How big is yours?

[amikety]

Finally sent my application off on 17 May after a long preparation time (3 months) But EMS is so slow!!!!!! but the Canada post shows that its successfully delivery this morning 23 May. How long they normally need to send me the AOR letter?

I would also want to share my case and want some opinion from all you experienced people. I will list point form cuz it's easier to read. I'm not sure if my case is not strong enough as altogether 1.3kg. I think I have attached everything we need clean and clear and what if I want to add additional doc after I have submitted my application form?

Type: common law sponsorship
Relationship status: engaged since 10Feb 2013 (common law) lived together 1+ year start dating 3 Dec 2011
Children: no
Marriage history: we both going to get marry the first time, planning our wedding in 2014
Nationality: Me (me born in Hong Kong- Chinese) Him (White Canadian born in Canada)
Residency: I have worked in Shanghai for 3.5 years and quit my job 5 months ago, still living in Shanghai with my fiancee as a visitor
He has been working in China for 8 years ( work permit holder) and already filed non- residency in Canada, and we are both living in Shanghai at the moment.
pet: 1 cat
Meet the parents: Yes with photos



Attached evidence:

Proof of relationship
1. Joint Bank account (China joint bank account with 2 different a/c no.) Copy with certified translation. (by qualified translation company)
2. rental agreement in Shanghai. Original copy with certified translation (by qualified translation company). (not from notary public as they refused to certified it)
3. My phone bill showing the shanghai address we are living in ( Copy with certified translation by notary public)
4. My fiancee's University's transcript from UBC showing the shanghai address we are living. (Copy)
5. E tickets from both of us traveling to Tokyo / Sapporo / Manila / Coron / Changbai Mountain / New Delhi/ Hong Kong
6. Hotel E-recipes
7. 80+ photos (not everyone have date)
8. A 22 pages printed booklet with date, events detail and photos answering to IMM5409 the development of our relationship
9. Gifts photos e.g. engagement ring, camera, fixed gear bike, rings and necklace from both side parents (donno should I send the engagement ring receipt in addition)
10. some emails between us. (not all, cuz we dont think its a big different printing 50 pages and 1000 pages) would like to hear you advise.
11. Whatsapp chatting printout between us (50 pages) We only printed every 10 page as I dont think i should print all 500+ pages


Proof of sponsoring ability
1. His online-bank balance printout
2. His investment online statement printout
3. My online-bank balance printout
4. employment contract with salary proof for the preceding 12 months
5. Cover letter by my fiancee telling the progress of our relationship, life of living together, household responsibility and future plans.

intention to go back to Canada
We have planned to move back to Canada 1 July (yes, we will go without having my PR approved, will wait in Canada)
1. Same cover letter listed above
2. Online application for jobs in Canada
3. Email printout between him and his dad talking about the planning of the family property we are going to move in.
4. Our cat's body check and injection health certificate well prepared to go on a plane
5. Belonging shipping quotation (China --> Canada)
6. His flight E-ticket going back to Canada on 1 July
(My fiancee just got a job offer email, should we send this in addition?)

Other supporting Doc
1.My police certificate from U.K. (I studied my degree there)
2. My notary public certified criminal record check from China
3. no HK poilce certificate (need to wait till they ask for it)
4. Body check slip (they said they will send the result to Beijing office)
5. Instead of providing option C printout we have attached a cover letter telling them our situation that my fiancee no longer a Canada residency as he has been working in China for 8 years

I would like to hear some opinions from you guys, anything wrong or I can improve by sending additional doc? Thank you very much! 8)

I wouldn't worry about sending anything else right now. You're living together, which CIC likes. Also, you set a new record for longest relationship development I've heard of..... in fact, you doubled it. It sounds like you used pictures (sorry, I'm really brain dead from doing homework) which is something I haven't seen before either. It sounds kind of cute. Maybe you'll get lucky and immigration will return it.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Looks good except no Option C. Its only a phone call to order and have it mailed to you.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Sounds amazing, kkbaggio, a very solid application from what I've been reading. I would just say to make sure you have ample proof that you both plan to move there, as he has been away so long. The job offer would most certainly help a lot. The co-habitation and relationship proof sounds really good, nice touch with the UBC transcript.

