proof/evidence of ongoing relationship

[spaceraceone]

Hello everyone,

I would like to receive some feedback from you, guys, as to what to enclose as a proof of ongoing relationship.

We have been married for 6 months now -so it's a spousal sponsorship.
We have been living together at my parents house - that's good and bad

good - we have a lot of pictures of spending time together, helping with the house (we are renovating), picnics, celebrating b-days, etc.
bad - since the house is a property of my mother on paper, she pays ALL the bills - we have no proof of address. I only have a couple of letters sent to me from CIC in seattle, so I got something, and my husband got nothing to show that.
We do not keep our money in bank accounts - my mom has a deposit box - it's all in there.

Next, we have been living together since last August - we do not send each other emails, we do not skype each other, because... we are normal - we see each other every day. We phone each other a lot, but we cannot get the record of it since the majority of folks in my country (us included) are on prepaid cellular service, which doesn't presuppose call records. By the time I will mail the application I will have been living in Canada for some time, so later on we'll have lots of skype communication. I don't believe I will actually call from a cellular phone - not cheap!

I know that married people do not have to provide as much evidence, but I am still trying to see what else there is.

We have wedding cards - should we ad them? do they have to be translated? those little "congrats from..."?
We have movie ticket stubs - not a lot but still - should we ad them? do they have to be translated?

That's about it - what do you think?

Thanks

 

[zardoz]

Anything that uniquely identifies you as being in an ongoing marital relationship is OK. That would be letters/cards to you both from organisations, friends and family, as well as photos of you both that show you in social settings, ideally including some with friends and family in the picture as well. The more natural, the better.

What you are trying to do is convince someone who is going to take a look at the evidence to not think "could this be a MoC?". Don't try and send artificially posed pictures that might give the impression of you trying to "make a case".

Any documentation that has no personally identifiable information that relates to BOTH of you at the same time is probably of little benefit.

As a married couple, you have less to prove, especially if you have a long documented history before your marriage.
The longer the marriage, the better it will be able to demonstrate that you are still in the on-going relationship.

 

[spaceraceone]

Anything that uniquely identifies you as being in an ongoing marital relationship is OK. That would be letters/cards to you both from organisations, friends and family, as well as photos of you both that show you in social settings, ideally including some with friends and family in the picture as well. The more natural, the better.

What you are trying to do is convince someone who is going to take a look at the evidence to not think "could this be a MoC?". Don't try and send artificially posed pictures that might give the impression of you trying to "make a case".

Any documentation that has no personally identifiable information that relates to BOTH of you at the same time is probably of little benefit.

As a married couple, you have less to prove, especially if you have a long documented history before your marriage.
The longer the marriage, the better it will be able to demonstrate that you are still in the on-going relationship.

I see - well, then we have a marriage certificate and photos.

Hmm we do have a lot of "pose" pictures, although most of them are at some party with other people smiling for the camera.
We have some of the "in action" pictures.

Well, ok, I got the idea. Thank you.

 

[zardoz]

Posed at parties is fine, especially as part of a group. The more relaxed and informal, the better.
I noted a case on CANLII recently where the Immigration appeals board rejected an appeal, in part due to the artificial nature of the evidence photos. The judge was of the opinion that they had only been taken to establish a false history. Bit like "Green Card", the movie.

Good luck...

 

[tink23]

You could also ask your mother to write a letter explaining your living situation for the past few months. Any letters from family and close friends can be used of proof of your ongoing relationship. Wedding/ engagement cards are great. If you have any receipts from your wedding, include copies of those too. Even if you have any kind of letter that was sent to you at the address, even if it was just a birthday card or something, can be used as proof (the envelope of course).

 

[Rob_TO]

I know that married people do not have to provide as much evidence, but I am still trying to see what else there is.

This is not necessarily true. There are tons of cases where there are quick relationships followed by a quick wedding, and the applications are denied. You should include just as much proofs in your application as anyone else.

You have been married only 6 months so that is not very long. How long was your relationship before the marriage? You should be submitting proofs that date back to when you first met and started dating, and documenting the dating, engagement period, wedding and after marriage.

Other proofs you can include are:
- get some cheap term spousal life insurance, and list each other as beneficiaries
- if one of you has a credit card, order a 2nd supplementary card in the spouses name, so both your names appear on 1 bill
These both show tangible financial links to each other.

And as mentioned, a testimonial letter from your mom will be an absolute must to include.

