Common law sponsorship - shared bank accounts

[jr82]

Hi all,
Thanks for the posts, I'm finding this forum extremely helpful. I'm currently gathering as many documents as I can find, proving my common law relationship with my girlfriend. I'm quickly realising that a shared bank account would've been a great thing to organise a year or two ago.
My question to you is this: If I am just about to lodge my application for residency, will it look bad if I show a joint bank account that was only created within the same month of lodging the forms? Should I not worry about it at this point, or should we go out and create a joint account now anyway?
Thanks everyone

 

[Ponga]

Hi all,
Thanks for the posts, I'm finding this forum extremely helpful. I'm currently gathering as many documents as I can find, proving my common law relationship with my girlfriend. I'm quickly realising that a shared bank account would've been a great thing to organise a year or two ago.
My question to you is this: If I am just about to lodge my application for residency, will it look bad if I show a joint bank account that was only created within the same month of lodging the forms? Should I not worry about it at this point, or should we go out and create a joint account now anyway?
Thanks everyone

Yes, getting a joint account now is a good idea. I don't believe that you need to disclose when the account was opened. Simply ask the bank to print off something showing both names, but not the date that the account was opened.

 

[jr82]

cool.. good point

 

[Nisha647]

I am also in the process of gathering my documents to send them in....the thing is my partner and I live with his mom so we don't have a lease. Only thing we do have is a joint account and some pictures so am worried that it won't be enough. #helpanyone

 

[Jamarns]

I would suggest sending copies of everything you have addressed to the same address with your application. I had my partner added to my existing lease 12 months ago, the building our apartment is in was sold and the new owners now tell me they have no records of her being on the lease just the original one. So we're photocopying all her bills with the address on, printing all photos of us together, getting letters written by friends (2 of which will be statutory declarations, one from a close friend and one from her father stating the date she moved in with me) and also signing a new lease. We did open a joint account about 6 months ago also and we're signing a statutory declaration of a common law union together.

In you situation (Nisha647) I would start out by getting a statutory declaration from your partners mum stating that you've been living in her house for however long you've been living there. From what I've been reading (been lurking here for quite some time) the more evidence you have to support your application the better, not everyone is going to have a signed lease, not everyone is going to have co owned property for example.

Remember at the end of the day you need to provide enough evidence to convince an officer that you are a genuine loving couple, so not everything needs to be perfect.

I'm sure there are a few other things you might be able to do aswell, one of the more experienced members might chime in and add a few things I haven't thought of.

 

[superman2012]

I would suggest sending copies of everything you have addressed to the same address with your application. I had my partner added to my existing lease 12 months ago, the building our apartment is in was sold and the new owners now tell me they have no records of her being on the lease just the original one. So we're photocopying all her bills with the address on, printing all photos of us together, getting letters written by friends (2 of which will be statutory declarations, one from a close friend and one from her father stating the date she moved in with me) and also signing a new lease. We did open a joint account about 6 months ago also and we're signing a statutory declaration of a common law union together.

In you situation (Nisha647) I would start out by getting a statutory declaration from your partners mum stating that you've been living in her house for however long you've been living there. From what I've been reading (been lurking here for quite some time) the more evidence you have to support your application the better, not everyone is going to have a signed lease, not everyone is going to have co owned property for example.

Remember at the end of the day you need to provide enough evidence to convince an officer that you are a genuine loving couple, so not everything needs to be perfect.

I'm sure there are a few other things you might be able to do aswell, one of the more experienced members might chime in and add a few things I haven't thought of.

I have a question regarding our application.

I will be arriving in Canada this coming June and in 2016 we will be applying for sponsorship. My partner will change his legal status from single to common law after our one year of cohabitation so most probably he will change it in 2016. Can we apply sponsorship right after he change his legal status in his CRA?

 

[Jamarns]

Once you have cohabited for 12 months you can apply. I'm not 100% sure on this but I don't think that it's a requirement that you change your status with the CRA in order to file your application to CIC, you would however have to declare it when you do your tax return for year that you became common law.

 

[superman2012]

Once you have cohabited for 12 months you can apply. I'm not 100% sure on this but I don't think that it's a requirement that you change your status with the CRA in order to file your application to CIC, you would however have to declare it when you do your tax return for year that you became common law.

so can my partner sponsor me right after he declare me as his common law in his CRA? I think he will do that In june 2016 and after a month I think we can now apply. what do you think guys?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

so can my partner sponsor me right after he declare me as his common law in his CRA? I think he will do that In june 2016 and after a month I think we can now apply. what do you think guys?

Declaring common-law with CRA has nothing to do with when you can apply for sponsorship. You can apply once you've lived together continuously for one year and can prove it.

 

[superman2012]

Declaring common-law with CRA has nothing to do with when you can apply for sponsorship. You can apply once you've lived together continuously for one year and can prove it.

oh, thank you very much for your help!