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Proof of Relationship, and other questions.

ccm500

Newbie
Feb 19, 2010
1
0
Hi all;

Just going through the paperwork trying to get everything sorted for my application, and I've got a few questions that I've not found sufficient explanation for in the guides. This has turned out to be a much longer post than I expected - so my apologies in advance.

(I'm British, being sponsored by my wife in Canada, for the record.)

The first question concerns the Sponsored Spouse/Partner Questionnaire and the Immigrant Document Checklist from the UK-specific instructions: The checklist requests proof of relationship to my wife, and question 9 in the Questionnaire asks for proof of a development of relationship. There seems to be significant overlap here in what they request - do I need to send two copies of everything, one for each form, or would only one copy be sufficient?

The second concern is about the actual proof itself; I'm currently attaching: copies of flight itineraries/tickets/boarding passes (including a few with us sharing a flight); passport stamps for both of us; a small handful of photographs of us both plus family (we're both fairly camera shy, not to mention that often it's just the two of us when we're taking photos - so it's proving very hard to find photos with both of us in;) a copy of both her and my work visas (she lived here for a year, I lived with her for a year;) some copies of my pay slips as proof of address for that period; screenshots of the first and last pages of both her and my email accounts showing email contact since we first met; as well as scans of most of the envelopes she's sent me, showing postmarks for dates.

Can you suggest anything else I should attach? Would you recommend including the contents of some of our emails/letters - we'd originally tried to avoid it out of privacy, but if needs be I'll attach anything we're not too embarrassed by. Also, we've favoured VOIP for the longest time, meaning phone records may be few and far between. Would MSN chat logs (although we don't have archives going back that far) be a good thing to print from? Any other suggestions of stuff that I might have overlooked entirely?

Third and, for now, final question is regarding the photographs: Having reread the guidelines I've discovered the photos I have (passport photos - which I'd used for my medical clearance) are very likely going to be rejected (head too big by 5mm... ah, bureaucracy.) Is it acceptable to take the photos yourself, to print onto photo paper, as long as they're the appropriate size? Failing that, never having had to get photos like this before, could anyone recommend a photography chain in the UK that would be suitable?

Apologies for the TL;DR of the post; but I'm really hoping to get this right first time.

Thank you very much in advance for any of your assistance.
 

grettta

Star Member
Feb 9, 2010
56
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
08-12-2009
Doc's Request.
12-02-2010
AOR Received.
19-01-2010
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
18-06-2010
VISA ISSUED...
22-06-2010
LANDED..........
22-06-2010
My husband and I sent in one set of evidence (photos, etc.) but we each wrote a personal letter describing the development of our relationship in our own words. I (the sponsor) attached my letter to the sponsorship application and his was grouped with the PR application.

For the second question, I think including the content of some letters and chat logs would be a good idea. Beats having to go in for an interview which I have heard can be an even bigger invasion of privacy (friends of ours were asked questions like when they first became intimate!). I also know of some couples that included with their application "endorsement" letters from friends/families testifying to the strength/validity of the relationship. I would give the CIC as much information as possible to convince them your relationship is genuine and on-going. The more the better.

I'm unsure of the answer for your third question.

Hope that helps.
 

canadianwoman

VIP Member
Nov 6, 2009
6,200
284
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra, Ghana
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
30-01-2008
Interview........
05-05-2009
You've lived together, which is very good for your application, so include more proof of that. Affidavit from the landlord, both your names on utility bills or the lease, letters addressed to the two of you (or both separately) at that address, etc.