Letters from family and friends

[StellaArtois]

When we was preparing our application, here is the experience we had (including the advice from the immigration lawyer)...

The letters are definitely better written in professional language. There's no set format from the government, but the lawyer recommended that each letter should be unique/personally written (i.e., do not just copy-paste letters and have each friend/family member sign off on a copy). Our lawyer recommended to include all of the following:
-date of writing/signing
-be addressed to IRCC (note that while some of our letters had a letter head including the IRCC address, others simply wrote "Dear IRCC Officer:"
-a brief introduction of the writer (name, professional background)
-how the letter writer knows you and your spouse, including specific details of how you met, when you met, how long you've known each other, how often you see each other/keep in touch
-times the letter writer has seen you and your spouse together, and times the writer spent with you and your spouse together
-affirmation of your genuine love for each other and the specific aspects of how they see that each of you are upstanding members of society and how you make a good couple
-if you are expecting the IRCC officer to consider your relationship to have "red flags" (e.g., cultural background difference, significant age gap, education level difference, short period of courtship, etc.), and your letter writers are comfortable addressing these things, have them write about how those "red flags" don't hinder you as a couple
-the contact information of the letter writer (phone number at a bare minimum, preferably also e-mail) so that the officer may (if they so choose) contact them to verify the person who wrote this letter is genuine
-the letter may be typed or hand-written (as long as the writing is easy to read), but ideally the letter should be signed by hand. Our lawyer stated that in the event that someone is unable to hand-sign the letter for any reason (one of our letter-writers could not provide a hand-written signature), they must provide their contact information in the letter so that the IRCC officer reviewing the case can contact them to verify the authenticity of the letter if needed

Our immigration lawyer also consulted with a senior criminal lawyer (since my husband has 4 criminal charges on his record), and with regards to the letters, the criminal lawyer recommended including a photocopy of the letter writer's photo ID so that the IRCC officer could have a face to the writer and feel more personal. Our immigration lawyer said that it is not necessary to do this, though you can. (We did not end up including photocopies of the writers' photo IDs.)

In terms of the quantity of letters, our immigration lawyer wouldn't give us a straight up answer about how many is recommended... when I said I could easily get 50 letters from my co-workers and friends and family however, the lawyer immediately said that 50 was far too many letters, and to restrict it to close friends and family so as to avoid overwhelming the IRCC officer.
In the end we only included 3 letters (one from my brother, my dad, and my husband's mom), all from close family members who attended our very small wedding and were shown in our photos. However, I'm sure that you could acceptably include more than that, especially if you do not have much in other types of proof (e.g., pictures, call/chat logs, shared bills/accounts, etc.).

The letters we submitted ended up being 1-2 pages long. There isn't a specified length maximum or minimum, but as long as your writers are clear, concise, and professional, it should be fine.

All of our letters were written in English and did not require translation or notarization. I am uncertain about the requirements for foreign language letters.

Hope that helps!

 

[wsidd]

When we was preparing our application, here is the experience we had (including the advice from the immigration lawyer)...

The letters are definitely better written in professional language. There's no set format from the government, but the lawyer recommended that each letter should be unique/personally written (i.e., do not just copy-paste letters and have each friend/family member sign off on a copy). Our lawyer recommended to include all of the following:
-date of writing/signing
-be addressed to IRCC (note that while some of our letters had a letter head including the IRCC address, others simply wrote "Dear IRCC Officer:"
-a brief introduction of the writer (name, professional background)
-how the letter writer knows you and your spouse, including specific details of how you met, when you met, how long you've known each other, how often you see each other/keep in touch
-times the letter writer has seen you and your spouse together, and times the writer spent with you and your spouse together
-affirmation of your genuine love for each other and the specific aspects of how they see that each of you are upstanding members of society and how you make a good couple
-if you are expecting the IRCC officer to consider your relationship to have "red flags" (e.g., cultural background difference, significant age gap, education level difference, short period of courtship, etc.), and your letter writers are comfortable addressing these things, have them write about how those "red flags" don't hinder you as a couple
-the contact information of the letter writer (phone number at a bare minimum, preferably also e-mail) so that the officer may (if they so choose) contact them to verify the person who wrote this letter is genuine
-the letter may be typed or hand-written (as long as the writing is easy to read), but ideally the letter should be signed by hand. Our lawyer stated that in the event that someone is unable to hand-sign the letter for any reason (one of our letter-writers could not provide a hand-written signature), they must provide their contact information in the letter so that the IRCC officer reviewing the case can contact them to verify the authenticity of the letter if needed

Our immigration lawyer also consulted with a senior criminal lawyer (since my husband has 4 criminal charges on his record), and with regards to the letters, the criminal lawyer recommended including a photocopy of the letter writer's photo ID so that the IRCC officer could have a face to the writer and feel more personal. Our immigration lawyer said that it is not necessary to do this, though you can. (We did not end up including photocopies of the writers' photo IDs.)

