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Proof of living together help: Spouse sponsership/permanent residence

KuroNeko26 said:
I'll take your advice to heart thank you :) The whole application process is daunting and I'm trying not to overthink and stress out about everything haha
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I know, but trust me, it's really not that hard once you spend some time researching and getting the basics down. Just take your time, read all the guides and your checklist so you know what's expected of you. And this forum is a treasure trove, both in terms of reading old threads and coming in and asking your own questions.

You'll get there! :)
 
With regard to the bank stuff... My wife called her bank to ask if we could open up a joint account, and after initially saying no, they checked around and eventually said it was possible. When we went in to open the account we had to bring along photo ID (obviously) and proof of residence -- for the latter we brought our apartment lease, but they didn't even look at it. Never left our folder!

I completely understand how daunting it can be, especially if rock solid cohabitation documentation (i.e. Hydro bills) are hard to come by. Creating a narrative through a letter of introduction and/or explanations on attached sheets will help. For instance, if you're not on the lease but pay rent through something like, say, Paypal, you can go ahead and explain this while also including a printout of all the times you've transferred money to your partner. If you've ever texted with the landlord over rental space matters, screenshot those texts, paste them in a Word document, and print it off. (Even though I was on the lease, I did exactly this.) Have family members and friends attest to the fact that you do live with your partner. In short, all sorts of creative ways to show cohabitation and prove genuineness of relationship. View all the bits of evidence in whole, not in isolation.
 
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Jazzercise said:
With regard to the bank stuff... My wife called her bank to ask if we could open up a joint account, and after initially saying no, they checked around and eventually said it was possible. When we went in to open the account we had to bring along photo ID (obviously) and proof of residence -- for the latter we brought our apartment lease, but they didn't even look at it. Never left our folder!

I completely understand how daunting it can be, especially if rock solid cohabitation documentation (i.e. Hydro bills) are hard to come by. Creating a narrative through a letter of introduction and/or explanations on attached sheets will help. For instance, if you're not on the lease but pay rent through something like, say, Paypal, you can go ahead and explain this while also including a printout of all the times you've transferred money to your partner. If you've ever texted with the landlord over rental space matters, screenshot those texts, paste them in a Word document, and print it off. (Even though I was on the lease, I did exactly this.) Have family members and friends attest to the fact that you do live with your partner. In short, all sorts of creative ways to show cohabitation and prove genuineness of relationship. View all the bits of evidence in whole, not in isolation.
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Your advice is amazing thank you so much!! For the letters from friends/family how should they be written out? Like on an actual piece of paper? We can definitely have our roomate attest that we live together since he literally lives with us haha
 
KuroNeko26 said:
Your advice is amazing thank you so much!! For the letters from friends/family how should they be written out? Like on an actual piece of paper? We can definitely have our roomate attest that we live together since he literally lives with us haha
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They should draft something on their computer and when they print it off they can sign it, if possible. One of our letters wasn't signed (sponsor's parents forgot!), but as with all the others, it did include their full name, address, phone numbers, and places of employment/position titles.

We strategically chose our letter writers so that they could really add support to other pieces of evidence we had, from the aforementioned lease and joint bank account, texts (me to sponsor, us to everyone), emails, travel documentation, etc. (Note for letters: Choose family and close friends, not the neighbour who has seen the two of you three times. Understandable why you'd choose the roommate though!)
 
I wonder now, if we sent enough proof with our application. They asked for at least 2 of the sets of suggestions and that is all we provided because that way we didn't need translation of anything. We provided them with 3 shared bank accounts, and a letter from our car insurance stating that they are aware of us living at the same address and that I am the car owner and my husband the insurance holder. And then we also asked the health insurance to write a letter stating that we are all together on one insurance but they didn't say anything about us living at the same address unfortunately. Our rental lease is so long so we decided that it would cost a whole lot to get translated. I guess we will just see if we gave them enough proof. Utility accounts are all in my name because I am the native speaker here and I never thought of giving both our names.
 
Luthien said:
I wonder now, if we sent enough proof with our application. They asked for at least 2 of the sets of suggestions and that is all we provided because that way we didn't need translation of anything. We provided them with 3 shared bank accounts, and a letter from our car insurance stating that they are aware of us living at the same address and that I am the car owner and my husband the insurance holder. And then we also asked the health insurance to write a letter stating that we are all together on one insurance but they didn't say anything about us living at the same address unfortunately. Our rental lease is so long so we decided that it would cost a whole lot to get translated. I guess we will just see if we gave them enough proof. Utility accounts are all in my name because I am the native speaker here and I never thought of giving both our names.
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I wouldn't worry. If they need additional documents, they will ask for them.
 
KuroNeko26 said:
We're applying Inland! And yes we have lots of proof from the last three years of our relationship itself from chats, pictures, visits and stuff like that. I came here to move in June of last year and we got married in October and we didn't know we needed cohabitation proof until now otherwise we would have tried doing something sooner. :( I wanted to try and open a bank account for further proof but I don't have a SIN number to open an account with since we're applying for an Open work permit with the application as well.
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Are you on your 6 month B2? (I think thats what it's called. It's the thing that allows Canadians and Americans to stay in the US or Canada for 6 months as long as you're not working. They should've stamped your passport upon arrival into Canada. The date on it is your expiry).

If you are, make sure you explain that to them too, and then I would try to apply for an extension. I'm not exactly sure how you go about that, but I know there are ways. This will help them understand why you can't open any accounts in Canada, etc. But I second what others have said, you should be able to open a visitors account. If snowbirds n the US can do it without an American SIN, so can you the other way around :)
 
KuroNeko26 said:
Hello! I was wondering what are some of the ways you've shown proof that you and your partner are actually living together and connected besides the same phone bill or joint bank accounts since I can't do those two quite yet. Thank you in advance
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Did you apply?
 
KuroNeko26 said:
I ended up going to BMO with my wife and getting a joint bank account along with is getting ID cards with the same address and also bills in both our names and same address like the internet
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Nice. I’ve heard that it’s a faster process for USA citizens is this true? I mailed my application yesterday.
 
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