How many supporting documents should we include in our application

[SarahJane]

Hi there,
I (Canadian citizen) am sponsoring my partner (Australian citizen) for his permanent residency in Canada. We've been together for 4 years and common-law partner for 3. We own a house together in Canada (he's currently on a temporary work permit) and have joint bank account. We are not married. I'm wondering just how much evidence should we provide.

Should we include every bank statements since we opened our joint account or just a few?
Should we put notes on the statements to explain the expenses (such as rent, mortgage, utility, grocery, etc)?

Roughly how many pages should your application be?

Cheers!

 

[Mariac819]

Hi there,
I (Canadian citizen) am sponsoring my partner (Australian citizen) for his permanent residency in Canada. We've been together for 4 years and common-law partner for 3. We own a house together in Canada (he's currently on a temporary work permit) and have joint bank account. We are not married. I'm wondering just how much evidence should we provide.

Should we include every bank statements since we opened our joint account or just a few?
Should we put notes on the statements to explain the expenses (such as rent, mortgage, utility, grocery, etc)?

Roughly how many pages should your application be?

Cheers!

I am not common-law, we are married but I included over over 600 pages of evidence. I sent EVERYTHING from the beginning of time to now. The way I look at it they can toss whatever they don't need. I am also a big worrier and didn't want to be missing anything.

For the bank I just showed proof that we have a joint account but I didn't send statements or anything. I just got a printout from the bank.

Again though we are not common-law so I don't know what you need to provide specifically. I hope someone answers you soon

 

[rhcohen2014]

Hi there,
I (Canadian citizen) am sponsoring my partner (Australian citizen) for his permanent residency in Canada. We've been together for 4 years and common-law partner for 3. We own a house together in Canada (he's currently on a temporary work permit) and have joint bank account. We are not married. I'm wondering just how much evidence should we provide.

Should we include every bank statements since we opened our joint account or just a few?
Should we put notes on the statements to explain the expenses (such as rent, mortgage, utility, grocery, etc)?

Roughly how many pages should your application be?

Cheers!

our application was 95 pages TOTAL. That's including sponsor paperwork, applicant paperwork, all required documents, and our "relationship proof". remember, it's quality, not quantity that counts. i'm married, so i didn't need to provide proof of cohabitation. for commonlaw, it's best to include proof of the years you filed taxes as commonlaw, any insurance beneficiary paperwork, your mortgage and deed with both your names , bank accounts or credit cards in both names, proof of address that both of you live at the same place (copies of driver's licenses, mail, etc). Pictures of trips took together and itineraries. The point is to show the relationship is true and ongoing. The fact you've been commonlaw for 3 years and own a home together suggests that's the case, so i'd say you have pretty good proof of relationship. as an australian, your threshold for proof is lower than other countries.

 

[SarahJane]

Wow thanks that helps I think as well quality is better than quantity. And also I think it might make the process longer if the application has several hundreds of pages.
Also, how do you find out about the threshold of proof for different nationalities?

 

[Mariac819]

it's quality, not quantity that counts.

One can submit quantity and still have it be of high quality and meaningful.

 

[mcbeth]

One can submit quantity and still have it be of high quality and meaningful.

But 600 pages? If I was a VO and I saw that I would purposely drag ass on that application, but that's just me.

My wife is in Russia, of course we know how relations have gone between Russia and the West recently, and I sent a bare minimum of evidence on top of only what CIC asked for, I was approved as her sponsor in 1 day, of course her visa office is a slow one so we're still waiting for her visa, the point is you don't need a forest worth of paper to prove you're a real couple.

 

[Mariac819]

But 600 pages? If I was a VO and I saw that I would purposely drag ass on that application, but that's just me.

My wife is in Russia, of course we know how relations have gone between Russia and the West recently, and I sent a bare minimum of evidence on top of only what CIC asked for, I was approved as her sponsor in 1 day, of course her visa office is a slow one so we're still waiting for her visa, the point is you don't need a forest worth of paper to prove you're a real couple.

Thankfully everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Any who, I hope the VO moves along quickly with your application. I personally wouldn't wish delay on anyone waiting for immigration. Best of luck to you.

 

[mcbeth]

I meant no offence of course, and that's why I'm not a VO, but I should have added that I too don't want anyone to wait longer than necessary, the silence is awful. Good luck to you too.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Also, how do you find out about the threshold of proof for different nationalities?

There's nothing official. Basically, the threshold is lower for those from countries that are as equally developed as Canada, as they are seen to be very low risk for a Marriage of Convenience.

Don't bother including all of your bank statements. We included (if I remember correctly) 4, one from every 3 months for a year. I did highlight our rental payment each month but nothing else. Also, don't bother sending chats/texts/Facebook/emails/Skype logs/etc.

As rhcohen said above, quality over quantity. Don't submit 10 of something when 1 does the job just fine.