How important is a joint account?

[Boracay]

So one of the first things we did when we started investigating what was needed for sponsorship is open a joint account together. That was about a month or so ago. By the time we apply the joint account will be about 5 months old.

So I put a few hundred dollars in there. It actually came in handy as my partner sometimes takes money out for laundry or water, snacks etc. I took money out for our rent, and put some money in.

But in reality we don't use the account much, and since we're headed on a 3 month trip out of the country together, before we apply there won't be any action in the account.

So my question is if it's really important or not to include the joint account. I just don't want the VO to be suspicious as if we're collecting evidence and ask if we only opened it because of this application.
I'm worried it may work as a negative instead of a positive.

If I just click no we don't have one is that so bad?

In reality we really don't spend much money. I pay rent, bills are included in the rent, food here is dirt cheap, and she has a job. So there's we've never really needed to join our finances.

What do you think? Include or don't include?

 

[canadianwoman]

Include it. Joint finances are one of the best types of proof. If the visa officer asks why you havn't used it for a while, just state that you were travelling. But you can show proof of a joint account without necessarily letting them see every statement.

 

[missmini]

So one of the first things we did when we started investigating what was needed for sponsorship is open a joint account together. That was about a month or so ago. By the time we apply the joint account will be about 5 months old.

So I put a few hundred dollars in there. It actually came in handy as my partner sometimes takes money out for laundry or water, snacks etc. I took money out for our rent, and put some money in.

But in reality we don't use the account much, and since we're headed on a 3 month trip out of the country together, before we apply there won't be any action in the account.

So my question is if it's really important or not to include the joint account. I just don't want the VO to be suspicious as if we're collecting evidence and ask if we only opened it because of this application.
I'm worried it may work as a negative instead of a positive.

If I just click no we don't have one is that so bad?

In reality we really don't spend much money. I pay rent, bills are included in the rent, food here is dirt cheap, and she has a job. So there's we've never really needed to join our finances.

What do you think? Include or don't include?

for sure include it!!! especially if u feel u lack in other proofs - wills, life insurance, joint property, joint loan, etc...i would also use it as much as possible, show u pay the rent from that account, the utility bills, the groceries, the restaurants when u go out, hotel bookings, other expenses for the trip, etc...maybe she could even transfer her salary in that account....

it's good if they see that u didn't open that account just as a proof, but that u actually jointly use it for ur daily life

 

[Jurjen]

Include the letter of confirmation when opening the account / adding your spouse to it. If you don't include a transaction history, the CIC agent won't have other means to look into your account (confidential information the bank is not allowed to release without your permission).

 

[Boracay]

I'm sorry....what does that mean
"Include the letter of confirmation when opening the account"

I can include transaction history but I guess we just won't have a ton of action on it, we can continue to use it though. I just don't want to start using it a lot more all of a sudden as a sudden spike dated on or about the same time as collecting a lot of evidence may look suspicious in my books

 

[Kedeisha]

confirmation is the letter that u get when u opened the account that shows terms and conditions and names on the account if not get a letter from bank saying who is on the acct

 

[Iamrobot85]

If you have it, there's no reason to not include it, it will only make your case stronger. My husband and I, though, did not have a joint bank account at the time that we filed so it must not be VITAL because our application went on without a hitch. However, we did have OTHER things to prove that we were sharing finances (western union transactions of sending money to eachother, bank statements where we directly wired money into each other's accounts, etc)

So yeah, if you have it, include it. I think just an ordinary bank statement with both of your names on it that shows transactions. Even if there aren't very many transactions it could only improve your case.

 

[QCSunshine]

We only included a copy of the first month transaction report that shows when we opened the account (and any transactions for that first month.) I circled the part where it had the date of when we opened the account.

 

[Heidyincnd]

My husband have his personal account opened long time ago and he just newly opened his business account one month ago so he added me as joint account to his personal one. I assume that would be fine and make our application be stronger than nothing. So, include this would be a wise choice. When the teller printed the details, the information state our name, the total balance, our transactions (when we bills and what items or services we bought...)...this is quite good proof. Totally encourage you to include joint bank name.

Good luck

 

[ditta]

Definitely include it, it is an additional proof. My husband and I had our own accounts and I added him on mine after we got married, however I was the foreign national, but I was working in Canada already for a while. I use this account and pay our bills, my mortgage in my home country, and we also have our saving account attached to it. My husband kept his account and he pays the mortgage, car loan, ect. from his. So we have our `separate` accounts in theory.
For us this system works perfect and it was good enough fr CIC also.

 

[Love_Young]

I would indeed include it. Hubby and I included the form proving I had been added to his bank account and it had been made joint before getting married and we also provided proof of our savings account. We did include some samples of transactions made to back up that we did actually go out on special occasions when we said we did, we bought this together as stated, and that we were paying bills out of our account and establishing a life together. When it came to our application, anything that showed us mentioned as a couple or our names together in good light, I included because even if you think it is too tiny and it won't matter it may be the one thing that really convinces the IO of your relationship. Yeah, I would definitely include it. If nothing else if you are so concerned about it, I would just explain what you did to us that you both were on vacation and didn't have any need to use it during that time but all in all, I doubt they look into that much. Good luck!

 

[missmini]

one more thing: for common-law is more important to include than for the married category!!!

 

[MDSB]

So one of the first things we did when we started investigating what was needed for sponsorship is open a joint account together. That was about a month or so ago. By the time we apply the joint account will be about 5 months old.

So I put a few hundred dollars in there. It actually came in handy as my partner sometimes takes money out for laundry or water, snacks etc. I took money out for our rent, and put some money in.

But in reality we don't use the account much, and since we're headed on a 3 month trip out of the country together, before we apply there won't be any action in the account.

So my question is if it's really important or not to include the joint account. I just don't want the VO to be suspicious as if we're collecting evidence and ask if we only opened it because of this application.
I'm worried it may work as a negative instead of a positive.

If I just click no we don't have one is that so bad?

In reality we really don't spend much money. I pay rent, bills are included in the rent, food here is dirt cheap, and she has a job. So there's we've never really needed to join our finances.

What do you think? Include or don't include?

The only concern I have is it might look a bit contrived if it has only recently been opened and has no transactions...

 

[canadianwoman]

By the time they will apply, the account will be 5 months old, so I think this should be OK.
Could you maybe also use it occasionally when you are traveling?

 

[Boracay]

Yup that's my concern to MDSB

Yes by the time we apply that is correct the account will be 5 months old, we did some transactions the other day.
That's a good idea Canadian Woman to use the account while we travel. However the plan I have is to bring as much money as possible in cash and if I must use an ATM I will withdraw a large amount enough to empty the bank account.
The reason is we don't have a ton of money to last us the next 3 months or so, but we can do it. We just have to count our pesos and save anywhere possible. The ATM to withdraw in another country is 200 pesos ($5.00+) from my Filipino Bank and then the bank in for example Thailand will also charge 200 Baht ($7.00) on top of that. (Same with a Canadian Card would be $5 + 200 Thai bhat)

So in other words, I want to avoid as many transactions as possible once overseas, as it quickly adds up!

It looks like I will be presenting it as evidence though and hoping that our very limited transactions don't raise any red flags!