Does this sound like I have enough evidence?

[jetrel]

I am reposting this, since nobody replied to it previously but I need answers.
My gf is going to be sponsoring me for PR at the end of the month (when we will have been living together for one year). So far I have (or can get):

• Lease agreement drawn up by her parents for the months we spent living at their house. (I don't actually have this yet - there won't be any issue drawing up an agreement now, when we moved out ~6 months ago?)
• Lease agreement for our new place, which covers the 1 year mark.
• Confirmation letter from bank showing my old address when I set up account.
• Letter from bank for girlfriend, showing same old address as I.
• Driver's licenses for both of us, showing our new address.
• Credit card confirmation letter for me, showing new address.
• I can get letters from friends/family confirming the genuine-ness of our relationship.
• Maybe some old letters of my girlfriend's to the old address that her dad might have kept.
• A hand-written envelope from my uncle with the old address (is this OK if it's handwritten?)
• Photos of us from Facebook (do photos have to be actual photos? Or will print-outs on normal paper be ok?)
• Copies of hotel receipts from earlier this year, plus concert tickets for us both (no name on the tickets, leave them out?)
• Hotels/flights from a couple years ago when we were only friends, before we were dating. Should I even include these?

Does this sound like enough for a solid application? Or is it going to be hit-and miss? We don't have any joint accounts, the hydro and internet is in my name. There's bank transfers between my gf and I for various stuff, is this good evidence?
Thanks

 

[monkeys89]

It's a start to prove cohabitation. You may be asked to prove the validity of the relationship, as well.

 

[jetrel]

It's a start to prove cohabitation. You may be asked to prove the validity of the relationship, as well.

What would you say is the best kind of evidence of that? We have a Facebook relationship status and a handful of photos. Problem is, we both aren't the most present on social media, and aren't publicly very "lovey-dovey"

 

[Jazzercise]

I am reposting this, since nobody replied to it previously but I need answers.
My gf is going to be sponsoring me for PR at the end of the month (when we will have been living together for one year). So far I have (or can get):

• Lease agreement drawn up by her parents for the months we spent living at their house. (I don't actually have this yet - there won't be any issue drawing up an agreement now, when we moved out ~6 months ago?)
• Lease agreement for our new place, which covers the 1 year mark.
• Confirmation letter from bank showing my old address when I set up account.
• Letter from bank for girlfriend, showing same old address as I.
• Driver's licenses for both of us, showing our new address.
• Credit card confirmation letter for me, showing new address.
• I can get letters from friends/family confirming the genuine-ness of our relationship.
• Maybe some old letters of my girlfriend's to the old address that her dad might have kept.
• A hand-written envelope from my uncle with the old address (is this OK if it's handwritten?)
• Photos of us from Facebook (do photos have to be actual photos? Or will print-outs on normal paper be ok?)
• Copies of hotel receipts from earlier this year, plus concert tickets for us both (no name on the tickets, leave them out?)
• Hotels/flights from a couple years ago when we were only friends, before we were dating. Should I even include these?

Does this sound like enough for a solid application? Or is it going to be hit-and miss? We don't have any joint accounts, the hydro and internet is in my name. There's bank transfers between my gf and I for various stuff, is this good evidence?
Thanks

Treat this like a court case where you're trying to prove your case. The more evidence, the better. Some evidence is stronger than others. Some of this stuff, such as the new lease agreement and driver's licenses, is stronger evidence than other stuff you've noted (joint financials are much stronger than, say, concert tickets). I'd keep much of it though, and make sure you get some of the things you don't yet have (ex. letters from friends/family). Regardless of what you compile, make sure you weave it all together to have one coherent narrative.

Anyway, I've seen some people on here say that they simply printed photos on their printers on regular paper. We "splurged" and had our photos printed at the local drug store. We also kind of cheated the 20 picture limit and home printed social media posts that happened to have accompanying pictures (Facebook!).

