Request for additional information AFTER Medical Examination stage+Open Work Permit?

[AndersmithValleyleaf]

Hello. I am a Swedish male currently in the process of being sponsored by my Canadian girlfriend of several years. We have for the last few months been working on our sponsorship application and I have a question regarding a follow up I got that I was hoping some of the fine people on this site could help shed some light on.

I have been granted an open work permit in conjunction with my sponsorship application. On the 9th of this month (19/02) I was sent a letter telling me that our application had reached a stage where the medical examination was now necessary (I've scheduled an appointment for the 27th since that was the earliest I could get one, I realize I might have to call in and explain this as a precaution to the relevant authorities but that is besides the point).

Today I received another letter telling me that additional information is required of us in the form of "Proof of relationship" and that they want the following:
*Photos dating on or before 2017/06/01
*Letters of support from family and friends with knowledge of your relationship from 2017/06/01 or before. *Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized.
*Travel tickets from 2017/06/01 or before.

Is this normal? I was under the impression that with the granted Open Work Permit and the request of a medical examination, that implies that our information was approved, no?

Everything in the checklist is included except for the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized." as that was not part of the checklist. Is this just some standard follow up letter going "Hey, we don't really know if you included everything and we don't feel like checking so here is a reminder"? They gave us a week to respond which makes me worry, are we to expect that they will register this additional form in time if I send it in this Monday (25th) when it took them 6 months to get this far?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jazzercise]

Hello. I am a Swedish male currently in the process of being sponsored by my Canadian girlfriend of several years. We have for the last few months been working on our sponsorship application and I have a question regarding a follow up I got that I was hoping some of the fine people on this site could help shed some light on.

I have been granted an open work permit in conjunction with my sponsorship application. On the 9th of this month (19/02) I was sent a letter telling me that our application had reached a stage where the medical examination was now necessary (I've scheduled an appointment for the 27th since that was the earliest I could get one, I realize I might have to call in and explain this as a precaution to the relevant authorities but that is besides the point).

Today I received another letter telling me that additional information is required of us in the form of "Proof of relationship" and that they want the following:
*Photos dating on or before 2017/06/01
*Letters of support from family and friends with knowledge of your relationship from 2017/06/01 or before. *Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized.
*Travel tickets from 2017/06/01 or before.

Is this normal? I was under the impression that with the granted Open Work Permit and the request of a medical examination, that implies that our information was approved, no?

Everything in the checklist is included except for the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized." as that was not part of the checklist. Is this just some standard follow up letter going "Hey, we don't really know if you included everything and we don't feel like checking so here is a reminder"? They gave us a week to respond which makes me worry, are we to expect that they will register this additional form in time if I send it in this Monday (25th) when it took them 6 months to get this far?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Your apps were accepted, but they make clear that they can ask for additional info/documents as needed. Also, the OWP app is separate from the PR app, so don't assume that because you're OWP is good there won't be some issues with the PR app.

From the sounds of it (and as you seem to be aware), they're having some questions regarding the genuineness of your relationship to the sponsor. You mentioned you had included almost everything they asked for except for the notarized declaration of common law, so they clearly want to see a bit more evidence from or before the date in question. Make sure you collect these things and hand it to IRCC as soon as possible.

 

[momo2018]

Well you said she is your girlfriend of few years, but you only provided proofs of the last 18 months, so you need to show that the relationship started before that (on whatever date you told them).
They were clear on what you need to send, so I would take it seriously and collect as much evidence as possible to show them that you were dating before 6/2017.
They obviously have doubts about your relationship so try your best to prove them wrong, and hopefully you wont be called for an interview or get more letters like this one (which makes the process longer)

PS: Yes its quite normal. Send them what they want and if your relationship is genuine you should be fine.

 

[AndersmithValleyleaf]

Well you said she is your girlfriend of few years, but you only provided proofs of the last 18 months, so you need to show that the relationship started before that (on whatever date you told them).
They were clear on what you need to send, so I would take it seriously and collect as much evidence as possible to show them that you were dating before 6/2017.
They obviously have doubts about your relationship so try your best to prove them wrong, and hopefully you wont be called for an interview or get more letters like this one (which makes the process longer)

PS: Yes its quite normal. Send them what they want and if your relationship is genuine you should be fine.

