Sponsor's mother backed out of letter she gave. Advice on our situation, please?

[Hasan9999]

You can use the letter, since she had it notarized. It is unlikely the visa officer would contact her. If she contacts them, then they would look into it, but as the letter is notarized, and you have other proof, it might be enough.

Without the letter you do not have enough evidence for common-law, in my opinion. You have to prove that you lived together for 12 continuous months, and that the relationship is genuine. The hotel receipt helps to show genuineness. The joint account and the phone bill do not cover 12 months. The notarized letter from your mom, and the Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union are good, but will not be enough by themselves to prove common-law. If you have government mail from each month before you have a shared lease, then that might be enough. If not, it is good extra proof, but not enough.
Honestly, I would just get married. All the evidence you have is good for showing your relationship is genuine, and in the application you should state that you have been living together since the time you moved into his mother's house, but if you are married this then becomes extra proof, not something that is essential.
However, if you decide to go with common-law, and use the mother's letter, you do not have to explain the situation with her. Submitting the notarized letter along with the other evidence of common-law would be fine: she did not lie in the notarized letter, and you do not have to tell the visa officer that your relationship with her has soured (unless asked specifically, of course).

While US-Canadian couple get approved very quickly on a common law application, you have enough evidences to apply as a common law partner. As others suggested if you get married, it will be smooth journey for you with no headache!

Hasan

 

[epmarshall]

Of course, lying on a solemn declaration IS a cause to get prosecuted. The penalty I think is up to two years in jail - you may want to, kindly, remind your mother-in-law of this fact.

That's a very good point. Thanks for the information, Dana2.

I would say no. She did give it to you notarised.

When you affirm something to be true to a notary or a commissioner of oaths, they make you duly aware that you are affirming the statement(s) made are true to the best of your knowledge. That's equivalent to giving testimony in a court. Can she take the testimony away too? The answer is no. And if she did try to change her statement later, that may cause other issues for her... perjury comes to mind.

This is a quick except from Wikipedia (I know -- but it was the first source I could get!):
A sworn declaration (also called a sworn statement or a statement under penalty of perjury) is a document that recites facts pertinent to a legal proceeding. It is very similar to an affidavit, but unlike an affidavit, it is not witnessed and sealed by an official such as a notary public. Instead, the person making the declaration signs a separate endorsement paragraph at the end of the document, stating that the declaration is made under penalty of perjury.

If she gave you the letter, then use it. If she wants to try to change it, then she might be looking at jail time (unlikely, but still a deterrent)...

For your other proofs, I think they seem ok. With a healthy smattering of pictures, I bet you have enough as it stands. Of course that's just my opinion...

I appreciate the advice again, profiler! I think we'll use it given the info you guys have given us in this thread.

You can use the letter, since she had it notarized. It is unlikely the visa officer would contact her. If she contacts them, then they would look into it, but as the letter is notarized, and you have other proof, it might be enough.

Without the letter you do not have enough evidence for common-law, in my opinion. You have to prove that you lived together for 12 continuous months, and that the relationship is genuine. The hotel receipt helps to show genuineness. The joint account and the phone bill do not cover 12 months. The notarized letter from your mom, and the Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union are good, but will not be enough by themselves to prove common-law. If you have government mail from each month before you have a shared lease, then that might be enough. If not, it is good extra proof, but not enough.
Honestly, I would just get married. All the evidence you have is good for showing your relationship is genuine, and in the application you should state that you have been living together since the time you moved into his mother's house, but if you are married this then becomes extra proof, not something that is essential.
However, if you decide to go with common-law, and use the mother's letter, you do not have to explain the situation with her. Submitting the notarized letter along with the other evidence of common-law would be fine: she did not lie in the notarized letter, and you do not have to tell the visa officer that your relationship with her has soured (unless asked specifically, of course).

Thanks very much for the info, Canadianwoman! I definitely get where you're coming from regarding our evidence, everything you said makes sense there. Also just to make sure, not telling the officer upfront about the issues with his mom, that's not misrepresentation or anything is it?

While US-Canadian couple get approved very quickly on a common law application, you have enough evidences to apply as a common law partner. As others suggested if you get married, it will be smooth journey for you with no headache!

Hasan

Appreciate the extra input on our plan, Hasan!

 

[profiler]

Misrepresentation is where someone ommitted or lied about material facts in their case.

If they ask if you get along with his mother, say there has been tension. You're not obligated to describe your relationship with her, unless they expressly ask.

Best of luck!

 

[canadianwoman]

Agreed. Not telling the visa officer about the problems with the mother is fine. It is not misrepresentation. If he or she asks directly, you do have to answer honestly, of course, but I still wouldn't go into many details. I doubt they will ask.

 

[Regina]

They could ask because it is the ONLY evidence that they have been living together for more than 12 months. Everything else is only since Feb 2016. And a letter from MOM? It happens mom lies for the benefits of their children.
I would get some letters from friends stating that they know you as a couple for 12+ months, visited you when you lived with his mom and then when you lived in your rented place.
No need to notarize them, just with their names, addresses and phone numbers and signatures .

 

[canadianwoman]

Yes, this is why I don't think they have enough evidence for common-law, in particular without the mother's letter. I would either wait to apply until they have been living together for 12 continuous months after leaving the mother's house, or get married.

 

[epmarshall]

They could ask because it is the ONLY evidence that they have been living together for more than 12 months. Everything else is only since Feb 2016. And a letter from MOM? It happens mom lies for the benefits of their children.
I would get some letters from friends stating that they know you as a couple for 12+ months, visited you when you lived with his mom and then when you lived in your rented place.
No need to notarize them, just with their names, addresses and phone numbers and signatures .

Yeah, that's a really good point especially thinking about it from that perspective. Thanks for sharing, Regina.

Misrepresentation is where someone ommitted or lied about material facts in their case.

If they ask if you get along with his mother, say there has been tension. You're not obligated to describe your relationship with her, unless they expressly ask.

Best of luck!

Thank you, profiler, for that info! That's a good way of putting it if the matter does come up. And honest as well.

Agreed. Not telling the visa officer about the problems with the mother is fine. It is not misrepresentation. If he or she asks directly, you do have to answer honestly, of course, but I still wouldn't go into many details. I doubt they will ask.

Awesome, thank you! Then we'll just keep things simple and only tell what we need to regarding that matter. Basically, just focusing on the evidence rather than any drama.

We actually have a letter from my bf's mom to him about this stuff that mentions me. She gave it to us when we left her house and it's basically her apologizing for how she acted while we were living with her. Do you think we should include this or will it draw too much attention to the fact that our relationship with her is strained? I don't want to start making them ask questions. We have other normal things from her like cards and such that we are planning to include as well, so we could easily leave this out.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[profiler]

Thank you, profiler, for that info! That's a good way of putting it if the matter does come up. And honest as well.

Np. My pleasure.

We actually have a letter from my bf's mom to him about this stuff that mentions me. She gave it to us when we left her house and it's basically her apologizing for how she acted while we were living with her. Do you think we should include this or will it draw too much attention to the fact that our relationship with her is strained? I don't want to start making them ask questions. We have other normal things from her like cards and such that we are planning to include as well, so we could easily leave this out.

I would not bother. You're right to suggest drawing attention to it. If they mention it, you can produce the second letter.

 

[epmarshall]

I would not bother. You're right to suggest drawing attention to it. If they mention it, you can produce the second letter.

That's true, then I will have it to produce for later just in case. Thanks again! I will include just the normal cards and things we got from her.