inland Spousal sponsorship document Checklist 7a and 7e - Proof of relationship

[nyxeka]

Me and my spouse currently 'live' together (since may of this year - she's been here for like 8 months over the course of two separate trips in the last year). We're putting in the PR application online - I was wondering if a joint bank account and a marriage license with our address on it are enough to satisfy question 7a. The marriage license was issued in Ontario. (We are currently married as well, of course) I bring up Marriage license because it's the only government issued document we have with her name on it and our address here in Canada.

For the apartment lease, they need a more extensive "application" type thing with canadian citizenship. Not in a position to provide insurance for things like vehicles and stuff like that. Only just got her on the Hydro but we're looking to get everything in this weekend ideally and they wont have a bill up until next month.

Should we wait until we can get some more bank statements, utility statement, stuff like that? She arrived here end of May so we're just worried that we're not doing this thing fast enough, but we weren't aware that you're supposed to basically travel up here with a "get the PR" plan in mind and get her on all the utility bills and stuff.

We got her a cellphone account but it's under my name and unfortunately they can't change that - can we just show them that I have two accounts and that one is for her, or does it need to have her name?

I've had her as my life insurance beneficiary for a little over 3 years now, and we have lots of more recent letters addressed to the two of us from friends and family - is that what they want to see, or do they want to see stuff that's more like a signed letter from the neighbour/friends/family saying that they would testify that we've been together for as many years as we have? (online relationship since like 2015)...

I have amazon orders to her address in the USA over the years from 2015 until now, would that work as well for the document checklist sections?

 

[Ponga]

I suspect that just providing a copy of your marriage license (you mean certificate, right) and joint bank account will not be enough evidence. IMHO, the Amazon orders prove nothing, unfortunately...other than you sent your [now wife] gifts, previously. You're on the right track though, regarding adding her to your utility bills, etc.

Dig through some of the treads/posts here to find out what you might consider adding to your proof.

 

[Runedog]

I see you mention marriage license.
You will need to order your marriage Certificate if you have not done this. Marriage License is not sufficient for your application.
If you need more documents with your wife's name just add her to the utilities and wait a few weeks for the next bills before you apply.

 

[nyxeka]

I suspect that just providing a copy of your marriage license (you mean certificate, right) and joint bank account will not be enough evidence. IMHO, the Amazon orders prove nothing, unfortunately...other than you sent your [now wife] gifts, previously. You're on the right track though, regarding adding her to your utility bills, etc.

Dig through some of the treads/posts here to find out what you might consider adding to your proof.

yeah we have had the marriage certificate since march

so basically I think you're misunderstanding here - they want to see a license or some sort of of canadian government Identification document with her name and my/our address. This is for the proof of relationship section of the document checklist to satisfy the following:

Copies of government issued documents for you and your sponsor showing the same address (eg.: drivers licenses) (submit minimum of 1 government issued document for each person)

 

[Ponga]

yeah we have had the marriage certificate since march

so basically I think you're misunderstanding here - they want to see a license or some sort of of canadian government Identification document with her name and my/our address. This is for the proof of relationship section of the document checklist to satisfy the following:

How was I misunderstanding? You need the marriage certificate to prove that you are married, which you say that you have. Would that not be of more value that the license (for question 7a)? A license doesn't mean that the person is married...but the certificate does. If it lists your address, even better.

"(We are currently married as well, of course) I bring up Marriage license because it's the only government issued document we have with her name on it and our address here in Canada."

I don't recall reading about anyone using their marriage license as the government identification document, sorry.

Not sure when they made that a requirement for an applicant; not every person in Canada has such a document (i.e. common law applicant without status, yet they are allowed to apply for Inland sponsorship).

 

[nyxeka]

we include the certificate in other places. The marriage certificate doesn't have our home address on it and has nothing to do with proof that we've been cohabitating and living together at any time at all - only that we're legally married.

We're looking to prove to the IRCC officer that she's at this current address ): to satisfy question 7a.

 

[Runedog]

To satisfy question 7a you need to pick at least two of the documents suggested. This is easy for you to fix if you hold off on your application for a few weeks/a month.

1)Wait for the next hydro bill (which you signed her up on).
2)Get your partner to open a bank account. Then file two bank statements (one from each of you) to satisfy the bottom point of 7a.
3)Alternatively you can change your cell phone provider. The fact they cant add your partners name to her own number even if the account is in your name sounds ridiculous to me... We have both our names on our cell phone bill.