 

[spaceraceone]

This is not necessarily true. There are tons of cases where there are quick relationships followed by a quick wedding, and the applications are denied. You should include just as much proofs in your application as anyone else.

You have been married only 6 months so that is not very long. How long was your relationship before the marriage? You should be submitting proofs that date back to when you first met and started dating, and documenting the dating, engagement period, wedding and after marriage.

Other proofs you can include are:
- get some cheap term spousal life insurance, and list each other as beneficiaries
- if one of you has a credit card, order a 2nd supplementary card in the spouses name, so both your names appear on 1 bill
These both show tangible financial links to each other.

And as mentioned, a testimonial letter from your mom will be an absolute must to include.

From our relationship prior to the wedding we also have photos, but you know - when the relationship is genuine THE LAST thing one will think about is thinking up the ways to try to proove it.

We will include the letter from my mom - I was 50/50 about that - thanks for the advice.

 

[heartbreakid]

you can make screenshots of your calls and texts on your phone and laptop, make it a habit weekly and store it inyour fbnor email by the time you file your appli you already have a ton of that cheers

 

[spaceraceone]

you can make screenshots of your calls and texts on your phone and laptop, make it a habit weekly and store it inyour fbnor email by the time you file your appli you already have a ton of that cheers

That's a super idea! Will it be admissable? Anyway I am doing this!! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Rob_TO]

you can make screenshots of your calls and texts on your phone and laptop, make it a habit weekly and store it inyour fbnor email by the time you file your appli you already have a ton of that cheers

I'm not sure this would help much for the phone... if you mean taking a photograph of you making a call or seding text from cell phone. This is an obviously "staged" photo, that is being taken solely for purpose of proofs to submit to CIC.

Also since the OP is already living together with wife, there is really no need to send proofs of communication since they live with each other and can talk in person everyday.

What the OP will need more of is proofs of communication BEFORE they started living together, and here is where emails, call logs, screen shots etc are more important.

 

[spaceraceone]

I'm not sure this would help much for the phone... if you mean taking a photograph of you making a call or seding text from cell phone. This is an obviously "staged" photo, that is being taken solely for purpose of proofs to submit to CIC.

Also since the OP is already living together with wife, there is really no need to send proofs of communication since they live with each other and can talk in person everyday.

What the OP will need more of is proofs of communication BEFORE they started living together, and here is where emails, call logs, screen shots etc are more important.

No - more like taking a picture of your call records on your phone - a little less awkward - but doesn't matter it doesn't work - you cannot take a clear picture where you can see the actual details.

But why do you think the IO would want to see the communication proof for before we started living together? Doesn't the fact that we continue living together count more that how we met? Once I am back in Canada we'll have plenty of communication proof. So it would be like - when we lived together there were no emails no skypes - and the moment we are apart we start doing the long-distance thing.

I don't know, it's all still weird to me. It's like trying to proove that you are a human.
I do respect the routine since it is needed for this type of sponsorship.

 

[Rob_TO]

But why do you think the IO would want to see the communication proof for before we started living together? Doesn't the fact that we continue living together count more that how we met? Once I am back in Canada we'll have plenty of communication proof. So it would be like - when we lived together there were no emails no skypes - and the moment we are apart we start doing the long-distance thing.

If you are living together, then you see each other every single day so you can communicate simply by talking in person to each other. When living together there is no need to include call logs, chats, emails etc because communication will not be an issue to the VO.

If you are in a long distance relationship (whether just dating or married), you will need to prove you are a genuine couple so for this situation you need to show all the communication proofs.

 

[spaceraceone]

If you are living together, then you see each other every single day so you can communicate simply by talking in person to each other. When living together there is no need to include call logs, chats, emails etc because communication will not be an issue to the VO.

If you are in a long distance relationship (whether just dating or married), you will need to prove you are a genuine couple so for this situation you need to show all the communication proofs.

Right - that's what I thought and that's the plan!

 

[spaceraceone]

If you are living together, then you see each other every single day so you can communicate simply by talking in person to each other. When living together there is no need to include call logs, chats, emails etc because communication will not be an issue to the VO.

If you are in a long distance relationship (whether just dating or married), you will need to prove you are a genuine couple so for this situation you need to show all the communication proofs.

Wait wait, keep forgetting to ask:

Well, so assuming we'll start the long-distance cimmunication - calls and messages via all kinds of media - our messages won't be in English - we both speak the same language and I might use some english for educational purposes for my husband - but for the most part in will not be english - will we have to translate those messages? I am assuming yes - then in what form - print it all out and take to a translater?