Inquiry about proof of relationship

[Sarzii]

Hello, I'm the sponsor and going to apply for my husband who lives outland. we have been living with my spouse since we got married outside canada. But now I'm going back to Canada and will submit the application from there.

So for the question on application under proof of relationship to sponsor, it asks, Are you currently living together? I am going to click No. but then it will ask for proof of contact of 10 pages which wouldn't make a lot of sense because we lived together this whole time. the other requirement is to provide proof of visit which i have.

Should I provide additional documents like joint ownership, rental agreement etc but those are required to provide only if we are still living together?
I am in the middle of both situation so i dont know what exact documents should I provide?

 

[armoured]

You'll have to use your judgment. If it makes sense to provide info and evidence about your 10 years residing together, do that with a short letter of explanation.

 

[armoured]

But just to be clear: I doubt you'll have any serious issue if as you stated, and you've only recently returned to Canada (only just now stopped living together).

If it were me, I would check the not living together side, include a page or something under the proof of communication (a letter or whatever, or even something from the docs under the living together below), and some of the info from the following section esp eg rental docs or proof of joint property, etc for 'proof of having visited.'

In other words: check the boxes showing you are submitting something under each of those rubrics, provide extensive documentation showing you lived together (and hence communicated), and then a short letter of explanation ("We lived together for ten years and I have only recently returned to Canada, so instead of 'visits' I am showing we lived together.")

But important to check the boxes and have something provided in the docs package that (more or less) corresponds; the first stage of processing is basically a junior clerk checking that the checklist is complete and nothing important 'missing'. There is less evaluation of the content at this point, but things outright missing can cause the application to be returned.

Depending on your state of readiness, and if you are a citizen (which I presume is the case) you MIGHT even find it better to apply now (before returning to Canada), provide some evidence that you will return soon (eg job offer / rental place), and then as soon as you arrive in Canada update your address with other "I am here now in Canada" info.

I don't know which approach would be quicker. For 'living abroad' sponsors, there is basically always a step where they confirm/evaluate the 'intent to return to Canada' part. While this could/should be fast for those who have already returned and updated address/now living in Canada, it's not immediate: some officer has to evaluate. And that's just a question of scheduling/seniority/authority and the like (do they have to write something and take time or is it quasi-automatic? Is it something that requires a senior person to sign-off (and that resource is more scarce?) I don't know).

As a rough rule of thumb, if your move to Canada is some months away and you're ready to apply now, then just apply now. If you're moving tomorrow and you need a couple months to get the app ready, then don't delay your return. In between those scenarios, your call.