Copies of government issued documents if probably the most difficult for you to get at the moment.

 

[armoured]

The marriage license was issued in Ontario. (We are currently married as well, of course) I bring up Marriage license because it's the only government issued document we have with her name on it and our address here in Canada.

[You'll note I'm writing evidence not proof because it's cumulative overall, mostly things like relationship cannot be 'proven' - i.e. don't think a single document will be enough. They look at the totality.]

You can provide the marriage license because it has address as evidence of address, yes. You of course need to provide separately the marriage certificate. Note: I would be concerned that someone at IRCC woudl make the same mistake and believe the license is insufficient to show you are married. If you decide to do this, include a note that you are including this as evidence of her address (and certificate included separately).

For the apartment lease, they need a more extensive "application" type thing with canadian citizenship.

That's absurd. And I suspect against local law. But may not be worth fighting about.

Only just got her on the Hydro but we're looking to get everything in this weekend ideally and they wont have a bill up until next month.

Should we wait until we can get some more bank statements, utility statement, stuff like that? She arrived here end of May so we're just worried that we're not doing this thing fast enough, but we weren't aware that you're supposed to basically travel up here with a "get the PR" plan in mind and get her on all the utility bills and stuff.

Not a comment about ths particular one - you have to decide what is enough - but overall better to wait a few extra weeks to have a good application with sufficient evidence. (Not too long though)

We got her a cellphone account but it's under my name and unfortunately they can't change that - can we just show them that I have two accounts and that one is for her, or does it need to have her name?

You can write a short letter of explanation.

I've had her as my life insurance beneficiary for a little over 3 years now, and we have lots of more recent letters addressed to the two of us from friends and family - is that what they want to see, or do they want to see stuff that's more like a signed letter from the neighbour/friends/family saying that they would testify that we've been together for as many years as we have? (online relationship since like 2015)...

Official letters and docs - even if only having her added - are better than letters from friends and family, but won't hurt to include a couple of those.

 

[nyxeka]

Any details on how I should add notes?

It's terribly confusing how they want us to do things like write notes on the pack of digital images and write notes that are all separately uploaded to their online web portal, not to mention the filename formatting is not at all clear with the punishment being "I'm angry now, please try again in a couple months"


Should these "notes" be like pdf documents saved from a google doc with the naming format 'Lastname - Firstname - document checklist question 7a to satisfy your concerns here are some notes - 1.pdf'? and then 'Lastname - Firstname - here's the document to satisfy document checklist question 7e subsection letters from friends and families blah blah.pdf'? Or should we compile everything into a single pdf document with notes in between pictures that says something like 'Lastname - Firstname - Document Checklist Section 7a - 1.pdf' and 'Lastname - Firstname - Document Checklist Section 7e - 1.pdf' ?

 

[hoahoa]

Why don't you use the photo editor to add text on your picture corner? Like "Wedding day Feb 10 2022", "2021 Mother's day celebrating with my family", "2nd Christmas together", "Taking Covid vaccination together", "Day trip to the US May 1 2022"?

We did take notes like that and arranged pictures according to time line of our relationship when we applied.

 

[ramu_rokey]

Any details on how I should add notes?

It's terribly confusing how they want us to do things like write notes on the pack of digital images and write notes that are all separately uploaded to their online web portal, not to mention the filename formatting is not at all clear with the punishment being "I'm angry now, please try again in a couple months"


Should these "notes" be like pdf documents saved from a google doc with the naming format 'Lastname - Firstname - document checklist question 7a to satisfy your concerns here are some notes - 1.pdf'? and then 'Lastname - Firstname - here's the document to satisfy document checklist question 7e subsection letters from friends and families blah blah.pdf'? Or should we compile everything into a single pdf document with notes in between pictures that says something like 'Lastname - Firstname - Document Checklist Section 7a - 1.pdf' and 'Lastname - Firstname - Document Checklist Section 7e - 1.pdf' ?

The way i did was open the image in paint for edit , add a text box in the bottom and mention the details on the photo, then save the file in the following format in jpeg (PA Last Name PA First Name - Type of Documentation proof (in my case i labelled as Proof of Relation through Photographs) - Number (1-20 as 20 photos required) . Hope helps