Hi all
I am beginning to gather all the evidence I can to prove my relationship to my lovely Wifey. From my research on what to include and what's just time wasting I have to say the best pieces of advice I've found are from Love_Young and Vonster. For anyone who has already submitted their application with their proof of relationship for Married couples please share your pearls of wisdom to make this a one stop shop for everyone's questions on a fool proof outline to proving your relationship.
Love_Young's table of contents
Chapter 1: Communication
Section A: Text Messages
Section B: Phone Records
Section C: Cards Given To Each Other
Section D: Notes and Letters To Each Other
Section E: Cards Given To Us By Friends and Family
Section F: Cards Given To Friends and Family by Us
Section G: Letters of Support
Section H: Messages Sent When Going To Canada
Section I: Messages About Doing Activities Together
Section J: Messages Sent To Each Other Before Meeting
Section K: Messages from (sponsor)'s Family Wishing (applicant) a Happy Birthday
Section L: Messages Between (applicant) and Her Friends Talking About (sponsor)
Section M: Messages Sent While (sponsor) Was Visiting (applicant)
Chapter 2 Joint Documentation
Section A: Envelopes Received At Shared Address
Section B: Joint Purchases On Joint Credit Card
Section C: Joint Scotiabank Account
Section D: Joint RBC Account and Documents
Section E: Shared Family Plan with Telus
Section F: Miscellaneous Joint Correspondence
Chapter 3 Receipts
Section A: Receipts From Outings Together
Section B: Receipts For Purchases of Gifts and Cards
Chapter 4 Engagement/Wedding
Section A: Our Engagement Journal
Section B: Emails Between Us and Our Wedding Planner
Section C: Our Permit To Marry In The Park As Well As Our Ceremony Agreement With Our Commissioner
Section D: Copies From Our Wedding Guestbook
Section E: Copies Of Cards Given To Us For Our Wedding
Section F: Messages About Engagement, Planning For Wedding, Reception and Our Honeymoon
Section G: Congratulations Messages On Our Marriage
Section H: Congratulations Messages On Our Engagement
Section I: Receipts For Engagement, Wedding, and Honeymoon
Section J: Emails About Honeymoon Reservation and Permit To Marry In The Park
Chapter 5 Photos Throughout Relationship
Section A: Special Occasion Pictures
Section B: Pictures on Outings Together
Section C: Pictures From Wedding/Reception/Honeymoon
Chapter 6 Travel
Section A: Emails of (sponsor) and (applicant)'s Itinerary
Section B: Copies Of Our Flight Tickets
Section C: Copies Of (applicant)'s Passport Stamp and Visitor Records.
Section D: Miscellaneous Travel Documents
Chapter 7 Miscellaneous Supporting Documents
(Whatever didn't fit in the other sections)
Vonster's Advice
Prove it's genuine
So when you complete an application to sponsor your spouse, make extra effort in gathering and submitting evidence to prove that your relationship is in fact “genuine.” I typically categorize evidence into two groups, “sentimental evidence” and “hard evidence.”
The primary type of sentimental evidence used is photographs. Submit a selection of photographs that capture the essence of your relationship. Photos of spouses together on vacation, with each other's close family and at major life events (birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.) are usually well received by the government. Do not make the mistake of only submitting photos from a single day or only photos where you are wearing the same outfit. Your photos should represent different milestones in your relationship and not just the wedding.
Other sentimental evidence to submit includes copies of birthday/holiday cards, email printouts, Facebook printouts, love letters, wedding invitations and reference letters from close friends or family that confirm the nature of your relationship. I had a client once who wanted to submit a racy video that he said confirmed beyond doubt that his relationship was real. I told him he was taking it too far.
More evidence
I classify all legal and third party documents as “hard evidence.” Hard evidence that you should plan to submit include copies of a power of attorney, copies of wills or life insurance policies, naming each spouse as the other's beneficiary, copies of leases or land title certificates, showing both spouses as tenants or owners and copies of bank statements, showing both spouses as joint account holders.
It is also worthwhile to submit copies of boarding passes, hotel reservations, receipts for gifts and dinner, and passport stamps to prove that visits between spouses actually took place. Phone bills are an excellent way to confirm communication between spouses while separated.
Explain well
My final tip is to be thorough in explaining your evidence. Explain what each piece of evidence is and why you are submitting it. Handing a visa officer a pile of evidence without any explanation makes their job difficult. In submitting your application, your goal should be to make the visa officer's job as easy as possible to approve your application as quickly as possible.
A thorough and complete application, leaving no questions to be answered, may even get you out of an interview and thereby speeding up your application processing. Visa officers are empowered with the discretion to waive interviews for applications where it is clear that the relationship is genuine. As such, the extra time that you put into gathering and explaining evidence will save you much hardship and hassle down the road.
