Man, I'm not sure where to start. I guess from the start for completeness sake as our situation has evolved into requiring hard proof of our togetherness from a time when we were just happy being/living together.
I'm Irish and met my Canadian girlfriend in Australia in August 2007. She was a student and I had a Working Holiday visa, had finished some travelling and was looking for work when I met her. She was living in shared accommodation and I was renting a room with a friend. Her student visa expired in December 07 but she soon decided that she would return to Australia with a 1 year Working holiday Visa so we could be together in Australia.
Prior to her leaving my girlfriend became good friends with my social circle, there was a good number of my friends from Ireland there. Myself, my girlfriend, my mate and his girlfriend decided we'd get a place together. We finally found a place in late Oct 07. The lease would only allow two people to sign for it as technically only two people were supposed to live there. The lease company, in reality, didn't care as long as two people were on the lease. As I had done most of the legwork and had a longer term visa, and my mate was in the same situation along with significant Australian landlord references we both went on the lease application and subsequently the lease. This wasn't a big deal at the time, one person from each couple was on the lease. As mentioned, my girlfriend's visa was running out and she was a student so it didn't look good on the lease application. My lease app, ahem, looked like I had work but I was soon actually working in a good job.
We moved in on Oct 28th. I had no bank account at the time so the rent was taken from my friends account. The bills were also in his name - it was just that he organised those things from work. It wasn't a big deal, we were childhood friends. On November 3rd 07 my girlfriend and I set up a joint bank account. This has payments to my buddy for bills and rent in the bank statement.
My girlfriend's previous lease only expired on November 13th but, as mentioned, she had already moved in with me. Not sure whether to mention this in the app as it seems implausible. My girlfriend left for Canada on December 3rd to go home for Christmas, get an Australian visa and earn some money for her return flight. She returned after 10 weeks in Feb 2008.
It was here we lived until early December 08. We had every intention of staying in Australia but my girlfriend had trouble getting a job in her chosen field in Australia, grew tired of waitressing and had decided to study some more. It was too expensive in Australia so we decided to go to Canada. She was accepted for a course starting in Sept 09. We left Australia in December 08, travelled through Thailand for a few weeks and arrived in Ireland before Christmas to explore my Canadian visa options. We were very much naive of the process but our goal when researching a visa was to try stay together. We decided to get me a 1 yr Working Holiday Visa and apply inland once I got to Canada. We confirmed this was possible. While in Ireland we lived in my mother's house. We were waiting here until my working holiday visa was processed however my girlfriend got last minute notice that she had to do an entrance exam for college so she had to leave Ireland in March 09. I finally got my Working Holiday visa and arrived in Canada 10 weeks later.
After talking with Canadian immigration in Dublin, and again at the airport, I arrived in Canada on a tourist visa as we planned on driving around the country for our first months or so, which we've just done, and I had no intention to work. This also gave us more time on my Working Holiday visa for the Permanent visa to be processed. I plan on crossing in to the States and then re-entering to activate my 1 year as soon as our application package is nigh on ready. We're now living together in her parents house in the meantime. I'm soon to start looking for a job but I want to get this application right.
Now, finally, my query. I don't think we'll have any problem proving the relationship is genuine. We've met each others families numerous times, we've gone on numerous trips and outings and have tons of photos and itineraries to prove it. We also have evidence of regular communication and gifts while we were apart on the two occasions. That part doesn't concern me. I worried about proving our co-habitation/maintaining a household for a year. In the time we were living together we weren't concerned that we'd ever have to prove this stuff. As a result the only evidence we have of living together there are our bank accounts and her Australian licence (although this confirms no dates, merely that she lived at the same address). We also have an additional source saying we lived at the same address. My girlfriend's superannuation (Australian compulsory pension) company is sending us a letter saying when her account was set up (April, when she started working) and at our old Australian address but doesn't cover 12 months. I have the lease saying I lived there. The only further proof I could probably garner are statutory declarations from both our parents attesting to us living together (her parents stayed with us twice), another from my fellow lease holder and maybe one from an Aussie doctor who knew us both. Could this be enough?
Does the time we spent living in my mother's house in Ireland count as maintaining a household? In Ireland we were living off our savings, which were large, getting smaller now, basically waiting for my other visa to be processed. We were paying rent.
Does our time living in her parent's basement count? We probably won't have our own place by the time we send in the app, which will need to be soon to ensure it can be processed while I'm legally allowed to stay here?
Is our best bet to prove 1 year from Feb 08 (when she returned to Australia) to Feb 09 (when we're living in my mother's house in Ireland) as this period excludes our time apart?
Date Summary:
Mid August 07: Met
Late Oct 07: I signed a lease with my mate, we all moved in.
Early Nov 07 (a few days later): Setup joint bank account
Early Dec 07: Girlfriend leaves for 10 weeks
Feb 08: Girlfriend returns
Dec 08: Leave for Ireland (via Thailand for holiday)
March 09: Girlfriend leaves for Canada for college exam
May 09: I arrive in Canada 10 weeks later
Naturally, like everyone else on here, we've been freaking out worrying about this. I appreciate anyone who takes the time even to read and consider all that. Some of it sounds superfilous but I thought the bigger picture and an explanation of the lack of evidence may help.
