Common Law/ Spousal Sponsorship

[ruanp28]

Hi there I know this is a long message, but it would really help me if someone with past experience in sponsorship can give some advice or shed some light. My name is Ruan and I have been in a relationship with my girlfriend (partner) for almost 4 years now (18 April 2016 will be our 4-year anniversary!). Anyways, when we met my partner did not know that she is eligible for Canadian citizenship, since her mom was born and raised in Canada, but my partner was born and raised in South Africa. With all the hate and violence in our once beautiful country, she decided to find out if she can be a Canadian citizen. Turns out, she is a Canadian by descent and recently got her citizenship certificate.

We would both like to move to Canada since we believe it will be a brighter future for us, and we plan on going as soon as I finish my Honours degree at the end of this year. I finished my Bachelor's in Supply Chain Management last year and am doing my Honours now, hopefully it will prove that I am not a lazy bum that will not get employment. But I am drifting off topic slightly... Our issue is as follows:

1) When we met, neither of us knew that she is/might be a Canadian citizen, thus we did not bother to put all of our affairs and contact on record. We just saw each other every day at university for the first few months and started "dating" in April 2012. AS such, we do not have a ton of emails (we don't really email each other love letters etc. since we saw each other face to face every single day).

2) She moved in with me after we have been together for 8 months, on 25 November 2012. Her number changed after that since I got her a phone contract on my name (to this date, her mobile number has been on my name since I helped her with her finances when she moved out). As such, we have very little (if any) chat records of 2012 since we did not use Skype or MSN etc., in South Africa, we only texted or phoned each other, and the occasional "Whatsapp" - to give you an idea, my partner does not have Facebook either since she does not really care about social media. In addition, our messages (although few) were all sent in Afrikaans (our home language). To get 100 pages with thousands of words translated and certified is going to probably cost me thousands.

3) We just learnt that we have to prove our relationship by means of shared address (not an issue as our bills get sent to the same address), we have a shared lease agreement, and obviously lots of photos with date stamps since 2012 till 2016, so not an issue there. However, the chat history seems to be an issue in our case since we do not do the whole "chat" thing. She is very serious about her job and therefore she does not spend her days at work on the phone with me, as I am serious about my work as well in order to develop my career. As such, we decided to start using Skype now, talking only in English, in order to prove our
'chatting" on a daily basis, but this feels so unnecessary. My point is, since our relationship is already quite developed, its not going to develop on Skype, but rather day to day "have a nice day honey, see you tonight" or "fancy pizza tonight" messages, will this be fine?

I don't believe the VO will be a guy with horns and a little pitch fork waiting to shred us, but I don't want to make him/her doubt us either. At the end of the day, I would just like to know how I can prove my relationship is real. It is putting a lot of stress on my partner since we feel like we did something wrong or against the law by not "chatting" and emailing each other everyday when we are supposed to be working and being productive for our employers. Some people have 100's of pages of chats, but we are not like that, I don't see how that makes our relationship any different. We camp, go to water resorts, go to movies and dine out at least once a week. That is the way we build our relationship.

I hope someone can tell me what to do regarding this issue. Should we just continue the whole Skyping in English phase of our life? One last thing - I could only manage to get phone records 6 months back from the current date (my service provider can only go 6 months back) so I started getting those as well. Even though her phone number is on my name, I can prove that it is her number by means of her medical aid fund, work employment contract, her banking account details and so forth so its not an issue, the only issue is getting stuff back from 2012 onward to 2016. I do have a few old e-mails where we discussed grocery shopping lists and camping trips and stuff, bu no "relationship development" love letters, we developed our relationship face to face in each others' company like in the old days!

Thank you for taking the time to read our story

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

As you've been living together for several years, you can stop worrying about the chat/email/Skype proofs. CIC understands that couples living together don't usually have such proofs because they see each other everyday . Those proofs are really only important for showing communication in long-distance relationships.

 

[Hayles1980]

Hi

As you've been living together for several years, you can stop worrying about the chat/email/Skype proofs. CIC understands that couples living together don't usually have such proofs because they see each other everyday . Those proofs are really only important for showing communication in long-distance relationships.

