Proof

[fumbler1983]

Hey guys,

We will be sending out our application at the beginning of next week and I am having some last minute scares. I am a US citizen and my wife will be sponsoring me for PR outland. We got married in January of this year after dating for 2 years. We dont have a lot of photos of us together and I am nervous that we need to after reading other people's stories. I have found 10 random photos of us at different times with family and friends. We also both wrote up separate letters about the history of our application. I dont have phone records because we just used FB to talk and avoid international charges. She came to see me every weekend for two years but she drove so we dont have any proof of that. We had a small wedding with just her family at the courthouse and I explained in my letter that the wedding wasnt important to us like actually being married was. We really are stereotypical lesbians but who knows if CIC understands that sterotype lol.

Does anyone have any personal experiences that would help ease my mind?

 

[scylla]

You should take screen shots of your FB conversations.

Have you done anything from a paperwork perspective to combine your affairs? Joint bank accounts? Joint utility bills? Mentioning each other on insurance policies?

Can you show any bills from the wedding?

 

[Rob_TO]

Any photos of the civic wedding? You can take snapshots of the FB conversations.

Testimonial letters from family/friends can help.

Also do you have any joint finances like joint bank account, supplementary credit cards, shared bills, life insurance on each other, your wife changing her status with CRA to married in January for taxes, etc?

Though really dating for 2 years then getting married sounds pretty normal. As a US citizen, you should have your PR app approved pretty easily i think.

 

[Ponga]

Don't worry about sending something that you don't have.

Since you are coming from a visa exempt country, that makes it a bit easier by default. The fact that you are married, and not applying as a Common-Law couple, or a conjugal partner, also makes it easier. If, at any point in the process, they feel that you have not provided enough evidence of your genuine relationship, they will ask you to provide more and/or schedule an interview to `chat' with you and your wife. During this interview, they will eventually discover that you are in fact in a genuine relationship, right?!?! But...that would be an extreme case, which I personally don't think you need worry about.

Have you considered having a friend or a family member write a letter on your behalf, verifying your marriage is in fact genuine? Have it notarized and add it to your pile. It can only help!

Do you have any joint accounts at all (cell plan, bank, utility bills...anything)?

Send what you have. It's all you can do!

Good luck!

 

[fumbler1983]

We no longer have any of the FB conversations actually. I feel so stupiid for not thinking of any of this ahead of time. I have been "visiting" Canada and staying with her since January of this year. She changed her last name too does that help with proof? I can have family write letters too but I wasnt sure if they needed to be notarized.

 

[Ponga]

Yeah, I know what you mean! We never think that we'll EVER have to prove our love to anyone, so we discard what, at the time, seems trivial...only to regret it later on!

If you can afford to have a couple of the letters notarized, I'd suggest doing that. It will add more credence than those without.

 

[Chevy23]

Hey,

We are a same sex couple who have applied for pr we have passed the sponsorship stage but are still waiting on the London office

I was also worried about our proof as I actually forgot to include our fb chats and like you we have no phone bills

All I included was photos of our ceremony which was very small and photos from trips out together although because I'm from England I do have plane tickets as proof of visit and we did live together for a while as well

But we didn't include any letters although if you have them definitely include them, we did also include photocopies of bday cards and weddings card and some gift receipts

 

[truesmile]

Don't worry about sending something that you don't have.

Since you are coming from a visa exempt country, that makes it a bit easier by default. . . .

Totally agree! We applied from a non-visa exempt country and did not include any family letters concerning the genuineness of the marriage, let alone any notarized letters.

 

[fumbler1983]

Hey,

We are a same sex couple who have applied for pr we have passed the sponsorship stage but are still waiting on the London office

I was also worried about our proof as I actually forgot to include our fb chats and like you we have no phone bills

All I included was photos of our ceremony which was very small and photos from trips out together although because I'm from England I do have plane tickets as proof of visit and we did live together for a while as well

But we didn't include any letters although if you have them definitely include them, we did also include photocopies of bday cards and weddings card and some gift receipts

I didnt even think of birthday cards! That is great advice thanks so much! Thanks to everyone for your replies. I am feeling better already. We were originally going to apply inland so I think my anxiety stems from not being able to appeal and the interview delaying the process significantly.

