Lawyer or no Lawyer

[MattBurnes]

Hey guys,

We're a little bit on the fence on whether to hire a lawyer or not. I think it's a pretty straight forward application and we should have tons of evidence but I'll give you a quick overview:


I'm german. Came to Canada about 1,5 years ago on an intra company transfer and my work permit will expire in February 2017, so in about 4 months. At the time
I was in a common-law relationship with my german girlfriend who I sponsored to get an open work permit.

The relationship fell apart in October 2015, so 7-8 months afterwards. She still has her open work permit but she never lived or used in in Canada; she only came to visit me twice for a
few weeks. In May 2015, so 3 months after i moved to Canada I met my now wife on Tinder (yes, Tinder, lol). We were friends for the first 10 months but then officially started dating in
January 2016; about 1 year after I moved here. She pretty much moved into my place a week later. (we never officially changed her address, going to do it before we send out the
application though)

We have tons of pictures & videos; our parents already met and there is an engagement video on youtube (we could provide the link to the immigration officer).

Seems pretty straight forward to me, however the following concerns me:

- I sponsored my ex girlfriend who received an open work permit (valid until February 2017)
- I don't have separation papers (who has that for an ex girlfriend???, I could ask her to sign something but that just feels weird)
- I proposed in August, so 7-8 months after we started dating
- We got married in Niagara Falls about 1 month afterwards (no family, nor friends)
- Reason: We don't want the big wedding we have planned in Mexico to take away any of its meaning (we do have pictures and a video of the ceremony though)
- Our families and friends don't know we're married; just that we're engaged; and we dont really want to tell them for above mentioned reason :/ -> Should we mention this in the application?

Also; I didn't tell my now wife about my then girlfriend when we were first friends (she lived in Germany, so I didn't really see her) and me and my now wife/then friend
stopped talking for about 3 months; should I mention this in the application?

While we're in a genuine and loving relationship I feel like an officer might not believe us; despite of all the pictures; especially since we didn't invite anyone to the first wedding.

Thanks for any help or suggestion

 

[profiler]

I'm german. Came to Canada about 1,5 years ago on an intra company transfer and my work permit will expire in February 2017, so in about 4 months. At the time
I was in a common-law relationship with my german girlfriend who I sponsored to get an open work permit.[/b[

What is your status in Canada. When you say you sponsored your ex, was there an actual undertaking signed by you stating you would be financially responsible for her?

 

[MattBurnes]

I currently have a work permit for my employer, which will expire at the end of Februrary 2017.

Not sure if there was an undertaking; I want to say no because I dont remember signing such document.
But she also lives in Germany and has never lived im Canada. Her open work permit will also expire at the end of February 2017.

 

[canadianwoman]

Your wife can sponsor you. Having your ex-common-law spouse getting a work permit through you will not prevent that.

You can't use the video, and the visa officer will not look at a video link. Print out screen shots. You could provide the link anyway, just don't expect them to look at it.

7 or 8 months from starting to date to being engaged is OK.

Not having friends or family at the wedding is not ideal, but for a German and Canadian, is not so unusual. You can just explain that you wanted to get married, but also wanted to save up for a big destination wedding. Then provide the photos of the wedding, and proof that you are planning a big celebration later in Mexico. This will be a reception; your wedding has already occurred.

I would either tell family and friends you are married, or not mention that they do not know in the application.

Don't mention that you did not talk to your current wife for 3 months because you had not told her about your common-law spouse. You could say you stopped communicating for a while if this is obvious from your proof of the relationship.

You don't have to have a separation agreement or something like that from your previous partner; the fact you are married to someone else and she lives in Germany should be enough to show you are not together any longer. However, if you could get a letter from her, it would not hurt. She could also state that she does not plan to use her work permit.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

- I sponsored my ex girlfriend who received an open work permit (valid until February 2017)

- I don't have separation papers (who has that for an ex girlfriend???, I could ask her to sign something but that just feels weird)

- Our families and friends don't know we're married; just that we're engaged; and we dont really want to tell them for above mentioned reason :/ -> Should we mention this in the application?

Also; I didn't tell my now wife about my then girlfriend when we were first friends (she lived in Germany, so I didn't really see her) and me and my now wife/then friend stopped talking for about 3 months; should I mention this in the application?

You didn't sponsor her. She obtained a work permit based on your status. These are very different things.

You need a "Declaration of severance of common-law relationship". Write a letter declaring when the previous relationship ended and have it notarized.

Tell some family and friends. No telling them that you are actually married is pretty abnormal and IRCC doesn't like abnormal.

