get married to solve common law problem

[Khryznah]

I have the biggest problem guys... I hope you can shed light on what were going to do... We applied as common law partners last 2010 and had PPR last july.. Now the visa office asked us to provide more proof of our relationship.. All we have are pictures and a joint account... Our immigration consultant advised us to get married which were willing to do bcoz were planning on doing it anyway.. Do u think it will solve this dilemma??? Or will raise more doubts!!! Help pls we had our hopes up since we had our PPR and now this..

 

[Isometry]

Since you got your PPR last July, have you landed? What exactly is the VO asking for, and are they threatening to revoke your PPR or something if it's not provided?

Aside from getting married, what other proof do you have available to provide, and what did you provide initially?

 

[MissDominica]

Yes, I am also confused about your question. If you got PPR last July (2011? or did you mean THIS year July), you should already have landed in Canada and be a PR. Surely they have not had your passport for a year or more. If you have already landed, this does not make sense for them to be asking for this information now.

If you are saying that they asked for your passport THIS past July (2012) and they are asking for proof of relationship, this also is strange. Usually when they ask for passport, they are ready to issue visa. If they had doubts about your relationship, they should not have sent PPR.

Please clarify so we can better help you

 

[Zouk Princesse]

Yes, I am also confused about your question. If you got PPR last July (2011? or did you mean THIS year July), you should already have landed in Canada and be a PR. Surely they have not had your passport for a year or more. If you have already landed, this does not make sense for them to be asking for this information now.

If you are saying that they asked for your passport THIS past July (2012) and they are asking for proof of relationship, this also is strange. Usually when they ask for passport, they are ready to issue visa. If they had doubts about your relationship, they should not have sent PPR.

Please clarify so we can better help you

Some VOs (e.g. New Delhi) issue PPR at the beginning of the process. It's different from ours, as it is not an indication of approval.

 

[MissDominica]

Some VOs (e.g. New Delhi) issue PPR at the beginning of the process. It's different from ours, as it is not an indication of approval.

Ahh, good to know. Thanks Zouk As per proof of your relationship, do you have a lease proving you lived together? If not, can your landlord or whoever owns the place you were living provide you with a notarized letter saying they swear that you lived together for more than a 12 month period. If you lived several places, ask each person to write a letter saying that you stayed together. Also, ask your family members/friends from both sides of your families to write letters saying they know you to be a legitimate couple and that you depend on each other/live in a marriage-like relationship etc. You could try adding your partner onto your credit card (many banks allow you to just add anyone to your credit card - just authorizing them to use it). I bought a cheap life insurance policy not so long ago and I was permitted to add my common-law partner to it as my beneficiary - proof of all of this good too. If you intend to marry, you can prove that without rushing it (invitations for a wedding in the future, etc).

Marrying may solve your common-law problems but it could be viewed as a red flag (they may think you did it just to get PR)... but if you planned on doing it anyway, that's really up to you. I also applied common-law and plan to marry sometime next year. Whether or not I will have PR by then, I don't know. If not, I will be marrying during the process of the application and will just send in my marriage certificate as proof of relationship. But I don't know how they would feel if they asked for extra proof and then I got married immediately - that may look suspicious.

Sorry I can't be more help - just telling you about my situation and some of things we did.

Good luck!

 

[harryiswaiting]

That could be a red flag, unless you had indicated in your application that this would happen (which it sounds like it didn't). What documentation did you provide?

 

[Khryznah]

we got our PPR this July 2012... then this month they asked for more proof... we sent pictures and joint bank account and thats all we can provide since we lived under his mom's house.. no bills, no tenancy agreement whatsoever..can the letters from our friends help?? does this need to be written or computerized... thats why Im out of sorts lately cause I was hoping that wed get the visa by then and now they just sent us this letter that theyre not convinced of our common law status.. Our immigration consultant advised us to get married coz this happened with their clients before... Im really confused..

 

[Khryznah]

Yes, I am also confused about your question. If you got PPR last July (2011? or did you mean THIS year July), you should already have landed in Canada and be a PR. Surely they have not had your passport for a year or more. If you have already landed, this does not make sense for them to be asking for this information now.

If you are saying that they asked for your passport THIS past July (2012) and they are asking for proof of relationship, this also is strange. Usually when they ask for passport, they are ready to issue visa. If they had doubts about your relationship, they should not have sent PPR.

Please clarify so we can better help you

thats why we were also confused.. why ask for PPR if theyre not sure of our relationship right??? Ive heard that they became strict about common law partners... our consultant told us that a lot of us who applied as common law partners got the same email from the VO....

 

[Creampop]

you mentioned you lived with his mom... did you have her write a letter for you? neighbors that knew? do you have anything showing the same address? mail to each of you or to the both of you with the same address? what about siblings, does he have any that would write you letters saying they know of your relationship and how long you have been together etc?

 

[Khryznah]

no... thats why I asked his mom and my parents and our common friends to write letters... do you think thats enough??? we dont travel much because of my work.. Im a nurse btw so we dont get a lot of free time to travel thus no pictures... and i dont get any letters from mail of the same address so our evidence is quite weak..

 

[Khryznah]

Btw, thanks guys for being generous with your time and answering my query ;D ;D.. this means a lot. especially now that I have no one else to talk to.. thanks!

 

[harryiswaiting]

Btw, thanks guys for being generous with your time and answering my query ;D ;D.. this means a lot. especially now that I have no one else to talk to.. thanks!

First off, it makes me happy to know we're not the only Canadian-Indian couple who applied as common-law.

Second, I would get that letter from your mum notarized or as an affidavit. Do you have mobile phone bills or ANYTHING that was mailed there or even sent electronically with the address on it?? Registered at a Dr's or Dentiist? Any recipts with your address on it? Of course this is required of both of you. Getting neighbours to write letters is a good idea too.
In all honesty, I'm surprised your immigration consultant let you send your application with the amount of evidence you had in the first place... Also, did you really submit your application in 2010?!?!

 

[Khryznah]

First off, it makes me happy to know we're not the only Canadian-Indian couple who applied as common-law.

Second, I would get that letter from your mum notarized or as an affidavit. Do you have mobile phone bills or ANYTHING that was mailed there or even sent electronically with the address on it?? Registered at a Dr's or Dentiist? Any recipts with your address on it? Of course this is required of both of you. Getting neighbours to write letters is a good idea too.
In all honesty, I'm surprised your immigration consultant let you send your application with the amount of evidence you had in the first place... Also, did you really submit your application in 2010?!?!

I think the only proof we can add is the letters.. yep, we submitted our application last 2010 and received our medicals this year.... any idea if how many years does it take to reapply again?

 

[harryiswaiting]

I think the only proof we can add is the letters.. yep, we submitted our application last 2010 and received our medicals this year.... any idea if how many years does it take to reapply again?

I imagine you can re-apply again not long afterwards. You can at least appeal the decision (if it's not in your favour). Can you share your timeline (application date, sponsor approval, ppr...)? How come it's taking so long? Is this the first correspondence you've had from NDVO asking for more documentation?