 

[marlasinger]

my husband and I are in a similar situation with visiting each other - we see each other every weekend but drive. to show proof of the trips we printed out our bank records and visa statements and highlighted all the purchases we made in each other's cities and those corresponded to the dates we listed as having seen each other. the bank statements also had other things on them, like my husband's purchase of my wedding rings,concert ticket, dinners etc,. we also sent text message screencaps from our phones - pasted them into a word document and printed them. and like other's have said, we got friends and family to write up short personal letters to confirm our relationship but didn't bother to have them notarized. we also sent scans of all our wedding cards, some birthday cards, a card his daughter made me and copies of the bills and invoices from our wedding. good luck

 

[Chevy23]

I didnt even think of birthday cards! That is great advice thanks so much! Thanks to everyone for your replies. I am feeling better already. We were originally going to apply inland so I think my anxiety stems from not being able to appeal and the interview delaying the process significantly.

Haha no worries and good luck with your application!!

 

[Rob_TO]

I can have family write letters too but I wasnt sure if they needed to be notarized.

No it's not required. To make them look more "official" just have the writer include their full name, address, phone number, email and work title (if applicable). Not that CIC ever calls them.

 

[Ponga]

No it's not required. To make them look more "official" just have the writer include their full name, address, phone number, email and work title (if applicable). Not that CIC ever calls them.

True...it's not a requirement, but for the relatively small amount of money (~$25), it can certainly help ease their mind and add more credibility to the letter.

 

[QuebecOkie]

We sent almost NOTHING compared to much of what I read on here. I am an American married to a Canadian. He lived in my home state for four years before moving to Québec. We met not quite two years before the move, and we married about two months before the move, after about a year and a half of dating.

He wrote nothing about our relationship. I created a Word document, on which I placed 8 photos. One was from our wedding, which was a small civil ceremony (he was in jeans! nice jeans, but still) at which we had only three friends to serve as witnesses. (Also, we were married on a Friday the 13th...not sure if anyone at CIC would have picked up on that.) Under each photo, I typed one to four sentences to describe the photo and provide a sort of timeline. "This is a photo of us preparing to go parasailing. It was an excursion to Cancun during our first vacation together to Riviera-Maya, Mexico, November 2010 (itinerary attached)." Next photo. "Here we are in Jamaica, on our second vacation together. The poolside bar was our favourite spot at the resort. Ocho Rios, Jamaica, April 2011. (Itinerary attached.)"

So, a word document with 8 photos and descriptions. I also ended that with a statement about my dedication to my husband (again, he wrote nothing - he's allergic to paperwork and mostly allergic to feelings), saying that my living situation was further proof that our relationship is real, in that I left a full life in my home state to move to Northern Québec and struggle to learn French. He was my ONLY reason to be here.

Three itineraries; two showing us traveling together and one showing me traveling to where he was deployed at the time.

And that. is. it!!!!!!!!!! We didn't know then a tenth of what I know now. We didn't provide proof of our joint bank account, or me as the beneficiary of his insurance policy, or our names together on our car insurance, or any of the other things we could have included. Just 8 photos providing a brief timeline of our relationship, and three itineraries.

So don't stress out too much. Gather your proofs, go over the application packet again and again and again and make sure you've dotted your i's and crossed your t's.

 

[fumbler1983]

We sent almost NOTHING compared to much of what I read on here. I am an American married to a Canadian. He lived in my home state for four years before moving to Québec. We met not quite two years before the move, and we married about two months before the move, after about a year and a half of dating.

He wrote nothing about our relationship. I created a Word document, on which I placed 8 photos. One was from our wedding, which was a small civil ceremony (he was in jeans! nice jeans, but still) at which we had only three friends to serve as witnesses. (Also, we were married on a Friday the 13th...not sure if anyone at CIC would have picked up on that.) Under each photo, I typed one to four sentences to describe the photo and provide a sort of timeline. "This is a photo of us preparing to go parasailing. It was an excursion to Cancun during our first vacation together to Riviera-Maya, Mexico, November 2010 (itinerary attached)." Next photo. "Here we are in Jamaica, on our second vacation together. The poolside bar was our favourite spot at the resort. Ocho Rios, Jamaica, April 2011. (Itinerary attached.)"

So, a word document with 8 photos and descriptions. I also ended that with a statement about my dedication to my husband (again, he wrote nothing - he's allergic to paperwork and mostly allergic to feelings), saying that my living situation was further proof that our relationship is real, in that I left a full life in my home state to move to Northern Québec and struggle to learn French. He was my ONLY reason to be here.

Three itineraries; two showing us traveling together and one showing me traveling to where he was deployed at the time.

And that. is. it!!!!!!!!!! We didn't know then a tenth of what I know now. We didn't provide proof of our joint bank account, or me as the beneficiary of his insurance policy, or our names together on our car insurance, or any of the other things we could have included. Just 8 photos providing a brief timeline of our relationship, and three itineraries.

So don't stress out too much. Gather your proofs, go over the application packet again and again and again and make sure you've dotted your i's and crossed your t's.

This makes me feel SO much better! Thanks so much!!!