More evidence of common-in-law relationship

[LauraCanada]

Hello everyone,

I need your help. Today I got a letter from CIC stating I haven't proved sufficient evidence of our common-in-law relationships.

I sent in September 2011:
- pictures of me and my partner together;
- joint bank account;
- facebook messages;
- letters sent to both of us at our address in Canada (which is the same address I gave to CIC)
- flight tickets of our holidays in which is shown that our seats were one next to each other;
- statutory declarations of our families and friends (stating we are in a genuine relationships and we are living together since April 2010)

What did I miss? How come everything I sent is not enough? Did they lose part of my applications?

 

[LeisaP]

Hi,
we applied common-law and we used a immigration consultant to help us gather info.
we havent got approved yet but she said we will get approved for sure.

here is a list of what we sent in, maybe this will help you to find more things you can send for evidence

we sent about:
-300-400 pictures of events in a timeline journal from when we met till when we sent in the app.(including intimate pictures such as hugging and kissing, but nothing sexual)
-6 or 7 letters from friends, family and employers stating they knew of our relationship and what they thought of it. im not sure if its necessary them be notarized. ours werent.
- a notarized common-law declaration. we got this at a notary office.
- our rental lease with both our names on it.
-bills with both names on it, hydro, cable, internet
- joint bank account
- joint costco card
-a car under both of our names
- proof we purchased a dog together
- my spouse has life insurance with me as his beneficiary
- letters from employers. we happen to work for the same person.
- receipts from gifts we have given eachother
- facebook logs
-facebook logs of our parents talking to eachother (they are facebook nerds, never met in real life, but they talk online Tongue )
- plane tickets of trips we took together
-my brother passed away and my spouse flew with me to attend the funeral so we posted items from the funeral, proof that he came with me
- pictures of him with my family.
- events tickets, movies, sports events, etc.

hope this helps a bit.
if you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

[missmymexi]

Geez, I have heard of people on here getting approved with far less than what you have. You should order the CAIPS notes, it is basically the bible of your file which you have a right to under the freedom of information act. You should be able to find out exactly why they determined you did not have enough evidence and start looking into an appeal asap, I believe there is a timeline to appeal.

 

[LeisaP]

was your letter a refusal.. or was it just a letter stating that they need more evidence..
if it was not a refusal thats good. you can still send in more evidence

 

[LauraCanada]

It was not a refusal. CIC just asked me for more info that I have to provide before September 16th (which is not a problem at all).
The fact is that I don't know what to send more as I and my partner live with his parents (so we don't have a joint lease).
The only thing I can send them is 2 year skype conversations (I guess it should be over 200 pages) and some of our conversations were about sex hehe not sure if CIC wants to read about it lol

I think I sent enough evidence that's why tomorrow morning I want to call CIC and ask them if they lost part of my application.

Another thing: I haven't sent in September 2011 my medical exams. Do you suggest me to do it now and send them with further evidence of my relationship? Just so I might speed up the process...

Thank you very much to all who takes time to reply to my post. Very appreciated!

 

[LeisaP]

It was not a refusal. CIC just asked me for more info that I have to provide before September 16th (which is not a problem at all).
The fact is that I don't know what to send more as I and my partner live with his parents (so we don't have a joint lease).
The only thing I can send them is 2 year skype conversations (I guess it should be over 200 pages) and some of our conversations were about sex hehe not sure if CIC wants to read about it lol

I think I sent enough evidence that's why tomorrow morning I want to call CIC and ask them if they lost part of my application.

Another thing: I haven't sent in September 2011 my medical exams. Do you suggest me to do it now and send them with further evidence of my relationship? Just so I might speed up the process...

Thank you very much to all who takes time to reply to my post. Very appreciated!

not a refusal okay thats great!. u can still prove it than.
honestly if it was me i would send in some of the skype conversations, some people dont like to send cic stuff about sex. but at this point u really are trying to prove more.
also if you look in the manual about how they check if you are a real couple. it says they look for evidence of a sexual relationship.
its up to you. but i would send it. better to be safe than sorry.

- did u by any chance send cic a letter that says why you do not have joint bills? or did u parents mention you dont have joint bills because they are paying the bills because its their house?

