statutory derclaration of individuals with personal knowledge of relationship

[yuri]

hello,

we are trying to complete our application.. I have some documents available proving our relationship like joint bank account, residential lease, car ownership, letters and emails from friends for us... will this suffice???

do we still need to include this statutory declarations from individuals about our relationship and how do we get it??

im a little embarassed to ask some friends for these... i do feel a little bit awkward as some people jokes on immigration papers on foreigners and their partners.. maybe im just conscious of this stigma.... even when i know we are true.. we really dont plan who we fall in love with right.. it just happens... 

[YorkFactory]

do we still need to include this statutory declarations from individuals about our relationship and how do we get it??

Yes, you do, and you get them like any other statutory declaration: you get them to sign their statement attesting to your relationship in front of a notary.

[yuri]

thank you.. so we dont have to be with them when they make this stat declartn in a notary right?? Can i just ask them to mail those documents to us.. we have been  moving a lot here in Canada.. but most of our friends are in Calgary and NB...

thanks

[waitingintz]

I believe common-law applicants are required to submit two notarized statements (not sure if you are married).
You do not need to be there, they just need to send you the original notarized letters.

In our situation, i think the statements from friends were the most powerful evidence we had. We submitted proof to living together and loads of photos but a few of our friends wrote exceptional letters about knowing us as a couple etc. We submitted letters from two friends and one from a family member on each side (only 2 of the 4 were notarized). I think these statements can really make a big difference.

Help our friends out with some suggestions on what to include because it can be difficult for them to know what to write and make it clear to them that it is very important.  (and ask them to send you what they've written BEFORE they get it notarized so you can save them the time if it's not something you would want to submit).

I would also say that I have heard that if the applicant is from a developed country, it is especially good to have statements from people on the sponsor's side because if there was any concern that the applicant was using the sponsor for a permit, this concern would more likely come up on the sponsor's family side (they are assuming that the family/friends of an applicant from a less developed country would be happy for the opportunity and less concerned about how genuine the relationship is). 

Anyway, just a couple of things to think about... good luck.

[yuri]

thank you for the inputs...

[AlieW]

Waitingintz's answer is perfect.

The amount of the statutory declarations you need if you are comon-law can be found in the checklist of the region specific form - we had to submit 2.

And the advice about getting them to send it to you so you can read if BEFORE they sign it is great advice.

We submitted 3 statutory declarations (One from the sponsors parents, one for the applicants brother, and one from a mutual friend) - and then because getting them notarized where we are living was extreamly expensive we included 4 regular letters (1 from the sponsors sister, one form the sponosors uncle and 1 from a good friend of the sponsor as well as one from the applicant's cousin/friend)

I was really lovely to read what others had to say about us and our relationship - both of us were touched by the letters people wrote. I'm sure it will ony assist your application

[Tiggilicious]

We also had 4 submitted, and notarized by a lawyer. One from each parents side, 2 of my sisters, and a friend of ours. They want them notarized since any person can just write a letter claiming someone to be who they aren't , and this way it adds a little comfort to CIC

[angelbrat]

We never sent any letters of support with the application. To be honest, when we sent the application in, initially, I had not started to read this forum so didn't realize they were important.

As a matter of fact, in my case, they were not needed. My PR, Inland under common law, was approved and finished in less than 8 months.

If all the other proofs of the relationship are solid, you don't need these letters but every little bit of evidence does help.

[AlieW]

If all the other proofs of the relationship are solid, you don't need these letters but every little bit of evidence does help.

I think the need for the letters is dependent on the type of application (inland vs. outland) and the region the application is coming from.

In our region specific form, for our outlansd application they were very clear that you had to include 2 statuatory declarations:
You can see below form the Appendix A Doccument Checklist - Immigrant.

5. PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP TO SPONSOR

If you are a common-law or conjugal partner, also provide;
• evidence that your relationship is genuine and continuing,
• has existed for at least 12 months prior to your application,
• details of the history of your relationship,
• at least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of your
relationship supporting your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing,
• any other evidence of your relationship and communication.


Yuri - I suggest reading over your application very carefully to see if this is required, and if so how many.

[angelbrat]

I think the need for the letters is dependent on the type of application (inland vs. outland) and the region the application is coming from.

In our region specific form, for our outlansd application they were very clear that you had to include 2 statuatory declarations:
You can see below form the Appendix A Doccument Checklist - Immigrant.

5. PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP TO SPONSOR

If you are a common-law or conjugal partner, also provide;
• evidence that your relationship is genuine and continuing,
• has existed for at least 12 months prior to your application,
• details of the history of your relationship,
• at least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of your
relationship supporting your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing,
• any other evidence of your relationship and communication.


Yuri - I suggest reading over your application very carefully to see if this is required, and if so how many.

Thanks for the clarification....for some reason I always assume everyone is applying Inland like I did...

I can understand why it must be harder to prove common law Outland, especially after a year or more of living together in another Country, one partner has to come back to Canada to sponsor. 

Sorry if I gave the wrong advice, I really should just shut up and read sometimes.

[j2m]

I applied outland, Common-Law. I am from the US. We had about 15 letters written by friends and family members, supporting our relationship. We did not get any of these letters notarized. Some of them were handwritten, and a bit messy. But they all had full information of the author, including name address, phone #... I did not have any issues with CIC concerned with the validity of our relationship.