Inland Spousal Sponsorship – Cohabitation Proof Question (Rental Agreement with Family Member

[MapleDonut63]

Hi everyone,

My spouse (the sponsor, a Canadian citizen) and I (the applicant) are currently preparing our inland spousal sponsorship application. We got married in Pakistan in February 2025, and I arrived in Canada on a visitor visa on May 29, 2025.

We’re now working on IMM5533 – Section 7 (Proof of Relationship to Sponsor) and looking to provide documents showing cohabitation. Since we’ve only recently started living together, we don’t have a large volume of shared documents yet.

So far, we have:

• A rental agreement with the sponsor’s father (he owns the home and is listed on our marriage certificate)
• A joint bank account (opened recently)
• A life insurance policy listing both of us
• A Scene card in my name, addressed to our shared residence

We’re temporarily living in the sponsor’s family home for up to one year while we look for long-term housing. The sponsor was already living at this address before my arrival.

My questions:

1. Will the rental agreement with a family member raise any concerns with IRCC?
2. Should we include a letter of explanation about our living situation and relationship to the landlord?
3. Are there any other documents or workarounds that could help strengthen our cohabitation proof?

Any guidance, similar experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[armoured]

Should be fine, you're worrying too much.

 

[canuck78]

Hi everyone,

My spouse (the sponsor, a Canadian citizen) and I (the applicant) are currently preparing our inland spousal sponsorship application. We got married in Pakistan in February 2025, and I arrived in Canada on a visitor visa on May 29, 2025.

We’re now working on IMM5533 – Section 7 (Proof of Relationship to Sponsor) and looking to provide documents showing cohabitation. Since we’ve only recently started living together, we don’t have a large volume of shared documents yet.

So far, we have:

• A rental agreement with the sponsor’s father (he owns the home and is listed on our marriage certificate)
• A joint bank account (opened recently)
• A life insurance policy listing both of us
• A Scene card in my name, addressed to our shared residence

We’re temporarily living in the sponsor’s family home for up to one year while we look for long-term housing. The sponsor was already living at this address before my arrival.

My questions:

1. Will the rental agreement with a family member raise any concerns with IRCC?
2. Should we include a letter of explanation about our living situation and relationship to the landlord?
3. Are there any other documents or workarounds that could help strengthen our cohabitation proof?

Any guidance, similar experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

You can include things like phone bill with your name and address on it. Scene card is a points collection card so not a very strong proof of address.

 

[YVR123]

Do not include the Scene card. It shows that you are really lacking other proof if you try to include points cards.