- call cic tomorrow and ask them and let us know what they said. if they did receive it all and theres not enough or whats up

- medical exams. im not sure when to send it. its different for every VO.
which visa office are you with?
we are going through mexico and they suggest u send it with ur application, if u dont they will send ur app back to you. but i know some visa offices ask for the medical exam later on.

 

[missmymexi]

You can also get a letter notorized from his parents confirming you have been living there and for how long, might help, I have seen a few other people do that, that are also living with thier partner and thier parents Sorry I assumed it was refusal, never assume ! Glad that you still have a chance to submit other stuff !! wouldnt worry about the sex conversations either, I mean thats why they are our significant others right and they need evidence Also send anything else you can think of, I will see if I can find the thread, but it was called unconventional proofs of love and there was some great ideas of stuff to send. I will try and find it and post for you

 

[LauraCanada]

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much again and you made me laugh so much I need it

The idea of sending a letter from my parents' partner saying we don't pay bills because it's their house but we do pay a monthly rent them is absolutely a great idea. In fact, last year my parents' partner wrote a letter saying we have been living here since July 2010 and they approve our relationship and they think I'm the right girl for their son.

When I call CIC tomorrow morning I will ask them how many pages of our skype conversations they want, it's not a problem for me to send 200 pages if they like to read them lol

And also the idea of write a notarised common-in-law agreement is great.

Regarding the medical exams, I applied within Canada, that's why I haven't sent my medicals yet. But at this point to speed up the process of step 2, I thought it could be a good idea. Medicals last 12 months and I really hope I don't have to wait for more than other 12 months considering I have already been waiting 11 months.

 

[missmymexi]

Here is the link to the thread I was talking about

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t98503.0.html

 

[LauraCanada]

Oh thank you very very super much lol not sure it makes sense in English

 

[LeisaP]

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much again and you made me laugh so much I need it

The idea of sending a letter from my parents' partner saying we don't pay bills because it's their house but we do pay a monthly rent them is absolutely a great idea. In fact, last year my parents' partner wrote a letter saying we have been living here since July 2010 and they approve our relationship and they think I'm the right girl for their son.

When I call CIC tomorrow morning I will ask them how many pages of our skype conversations they want, it's not a problem for me to send 200 pages if they like to read them lol

And also the idea of write a notarised common-in-law agreement is great.

Regarding the medical exams, I applied within Canada, that's why I haven't sent my medicals yet. But at this point to speed up the process of step 2, I thought it could be a good idea. Medicals last 12 months and I really hope I don't have to wait for more than other 12 months considering I have already been waiting 11 months.

haha thats good we made u laugh!.

yes i would send as many skype convos as my printer would allow. chances are they wont read them all. but the more you send the more they believe your relationship is real.

oh thats great that they sent that letter!. yeah tell them to write another letter regarding bills it would help alot and get it notarized if possible.

and as for the common-law declaration.. you dont have this ??
go to your local notary office and get them to give you a declaration of common-law. you and your partner will both sign it along with the notary commisioner. and they will seal it. so it is a legal document stating you are in a common law relationship. VERY GOOD IDEA!.
it has a small fee. i cant remeber exactly but i think it was about $30-$50 bucks for it. definatly do this. since you dont have a lease agreement this is the next best legal document to provide

ohhh. hmm im sorry i dont know what to do about the medical. maybe someone else can be more help with that.
;D

 

[OhCanadiana]

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much again and you made me laugh so much I need it

The idea of sending a letter from my parents' partner saying we don't pay bills because it's their house but we do pay a monthly rent them is absolutely a great idea. In fact, last year my parents' partner wrote a letter saying we have been living here since July 2010 and they approve our relationship and they think I'm the right girl for their son.

When I call CIC tomorrow morning I will ask them how many pages of our skype conversations they want, it's not a problem for me to send 200 pages if they like to read them lol

And also the idea of write a notarised common-in-law agreement is great.

Regarding the medical exams, I applied within Canada, that's why I haven't sent my medicals yet. But at this point to speed up the process of step 2, I thought it could be a good idea. Medicals last 12 months and I really hope I don't have to wait for more than other 12 months considering I have already been waiting 11 months.

I would send all 200 pages (or whatever selection YOU believe makes your case strong). You are basically being given one last chance to prove your common-law relationship is genuine ... and you really don't want to go back to square zero ... so really think through how you can prove you have intertwined your affairs and how you are in a "marriage-like" relationship as opposed to "friends."