Not true, my common law spouse and I had every piece of evidence they asked for, including bills, lease etc. But we did not have any chat logs or a substantial amount of emails, and we have been notified that we need to attend the questioning interview due to lack of evidence of our relationship. The defence we have is, why would I email someone I live with? We are going in armed with an entire binder of every stupid email/forward we've sent each other, I'm even taking screenshots of texts and printing them out. We have a very large amount of evidence but we did not have enough for them, despite living together since 2011.

Start emailing each other about plans etc, and start taking more photos and save receipts from outings, trips etc. Anything.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Not true, my common law spouse and I had every piece of evidence they asked for, including bills, lease etc. But we did not have any chat logs or a substantial amount of emails, and we have been notified that we need to attend the questioning interview due to lack of evidence of our relationship. The defence we have is, why would I email someone I live with? We are going in armed with an entire binder of every stupid email/forward we've sent each other, I'm even taking screenshots of texts and printing them out. We have a very large amount of evidence but we did not have enough for them, despite living together since 2011.

Start emailing each other about plans etc, and start taking more photos and save receipts from outings, trips etc. Anything.

Yes, true. Most couples living together don't send any of that kind of proof and have no issues, including my partner and I.

Your case is extremely unusual and there must be other red flags for CIC to have suspicions. In my many years on the forum, I have only seen 2 or 3 other common-law couples called for interviews and all had serious red flags.

 

[epmarshall]

Yes, true. Most couples living together don't send any of that kind of proof and have no issues, including my partner and I.

Your case is extremely unusual and there must be other red flags for CIC to have suspicions. In my many years on the forum, I have only seen 2 or 3 other common-law couples called for interviews and all had serious red flags.

Hey Canuck! Just a quick question if you don't mind. Are you saying that common law couples aren't usually called for interviews unless they have some of the typical red flags (age difference, different culture, criminal issues etc)? What about a couple that doesn't have much cohabitation proof but lots of relationship proof? Are they just as likely to be called for an interview? Hopefully what I'm asking makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Hayles1980]

Yes, true. Most couples living together don't send any of that kind of proof and have no issues, including my partner and I.

Your case is extremely unusual and there must be other red flags for CIC to have suspicions. In my many years on the forum, I have only seen 2 or 3 other common-law couples called for interviews and all had serious red flags.

So you're saying over years and years only a few other people have had to go for an interview? That sounds very hard to believe. Our lawyer said sometimes it can be due to not enough evidence, the fact that my spouse is previously divorced, they have a question, or even the fact that the person being sponsored simply comes from a country where a visa is required. I don't think it's fair to say that anyone who is common law who has to go to an interview is "extremely unusual".

 

[Hayles1980]

The letter we received states that we did not provide enough documentation and provided a list of things that we need to bring to the interview.

It actually says we don't have enough evidence and that is the reason.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hey Canuck! Just a quick question if you don't mind. Are you saying that common law couples aren't usually called for interviews unless they have some of the typical red flags (age difference, different culture, criminal issues etc)? What about a couple that doesn't have much cohabitation proof but lots of relationship proof? Are they just as likely to be called for an interview? Hopefully what I'm asking makes sense. Thanks!

Yes, interviews for common-law apps are very rare. If you don't have much cohabitation proof, CIC may ask for more.

So you're saying over years and years only a few other people have had to go for an interview? That sounds very hard to believe. Our lawyer said sometimes it can be due to not enough evidence, the fact that my spouse is previously divorced, they have a question, or even the fact that the person being sponsored simply comes from a country where a visa is required. I don't think it's fair to say that anyone who is common law who has to go to an interview is "extremely unusual".

In my 4 years on the forum, I've only seen 2-3 common-law couples called for interviews and all had serious red flags. For example, one couple had become common-law and then lived apart for several years because of school and work.

So yes, it is extremely unusual for common-law applicants to be called for interviews.

 

[NLman83]

Me and my partner are common law application; have been living for three years together and they asked for interview. They asked for more evidence of co-habitation explicitly; maybe more could have been given originally; likewise they want to see additional evidences for re-establishing residence in Canada. Interview next week! Out of the Warsaw office; she is from a visa exempt country. No other major red flags, aside from having the wrong UK police certificate which we now have. We'll see.

