Common-law partner from western Europe

[Björn]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently living with my boyfriend in The Netherlands. He is Canadian and I have a Dutch and a Finnish natlionality. However, we are not sure if we will be able to extend his residence permit here in The Netherlands so we are maybe thinking of immigrating to Canada.

I'm trying to fill in the form IMM3901E and I find a few parts difficult. There is a section that requires my travel information since my 18th birthday. This is the problem, I've been travelling a lot since i've been 18. My dad works for KLM, so I used to get cheaper tickets. I used to travel every 2 months. I have no idea of the exact dates! I guess I would have to print out several of these pages to make all my travels fit. Does anyone know what I can do? Or has anyone gone through the same problem??? Why is it required? if I travel within Europe there are often not even border controls (when arriving by car).

I'm also questioning section 10. It says "...Also provide details of the history of your relationship and at least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of your relationship supporting your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing." What does it exactly mean "statutory declaration"? I was thinking two of my friends could write this, but how should it be written and what makes it statutory??

I would be very happy if some one could help me out.

[Elizabeth Joe]

You only need to include the form about your travels, if you go through Paris (Checklist Immigrant 14. Other Documentation). I guess you go through Berlin or London, so you don't need that.
As for the statutory declaration. They need to be signed in front of a commissioner of oath (judge, lawyer, ...). I had a hard time finding out a cheap way of doing that in Germany. We didn't need them in the end, because we decided to get married, before we applied. But maybe somebody else, that applied common-law from holland could help.

[AllisonVSC]

Statutory declarations are sworn statements by people who know of your relationship and believe it is legitimate. They can take pretty much any form as long as they are signed in front of a notary who then attests to and verifies the identity of the individual who signed the statement. These could be from friends, family members, neighbours, landlords, etc. The key is that two of them need to be notarized or "sworn" (btw, you can offer more if you want. I had 2 notarized and 6-7 more that were not).

General information you should ask the person to include in the statement
 
1.  A description of how they know either of you, the applicant or sponsor, (typically the person they 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 they became aware of your relationship, when they met the other partner, activities participated in together, etc
 
3.  A statement to the effect that, in their judgement, you are in a real, loving, ongoing, genuine (whatever words are appropriate) relationship based on personal knowledge and experiences

[sidkrose]

Statutory declarations are sworn statements by people who know of your relationship and believe it is legitimate. They can take pretty much any form as long as they are signed in front of a notary who then attests to and verifies the identity of the individual who signed the statement. These could be from friends, family members, neighbours, landlords, etc. The key is that two of them need to be notarized or "sworn" (btw, you can offer more if you want. I had 2 notarized and 6-7 more that were not).

General information you should ask the person to include in the statement
 
1.  A description of how they know either of you, the applicant or sponsor, (typically the person they 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 they became aware of your relationship, when they met the other partner, activities participated in together, etc
 
3.  A statement to the effect that, in their judgement, you are in a real, loving, ongoing, genuine (whatever words are appropriate) relationship based on personal knowledge and experiences

This is what we did. We had a total of 4 notarized letters (2 done in Canada, 2 in Germany) and several others that weren't notarized. In Germany we got a "Ortsvorsteher" (municipal administrator) to notarize our letters and in Canada, a normal notary. We also signed the Declaration of Common-Law Union in front of the Ortsvorsteher. (Declaration of Common-Law Union is not mandatory, but it doesn't hurt, and it is a legal declaration that you are in a genuine relationship.)