It may help to review what the characteristics and assessment of conjugal relationships is from CIC's regulations in OP-2 to think about what else you can mail in (highlights in this link).

Also, consider ordering your case notes asap (since it's an inland application it's FOSS ... similar to ordering GCMS notes for outland applications). You may get a sense of what the specific concerns are and send in an additional set of documents addressing their particular concerns along those lines.

One final piece of advice - make sure the evidence spans at least one year required to establish common-law relationship. Also, have you declared your relationship to any other government entity or organization to show objectivity?

Good luck!

 

[LauraCanada]

OhCanadiana > What do you mean with this sentence: "One final piece of advice - make sure the evidence spans at least one year required to establish common-law relationship. Also, have you declared your relationship to any other government entity or organization to show objectivity?"

Thanks for the good luck I really need it.

The fact is that we haven't got married yet and we haven't bought a house yet because we are waiting to get my permanent residence approved. But if CIC wants I can send emails about the organisation of our future wedding we are planning in April 2013 in Barbados. That should prove our commitment.

In September 2011 I sent them evidence of our trips, we travelled a lot. In April 2010 we were in Australia, in January 2011 we were in Italy where my partner met my family, in February 2011 we went in England where I met his Nanna, uncles, aunts and cousins. I sent to CIC tons of flight tickets.

Oh yeah I'm gonna send to CIC all our skype conversations, I don't care how much it will cost in ink and paper lol I think it will be over 200 pages for sure lol Good luck to them to read it all lol

There is nothing more frustrating that dealing with Immigration

 

[LeisaP]

it seems like you have alot of great evidence. to prove you are in a real relationship. so i dont think thats the problem. i think its more of they want you to prove you are living in a married like relationship and not just boyfriend and girlfriend.

im thinking cic might possibly be interested in a document stating you have been together 1 year. because you do not have a lease, which is very important when applying common-law this is what ohcanadiana is talking about. since common-law is living together for 1 year, they want to see a legal document of this
such as the declaration of common-law from the public notary office.(legal government document) so i suggest you defiantly get this document. get the letters from you parents about bills and why you dont have JOINT bills... the main thing for common-law as opposed to spouse is joint stuff.. and the skype convos.

i really think this is what they are looking for. proof you have intertwined your life not only as a relationship but financially.

do either of you have life insurance or any sort of health insurnce, that you can add the other as the beneficiary. this would be helpful.
for ours. my spouse bought accidental life insurance from BMO for 9.95 a month. and added me as a benficiary for free.

do you have any pets together?
did you pay any large items together? furniture? appliances? cars? bikes? anything like that.

i know immigration is frustrating and hard to deal with.
but were all here to help!
itll work out in the end! dont worry

 

[OhCanadiana]

OhCanadiana > What do you mean with this sentence: "One final piece of advice - make sure the evidence spans at least one year required to establish common-law relationship. Also, have you declared your relationship to any other government entity or organization to show objectivity?"

Thanks for the good luck I really need it.

To qualify as a common-law relationship, you have to have been in a common-law relationship for 12 months at least. So, I was suggesting you review the evidence you are sending to make sure you spanning at least 12-months. For example, from your last post, you seem to have sent airline tickets covering Jan 2011 to Sept 2011. If you have any additional tickets from 2012 or Fall of 2010 I would add them in also so that you span at least 12 months. Similarly for other evidence.

Also, if you have declared each other as common-law partners for other purposes to the outside world (CRA, employment benefits, etc.) add it in also so that it isn't just family and friends who are aware of your relationship but you've presented it to other organizations that way too.

It may help to prepare a timeline to show them your evidence spans xx years (over 12 months) also so they can see it easily.

The fact is that we haven't got married yet and we haven't bought a house yet because we are waiting to get my permanent residence approved.

Careful here ... in the sections on common-law relationships I referred you to in OP-2, they explicitly discuss (I'm paraphrasing here from memory) that common-law relationships should not be seen as a way to allow the partner to become a PR to be in Canada while getting married (it is not a fiancee visa, in other words). You need to qualify to be common-law partners per the characteristics of a common-law relationship itself and have intertwined your affairs for at least 12-months already.