Question 9-development of relationship.any examples?

[KarlR]

Hey all,

We are close to finishing our application for common-law sponsership and I just wanted to ask for your help on one question and was wondering if anyone might want to share what they wrote as any examples?i really dont know how much detail they are looking for or how long they expect your awnser to be.

Question 9 on form IMM 5490, "Describe how your relationship developed after your first contact/meeting with your sponser and if you and your sponser dated or went on any outings or trips together.Provide photos and documentary evidence of events or activities in which you both participated.

I have left this question to last as I felt it seemed the most important,so I really want to get it right.
Im not really sure how much detail to go into?i mean I have been with my sponser for over two years,surely they cant expect us to put every outing we've ever gone on?im not really sure what they want...

does anyone out there maybe want to share what they wrote for this?as im sure i cant be the only person having trouble with this question,and it is the most intimidating!

Thanks for your help all.This is the last major part i have to finish with my application!im excited!
Than you all for your help!!


Karl & Caroline

 

[scylla]

We provided a cover page that provided key dates in bullet points (e.g. where we met, when we started dated, when we became exclusive, when he met my family, when he moved in, etc.). We followed that up with 4-6 pages in essay style. We didn't go into detail everywhere, just here and there where we thought information was important to show that we have a genuine relationship. We described how we were introduced by friends and how our similar interests turned a long distance relationship into something long term. We described the proposal (my husband proposed with my mother's heirloom engagement ring). We talked about the big role my husband had developed in my nephew's life. We mentioned our one possible red flag (my husband is quite a bit older than I am) but then countered that by discussing all of the other ways in which we are compatible (education, careers, etc). We also briefly discussed our future plans. I believe this write up should feel personal - rather than clinical. Again, it's your opportunity to prove yet again that you have a real relationship. Think about the stories that make your relationship special and highlight those.

 

[truesmile]

We summarized all of our outings into one sentence. Our whole story was 3 sentences (it fit into the box provided easily). To supplement that, we submitted 60 photos (mostly wedding and reception, but a few from our outings, and one or two greeting cards shared between us. Here's our template:

1) We met here, but kept communicating via this or that . . .
2) He visited me here and there on this date and that, and did things such as . . . , and finally proposed there.
3) We got married at such and such with this family in attendance, and went for our honeymoon there.

(We did not submit any of our personal communication other than the greeting cards mentioned above.)

 

[browntrout]

We provided a cover page that provided key dates in bullet points (e.g. where we met, when we started dated, when we became exclusive, when he met my family, when he moved in, etc.). We followed that up with 4-6 pages in essay style. We didn't go into detail everywhere, just here and there where we thought information was important to show that we have a genuine relationship. We described how we were introduced by friends and how our similar interests turned a long distance relationship into something long term. We described the proposal (my husband proposed with my mother's heirloom engagement ring). We talked about the big role my husband had developed in my nephew's life. We mentioned our one possible red flag (my husband is quite a bit older than I am) but then countered that by discussing all of the other ways in which we are compatible (education, careers, etc). We also briefly discussed our future plans. I believe this write up should feel personal - rather than clinical. Again, it's your opportunity to prove yet again that you have a real relationship. Think about the stories that make your relationship special and highlight those.

We did the same for our application, started off with maybe 20% of a page of where and exactly when we met. That was in 2007, then i just went to my photo collections on my computer, have every trip and event documented by date. While you might not have this as documented, but aftrer my 20% page intro i just had headlines, 2008, 2009....etc and a maybe 2-4 pictures per page followed by a short caption such as "Maui trip we did together" , "place my wife took me for my birthday" , "first kayak trip together" i think in total i had a summary of our lives together so far, maybe 20 pages in total. Just make it natural, I even included some super goofy images from Halloween celebrations etc, why not give the immigration officer a good laugh while you are at it i thought

print in color

good luck

 

[Vietnam2013]

Karl & Caroline,

Our approach to all the questions was quite simple. We summarized our relationship into a few sentences, but backed it up with lots hard evidence. Try to gather as much hard evidence as you can. It strengthens your case more. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” 8) I am not sure writing a novel like submission will compel immigration Canada to believe you that your relationship is genuine without some substantial evidence to back that up.

We wrote with simple points. Where we meet, how we communicated, where we visited, married, and where we went on our honeymoon.
We had a few pictures of each event as improvise timeline. As for communication, we printed out all the phone calls that were ever made. Lucky for us, I keep all the receipt of all the things that we did without much thoughts that one day they would be so VALUABLE. This save us from a lot of writing and explaining.

 

[HoneyEllis]

I agree with the previous posters and add this too...

My husband and I only knew each other for 13 months before we married, so we didn't have years and years worth of evidence to submit, so we tried to make sure that the stuff we did submit really worked hard for us! For instance, our narrative talked about our first camping trip together and it included a picture of us, along with our friends who we were camping with. We then had the friend that was in picture write a letter in support of our application and in his letter he talked about seeing the relationship develop and spending time with us, like on the camping trip.

So when I say that we made our stuff work hard for us, here we had one little picture from a camping trip and we were able to use it in our narrative as well as have our friend use it in his letter of support. I guess we were trying to show consistency to the Immigration Officer reviewing the file, i.e. here's us talking about the trip and here's an independent witness confirming it!

Hope this is helpful !

 

[Catou]

We had trouble with this question too. After being together 11 years, living together for ten of them, not only did we not have old records but we have far too many shared trips and experiences to document them all. Added to this, I hate having my photo taken and we don't have a lot of photos of the two of us together.

What really worked for us was getting a bunch of files, labeling them for each year we have been together, and looking at each year individually. We looked for evidence for each of these years, anything that could prove we were together in a committed relationship in that year. We went through looking for things like, "what proves we were living at the same address in this year?" "What trips did we do then that we have evidence of?" "What parties, functions, events did we attend with family or friends?" and dropped these into each related file. We focused on two aspects - showing us at the same address and showing involvement as a couple with friends and family. Doing this with the files made it easy to see the progression and continuity of the relationship.

What I learned from the exercise is that getting started is the hard part. Break it down into chunks and do one part at a time. Start with the evidence you want to submit for the start of your relationship then move forward through the months or years from there.