Proof of Cohabitation Inland spousal sponsorship

[marcello81]

I have received the following letter.
"You did not provide sufficient evidence of cohabitation. Please provide additional
evidence of cohabitation that could be used to confirm whether a sponsored spouse or partner has
been continuously cohabiting with their sponsor in Canada since the receipt of the application"

Me (german) and my wife (born canadian) have been married for 15 years and always lived together first in Europe and now for the past 12 Months in Canada plus we have 2 children which are both in school here in Canada. We live with my in laws and my wife is currently full time working. The immigration guys have all these infos plus we send them proof of a joint bank account and other papers showing our name and adress, but apparently that´s not enough.
So my question is if we send them more papers and they are still not satisfied do they just cancel the aplication and the money we payed is completely lost or is there still a way after or before that to recover the money?

 

[canuck78]

I have received the following letter.
"You did not provide sufficient evidence of cohabitation. Please provide additional
evidence of cohabitation that could be used to confirm whether a sponsored spouse or partner has
been continuously cohabiting with their sponsor in Canada since the receipt of the application"

Me (german) and my wife (born canadian) have been married for 15 years and always lived together first in Europe and now for the past 12 Months in Canada plus we have 2 children which are both in school here in Canada. We live with my in laws and my wife is currently full time working. The immigration guys have all these infos plus we send them proof of a joint bank account and other papers showing our name and adress, but apparently that´s not enough.
So my question is if we send them more papers and they are still not satisfied do they just cancel the aplication and the money we payed is completely lost or is there still a way after or before that to recover the money?

Did you apply as common law? If you are married there is usually little scrutiny when it comes to cohabitation. Are there and red flags in your application? Have they spent a lot of time living apart? What other proof have you provided that you lived together. Providing proof of a joint bank account doesn’t provide much proof that you have lived together.

 

[marcello81]

No we applied as a married couple and there are absolutely no red flags. We also send credit card and phonebills. The situation is absurd we never ever lived apart since we married 15 years ago. The stupid thing is, that in the letter, they don´t say what they are worried about so it is up to us guessing what they want.
On the Imm5533e checklist we ticked the boxes "Proof of joint utility account...." and "Other documents issued" because that´s what we send in.

 

[canuck78]

No we applied as a married couple and there are absolutely no red flags. We also send creditcard and phonebills. The situation is absurd we never ever lived apart since we married 15 years ago. The stupid thing is, that in the letter, they don´t say what they are worried about so it is up to us guessing what they want.

Do you have any propert records like lease, deed, utility bills with both your names over a period of time?

 

[marcello81]

Do you have any propert records like lease, deed, utility bills with both your names over a period of time?

No because we live with my wifes parents, so no lease no Utility bills no mortgage, no deeds. I don´t drive so I also don´t have a drivers license.
But in reality what does such a license proof? It only has an adress on it but after aquiring it one could still live somewhere completely different!?

 

[marcello81]

Does that letter mean that the whole process might be delayed by a couple months? Could my files even end up in one of these so named "local offices"?

 

[canuck78]

No because we live with my wifes parents, so no lease no Utility bills no mortgage, no deeds. I don´t drive so I also don´t have a drivers license.
But in reality what does such a license proof? It only has an adress on it but after aquiring it one could still live somewhere completely different!?

You need something with dates and address on them. Do you have proof from before you came to Canada? What about employment records with the date and your address on them?

 

[YVR123]

This is very unusal for married couple.

I think they want proof that you 2 have been living together inside Canada since the application has been sent. So as canuck78 suggested, you need address proof with dates on them.

How about your kids' school application, records with you and your wife's name at current address?

Did your wife add you in her work extended benefit/insurnace policy as spouse? As your inlaw to write a letter to state that you and your wife and kids have been living with them (with date on when it started). Although we know that personal letter doesn't weight as much as offical documents. It's better than without.

 

[marcello81]

Yea we are going to send the school records of our children plus a letter from each schools principal. We will also send a letter from my in laws.
That´s a good idea with the benefit insurance, I have to ask her.
And then we shall see if it works or not.
We asked an immigration lawyer about the situation and he also thought that it is extremly unusal to ask for more proof
that we live together, considering that we have been married for so long and have 2 children which are at school.

 

[armoured]

Did you leave Canada at all during the application?

 

[marcello81]

Did you leave Canada at all during the application?

No I didn't leave Canada in between. Have been inside canada since I first arrived.