Common Law Partners - Supporting evidence

[Router]

Dear All,

We are two foreign nationals trying to figure out what "other documentary evidence that would indicate our relationship as common-law partners".

We are at the very beginning of our Express Entry application, we both have our credentials assessed, and taken the IELTS recently. According to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp we seem eligible to apply and we have also referred to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp.

Having lived in a country where same-sex marriages or civil unions are out of question, we are nervous about our entitlement as a common-law couple. Although it is intended for Family Class applications, we have read the relevant chapters on http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf in order to know what constitutes a common-law relationship and a conjugal relationship.

We have filled out IMM5409E and here is how our case looks like:

1.a.- We do not have a residential lease, mortgage, purchase agreement. 1.b.- We do not own property together. 1.c.- We have joint bank accounts (for more than 5 years). 1.d.- (Canadian income tax act. not applicable in our case) 2 and 3. - We do not have life insurance in which our names are declared as beneficiary. 4. - We have "private individual pension agreements" naming each other as beneficiaries. - Formal residency address declarations at the same address. - Shared utility bills.

Since we cannot provide what is being asked at Section 1 above in IMM5409E, we count on evidence we can put under Section 4. We have approached our close friends and they are happy to provide a "personal statement of support" each.

Our question is, is there a format on how to write such a document? Whom to address, what to include? Should they provide this statements in a closed envelope, hand-written, business cards attached, etc.? Should they get these documents certified by a Commissioner of Taking Affidavits? (Notaries in our country do not accept documents written in English or French.)

We are sorry if this question has been asked before, the relevant answers we could find on the forum were under Family Class applications, so we decided to post it under General Immigration.

For starters, how does the below template look like?

Personal Statement of Support Dear Visa Officer / To Whom It May Concern I am a ... (personal description, information on job, etc.) I met ... and ... in ... (the nature of relationship with the applicants, are they friends or colleagues, how they met, what they did together over the course of years, etc.) ... and ... are ... (their personal statements on the nature of applicants' own relationship, cohabitation etc.) ... (personal attestation to the genuineness of the relationship, cohabitation, etc.) Name, Signature, Date

Thank you very much for taking the time to read our case.

 

[g126]

Hello there!

I have the exact same question as you! I have very little evidence to tick in the IMM5409E form, so I think I'm left with the following:
- Tax Declaration mention us as cohabitants
- Signed in public registry a Common Law relationship contract/term
- Utility bills going back 12+ months
- We do have a purchase agreement, but that's from 6 years ago

Can anyone confirm if this will be OK?

 

[CDNPR2014]

Dear All,

We are two foreign nationals trying to figure out what "other documentary evidence that would indicate our relationship as common-law partners".


Having lived in a country where same-sex marriages or civil unions are out of question, we are nervous about our entitlement as a common-law couple. Although it is intended for Family Class applications, we have read the relevant chapters on http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf in order to know what constitutes a common-law relationship and a conjugal relationship.

Hi,
Have you physically lived together and cohabitated for 365+ consecutive days? if not, then unfortunately you will not meet immigration's standard for a commonlaw relationship. a couple has to be able to prove they lived together and comingled their lives/finances for over 365 consecutive days to be considered commonlaw. if you have lived together, then you can try getting a letter signed by your landlord or neighbors who can attest to the fact you've lived at the same place for 1 year.

proving a conjugal relationship is very difficult. basically, you have to be able to prove immigration barriers to being married or living together to gain commonlaw status. it is a good start that you are in a country that doesn't approve of same sex marriages, however that does not mean you will qualify as conjugal, since technically you both can move to canada and become commonlaw or get married here. you need to be able to prove there is no way for you two to travel somewhere to get married or cohabitate in a commonlaw relationship for 365+ consecutive days. Same sex marriages are legal in canada and other countries, so immigration will want to see proof you've tried to travel to one of those places to get married or attempted to live somewhere to gain commonlaw status. If you can prove denied visas to canada or other countries that prevent this from happening, then that will strenghten a conjugal case. Immigration will not consider lack of finances or lack of job opportunities as a "barrier" to being together. They generally only consider true immigration barriers as stated above.

 

[g126]

Hi,
Have you physically lived together and cohabitated for 365+ consecutive days? if not, then unfortunately you will not meet immigration's standard for a commonlaw relationship. a couple has to be able to prove they lived together and comingled their lives/finances for over 365 consecutive days to be considered commonlaw. if you have lived together, then you can try getting a letter signed by your landlord or neighbors who can attest to the fact you've lived at the same place for 1 year.

proving a conjugal relationship is very difficult. basically, you have to be able to prove immigration barriers to being married or living together to gain commonlaw status. it is a good start that you are in a country that doesn't approve of same sex marriages, however that does not mean you will qualify as conjugal, since technically you both can move to canada and become commonlaw or get married here. you need to be able to prove there is no way for you two to travel somewhere to get married or cohabitate in a commonlaw relationship for 365+ consecutive days. Same sex marriages are legal in canada and other countries, so immigration will want to see proof you've tried to travel to one of those places to get married or attempted to live somewhere to gain commonlaw status. If you can prove denied visas to canada or other countries that prevent this from happening, then that will strenghten a conjugal case. Immigration will not consider lack of finances or lack of job opportunities as a "barrier" to being together. They generally only consider true immigration barriers as stated above.

