Relationship Support Letters Examples

[GT25]

Hi,

Having some family and friends provide letters to help prove our common law relationship. My mother and his mother and at least two friends from each of us. Do you think this is enough?

More importantly can someone provide a good example of a letter that I may share with these people to help them with writing their letters?

Also it is my understanding that none of these letters need to be notarized but they should include contact information. Is this correct? Please confirm

Thanks!!!

 

[AllisonVSC]

I think common law and conjugal partners require two statutory declarations (meaning notarized written statements). Below I copied the letter I sent asking friends and family to write letters on our behalf. This may let a bit more helpful than one sample. The responses I got were quite varied...

Here is the letter I wrote to friends and family asking for letters of support...

Dear Friends and Family,

As you know I am seeking Permanent Residence status in Ontario, Canada through the Family Class immigration category. I am technically called a "Conjugal Partner" (nice and descriptive, isn't it?) and XXXX is my Sponsor. As part of the immigration application we are required to provide evidence that we are indeed a genuine couple. This includes written correspondence, passport stamps from visits to see each other, plane ticket stubs, photos, etc. We are also required to document the history of our relationship (which was kind of a fun exercise).

An important part of this evidence of genuine coupledom/coupleship, whatever you want to call it, is documentation from family and friends. My brother and his wife have agreed to make sworn testimony on our behalf, but from reading Canadian immigration blogs it appears that the more documentary evidence we can provide from external sources the more likely our application will be approved swiftly, or at least not denied on this basis.

So I am writing today to ask if you would write an email on our behalf and send it to me (or XXXX, if you prefer) by Friday. I realize this request is somewhat vague as to the content of the email, so I've included a list of basic points to cover at the bottom of this message. You are certainly welcome to write more, or less...whatever you are comfortable with putting in writing to support our Family Class application.

For those of you who respond, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your timely assistance in this matter. For those who chose not to respond for any reason, please know that I accept your decision with much grace and goodwill.

Kindest regards,
Allison


General information to consider including in your message (this can be written in French or in English, by the way)...

1. A description of how you know either one of us (typically the person you knew first)...examples
I am a friend of XXX, I was a co-worker of XXX, I am the sister of XXX, etc

2. A description of how you became aware of our relationship, when you met the other partner, activities we participated in together, etc

3. A statement to the effect that, in your judgement, we are in a real, loving, ongoing, genuine (you choose the words) relationship based on your personal knowledge and experiences

 

[Dayanara]

I have asked a bunch of my friends and family to write letters for us, because we are married we don't need to have them notarized or anything, but just nice to have extra proof that we are genuine.

Here is a letter my best friend wrote for me....Have edited certain personal information of course....

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing this statement in order to vouch for the loving relationship between Dayanara and
Trezpan. Dayanara has been a very close friend of mine for the past 17 years, and I have
known Trezpan for the past two years.

They met online, through a video game called World of Warcraft (WoW), which I also play.
During the Fall of 2007 Dayanara informed me that she had been chatting to somebody online
through WoW and December of that year she planned to meet him in person. They met on
December 26th, 2007, and afterward in the New Year, Dayanara had let me know that the meeting
had gone very well. She sounded very happy when she told me that they had ‘really hit it
off' and that they ‘mesh so well together'. Dayanara told me they planned on seeing more of
each other and she made numerous travel plans to see Trezpan in City, WI early that year.

The first time I met Trezpan was about two years ago (June, 2008). Dayanara and Trezpan joined my
husband and myself for dinner at Montana's restaurant in City. At this time it was clear that
they cared for each other very much and were both happily committed to one another in a loving
relationship.

In July 2008, I accompanied Trezpan and Dayanara to Canada's Wonderland and we all spent the day
together there. Dayanara and Trezpan attended my wedding together September 20th, 2008 as well as the
rehearsal the night before. It was at the end of September that Trezpan moved to Buffalo in order to
be as close to the Canadian border as possible, to make visiting Dayanara easier.

I consider Dayanara and Trezpan ‘family' and enjoy visiting with them. They attended my birthday
celebration of February 2009, during which we all played Dance Dance Revolution. This was
shortly after they became engaged January 2009, after Dayanara proposed to Trezpan. They both
also attended my birthday celebration February of this year (2010) during which we played the
board games Carcassone and Smart Mouth.

They also came together for Christmas dinner at my apartment this past holiday season of 2009. I accompanied Dayanara to the Buffalo area the first weekend of May 2010 to visit Trezpan. The three of us spent the weekend watching movies, shopping and dining out. Trezpan cooked breakfast for us all weekend.

