Lack of cohabitation proof?

[elkj]

Hi everyone,


my partner and I are in the process of common law sponsorship and we are currently getting all our documents together. We are worried we do not have enough proof of cohabitation.


I lived with my parents until he came to Canada, and since then we have been living together in an apartment.


In the application, my parents' address is listed as our mailing address and our apartment address is the residential.


Before moving out all my mail went to my parents' address. A lot of mail for my partner also went to my parents' address - both before and after he arrived in Canada (bank statements, parcels from his family, letters). We realized too late that these would be important for the sponsorship process. (It was never a problem to drop by and pick up mail, and we also didn't want important mail going to our new address due to the neighbourhood we live in which isn't the best.)


We only have a few documents with our current address on it: Internet bill invoice with both our names for a full year, car insurance under his name, our driver's licenses both with the new address, and some random phone bills. We don't have a lease.

Would this be enough proof?

Would it be relevant/helpful to also attach mail sent to our mailing address with a letter of explanation?


Thank you so much!

 

[elkj]

Anybody have any insight?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi everyone,


my partner and I are in the process of common law sponsorship and we are currently getting all our documents together. We are worried we do not have enough proof of cohabitation.


I lived with my parents until he came to Canada, and since then we have been living together in an apartment.


In the application, my parents' address is listed as our mailing address and our apartment address is the residential.


Before moving out all my mail went to my parents' address. A lot of mail for my partner also went to my parents' address - both before and after he arrived in Canada (bank statements, parcels from his family, letters). We realized too late that these would be important for the sponsorship process. (It was never a problem to drop by and pick up mail, and we also didn't want important mail going to our new address due to the neighbourhood we live in which isn't the best.)


We only have a few documents with our current address on it: Internet bill invoice with both our names for a full year, car insurance under his name, our driver's licenses both with the new address, and some random phone bills. We don't have a lease.

Would this be enough proof?

Would it be relevant/helpful to also attach mail sent to our mailing address with a letter of explanation?


Thank you so much!

Hi

No, that is likely not enough proof. Attaching mail from your parents house is pointless. It does not in any way show that you cohabited.

You need proofs covering at least a year. Do you not have a lease or rental agreement? I suggest you have a look through the forum for threads about common-law proofs. There are many different things you can show.

 

[YusufKadhum]

What you can do is get proof of shared responsibilities of household management and household chores, get proof of joint purchases for household items and also maybe use affidavits which is someone who can vouch for your relationship, these are just some examples and like the thread above look through the forums to find more evidence you could use

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

How long have you lived together at your apartment?

So you never lived together at your parents place right?

Is he currently working or just here as a "visitor"?

 

[canuck78]

H

What you can do is get proof of shared responsibilities of household management and household chores, get proof of joint purchases for household items and also maybe use affidavits which is someone who can vouch for your relationship, these are just some examples and like the thread above look through the forums to find more evidence you could use

Household chores are irrelevant and so are random household purchases if they don't specify your address. You really should look into getting a lease or affidavit from your landlord regarding your rental agreement. That would be the main document you need and then other bills, etc to reinforce that you were living there and together for at least a year.

 

[elkj]

Hi

No, that is likely not enough proof. Attaching mail from your parents house is pointless. It does not in any way show that you cohabited.

You need proofs covering at least a year. Do you not have a lease or rental agreement? I suggest you have a look through the forum for threads about common-law proofs. There are many different things you can show.

Would the internet bill (has both names, address, and shows we've been paying it for over a year) be sufficient along with the other documents? That would be our main proof though.

How long have you lived together at your apartment?

So you never lived together at your parents place right?

Is he currently working or just here as a "visitor"?

We've lived together for over a year (March 2017 to now), and yeah, we've never lived at my parents place. He was on a work permit but that expired last month and he has implied visitor status right now.

H


Household chores are irrelevant and so are random household purchases if they don't specify your address. You really should look into getting a lease or affidavit from your landlord regarding your rental agreement. That would be the main document you need and then other bills, etc to reinforce that you were living there and together for at least a year.

Our landlord doesn't want to be involved in our PR process so it won't be possible to get a lease or affidavit from them. We've got the internet bill which is our main proof at the moment. Is there anything you can suggest in this circumstance?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Would the internet bill (has both names, address, and shows we've been paying it for over a year) be sufficient along with the other documents? That would be our main proof though.

If you only have a lease and an internet bill for March to November, you may have issues. Do you have none of the other proofs I listed?

 

[elkj]

If you only have a lease and an internet bill for March to November, you may have issues. Do you have none of the other proofs I listed?

We don't have a lease but the internet bill is from March 2017-April 2018 (i.e. over a year). Our rent is all inclusive otherwise so no other utility bills unfortunately We have other documents:

• notarized stat declaration
• joint bank account opened 2 years ago with updated address
• driver's licenses with address
• car insurance w address (only under his name)
• a couple phone bills/bank statements but not covering a full year
• letters from family and friends
• social media screenshots
  
• and a lot of grocery/household receipts

I'm also declared to the CRA as common-law but we didn't file together since we didnt meet their deadline.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We don't have a lease but the internet bill is from March 2017-April 2018 (i.e. over a year). Our rent is all inclusive otherwise so no other utility bills unfortunately We have other documents:

• notarized stat declaration
• joint bank account opened 2 years ago with updated address
• driver's licenses with address
• car insurance w address (only under his name)
• a couple phone bills/bank statements but not covering a full year
• letters from family and friends
• social media screenshots
  
• and a lot of grocery/household receipts

I'm also declared to the CRA as common-law but we didn't file together since we didnt meet their deadline.

I have been posting on 2 threads today about common-law proofs for people who started living together in March 2017 and mixed yours up with the other one, sorry! Here is the other thread if you wanted to have a read https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/common-law-sponsorship-proof-of-living-together-help-appreciated.553361/#post-6852453.

As I advised in the other thread, think outside of the box. Shipping receipts? Letters from neighbours? Payslips? Letters from doctor/employer/etc.? Tax documents like NOA?

 

[Youthberry]

Hi,
I am in a similar situation, but I do have rental agreements that cover most of the months.

Because the first 1.5 months of cohabitation does not have any rental agreement to prove it, can I use our letters from CRA, text messages, letters from my partner's parents, and the rental dispute I filed with the government?

If an affidavit is needed, what should I prepare?

For the photos of us, do I have to show when those photos were taken?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi,
I am in a similar situation, but I do have rental agreements that cover most of the months.

Because the first 1.5 months of cohabitation does not have any rental agreement to prove it, can I use our letters from CRA, text messages, letters from my partner's parents, and the rental dispute I filed with the government?

If an affidavit is needed, what should I prepare?

For the photos of us, do I have to show when those photos were taken?

Yes, you can use other proofs to cover that time.

An affidavit is not needed.

No, you don't need to show when photos were taken.

 

[Youthberry]

Yes, you can use other proofs to cover that time.

An affidavit is not needed.

No, you don't need to show when photos were taken.

Thanks for your reply.
How many photos should we normally provide?

 

[monkeys89]

Thanks for your reply.
How many photos should we normally provide?

The guideline specifies that a maximum of 20 may be sent.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks for your reply.
How many photos should we normally provide?

Follow the checklist.