Regards,
Yogi
I'm Irish and met my Canadian girlfriend in Australia in August 2007. She was a student and I had a Working Holiday visa, had finished some travelling and was looking for work when I met her. She was living in shared accommodation and I was renting a room with a friend. Her student visa expired in December 07 but she soon decided that she would return to Australia with a 1 year Working holiday Visa so we could be together in Australia.
Prior to her leaving my girlfriend became good friends with my social circle, there was a good number of my friends from Ireland there. Myself, my girlfriend, my mate and his girlfriend decided we'd get a place together. We finally found a place in late Oct 07. The lease would only allow two people to sign for it as technically only two people were supposed to live there. The lease company, in reality, didn't care as long as two people were on the lease. As I had done most of the legwork and had a longer term visa, and my mate was in the same situation along with significant Australian landlord references we both went on the lease application and subsequently the lease. This wasn't a big deal at the time, one person from each couple was on the lease. As mentioned, my girlfriend's visa was running out and she was a student so it didn't look good on the lease application. My lease app, ahem, looked like I had work but I was soon actually working in a good job.
We moved in on Oct 28th. I had no bank account at the time so the rent was taken from my friends account. The bills were also in his name - it was just that he organised those things from work. It wasn't a big deal, we were childhood friends. On November 3rd 07 my girlfriend and I set up a joint bank account. This has payments to my buddy for bills and rent in the bank statement.
My girlfriend's previous lease only expired on November 13th but, as mentioned, she had already moved in with me. Not sure whether to mention this in the app as it seems implausible. My girlfriend left for Canada on December 3rd to go home for Christmas, get an Australian visa and earn some money for her return flight. She returned after 10 weeks in Feb 2008.
It was here we lived until early December 08. We had every intention of staying in Australia but my girlfriend had trouble getting a job in her chosen field in Australia, grew tired of waitressing and had decided to study some more. It was too expensive in Australia so we decided to go to Canada. She was accepted for a course starting in Sept 09. We left Australia in December 08, travelled through Thailand for a few weeks and arrived in Ireland before Christmas to explore my Canadian visa options. We were very much naive of the process but our goal when researching a visa was to try stay together. We decided to get me a 1 yr Working Holiday Visa and apply inland once I got to Canada. We confirmed this was possible. While in Ireland we lived in my mother's house. We were waiting here until my working holiday visa was processed however my girlfriend got last minute notice that she had to do an entrance exam for college so she had to leave Ireland in March 09. I finally got my Working Holiday visa and arrived in Canada 10 weeks later.
After talking with Canadian immigration in Dublin, and again at the airport, I arrived in Canada on a tourist visa as we planned on driving around the country for our first months or so, which we've just done, and I had no intention to work. This also gave us more time on my Working Holiday visa for the Permanent visa to be processed. I plan on crossing in to the States and then re-entering to activate my 1 year as soon as our application package is nigh on ready. We're now living together in her parents house in the meantime. I'm soon to start looking for a job but I want to get this application right.
Now, finally, my query. I don't think we'll have any problem proving the relationship is genuine. We've met each others families numerous times, we've gone on numerous trips and outings and have tons of photos and itineraries to prove it. We also have evidence of regular communication and gifts while we were apart on the two occasions. That part doesn't concern me. I worried about proving our co-habitation/maintaining a household for a year. In the time we were living together we weren't concerned that we'd ever have to prove this stuff. As a result the only evidence we have of living together there are our bank accounts and her Australian licence (although this confirms no dates, merely that she lived at the same address). We also have an additional source saying we lived at the same address. My girlfriend's superannuation (Australian compulsory pension) company is sending us a letter saying when her account was set up (April, when she started working) and at our old Australian address but doesn't cover 12 months. I have the lease saying I lived there. The only further proof I could probably garner are statutory declarations from both our parents attesting to us living together (her parents stayed with us twice), another from my fellow lease holder and maybe one from an Aussie doctor who knew us both. Could this be enough?
Does the time we spent living in my mother's house in Ireland count as maintaining a household? In Ireland we were living off our savings, which were large, getting smaller now, basically waiting for my other visa to be processed. We were paying rent.
Does our time living in her parent's basement count? We probably won't have our own place by the time we send in the app, which will need to be soon to ensure it can be processed while I'm legally allowed to stay here?
Is our best bet to prove 1 year from Feb 08 (when she returned to Australia) to Feb 09 (when we're living in my mother's house in Ireland) as this period excludes our time apart?
Date Summary:
Mid August 07: Met
Late Oct 07: I signed a lease with my mate, we all moved in.
Early Nov 07 (a few days later): Setup joint bank account
Early Dec 07: Girlfriend leaves for 10 weeks
Feb 08: Girlfriend returns
Dec 08: Leave for Ireland (via Thailand for holiday)
March 09: Girlfriend leaves for Canada for college exam
May 09: I arrive in Canada 10 weeks later
Naturally, like everyone else on here, we've been freaking out worrying about this. I appreciate anyone who takes the time even to read and consider all that. Some of it sounds superfilous but I thought the bigger picture and an explanation of the lack of evidence may help.
Regards,
Yogi