In terms of the quantity of letters, our immigration lawyer wouldn't give us a straight up answer about how many is recommended... when I said I could easily get 50 letters from my co-workers and friends and family however, the lawyer immediately said that 50 was far too many letters, and to restrict it to close friends and family so as to avoid overwhelming the IRCC officer.
In the end we only included 3 letters (one from my brother, my dad, and my husband's mom), all from close family members who attended our very small wedding and were shown in our photos. However, I'm sure that you could acceptably include more than that, especially if you do not have much in other types of proof (e.g., pictures, call/chat logs, shared bills/accounts, etc.).

The letters we submitted ended up being 1-2 pages long. There isn't a specified length maximum or minimum, but as long as your writers are clear, concise, and professional, it should be fine.

All of our letters were written in English and did not require translation or notarization. I am uncertain about the requirements for foreign language letters.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for that very detailed information!

 

[Laurahd]

When we was preparing our application, here is the experience we had (including the advice from the immigration lawyer)...

The letters are definitely better written in professional language. There's no set format from the government, but the lawyer recommended that each letter should be unique/personally written (i.e., do not just copy-paste letters and have each friend/family member sign off on a copy). Our lawyer recommended to include all of the following:
-date of writing/signing
-be addressed to IRCC (note that while some of our letters had a letter head including the IRCC address, others simply wrote "Dear IRCC Officer:"
-a brief introduction of the writer (name, professional background)
-how the letter writer knows you and your spouse, including specific details of how you met, when you met, how long you've known each other, how often you see each other/keep in touch
-times the letter writer has seen you and your spouse together, and times the writer spent with you and your spouse together
-affirmation of your genuine love for each other and the specific aspects of how they see that each of you are upstanding members of society and how you make a good couple
-if you are expecting the IRCC officer to consider your relationship to have "red flags" (e.g., cultural background difference, significant age gap, education level difference, short period of courtship, etc.), and your letter writers are comfortable addressing these things, have them write about how those "red flags" don't hinder you as a couple
-the contact information of the letter writer (phone number at a bare minimum, preferably also e-mail) so that the officer may (if they so choose) contact them to verify the person who wrote this letter is genuine
-the letter may be typed or hand-written (as long as the writing is easy to read), but ideally the letter should be signed by hand. Our lawyer stated that in the event that someone is unable to hand-sign the letter for any reason (one of our letter-writers could not provide a hand-written signature), they must provide their contact information in the letter so that the IRCC officer reviewing the case can contact them to verify the authenticity of the letter if needed

Our immigration lawyer also consulted with a senior criminal lawyer (since my husband has 4 criminal charges on his record), and with regards to the letters, the criminal lawyer recommended including a photocopy of the letter writer's photo ID so that the IRCC officer could have a face to the writer and feel more personal. Our immigration lawyer said that it is not necessary to do this, though you can. (We did not end up including photocopies of the writers' photo IDs.)

In terms of the quantity of letters, our immigration lawyer wouldn't give us a straight up answer about how many is recommended... when I said I could easily get 50 letters from my co-workers and friends and family however, the lawyer immediately said that 50 was far too many letters, and to restrict it to close friends and family so as to avoid overwhelming the IRCC officer.
In the end we only included 3 letters (one from my brother, my dad, and my husband's mom), all from close family members who attended our very small wedding and were shown in our photos. However, I'm sure that you could acceptably include more than that, especially if you do not have much in other types of proof (e.g., pictures, call/chat logs, shared bills/accounts, etc.).

The letters we submitted ended up being 1-2 pages long. There isn't a specified length maximum or minimum, but as long as your writers are clear, concise, and professional, it should be fine.

All of our letters were written in English and did not require translation or notarization. I am uncertain about the requirements for foreign language letters.

Hope that helps!

Thanks a lot. That's very helpful!

 

[StellaArtois]

I forgot to say that the letters we submitted were originals, but as long as the letter was hand signed, I doubt that submitting a copy would be an issue. The instructions haven't specified that originals are necessary for the letters (unlike how they require the originals of the signed government forms).

Also, we didn't submit any pictures with the letters themselves, and the lawyer didn't specify anything in that regard... so I think it wouldn't hurt for your letter writers to include pictures, but it doesn't seem like it's common practice.

Glad to be of help, and all the best to you guys!

 

[Laurahd]

thanks a lot. your PR has been received or no? What document did you submit when they ask an important document that proves you are both recognized as each others spouse?

 

[StellaArtois]

thanks a lot. your PR has been received or no? What document did you submit when they ask an important document that proves you are both recognized as each others spouse?

No sadly, decision has not yet been made on our case. We only submitted May 2019 though, so even by normal processing time we still have many months... and our case is "complex" so who knows what our processing time will be like :x

You are referring to this section right?

"Select at least two of the following four options and provide the documents requested for each. Check which options you are selecting.

• Important documents for you and your spouse showing that you are recognized as each other's spouse (such as employment or insurance benefits)
• Documentary evidence of financial support between you and your sponsor, and/or shared expenses.
• Other proof that your relationship is recognized by your friends and/or family (e.g. Letters from friends/family, social media information showing a public relationship, etc.)
• Proof of past cohabitation, if you are not currently living together but did at one point in the past."

