canada in August 2012 (hopefully!) we'll have been living together much longer. However, as students, we don't have many of the documents usually demanded by the folk in charge of immigration.
We applied, as a couple, for a single appartment in our student housing, but because the housing arrangements are intended for individual students, we are registered under different room numbers (though it is the same "Wohneinheit", or living unit) for the purposes of rent contracts and mail, even though our official application was as a pair. We can, however, provide written confirmation from the people in charge of student housing, proving that we both applied as a couple in and have lived in the same living unit since March 2010.
We have also travelled together on several occasions, including once to Canada and several times to Switzerland, but none of our Swiss travel documents (train tickets) have names on them, only "2 adults". We have many photographs, however, as well as family members on both sides who will gladly vouch for the authenticity of the relationship (and of course our plane tickets from Germany to Canada and back).
Beyond that, though, we do not have any common insurance policies (as students, we are required to hold specific health insurance policies which are intended for and cheaper for students, and all other policies are more expensive) or any joint bank accounts (with no common investments, as students, we never saw the need), though since learning of the requirements, we have decided that we will open a common bank account as soon as we can.
Should we be worried that the application will fail? What other opportunities for permanent residency should we fall back on, if this application fails?