One interesting thing I heard from a lawyer is that there are three things they use with relationships to flag for more investigation. They are: previous experience with cic (ie: if you applied before or he sponsored before), difference in education (same or applicant less is fine, if applicant is much higher educated than sponsor it's a flag), and age difference. Of course lots of couples with some or all flags are approved, it's just a way of signaling to the VO to look closely. I don't know if any of them apply to you.

We are common law too and I know I have found it hard at times as there is no concrete way to know how much is needed/ too much, etc. Looks like all your bases are covered.

Good luck!

Not necessarily the case. My wife has a better education than I do and she is 15 years younger. Red flags would be specific to the culture and like you stated if the applicant has had any failed applications through CIC before or the sponsor has sponsored before.
Internet relationships are also very common now so even those don't make for many red flags.

 

[Thaliada]

Sounds amazing, kkbaggio, a very solid application from what I've been reading. I would just say to make sure you have ample proof that you both plan to move there, as he has been away so long. The job offer would most certainly help a lot. The co-habitation and relationship proof sounds really good, nice touch with the UBC transcript.

One interesting thing I heard from a lawyer is that there are three things they use with relationships to flag for more investigation. They are: previous experience with cic (ie: if you applied before or he sponsored before), difference in education (same or applicant less is fine, if applicant is much higher educated than sponsor it's a flag), and age difference. Of course lots of couples with some or all flags are approved, it's just a way of signaling to the VO to look closely. I don't know if any of them apply to you.

We are common law too and I know I have found it hard at times as there is no concrete way to know how much is needed/ too much, etc. Looks like all your bases are covered.

Good luck!

Age? Seriously? I am 27 years old and my husband is 22... I hope that won't matter to them if we got all the evidence needed to prove our relationship is genuine... :

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Age? Seriously? I am 27 years old and my husband is 22... I hope that won't matter to them if we got all the evidence needed to prove our relationship is genuine... :

If you are from a Muslim culture that can be a red flag. A younger man marrying an older woman is not common in that culture apparently. Conversely a good friend of mine from England is 5 years younger than his Canadian wife and that was no issue for CIC.

 

[Thaliada]

We're not Muslims. He's also an American citizen and I heard US-Canada cases are much easier...

Thank you for your reply.

 

[amikety]

We're not Muslims. He's also an American citizen and I heard US-Canada cases are much easier...

Thank you for your reply.

American/Canadian is easier. It's common.... something about sharing a border, even having towns built on it. I don't think Ottawa blinks an eye at marriages of different religions or races (or at least nearly as much) because that's pretty common in the USA. Even in the Southern US, interracial marriage/relationships are becoming common, especially among the younger generations.

 

[Bright_skies]

One interesting thing I heard from a lawyer is that there are three things they use with relationships to flag for more investigation. They are: previous experience with cic (ie: if you applied before or he sponsored before), difference in education (same or applicant less is fine, if applicant is much higher educated than sponsor it's a flag), and age difference. Of course lots of couples with some or all flags are approved, it's just a way of signaling to the VO to look closely. I don't know if any of them apply to you.

Maybe this has been misunderstood. It doesn't mean you actually get flagged, just indicates "look closely". Neither of the three are necessarily a Problem- with sufficient evidence it's not an issue. Red flagged means the application is in doubt.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

We're not Muslims. He's also an American citizen and I heard US-Canada cases are much easier...

Thank you for your reply.