 

[SGrewal99]

Try to get your renters insurance policy in both of your names. Same for your vehicle. Get it registerd in both your names or if you have separate vehicles show both names on your insurance policy as eligble drivers that are covered. Any life insurance policy showing each other as the beneficiary? Are you able to add each other on to one another's cell phone. Show something that is joint. From my point of view , the lack of a joint account shows that you aren't financially committed to each other. Are you comfortable with opening one up? Do you have the statements showing rent paid to your girlfriends father from both your accounts?

 

[jetrel]

Try to get your renters insurance policy in both of your names. Same for your vehicle. Get it registerd in both your names or if you have separate vehicles show both names on your insurance policy as eligble drivers that are covered. Any life insurance policy showing each other as the beneficiary? Are you able to add each other on to one another's cell phone. Show something that is joint. From my point of view , the lack of a joint account shows that you aren't financially committed to each other. Are you comfortable with opening one up? Do you have the statements showing rent paid to your girlfriends father from both your accounts?

Ach, this doesn't bode well for me. The car is in her name, we have no life insurance or renters insurance (silly, I know), no joint account because we've never needed one, no joint cell. I'm more than comfortable doing all of these things, but if I set that all up a few weeks before application, is that a red flag to whomever deals with my application? Like it'll look like i set that all up merely for evidence. It wouldn't have been dating back a year, either.

 

[Jazzercise]

Ach, this doesn't bode well for me. The car is in her name, we have no life insurance or renters insurance (silly, I know), no joint account because we've never needed one, no joint cell. I'm more than comfortable doing all of these things, but if I set that all up a few weeks before application, is that a red flag to whomever deals with my application? Like it'll look like i set that all up merely for evidence. It wouldn't have been dating back a year, either.

These things aren't silly at all, especially if you're young! Anyway, yes it would be much better to have joint accounts, but if you can somehow show in other ways the genuineness of the relationship, gather that evidence. For instance, in your original post you mentioned bank transfers between you and your girlfriend. Is there a way for you to get copies of bank statements which show these transfers? Additionally, as one other poster stated, getting statements showing you paid your girlfriend's father for rent would help too. You can support these items with even more evidence, such as text conversations regarding paying rent, utilities, whatever. Showing consist financial co-dependence (paying shared bills) will go a long way to convincing whomever reviews your application.

 

[jetrel]

These things aren't silly at all, especially if you're young! Anyway, yes it would be much better to have joint accounts, but if you can somehow show in other ways the genuineness of the relationship, gather that evidence. For instance, in your original post you mentioned bank transfers between you and your girlfriend. Is there a way for you to get copies of bank statements which show these transfers? Additionally, as one other poster stated, getting statements showing you paid your girlfriend's father for rent would help too. You can support these items with even more evidence, such as text conversations regarding paying rent, utilities, whatever. Showing consist financial co-dependence (paying shared bills) will go a long way to convincing whomever reviews your application.

Haha, I meant silly as in it's silly to not have these things. I'm sure I can get statements; my gf transfers me half the rent every month then I pay it. Her dad was kind enough to not charge us rent for the time we were there, so we have no transfers for that, but we were going to draw up a lease for the time we were there.
How far do notarized letters attesting to our relationship go in the eyes of whoever is processing the application? I can get those.

 

[Jazzercise]

Haha, I meant silly as in it's silly to not have these things. I'm sure I can get statements; my gf transfers me half the rent every month then I pay it. Her dad was kind enough to not charge us rent for the time we were there, so we have no transfers for that, but we were going to draw up a lease for the time we were there.
How far do notarized letters attesting to our relationship go in the eyes of whoever is processing the application? I can get those.

I know what you meant. I was saying it's not necessarily silly to not have those things, especially if you're young. Ha!

Get those statements. If you can, make sure to provide some sort of an explanation as to why you two pay for the rent (and other things) in the ways that you do. You don't want leave the person reviewing your file guessing or left to draw their own conclusion.