So basically they want information about our dating years before we entered what can be considered official Common-law? Also the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized." part needs to be done with a lawyer correct? They want us to get in contact with a lawyer and get all this done within a week? Feels like a small time-frame.

Is there anyway I can contact them and ask for more time? Or can the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship" be replaced by just sending in additional information in the form of social media interactions, pictures and plane tickets? Some of the things we sent are dating back to 2014. I'm not sure what else we can send except just MORE pictures and MORE social interactions.

Once again, thank you for your tips and help, I greatly appreciate it.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

So basically they want information about our dating years before we entered what can be considered official Common-law? Also the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized." part needs to be done with a lawyer correct? They want us to get in contact with a lawyer and get all this done within a week? Feels like a small time-frame.

Is there anyway I can contact them and ask for more time? Or can the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship" be replaced by just sending in additional information in the form of social media interactions, pictures and plane tickets? Some of the things we sent are dating back to 2014. I'm not sure what else we can send except just MORE pictures and MORE social interactions.

Once again, thank you for your tips and help, I greatly appreciate it.

No, it doesn't need to be done by a lawyer. You can go to a notary.

You can ask for more time but unless you live in a remote small town with no notaries, it is a simple thing to get done the Stat Dec within a few days.

No, the Stat Dec can't be replaced by other stuff. You need to submit what was requested.

 

[momo2018]

So basically they want information about our dating years before we entered what can be considered official Common-law? Also the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship - Notarized." part needs to be done with a lawyer correct? They want us to get in contact with a lawyer and get all this done within a week? Feels like a small time-frame.

Is there anyway I can contact them and ask for more time? Or can the "Statutory declaration of Common Law Relationship" be replaced by just sending in additional information in the form of social media interactions, pictures and plane tickets? Some of the things we sent are dating back to 2014. I'm not sure what else we can send except just MORE pictures and MORE social interactions.

Once again, thank you for your tips and help, I greatly appreciate it.

Yes send picture from the time you met and during all this time until today. I sent my pics showing the time we met and until today in 3 months intervals or so (cause there is a 20 pic minimum, that might not apply to you). Show celebrating holidays together. show pics with family and friends. show communication from the time you met and until today. Try to prove that you actually met few years ago and kept your relationship until today.

I think you might tried to show only the common in law time but thats not what they want. If you have tickets and stuff from 2014, Thats exactly what they want

You can also write a "personal statement" telling you story on how you met and how the relationship progressed until today (when you met, how you met, met each other family, traveling together, moved to live together etc). Its not mandatory but can help the officer understand the story better. keep it 2-3 pages max.

As for notarized as far as I know you can write it yourself. Dont sign it. Then take it to any notary and sign in front of them and they will notarized it for you. Thats like swearing for the accuracy for the text. Should be fast and pretty cheap.

You can ask for more time but might not get it... Good luck

 

[AndersmithValleyleaf]

Yes send picture from the time you met and during all this time until today. I sent my pics showing the time we met and until today in 3 months intervals or so (cause there is a 20 pic minimum, that might not apply to you). Show celebrating holidays together. show pics with family and friends. show communication from the time you met and until today. Try to prove that you actually met few years ago and kept your relationship until today.

I think you might tried to show only the common in law time but thats not what they want. If you have tickets and stuff from 2014, Thats exactly what they want

You can also write a "personal statement" telling you story on how you met and how the relationship progressed until today (when you met, how you met, met each other family, traveling together, moved to live together etc). Its not mandatory but can help the officer understand the story better. keep it 2-3 pages max.

As for notarized as far as I know you can write it yourself. Dont sign it. Then take it to any notary and sign in front of them and they will notarized it for you. Thats like swearing for the accuracy for the text. Should be fast and pretty cheap.

You can ask for more time but might not get it... Good luck

No, it doesn't need to be done by a lawyer. You can go to a notary.

You can ask for more time but unless you live in a remote small town with no notaries, it is a simple thing to get done the Stat Dec within a few days.

No, the Stat Dec can't be replaced by other stuff. You need to submit what was requested.

Wonderful, thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and support. You have helped me tons! <3