Procedural Fairness letter - evidence of cohabitation

[yoshwakeham]

Hey all,

I received a Procedural Fairness letter today, asking me to provide additional evidence of continuous cohabitation with my common-law partner. I have a couple of questions related to the request.

1. For the in-Canada class, is it necessary to cohabit in Canada for 12 months prior to the application being submitted? Or just to cohabit for 12 months (somewhere) AND be in Canada at the time the application was submitted?
2. Is there any downside to attempting to convince the officer, even if the attempt is unsuccessful?
3. Looking for some opinions on sufficient evidence for parts of our timeline that we don't have the "standard" evidence for ... see below for details!

Thanks!

---

Details of our timeline, leading up to my application which was received December 21, 2020:

- Dec 21 2019 - Jun 15 2020: living in a rented apartment in New York. I was the only one on the lease.
- In my original application, I submitted an email chain where I explain to the agent why my partner won't be on the lease despite living in the apartment. I also supplied a home & contents insurance policy for the apartment which was in both our names (coverage starting Oct 8, 2019).

- Jun 15 - Oct 11, 2020: living in a rental house in upstate New York, we were both on the lease.
- I submitted a copy of the signed lease with my original application.

- Oct 11, 2020: We entered Canada.
- The PFL also requests proof of this entry into Canada. I had submitted a copy of the visitor record in my original application but it seems this wasn't sufficient (and they don't see the entry in their system??).
- I will be submitting a scan of my passport stamp in response to the PFL.

- Oct 11-25, 2020: Covid quarantine with my partner's parents.
- I don't know what documentation I can provide for this. Maybe some emails or message logs, but no "hard" documentary evidence. My mother-in-common-law could write a statutory declaration or something if that would help.

- Oct 25 - Dec 21, 2020 (and beyond): living in a house my partner owns in Toronto.
- We have joint bank statements, with our shared address, beginning Oct 30 2020, which I'm hoping would be sufficient for this period.

So in a nutshell - will the email chain + insurance policy suffice for the first period? And how do we handle the "gap" in October 2020 when we were quarantining with the in-laws? Should I just explain in a letter, and hope for the best?

 

[armoured]

So in a nutshell - will the email chain + insurance policy suffice for the first period? And how do we handle the "gap" in October 2020 when we were quarantining with the in-laws? Should I just explain in a letter, and hope for the best?

It's very hard for anyone outside to tell you whether that info will suffice - provide everything you can and hope for the best.

Because you applied so soon after you met the one year test (to the day!), I'd really focus on both that start date and that the moves together and all other supporting (bills, support letters, whatever you can) are documented to.

That said: I rather doubt the quarantine period itself would be the biggest issue. Document that (you had to both provide quarantine address to authorities, for example), short letter of explanation, and if you think needed, support letter from M-i-L.

Oh: while technically it does not address the issue, if you've been living together ever since you submitted, write about that and document it. And just ask them to recognize that clearly now you are common law and please please please (and put it nicely that you're just going to apply immediately if refused anyway).

Good luck.

 

[canuck78]

Hey all,

I received a Procedural Fairness letter today, asking me to provide additional evidence of continuous cohabitation with my common-law partner. I have a couple of questions related to the request.

1. For the in-Canada class, is it necessary to cohabit in Canada for 12 months prior to the application being submitted? Or just to cohabit for 12 months (somewhere) AND be in Canada at the time the application was submitted?
2. Is there any downside to attempting to convince the officer, even if the attempt is unsuccessful?
3. Looking for some opinions on sufficient evidence for parts of our timeline that we don't have the "standard" evidence for ... see below for details!

Thanks!

---

Details of our timeline, leading up to my application which was received December 21, 2020:

- Dec 21 2019 - Jun 15 2020: living in a rented apartment in New York. I was the only one on the lease.
- In my original application, I submitted an email chain where I explain to the agent why my partner won't be on the lease despite living in the apartment. I also supplied a home & contents insurance policy for the apartment which was in both our names (coverage starting Oct 8, 2019).

- Jun 15 - Oct 11, 2020: living in a rental house in upstate New York, we were both on the lease.
- I submitted a copy of the signed lease with my original application.

- Oct 11, 2020: We entered Canada.
- The PFL also requests proof of this entry into Canada. I had submitted a copy of the visitor record in my original application but it seems this wasn't sufficient (and they don't see the entry in their system??).
- I will be submitting a scan of my passport stamp in response to the PFL.

- Oct 11-25, 2020: Covid quarantine with my partner's parents.
- I don't know what documentation I can provide for this. Maybe some emails or message logs, but no "hard" documentary evidence. My mother-in-common-law could write a statutory declaration or something if that would help.

- Oct 25 - Dec 21, 2020 (and beyond): living in a house my partner owns in Toronto.
- We have joint bank statements, with our shared address, beginning Oct 30 2020, which I'm hoping would be sufficient for this period.

So in a nutshell - will the email chain + insurance policy suffice for the first period? And how do we handle the "gap" in October 2020 when we were quarantining with the in-laws? Should I just explain in a letter, and hope for the best?

You need to live together for a continuous year before applying and then continue living together in Canada. You need more proof of when you started living together in New York. Your partner especially needs proof of when he/she started living in NY like bills that started from Dec 19, 2019 with his/her name, date and address on it. You’ll need more evidence throughout the living period in NY. Things like bills with dates, name and address. Even proof of deliveries will help. Since you have no buffer and multiple locations that will be more difficult.