 

[ruanp28]

Thanks for the responses. Since we are living together I will start taking more pictures of our home and everything. We also started "chatting" on Skype for the purpose of the application. I agree, when you live with someone and you actually work during the day, you don't send each other e-mails. WE let each other know when we are at work and when we are leaving for home, since in this country we live in, people get mugged and hijacked a lot so we simply let each other know when we are safe (whether it is on our way home or upon arrival at work in the mornings). Here is the issue now - proof of intent to stay in Canada. We come from a third-world country with terrible crime rates and constant fear with a bad quality of life. What more intent could they want? On a serious note, we understand that fraud is not to be taken lightly and we want to build concrete proof that we are moving.

At the moment, we plan on leaving December 2017. This allows us to (i) finish my post-graduate degree and get some experience in the industry; (ii) save up some money to live on the basics for a few months, in order to go for job interviews etc. - we figured that about 20 000 dollars would be enough to start out with for a few months (we plan on going to Vancouver, where the average rent for 2 people is around 1 000 dollars a month) and lastly, planning far ahead gives us time to start selling our assets (we have cars, motorcycles, racing karts, a whole furnished apartment etc.) Does the VO really expect us to get jobs or rental agreements if we cannot even provide the employers/landlords with a date or proof that we are actually moving? If my PR gets approved, we can start by purchasing air tickets and get a place to rent easily, since we will have the finances to support ourselves for a few months (both of us being well-groomed and educated, it is highly unlikely that we wont find any employment). Do you guys have any experience with these letters of intent, or maybe some examples? Most of the research I have done show that some people write a nice cover letter stating their plans and then they get accepted. This seems a bit too easy...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If you don't plan to come to Canada until Dec 2017, you shouldn't apply until the beginning of 2017. Applying now is way too early.

 

[ruanp28]

We intend to only apply early in 2017, we would just like to know how to prepare in order to not have issues. I understand applying now is way too early, but it is a good time to start preparing, saving and doing all the required research would not want to get rejected for doing something wrong. Thanks for the response!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We intend to only apply early in 2017, we would just like to know how to prepare in order to not have issues. I understand applying now is way too early, but it is a good time to start preparing, saving and doing all the required research would not want to get rejected for doing something wrong. Thanks for the response!

Good to hear.

For intent to return, you can show different things: letters from family/friends, proof you've searched for a place to live and jobs, transferring money/assets, quotes for shipping your stuff etc.

 

[canadianwoman]

Rent in Vancouver for two people is not realistically going to be $1,000 a month.

Keep in mind that anything that looks artificial can also make the visa officer question the relationship. Keep proof of your relationship, yes, but I do not think manufacturing it is a good idea. For example, is Skype really necessary or believable when you live together? The little notes to each other about getting to work safely, getting home safely, groceries, whatever, are good evidence, however.

You need proof you live together and have for at least a year. You also need proof the relationship is genuine. Often an interview will be requested if one or the other is lacking. That is, lots of proof the relationship is genuine cannot make up for not enough evidence of the year cohabitation.

Proof you will be relocating to Canada can also include things you are doing to prepare to leave South Africa, such as selling belongings, getting quotes for having things shipped to Canada, notifications to work, etc., that you will be leaving.

 

[ruanp28]

Thanks for the response. We have ahared lease agreements and our bills get sent to the same address, talks about see you soon and what we are planning to eat etc. I dont really know how else to prove it, if we have an iterview it will be fine with us, we live close to the embassy so we can offer to take the interviewer for a tour of our home if they feel like it I dont think its appropriate to give my employer notice of leaving if I have not been approved though, that is quite risky. Our 1000 dollar average is based on listings that we already searched on websites for basements to rent that are appropriate for a professional working couple. Bearing inflation in mind, we will probably recalculate the average in the middle of this year and again the beginning of next year. It is all just averages, so I understand it will change. At this moment our priority is just to save as much as we can and maybe purchase two one way tickets to Vancouver dated December 2018 in good faith. My South African passport expires in 2018 and I will include an affidavit that I will not be renewing it, that might also serve as intent.