I was the maid of honour at Dayanara's and Trezpan's wedding April 17th, 2010. As witness to their
union I can personally vouch and am happy to say that they are a couple very much in love.
Please feel free to contact me should you require any additional information.

Sincerely,

Friend

 

[minna]

I am submitting 3 notarized letters, although one of them is from my parents and is also a pledge of support and place to live for us when we land in Vancouver. I have a number of emails from other family and friends that I will also be submitting, but they were not solicited specifically for the application - just emails between, for instance, my partner's sister and I that show that she and I have a good relationship.

Here's an example of one of the notarized letters:


To: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

I am writing in support of SPONSOR NAME and APPLICANT NAME application for sponsorship and permanent residency. I have known SPONSOR since February of 2005. We were co-workers at _______________ from 2005 to 2010. We worked very closely together and became good friends.
I first met APPLICANT at a company Holiday Party in the winter of 2005. He became friends with my husband NAME, and together we have all four met up socially, at various parties and functions. They have been to our house, and met my parents and grandmother several times. We have also attended baseball games together. In 2009, when NAME and I were expecting our son, NAME, SPONSOR and APPLICANT attended our baby shower.
I have known about SPONSOR and APPLICANT’s relationship since SPONSOR and I first met. We often talked and chatted about our home lives while we worked. Over the years of working together, and our developing friendship, I had the opportunity to get to know more and more about SPONSOR and APPLICANT relationship and I know it to be a marriage-like relationship. I believe they are very much in love, and are a great couple.
As much as I hate to see my friends leave the PLACE area, I am happy to support my friends’ application for sponsorship and permanent residency in Canada. Now that SPONSOR is pregnant and they are expecting their first child in 2011, I know that they very much wish to raise their child closer to her family.
Please feel free to contact me for any more information regarding my relationship with SPONSOR and APPLICANT. I am happy to help them in anyway that I can.

Sincerely,

 

[GT25]

Thanks everyone... very helpful!!!!!!

 

[Love_Young]

This is what my mom wrote for us. I love her so much.
Anyway, I omitted some personal information for privacy reason but hope you are still able to get so example.

"I am (mom's name), mother of (applicant) future mother-in-law of (sponsor). Where to start without crying, in Feb 08 my daughter lost the only man she ever trusted, her papaw, my Daddy. Her heart and soul was broken until she started talking to a young man in (location) and he made her smile.

You see she has been my heart, my life, my reason for living. Everything has been for her, wanting her to be a whole person. I am so proud of her and of myself for raising her to have the courage and love for (sponsor) to be able to leave everybody and everything she had ever known to be with him.

I can't believe I was able to welcome a person I had only spoken to on the phone into my home, it was not like me at all but it was meant to be and I realize how brave it was of (sponsor) to come here. I wanted and needed to make sure I kept him safe because he needed someone to love and be brave with.

I am a very spiritual, God loving woman who truly believes they were meant to be together. I would love to be there but like my baby, have never flown and don't have the money to get there and back yet but I will find a way. I just want to be able to help make their dreams come true.

Be free to call or write me."

Sincerely,
(mom's name)


This is also a letter my mom's friend, who watched me grow up, wrote about us. This also has personal information omitted.

"I have known (applicant) for many years. I used to work with her mother and pretty much watched (applicant) grow up into a very sweet young woman. I first heard about (applicant) and (sponsor)'s relationship when they met. (applicant) talked about him all the time, I could tell she was crazy about him! When he came to visit I had the pleasure in meeting (sponsor). He was quiet but seemed to be a very nice young man. I had the chance to spend time with (sponsor) when him and (applicant) came to my home for a visit where I got to know (sponsor). We hung out and talked, (sponsor) even played with my little dog! He is a very nice young man. He even came with (applicant) to my salon and waited while (applicant) had her hair done. I even drove (sponsor) and (applicant) to the airport when (applicant) decided to go to Canada to be with her love. They make a great couple, they seem to love each other so much. Their love is genuine and I can see their relationship ever lasting."

(Friends name)
-insert contact info-

 

[jeans22]

This is what my mom wrote for us. I love her so much.
Anyway, I omitted some personal information for privacy reason but hope you are still able to get so example.

"I am (mom's name), mother of (applicant) future mother-in-law of (sponsor). Where to start without crying, in Feb 08 my daughter lost the only man she ever trusted, her papaw, my Daddy. Her heart and soul was broken until she started talking to a young man in (location) and he made her smile.