Sorry. I wasn't speaking to your case specifically. US/Canada unions seem to move pretty quickly as there is little difference between the two cultures and economies.
I found this from an article concerning immigration to the US but I think that CIC would operate under the same or very similar pre-sets. The 10 red flags of a bogus marriage:

".......large disparity of age, inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other’s language, vast difference in cultural and ethnic backgrounds, family and/or friends unaware of the marriage, marriage arranged by a third party, marriage contracted immediately following the beneficiary’s apprehension or receipt of notification to depart the United States, discrepancies in answers to questions of which a husband and wife should have common knowledge, no cohabitation since marriage, beneficiary is a friend of the family, and petitioner has filed previous petitions on behalf of aliens especially prior foreign spouses."

 

[kkbaggio]

Sounds amazing, kkbaggio, a very solid application from what I've been reading. I would just say to make sure you have ample proof that you both plan to move there, as he has been away so long. The job offer would most certainly help a lot. The co-habitation and relationship proof sounds really good, nice touch with the UBC transcript.

One interesting thing I heard from a lawyer is that there are three things they use with relationships to flag for more investigation. They are: previous experience with cic (ie: if you applied before or he sponsored before), difference in education (same or applicant less is fine, if applicant is much higher educated than sponsor it's a flag), and age difference. Of course lots of couples with some or all flags are approved, it's just a way of signaling to the VO to look closely. I don't know if any of them apply to you.

We are common law too and I know I have found it hard at times as there is no concrete way to know how much is needed/ too much, etc. Looks like all your bases are covered.

Good luck!

Thanks for looking at my long article ;D yea.. common law is tricky. Its hard to proof our relationship as nowadays couple are mostly financial independent. We dont rely on each other financially but emotionally. My fiancee is Master degree holder from UBC and I'm a BA degree holder graduated in London, UK. We are same age and we both never experience any sponsorship before. Hope it help!

 

[kkbaggio]

Looks good except no Option C. Its only a phone call to order and have it mailed to you.

yea this is what I'm worrying about too...but if they really need it I will wait for this July when we headed back and we can make phone call and order it. Can I send more doc in addition?

 

[kkbaggio]

I wouldn't worry about sending anything else right now. You're living together, which CIC likes. Also, you set a new record for longest relationship development I've heard of..... in fact, you doubled it. It sounds like you used pictures (sorry, I'm really brain dead from doing homework) which is something I haven't seen before either. It sounds kind of cute. Maybe you'll get lucky and immigration will return it.

oh the 22 pages, lol yea there are photos inside, pictures tell more than just words. I just made a word doc with photo and text explaining each special event, even when I hurt my toe and was bleeding, my fiancee was trying to fix it for me. It was really sweet while I was making this doc. Just like a comic book.. hehhe. I wont mind if they keep it as I have my soft copy ;D

 

[amikety]

oh the 22 pages, lol yea there are photos inside, pictures tell more than just words. I just made a word doc with photo and text explaining each special event, even when I hurt my toe and was bleeding, my fiancee was trying to fix it for me. It was really sweet while I was making this doc. Just like a comic book.. hehhe. I wont mind if they keep it as I have my soft copy ;D

I bet that was really fun to make!

The most awesome thing I did was circle mutual Facebook friends that were also his family. How lame.

 

[BrazilianGirl]

oh the 22 pages, lol yea there are photos inside, pictures tell more than just words. I just made a word doc with photo and text explaining each special event, even when I hurt my toe and was bleeding, my fiancee was trying to fix it for me. It was really sweet while I was making this doc. Just like a comic book.. hehhe. I wont mind if they keep it as I have my soft copy ;D

Fun! I basically did the same thing. Mine came up to 77 pages, average of 4 pictures each with a little story for every pic. It was very fun to make it, as I wanted to do it before the whole process. Just as a gift for my fiance!

 

[gladiateur19]

If you are from a Muslim culture that can be a red flag. A younger man marrying an older woman is not common in that culture apparently. Conversely a good friend of mine from England is 5 years younger than his Canadian wife and that was no issue for CIC.

the prophet Mohamed(pp upon him)the islam prophet was married to a woman that was 15 years older than him,,,and you say this is not common in this culture????please before you even say anything about cultures,we need to read first and make sure of what we are saying,,,lol