reference letters

[Asta]

Hello, i wonder what need to be written in these letters. is there any example?

 

[AllisonVSC]

this is what I wrote to my friends and family. I sent the request via email. Most replied via email and I just printed them out. My brother and my sponsor's close friend printed, notarized, and sent their replies via postal mail.

I'd be happy to share examples of what we got in return, but the responses were so varied...it would be hard to chose just one to be "representative".

Dear Friends and Family,

As you know I am seeking Permanent Residence status in Ontario, Canada through the Family Class immigration category. I am technically called a "Conjugal Partner" (nice and descriptive, isn't it?) and XXXX is my Sponsor. As part of the immigration application we are required to provide evidence that we are indeed a genuine couple. This includes email correspondence, passport stamps from visits to see each other, plane ticket stubs, photos, etc. We are also required to document the history of our relationship (which was kind of a fun exercise).

An important part of this evidence of genuine coupledom/coupleship, whatever you want to call it, is documentation from family and friends. My brother and his wife have agreed to make sworn testimony on our behalf, but from reading Canadian immigration blogs it appears that the more documentary evidence we can provide from external sources the more likely our application will be approved swiftly, or at least not denied on this basis.

So I am writing today to ask if you would write an email on our behalf and send it to me (or XXXX, if you prefer) by Friday. I realize this request is somewhat vague as to the content of the email, so I've included a list of basic points to cover at the bottom of this message. You are certainly welcome to write more, or less...whatever you are comfortable with putting in writing to support our Family Class application.

For those of you who respond, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your timely assistance in this matter. For those who chose not to respond for any reason, please know that I accept your decision with much grace and goodwill.

Kindest regards,
Allison


General information to consider including in your message (this can be written in French or in English, by the way)...

1. A description of how you know either one of us (typically the person you knew first)...examples
I am a friend of XXX, I was a co-worker of XXX, I am the sister of XXX, etc

2. A description of how you became aware of our relationship, when you met the other partner, activities we participated in together, etc

3. A statement to the effect that, in your judgement, we are in a real, loving, ongoing, genuine (you choose the words) relationship based on your personal knowledge and experiences

 

[saralune]

Hi eveyone,

We are almost done with all the preparing, filling in etc required but we still have some questions which someone may be able to answer.
1st: do the letters have to be notarized or handwritten or can they be typed?
2nd: I´m applying outside Canada, in Argentina, so in "Appendix C" which has to be presented to the doctor for the medical check, when it asks for the Visa Office that will be processing the file, would it be Mississauga (where my sponsor is going to hand in all the paperwork) or Buenos Aires?

Thank you very much!

we didn t get those notarized. It is not needed, but anything that was in Spanish had to be translated to english. Any official documents were done by a certified translator. Anything else that was submitted as proof ( e-mails, wedding cards, birthday cards and so on) where translated by a freind and then that was notarized ( all of this was done based on lawyer's advice).

It doesn't matter if it 's typed up or not. I would ask most people to do so as people's hand writing are always harder to read than when typed up, but it is not necessary.

We we are asked by the lawyer to have every person who provided a letter to give their name, address, contact info and to provide a photocopy of an official government issued ID, with picture. Also you should have everyone sign their letters(ideally original signature, no photocopies as much as possible)

 

[Asta]

thanks Allison.

now the question is if u are married do u still include such letters of support?
in our checklist its asked to include them if u are in common law relationship.
so do married couples include those letters or it doesnt matter?

 

[AllisonVSC]

I am not married... we applied as conjugal partners. I do not believe spouses need these letters (possibly bc you have actual marriage certificates which are legal documents), but I hope someone else can confirm. Good luck with your application.

 

[Asta]

thank u, good luck to u too