Well, we did not submit for the "Important documents" one since it was one of 4 options and we only needed 2. In retrospect I wish we had submitted those as well, because I do have my husband as my primary beneficiary on my life insurance policy and in my investments, as well as my will... but alas, you live and you learn.

We elected to submit documentary evidence of financial support and "other proof".
For the financial support, we had 22 pages of times we sent money to each other through PayPal (though you could also use bank transactions and shared bills)
For "other proof", we used 3 letters, plus I had several SnapChat stories with my husband, and a post on tumblr. Most people would probably have FaceBook posts and their relationship status on FB, but my husband and I both don't have FB so that wasn't an option for us.

 

[Laurahd]

No sadly, decision has not yet been made on our case. We only submitted May 2019 though, so even by normal processing time we still have many months... and our case is "complex" so who knows what our processing time will be like :x

You are referring to this section right?

"Select at least two of the following four options and provide the documents requested for each. Check which options you are selecting.

• Important documents for you and your spouse showing that you are recognized as each other's spouse (such as employment or insurance benefits)
• Documentary evidence of financial support between you and your sponsor, and/or shared expenses.
• Other proof that your relationship is recognized by your friends and/or family (e.g. Letters from friends/family, social media information showing a public relationship, etc.)
• Proof of past cohabitation, if you are not currently living together but did at one point in the past."

Well, we did not submit for the "Important documents" one since it was one of 4 options and we only needed 2. In retrospect I wish we had submitted those as well, because I do have my husband as my primary beneficiary on my life insurance policy and in my investments, as well as my will... but alas, you live and you learn.

We elected to submit documentary evidence of financial support and "other proof".
For the financial support, we had 22 pages of times we sent money to each other through PayPal (though you could also use bank transactions and shared bills)
For "other proof", we used 3 letters, plus I had several SnapChat stories with my husband, and a post on tumblr. Most people would probably have FaceBook posts and their relationship status on FB, but my husband and I both don't have FB so that wasn't an option for us.

Oh ok. We don’t have proof of financial support or past cohabitation so I could only choose the two other options. I’ll give the proof of beneficiary from my investments but I’m wondering if they want a document that states we are each other spouse or just the name on it is ok.

We don’t use any social media account for 3 years so I don’t know if showing screenshots of photos posted on social media before would help.

May I ask what is a complex case?

 

[StellaArtois]

Oh ok. We don’t have proof of financial support or past cohabitation so I could only choose the two other options. I’ll give the proof of beneficiary from my investments but I’m wondering if they want a document that states we are each other spouse or just the name on it is ok.

We don’t use any social media account for 3 years so I don’t know if showing screenshots of photos posted on social media before would help.

May I ask what is a complex case?

Ah I see. If you're doing proof of beneficiary, I think they would just need to see the document where your spouse is stated as the beneficiary of your investments, provided that your names exactly match what is written on the marriage certificate (since you'll be submitting your marriage certificate proving you are each others' spouses as part of the application anyways).

Yes, screenshots of old social media posts are still helpful, because it proves that your relationship has been ongoing all this time. They definitely want proof from all across your relationship history, and not just recent proof. We submitted chat/call logs, pictures, social media posts, etc. from 2009 to 2019 (the entire time we've known each other, even though we weren't a couple until 2016). You should do your best to include enough so that every year that you've been in relationship is well represented in some form of proof.

Anything is complex/complicated if there are red flags in the case... in our case, my husband has 4 criminal charges, plus we have a relatively larger age difference, ethnicity difference, and education difference. We also haven't lived together, and my husband has been married once before (albeit that was over a decade and a half ago).

There are a plethora of other "red flags" that the officials will keep an eye out for, including short period of courtship before marriage, language barriers, religious differences, history of misrepresentation on other applications, history of deportation... just to name a few.

By contrast, for couples who have been married for at least 2 years, have children together, have no previous marriages, and have no red flags... their cases are "simple" and usually are processed more quickly than complex/complicated cases, provided that they have submitted a complete application package. Most "simple" family sponsorship cases finish processing at the Mississagua Visa Office and are done in far quicker time frames (by a difference of many months) compared to the ones that are transferred to the Principal Applicant's local Visa Office for processing.

 

[Laurahd]

Thanks a lot for the answer!

This question is to anyone: is it ok if my in-laws (PA's parents) sign one letter? Basically, my father in law wrote it mentioning it's on behalf of both of them. Mainly writes WE and at the end it is signed by both. Anyone else has done that?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks a lot for the answer!

This question is to anyone: is it ok if my in-laws (PA's parents) sign one letter? Basically, my father in law wrote it mentioning it's on behalf of both of them. Mainly writes WE and at the end it is signed by both. Anyone else has done that?

That's fine.

 

[lion.com]

Thanks a lot for the answer!

This question is to anyone: is it ok if my in-laws (PA's parents) sign one letter? Basically, my father in law wrote it mentioning it's on behalf of both of them. Mainly writes WE and at the end it is signed by both. Anyone else has done that?

My parents in law did the same. Same as my husbands aunt and uncle. One letter from each couple.

 

[Laurahd]

Thanks to both of you!