milimili said:
Oh no, no millions of dollars or anything like that. It's just that my scholarship + assistantship covers more than the CIC required 14,000 for two people. Only a few k more, but it's above the required 14,000. However, all this money is just guaranteed by the University; I won't have it on my account at the start of the year.
I have one property in my name. It's not on his name, but I suppose that's not a problem. He will also inherit two properties and I will inherit an additional one. Though these are on parent's names so no idea if they count.
When you say "he should show some reasonable funds for himself", what is considered "reasonable"?
Thank you so much for your help.
First and foremost - properties are shown for ties, not for funding. If it was for funding, people sell those, show proof of sell and put the money in their accounts.
Hence, 'to be inherited property' is irrelevant for proving ties and i don't think should even be submitted.
Spend a few months in Canada at least. Attach proof of receiving funding regularly AND UNIVERSITY's complete document SHOWING funding's commitment for the rest of the period.
I think that if you have enough money as per CIC's guide line for two people FROM FUNDING but with good evidence, you are good to go.
On a practical note, i find CIC's estimates a bit too conservative. I live in a relatively cheaper city (Montreal) and when i was living alone (my family was due to arrive latter) my rent was like 650 a month, and net living expense was around 1200. For two people this would reach around 2k a month. It is true that this estimate is NOT FOR students and would probably be for a couple who are professionals and can afford several things in this which students won't go for, but then Montreal is cheaper as well.
So i personally thought you should have (funding + available money) in the range of 25k CAD or so TOTAL to be comfortable specially if you are going to a place like Toronto or Vancouver. I don't know if you would get University housing, but getting a single bed room apartment for 600 is just not possible in those places. It is more like around 1k or higher.
Because your spouse applies separately and is not working, my definition of 'reasonable' is around 5-6k CAD (for him to show in his account). Even better if you could go up to 10k, but that is not a requirement, just my assessment viewing CIC's min limits plus the actual on ground cost of living. Remember to include SOURCE of this fund too since he is a student. If his parents gave him the money, some thing showing their status and capability to fund their son would be important. This helps CIC to distinguish if he really has this money on his disposal, rather than just having borrowed from some one to show in his account. This happens all the time, and those guys are way too experienced in dealing with this every day.
Lastly, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, attach sufficient proof of relationship. If you have been married for 8 years, just don't stick to marriage certificate only. Add some evidence of that period too unless you have kids as well. Evidence could be 'joint bank accounts', joint ownership of any thing. If you don't have those, you could add any thing you feel could sustain your relationship.
I was married for even longer and had kids, so this was not needed. Plus we were applying together and had never lived apart since marriage which would not be the case for you when your spouse applies. Otherwise, i could have for e.g. submitted health / life insurance policies - all of which indicate my spouse as next of kin. This is just an idea. You could pick up things more appropriate for your situation. But the point is to provide sufficient evidence to distinguish it from a 'marriage of convenience'