So you didn't pay rent, but you're going to have a lease (drawn up after the fact)? Would it be useful to have your girlfriend's father draft a letter attesting to, among other things, the fact that you lived at their home for X amount of time? If he or anyone else writes a letter of support to you, I'm not sure you have to bother having it notarized, particularly if it's in English. I've searched around this forum and most people seem to say it's unnecessary, but who knows, maybe there's country-specific requirements. My spouse and I have a few letters but none of them are notarized. We did, however, make sure to tell our letter writers to at minimum include contact info (phone and email), as well as their place of employment and position title. One person wrote a letter on official letterhead, which was a nice touch. The letters in and of themselves won't do a whole lot, but if you choose the right people and you carefully link those letters to other supporting documents (in other words, there's corroboration), they can only help.

 

[jetrel]

I know what you meant. I was saying it's not necessarily silly to not have those things, especially if you're young. Ha!

Get those statements. If you can, make sure to provide some sort of an explanation as to why you two pay for the rent (and other things) in the ways that you do. You don't want leave the person reviewing your file guessing or left to draw their own conclusion.

So you didn't pay rent, but you're going to have a lease (drawn up after the fact)? Would it be useful to have your girlfriend's father draft a letter attesting to, among other things, the fact that you lived at their home for X amount of time? If he or anyone else writes a letter of support to you, I'm not sure you have to bother having it notarized, particularly if it's in English. I've searched around this forum and most people seem to say it's unnecessary, but who knows, maybe there's country-specific requirements. My spouse and I have a few letters but none of them are notarized. We did, however, make sure to tell our letter writers to at minimum include contact info (phone and email), as well as their place of employment and position title. One person wrote a letter on official letterhead, which was a nice touch. The letters in and of themselves won't do a whole lot, but if you choose the right people and you carefully link those letters to other supporting documents (in other words, there's corroboration), they can only help.

Thanks for all the points
As for the "lease" for living at her parents place - should I absolutely not do that since we didn't pay rent? I mean - it wouldn't be a lie since we were there, but if it's legally gray then I'll 100% leave it out.

 

[Jazzercise]

Thanks for all the points
As for the "lease" for living at her parents place - should I absolutely not do that since we didn't pay rent? I mean - it wouldn't be a lie since we were there, but if it's legally gray then I'll 100% leave it out.

I have no idea, to be honest. I was simply trying to make sure I was understanding correctly.

 

[jetrel]

I have no idea, to be honest. I was simply trying to make sure I was understanding correctly.

Ah, I see. Maybe I'll do both; a lease, plus a letter from her dad explaining it.

 

[SGrewal99]

Ah, I see. Maybe I'll do both; a lease, plus a letter from her dad explaining it.

Seriously. No offence, but you must be young. A lease that required no payment. A letter from her dad acknowleding that he knows and approves of his daughter having a relationship with this person seems like a better idea. He is the father. He is sure to have his daughter's best interest in mind. Also mentioning that you have lived with them for a time period so that you guys could prepare for your move would help. When you say old address, do you mean their's? Providing documentation that isn't true is screwing with his credibilty as well as yours. On the other hand, does your family have knowledge of your relationship? Do they view you as common law? Has she met your family?

 

[Jazzercise]

Seriously. No offence, but you must be young. A lease that required no payment. A letter from her dad acknowledging that he knows and approves of his daughter having a relationship with this person seems like a better idea. He is the father. He is sure to have his daughter's best interest in mind. Also mentioning that you have lived with them for a time period so that you guys could prepare for your move would help. When you say old address, do you mean their's? Providing documentation that isn't true is screwing with his credibilty as well as yours. On the other hand, does your family have knowledge of your relationship? Do they view you as common law? Has she met your family?

This starts off a bit harsh, but does present several good points/questions. I agree with SGrewal99 that the lease is probably not necessary since you lived with the sponsor's family rent free and the sponsor's parent is willing to write a letter of support. This is good. Make sure the sponsor's father clearly states the circumstances and reasons for you living at the family home, as well as the date range. Obviously, make sure this lines up with information you put in your forms, as well as any evidence you might have to corroborate your broader story. You're telling the truth, but you have to demonstrate this to the person reviewing your application by connecting the dots.

Like SGrewal99 suggests, it's key to include some sort of evidence demonstrating YOUR family recognizes your relationship to the sponsor. This could be a letter from a parent, social media posts, text messages, emails, pictures of her with your family, etc.