So how important is the "comingled finances" bit? My wife and I have been living together for almost 5 years now, we have a signed common law union in public registry in our country, we bought the apartment together (50/50), I pay electrical bills and she pays TV/Cable/Internet/Phone. We both have each other in our tax forms as cohabitants. But we don't mix finance, we have separate bank accounts and generally split everything 50/50.

On the common law form I can only really tick one box for question 1 and 1 for question 2.

 

[CDNPR2014]

So how important is the "comingled finances" bit? My wife and I have been living together for almost 5 years now, we have a signed common law union in public registry in our country, we bought the apartment together (50/50), I pay electrical bills and she pays TV/Cable/Internet/Phone. We both have each other in our tax forms as cohabitants. But we don't mix finance, we have separate bank accounts and generally split everything 50/50.

On the common law form I can only really tick one box for question 1 and 1 for question 2.

i would think they look at everything on a whole, and don't just reject your status because you don't happen to share bank accounts. it may also depend on where you are located. these days, that is very common for a lot of countries. in other countries that may be considered a red flag. i think the other proofs you have hold more weight, and an explanation in the application as to why you don't share bank accounts will be helpful. IMO just because you don't share bank accounts doesn't mean you don't comingle your finances. the proofs you have show you have shared a home together and share finances - regardless of what bank accounts the money comes out of.

unfortunately, for the most part, the best way to know how immigration will perceive your relationship is sending in what you have and providing explanations in your application.

 

[g126]

i would think they look at everything on a whole, and don't just reject your status because you don't happen to share bank accounts. it may also depend on where you are located. these days, that is very common for a lot of countries. in other countries that may be considered a red flag. i think the other proofs you have hold more weight, and an explanation in the application as to why you don't share bank accounts will be helpful.

unfortunately, for the most part, the best way to know how immigration will perceive your relationship is sending in what you have and providing explanations in your application.

Thanks for the reply! Quite helpful +1

You're quite right, they'll look and assess... I'm just hoping that they will give us chance to explain if they don't like something as opposed to simply rejecting or canceling the application because of insufficient evidence from their PoV. I'll send everything they've asked for (12+ months of utility bills, purchase contract of our house that has both our names and life insurance showing each other as beneficiaries) and extra stuff I've mentioned above. Let's hope they are happy with that.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thanks for the reply! Quite helpful +1

You're quite right, they'll look and assess... I'm just hoping that they will give us chance to explain if they don't like something as opposed to simply rejecting or canceling the application because of insufficient evidence from their PoV.

legally, they can't reject your application without giving you a chance to respond to their concerns, so don't worry about that. either you will get an additional document request or an interview. it's when you ignore additional requests or don't produce convincing additional information that the file can be rejected. with that said, i'm speaking from knowledge of a "spousal sponsorship" application. i'd imagine PNP has similar rules regarding file rejections.

 

[g126]

legally, they can't reject your application without giving you a chance to respond to their concerns, so don't worry about that. either you will get an additional document request or an interview. it's when you ignore additional requests or don't produce convincing additional information that the file can be rejected.

Ahhh I didn't know that... So I guess it kind of works as a PFL ( Procedural Fairness Letter) for the PNP programs. That's great to know! It's just that I've seen many comments along the lines of "Oh I forgot to upload my diploma certificate but the ECA was uploaded fine and they cancelled my application" that I was under the impression that they're quite happy to cancel without giving any satisfaction...

When they ask for a interview do they tell you what's is it regarding to? Or do I need to arrive at the interview with ALL my supporting documents and be ready to talk about anything? If you know you can get extra documents and be better prepared...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks for the reply! Quite helpful +1

You're quite right, they'll look and assess... I'm just hoping that they will give us chance to explain if they don't like something as opposed to simply rejecting or canceling the application because of insufficient evidence from their PoV. I'll send everything they've asked for (12+ months of utility bills, purchase contract of our house that has both our names and life insurance showing each other as beneficiaries) and extra stuff I've mentioned above. Let's hope they are happy with that.

The evidence that you have is more than sufficient. There should be no issues.

 

[g126]

The evidence that you have is more than sufficient. There should be no issues.

Thanks! +1