You see she has been my heart, my life, my reason for living. Everything has been for her, wanting her to be a whole person. I am so proud of her and of myself for raising her to have the courage and love for (sponsor) to be able to leave everybody and everything she had ever known to be with him.

I can't believe I was able to welcome a person I had only spoken to on the phone into my home, it was not like me at all but it was meant to be and I realize how brave it was of (sponsor) to come here. I wanted and needed to make sure I kept him safe because he needed someone to love and be brave with.

I am a very spiritual, God loving woman who truly believes they were meant to be together. I would love to be there but like my baby, have never flown and don't have the money to get there and back yet but I will find a way. I just want to be able to help make their dreams come true.

Be free to call or write me."

Sincerely,
(mom's name)

Wow... this is so heartfelt... I'm sure this letter helped a lot! Thanks for posting Love_Young!!

 

[Love_Young]

Wow... this is so heartfelt... I'm sure this letter helped a lot! Thanks for posting Love_Young!!

Aww I am glad you liked it. My eyes teared up when I read her letter. I had to call her after I got the letter in the mail.
It meant so much to have her write a letter since she is a big part in our life.

We haven't sent our application yet so I hope it does help and you're very welcome for the post.

 

[G Kann]

Thanks to all. This is a very informative thread.

 

[canadianwoman]

Thanks to everyone who posted example letters.
One key is to try to make the people writing the letters understand that there is no one right way to do it. I realize that people may not know what to say, but getting heartfelt responses, like those from Love_Young's writers, and very individual responses, is better than a several letters that seem too much alike. You don't want the visa officer to get the impression that you yourself wrote the letters and just had your friends and family sign them. So give them a guideline like Allison's, and encourage them to write from the heart.

 

[jaune]

Does anybody know whether a letter signed by a commissioner of oath and a notary weighs the same?

I saw on the statutory declaration that a commissioner of oath is required to sign it, what about the letters written by friends and family then?

Thank you in advance!

 

[canadianwoman]

The letters don't need to be notarized (if you're married). A notarized letter or an affidavit is considered better evidence than just a signed letter or an email, but these are just extra things you are showing to prove your marriage is genuine. They're not official documents, so not notarized is fine.

 

[AllisonVSC]

Thanks to everyone who posted example letters.
One key is to try to make the people writing the letters understand that there is no one right way to do it. I realize that people may not know what to say, but getting heartfelt responses, like those from Love_Young's writers, and very individual responses, is better than a several letters that seem too much alike. You don't want the visa officer to get the impression that you yourself wrote the letters and just had your friends and family sign them. So give them a guideline like Allison's, and encourage them to write from the heart.

Precisely the reason I haven't shared examples of what my friends and family wrote. I didn't want to impose any kind of structure or format on them. Each person went about it in a way that made sense to them and that they could be comfortable with (which was most important to me because I knew I was asking them to stick their toe into scary international legal immigration business). I just helped them understand the purpose and the basic points that needed to be covered. One looked very much like a legal document...I am this, I know that, We met when, etc. Several were very heartfelt letters talking about love and longing. A co-worker just said how she knew me, when she met him (once at a brunch at another co-worker's house), how I talked about him when he wasn't around (LOL in a good way of course) and that she knew that he had tried to find a job in the same town. One friend included a photo he'd taken of us when we visited him (and he got some of the dates wrong!). A few wrote one or two sentences and then said "I really don't know what else to write". All of it was good, useful (I asked the friend to correct the dates before submitting his) and deeply appreciated.

Allison

 

[Khryznah]

your letters are of great help! btw, was it written or computerized??thanks

 

[anonymity]

For statutory declaration, here is a form. You can make it with your computer, print out and get
signatures. It's the same as a letter, but if your family or friends write in different language from English, it will be required to be notarized.

quote:

STATUTORY DECLARATION

CANADA
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
TO WIT:
}

In the matter of the relationship between [ ] and [ ]

I, [full name] of [full address] in the Province of Ontario, Canada,

do solemnly declare as follows:

1.That the common-law relationship between [ ], and her partner, [ ], is known to me.

2.That said relationship is genuine and continuing.

3.[Other details]

4.[Other details]

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing it to be true and knowing that it is of the same force and effect as if made under oath.

Signature of declarant ________________________________

DECLARED before me at (City, Town Village) _______________________________

in the County of _______________________________

in the province of Ontario in Canada

this ______ day of September of the Year 2006

Commissioner of Oaths (Name) _______________________________

Signature of Commissioner of Oaths _______________________________