I don't recall any questions where you would need to explain that.

You don't have to have a separation agreement or something like that from your previous partner; the fact you are married to someone else and she lives in Germany should be enough to show you are not together any longer. However, if you could get a letter from her, it would not hurt. She could also state that she does not plan to use her work permit.

The "Declaration of severance of common-law relationship" is a required document on the checklist. The ex doesn't need to sign anything but OP needs to provide this declaration.

 

[profiler]

Does the Declaration of Severance of Common-Law need to be notarised? I lived with a woman for a number of years and we had a child together from that relationship. When the relationship broke down, she moved out.

I did supply the information to CIC, in my Declaration, but I didn't notarise it. Two call centre reps (yeah, I know how much we should trust the call centre) stated that it wasn't necessary. They directed me to look at the checklist and, "only notarise the things the checklist requires notarising."

How true is this? In the process documents, it doesn't say anything about what should or shouldn't be. We submitted our paperwork without notarising, what would be the consequences of that?

Thanks!

 

[MattBurnes]

Thanks for all your replies!

I feel like I need to mention that we didn't talk for 3 months. That was in 2015 while we were just friends - so I don't know
how it would affect the application. We are also providing 2 years of iMessages (400 pages); if the officer went
through that he would see that there is 3 month gap. That also the time when my ex girlfriend came to visit me - Im sure
they can check when she came to Canada and Im sure they would have questions if I don't mention that :/

I will write a Declaration of Severance, have it notarized and add it to our application.

 

[Shineon39]

- I proposed in August, so 7-8 months after we started dating

I married my wife 8 month after I met her and she is from Thailand. But we had traditional wedding in Thailand and her family was there, not mine but they knew. Everything was fine with singapore VO. I think you being from GErmany there will be no problem at all, explain everything and tell your family that you are wed

 

[profiler]

We just has a civil wedding at city hall with only two of our friends there. In our application package we told them this. We submitted notarised letters from my family stating that she has been a very welcomed addition to our family and that our relationship is genuine and continuing. We supplied 70 photos of her with me and with various members of my family. Also her mother in the photos and her mother interacting with my family too.

So, it can definitely be overcome. But you might want to let them know ..

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Does the Declaration of Severance of Common-Law need to be notarised? I lived with a woman for a number of years and we had a child together from that relationship. When the relationship broke down, she moved out.

I advised OP to have it notarized because the end of that relationship was so very close to the start of the current one.

I feel like I need to mention that we didn't talk for 3 months. That was in 2015 while we were just friends - so I don't know how it would affect the application. We are also providing 2 years of iMessages (400 pages); if the officer went through that he would see that there is 3 month gap. That also the time when my ex girlfriend came to visit me - Im sure they can check when she came to Canada and Im sure they would have questions if I don't mention that :/

I will write a Declaration of Severance, have it notarized and add it to our application.

You don't need to mention it. It was before your romantic relationship began and is irrelevant to the application.

Skip the iMessages; anything like texts/chats/emails are completely unnecessary for a couple that lives together.

IRCC is not going to look up your ex's entries to Canada...

 

[profiler]

I advised OP to have it notarized because the end of that relationship was so very close to the start of the current one.

Gotcha! Had me questioning my application! Thanks for clarifying!

 

[MattBurnes]

Skip the iMessages; anything like texts/chats/emails are completely unnecessary for a couple that lives together.

I really appreciate the advise. Though Im sure it won't hurt to add our messages - it takes only a few minutes to print
them all and it will probably give the relationship a little more weight as we don't have any rental agreement; joint
bank accounts, nor do we have a lot of receipts that we kept as we never thought we would require those.

Thanks everybody for your help!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I really appreciate the advise. Though Im sure it won't hurt to add our messages - it takes only a few minutes to print
them all and it will probably give the relationship a little more weight as we don't have any rental agreement; joint
bank accounts, nor do we have a lot of receipts that we kept as we never thought we would require those.

Thanks everybody for your help!

If you really want to send the messages, only send a couple of pages.

 

[MattBurnes]

Oh one more question.

For the Questionnaire, we thought to always give them 2 answers. One from my and one from her perspective on how we met the family members and so on. Is that a good strategy?

 

[profiler]

Oh one more question.

For the Questionnaire, we thought to always give them 2 answers. One from my and one from her perspective on how we met the family members and so on. Is that a good strategy?

We did it. Both of you sign the extra paper you provide so they know it's a legit statement and you should be ok with them accepting it.