Question about visitor extension + passport.

[Ferirosha]

Subject changed! I was told that I CAN apply for common-law, so here are my new questions!

- His mother is CHINESE and has NO ability to speak/write/listen in English at ALL. I know I am legally not allowed to write one for her. So what can we do?

- We have receipts varying from movies, Sephora make up, restaurants, and a lot of random junk. However, some receipts show his Visa, which was switched to Costco Mastercard. Not sure how to get his information/proof back that he had his Visa before his mastercard..?

- We LIVE with his mother, rent-free. He just occasionally helps her fill her car-gas, or buys some groceries. Therefore 0 bill statements from a landlord. Will his mother's letter alone satisfy CIC?

- DO we need letters from his friends as well to state that they know we have been in a genuine relationship and lived together since June 2016?

- We did not have a joint bank account. I arrived june 2016 and was rejected from TD bank as I dont have SIN card and I am visitor status.

How many photos do we need? We only have pictures of him, me and his mother. He does not have a father... Is that really sufficient? We also have pictures with his friends, would that help?

Please help!

 

[Buletruck]

Not to add to your paranoia, but there is a definite possibility your extension will be either very short or denied. Apart from not working or studying, IRCC also doesn't want you living here on your visitor status, something you seem to be doing. Generally, 2 years seems to be the limit of extensions. Since you've obviously been living together for a year, why haven't you applied for your PR?

 

[Ferirosha]

We have not gotten married yet, as he has had to save for a car and we didn't want a backyard wedding...
Backyard weddings are cheap, easy to do, and in my opinion easy to forge. Basically, looking at around 10000 give or take for the entire ceremony is what we're aiming for. For a wedding, thats definitely not expensive. 10000 includes every single thing we need, from venue, dinner, gowns and etc. But saving needs time and because he's using about 10 grand now to buy a car for work, we have to start from scratch again. Please advise on what to do. I was actually debating on applying for a student visa while we save up, but it would be ideal for visitor as studying takes a lot of money for sure.

 

[Jeffuk88]

If his mother will write a letter showing you've lived together for over a year you can apply common law before marriage

 

[Buletruck]

Just apply common law for now. All you need to pay is the fees, no wedding necessary if you aren't ready.

 

[Ferirosha]

From what I understand, common-law is extremely difficult, with the issue of requiring joint bank accounts, utility statements, and a lot of house-based/ownership-based proof. Since we do not pay rent we do not have a landlord/proof of payment statements for water, electricity and what not.
I currently use his bank account, should I just apply with him to get a conjoint name? Please advise on what to do...
One good thing is I am from NZ, which is a tiny bit less harsh in terms of interrogation.

 

[Jeffuk88]

His mother's letter would be proof of cohabitation and account for lack of bills... just get your name added to his account if you already use it for everything and print off his statements showing purchases neccessary for you e.g. food, clothing

 

[Buletruck]

Common law isn't that difficult. You need proof you live together, statements from friends and family, (mom can do up a rental agreement for the both of you)....it's not that hard. I think you are confusing conjugal with common law.

 

[Ferirosha]

Thank you for your advise. I feel much better now as we are in a financial burden (marriage is extremely expensive).
We have a TON of receipts, from movies, food, dinner and others. Would that help? (They are all on his Visa/Mastercard or cash) As for bank, should I request to have my name added on there? TD Canada Trust told me that because I am not a resident, do not have a SIN card and I am a visitor status, I cannot be added on. This was last year when I first arrived.
His credit card is Costco mastercard, which does not allow dual-names especially because his mother is using the 1family allowance member card.

I have until Jan 1st, 2018 to do everything then, for common-law. What I would need is letter from friends/his mother stating our relationship is genuine?
I left for Calgary in August 2016 to help take care of his grandmother whom was in a car accident. We were apart for 30 days. I hope that does not cut anything short.

Is there anything else I should add onto his name? As far as credit-card goes, definitely a no from his main costco mastercard, and TD refused me last year due to my status.

EDIT: His mother is CHINESE and does not have an ability to type out/write out an English letter that states we live together. How can we solve this, as me writing one for her is illegal? (As told by someone on forum)

 

[Buletruck]

Royal Bank will let you open a joint account as long as he is the principal account holder. We had no shared account (the law didn't allow it where we were), so all we had were pictures (not just the 2 of you, but you with his family and friends, etc) and family statements. Ours was processed in 5 1/2 months, and it was a viewed as a difficult case by many. Just be factual and accurate in the application. No long meandering stories.....just the facts they ask for.

 

[Ferirosha]

Royal Bank will let you open a joint account as long as he is the principal account holder. We had no shared account (the law didn't allow it where we were), so all we had were pictures (not just the 2 of you, but you with his family and friends, etc) and family statements. Ours was processed in 5 1/2 months, and it was a viewed as a difficult case by many. Just be factual and accurate in the application. No long meandering stories.....just the facts they ask for.

I'm happy for you that it worked out! I'm just extremely nervous as I was told IF your application is DENIED, you will have difficulty when you try to re-apply. He has been with TD bank for over 8 years. Is transferring now to RBC a good idea? I didn't know about common-law until now and I arrived last year in June. So I'm worried when the time comes for application, it'll be suspicious as to why he made a bank account joint with me so late..?

 

[Buletruck]

Don't lie to them....your setting up an account because you plan to get married....people do get married in Canada!
If you are worried about you application being denied, apply outland. Gives you the option to appeal any decision, but may require you to go back to NZ for an interview. And I highly doubt you will have any problems. Fewer problems than if you try to keep living here on a TRV. That can cause you issues.

 

[Jeffuk88]

If you arrived in June what did you extend to a year visitor visa from? Also they'll want to know whenow you met and evidence of the relationship before coming to Canada (unless you only met after last june)... his mother could write the letter in Chinese and have it officially translated and notarized

 

[Ferirosha]

If you arrived in June what did you extend to a year visitor visa from? Also they'll want to know whenow you met and evidence of the relationship before coming to Canada (unless you only met after last june)... his mother could write the letter in Chinese and have it officially translated and notarized

I applied online to extend my visitor pass. I had 6months from June to December, applied in December for one year extension and was approved.
We do have a very, very long chat history online. Wondering how much chat-log is sufficient to prove anything, because we have thousands and thousands of logs. However, after June the chat online died down drastically as we did not need to use Skype/facebook to interact daily anymore. Is that fine?

Where can I find official- translators and get it notarized? Is it possible at all to write her letter based on her words and have her sign it, or is it still illegal to do so?

 

[Jeffuk88]

I'm not knowledgeable on the legal aspects for those who aren't fluent in English or French but it would need to be official. I'd talk to a lawyer about that... you can get consultations for $100 or sometimes free just for advice. My educated guess would be that a lawyer has to witness the translation and there'd need to be a qualified translator who could sign it also.

For the application you just have to prove the relationship is genuine so gather as much evidence as you can and then submit what they ask for. They may request more later on so just keep gathering what you can