I am beginning to gather all the evidence I can to prove my relationship to my lovely Wifey. From my research on what to include and what's just time wasting I have to say the best pieces of advice I've found are from Love_Young and Vonster. For anyone who has already submitted their application with their proof of relationship for Married couples please share your pearls of wisdom to make this a one stop shop for everyone's questions on a fool proof outline to proving your relationship.
Love_Young's table of contents
Chapter 1: Communication
Section A: Text Messages
Section B: Phone Records
Section C: Cards Given To Each Other
Section D: Notes and Letters To Each Other
Section E: Cards Given To Us By Friends and Family
Section F: Cards Given To Friends and Family by Us
Section G: Letters of Support
Section H: Messages Sent When Going To Canada
Section I: Messages About Doing Activities Together
Section J: Messages Sent To Each Other Before Meeting
Section K: Messages from (sponsor)'s Family Wishing (applicant) a Happy Birthday
Section L: Messages Between (applicant) and Her Friends Talking About (sponsor)
Section M: Messages Sent While (sponsor) Was Visiting (applicant)
Chapter 2 Joint Documentation
Section A: Envelopes Received At Shared Address
Section B: Joint Purchases On Joint Credit Card
Section C: Joint Scotiabank Account
Section D: Joint RBC Account and Documents
Section E: Shared Family Plan with Telus
Section F: Miscellaneous Joint Correspondence
Chapter 3 Receipts
Section A: Receipts From Outings Together
Section B: Receipts For Purchases of Gifts and Cards
Chapter 4 Engagement/Wedding
Section A: Our Engagement Journal
Section B: Emails Between Us and Our Wedding Planner
Section C: Our Permit To Marry In The Park As Well As Our Ceremony Agreement With Our Commissioner
Section D: Copies From Our Wedding Guestbook
Section E: Copies Of Cards Given To Us For Our Wedding
Section F: Messages About Engagement, Planning For Wedding, Reception and Our Honeymoon
Section G: Congratulations Messages On Our Marriage
Section H: Congratulations Messages On Our Engagement
Section I: Receipts For Engagement, Wedding, and Honeymoon
Section J: Emails About Honeymoon Reservation and Permit To Marry In The Park
Chapter 5 Photos Throughout Relationship
Section A: Special Occasion Pictures
Section B: Pictures on Outings Together
Section C: Pictures From Wedding/Reception/Honeymoon
Chapter 6 Travel
Section A: Emails of (sponsor) and (applicant)'s Itinerary
Section B: Copies Of Our Flight Tickets
Section C: Copies Of (applicant)'s Passport Stamp and Visitor Records.
Section D: Miscellaneous Travel Documents
Chapter 7 Miscellaneous Supporting Documents
(Whatever didn't fit in the other sections)
Vonster's Advice
Prove it's genuine
So when you complete an application to sponsor your spouse, make extra effort in gathering and submitting evidence to prove that your relationship is in fact “genuine.” I typically categorize evidence into two groups, “sentimental evidence” and “hard evidence.”
The primary type of sentimental evidence used is photographs. Submit a selection of photographs that capture the essence of your relationship. Photos of spouses together on vacation, with each other's close family and at major life events (birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.) are usually well received by the government. Do not make the mistake of only submitting photos from a single day or only photos where you are wearing the same outfit. Your photos should represent different milestones in your relationship and not just the wedding.
Other sentimental evidence to submit includes copies of birthday/holiday cards, email printouts, Facebook printouts, love letters, wedding invitations and reference letters from close friends or family that confirm the nature of your relationship. I had a client once who wanted to submit a racy video that he said confirmed beyond doubt that his relationship was real. I told him he was taking it too far.
More evidence
I classify all legal and third party documents as “hard evidence.” Hard evidence that you should plan to submit include copies of a power of attorney, copies of wills or life insurance policies, naming each spouse as the other's beneficiary, copies of leases or land title certificates, showing both spouses as tenants or owners and copies of bank statements, showing both spouses as joint account holders.
It is also worthwhile to submit copies of boarding passes, hotel reservations, receipts for gifts and dinner, and passport stamps to prove that visits between spouses actually took place. Phone bills are an excellent way to confirm communication between spouses while separated.
Explain well
My final tip is to be thorough in explaining your evidence. Explain what each piece of evidence is and why you are submitting it. Handing a visa officer a pile of evidence without any explanation makes their job difficult. In submitting your application, your goal should be to make the visa officer's job as easy as possible to approve your application as quickly as possible.
A thorough and complete application, leaving no questions to be answered, may even get you out of an interview and thereby speeding up your application processing. Visa officers are empowered with the discretion to waive interviews for applications where it is clear that the relationship is genuine. As such, the extra time that you put into gathering and explaining evidence will save you much hardship and hassle down the road.
"You planned too much! No, you planned too little! There aren't enough professionally taken photographs! No, there are too many professionally taken photographs and this relationship is obviously staged! You didn't see each other enough! No, you were travelling to see each other too often, it's suspicious! You are not in each others wills! Why are you in each others wills, you are too young for wills, this is fake evidence!"