Relationship timeline?

[Mrs_Canuck]

Should I be writing one? Our relationship before my husband and I were married was just under a year long, though we have a lot of pluses (shared bank accounts, cohabitation) I feel that at a glance, that may raise red flags without an explanation attached. How would I go about writing a relationship timeline in the first place?

As well, instead of creating a new thread - My husband and I had a small civil ceremony with a few guests. Neither my family nor his family could attend (combination of financial and distance issues) but my family will be writing a letter to the effect as a declaration/vouch for the relationship we have.

In fact, at the time we were both glad to have a small ceremony by ourselves as our families would have taken over the event and we wanted the moment to be more intimate. We also have a mutual friend who did attend the ceremony write a letter for us. We did have a professional photographer and sent out cards with wedding photos in them to some family members - I plan to photocopy a card we sent out and include it in the package. We plan to have a renewal of the vows with a larger ceremony (reception, in a few years when we've both saved up enough money and when both of our families can attend. Should I be explaining this in writing? Would saying that we plan to have another ceremony in a few years hurt our application?

Thanks.

 

[millslu]

lets put it like that, do everything that is required and asked for from immigration, if you yourself know some red flags like a small ceremony or other issues you will get your time at the interview if the officer find that enough wasnt done and you will have you day at the interview and be able to explain. try your best to show strength in the relationship you have now and not to focus to much on the one you had before, the officers dont really care about your past relationship or issues they focus more on your present relationship and how genuine it is. so give them everything you have with your husband from the day yourll met to now, focus on that.

 

[Mrs_Canuck]

So relationship timeline is pointless? I know that it isn't an easy process, so I want to make it as clear cut and simple for the VO as possible when he/she looks at our application...

 

[Sweden]

I wrote a relationship timeline, because both my partner and I moved a lot, and we wanted to make it easy for the VO to understand when we met, where my partner moved to, when I followed, when we started living together etc.
So we created a table with a column for each of us, with information about where we were, and what we were doing. With a new row every time something changed.
We also included in the timeline a 'future' timeline, stating at what date we intended to move to Canada ( we were both outside of Canada at that time), to show that we had every intention of going back to Canada. We included a last column where we referenced the proofs that we sent, so every time we traveled together for example, we could add "see plane ticket to XXX on XXX".

For the civil ceremony: explain your reasons, and add the proofs you have. Explain that you plan to have a renewal of vows with a bigger reception later on, and explain your reasons. I don't think it will hurt your application, as long as you are clear about why you made certain choices, it should be all good.
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[millslu]

if you are going to do a timeline i recommend not just words but evidence to support it, but try to base it solely on yourll relationship not on any pass relationship.pictures,tickets alot of stuff with both yourll names and faces on it.

 

[Spoken05]

Why is a relationship timeline needed?

In the form IMM5490, it asks the sponsored spouse to describe the how the couple first met, development of the relationship, any relatives who met the spouse, questions about the engagement proposal, questions about the wedding ceremony and reception, etc.

Isn't that enough proof of how genuine our relationship is?

 

[millslu]

I would agree so no need for a timeline at all, the only timeline you can give is with pictures. if you have a lot of pictures doing variouse things like xmas birthdays ect put it in order for them like a timeline show them her bday his bday what year ect ect. other than that don't write anything on paper about yourll relationship other than what is on the application form.

 

[Iay]

Why is a relationship timeline needed?

In the form IMM5490, it asks the sponsored spouse to describe the how the couple first met, development of the relationship, any relatives who met the spouse, questions about the engagement proposal, questions about the wedding ceremony and reception, etc.

Isn't that enough proof of how genuine our relationship is?

Relationship timeline is NOT MANDATORY. I know a lot of people who did relationship timeline and got visa the same time as people who didn't. If you think your relationship needs a bit more "storytelling" then I guess it's good to have one. If your answers in the forms have pretty much talked about how you met until how you are to present (like our application) you don't necessarily need to do a relationship timeline as it will just say the same thing twice.

I put more proof of relationship tho like boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, post cards, etc.

 

[Spoken05]

Relationship timeline is NOT MANDATORY. I know a lot of people who did relationship timeline and got visa the same time as people who didn't. If you think your relationship needs a bit more "storytelling" then I guess it's good to have one. If your answers in the forms have pretty much talked about how you met until how you are to present (like our application) you don't necessarily need to do a relationship timeline as it will just say the same thing twice.

I put more proof of relationship tho like boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, post cards, etc.

My relationship seems to be more straightforward (at least I hope the VO thinks so) that all of our relationship information will be in the answers.

And like you, we have gathered up alot of proof through boarding passes, receipts, pictures, cards, etc.

 

[millslu]

then that is you need if it is straightforward it will go through faster so don't complicate anything else with a timeline. that's what the application is there for.

 

[Iay]

My relationship seems to be more straightforward (at least I hope the VO thinks so) that all of our relationship information will be in the answers.

And like you, we have gathered up alot of proof through boarding passes, receipts, pictures, cards, etc.

Yup. A lot of people have been stressing to me this relationship timeline even before I gathered my forms and proofs. At first, I thought I'm too lazy to do it. But later on, I realized I don't really need it because I'll be writing the same stuff twice. If I had another chance tho, I would get stories from our friends and family, and the pastor (who conducted a pre-marital counselling to us and officiated our marriage) to add proofs that a lot of people knew about our relationship. Well I guess, our pictures with them will be as good as their stories.

 

[dawlex]

We sent in a timeline. Our story is complicated though as hubby is out of status and I had hoped the timeline would help explain that. Our relationship spans 8 years (2 together in Canada, 4 separated in our own countries, and the last 2 living together in Canada) We married last Oct, but it took us a while to get there since he had married young in his own country and then separated shortly afterwards but never legally divorced. His divorce ended up turning into a nightmare (filed in 2006 but did not finalize until 2011 because his lawyer got into trouble and his cases were froze so we had to re-file again with a new lawyer). We submit about 90 photos from 2004 when we met, up until now, and also included a lot of evidence (correspondence from the divorce lawyer, etc.) to show what had been going on. I found putting everything into a timeline and making reference to the photos and supporting evidence, the easiest way to display what has been going on over the years and why it took so long to get our spousal application filed.