Statutory declaration for common law union

[Remrov]

I received an email yesterday from my VO (Vienna). They needed more documents, including this statutory declaration for comon law union. Now my question is about this form.

The first question I have to fill out country, city, my name and my sponsor's name etc. But which country do I fill out? Mine or my sponsor's?
Since I still live in the Netherlands, and my boyfriend lives in Montreal, Canada.

Does anybody know?

 

[Rob_TO]

I received an email yesterday from my VO (Vienna). They needed more documents, including this statutory declaration for comon law union. Now my question is about this form.

The first question I have to fill out country, city, my name and my sponsor's name etc. But which country do I fill out? Mine or my sponsor's?
Since I still live in the Netherlands, and my boyfriend lives in Montreal, Canada.

Does anybody know?

Strange they would ask for this document, as in the checklist it clearly states in item 5 the sponsor only needs to submit this "if you have a co-signer and he or she is your common-law partner".

Anyways as this form is required in the "Sponsor" section of checklist, i would fill it out from your partners address in Montreal.

Note also i believe this form needs to be notarized!

 

[Remrov]

Okay,

Well, I find this really weird. I just read the sponsor's quide and indeed. It's only for when your common law partner is a co signer. Like the both of us are going to sponsor somebody else. I fiond this extrememly confusing. And how do we notarize it when we don't live in the same country?

I think I'll call Vienna tomorrow.

 

[Rob_TO]

Even though it's not a required document, i know many people include this declaration in their common-law app, just for some extra proof that they're really a common-law couple.

Hopefully in your case, your spouse in Montreal can just get a local notary to sign it even though you are not actually there. Perhaps you will need to a call or video-chat with your spouse and notary all together, so he can confirm it is indeed you. If you both need to sign in the notary's presence... that would be a big difficulty for you guys!

 

[Remrov]

But I have to sign it in front of a notary also I think right?
When and how do I do this?

 

[Sweden]

But I have to sign it in front of a notary also I think right?
When and how do I do this?

I think best is to call Vienna and see what they want exactly. Have your boyfriend also call a notary in Montreal and enquire from his side what are the possibility.
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[Remrov]

I found it all out. My boyfriend can go to a notary first and sign it. Then he can sedn the form to me and then I can take it to a notary to sign it.

I do have one question about a question in the form. Here's the link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5409E.PDF

With question 1: My common law partner and I have jointly signed a residential lease, mortgage or purchased agreement relating to a residence in which we both live.
I don't know if we could better check yes or no. We did both sign a lease together for an appartment in Montreal. My boyfriend lives there, but I officially not yet, since I still live in the Netherlands. But all the other questions are 'no' too. So I thought that maybe we can at least check this one 'yes'.

What would you do?

 

[Rob_TO]

I found it all out. My boyfriend can go to a notary first and sign it. Then he can sedn the form to me and then I can take it to a notary to sign it.

I do have one question about a question in the form. Here's the link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5409E.PDF

With question 1: My common law partner and I have jointly signed a residential lease, mortgage or purchased agreement relating to a residence in which we both live.
I don't know if we could better check yes or no. We did both sign a lease together for an appartment in Montreal. My boyfriend lives there, but I officially not yet, since I still live in the Netherlands. But all the other questions are 'no' too. So I thought that maybe we can at least check this one 'yes'.

What would you do?

Since you have actually signed a lease together I would check "yes", and include a note explaining you will be moving to this address as soon as your PR is approved.

Also I would recommend to get some term life insurance, with each other as beneficiary. This is super cheap and easy to setup, and will give more proof of your relationship.

And finally make sure your spouse changes his status with the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) to common-law. This can be done in minutes online if he has an online "my account" with the CRA, under "change my marital status". He can then print out the CRA page that shows his common-law status, effective date, and your first name as his common-law partner. Send along with the other documents. Just a bit of extra proof.

 

[Remrov]

Okay, thank you Rob_TO,

What I do wonder.....where can I get a life insurance. To set that up here in the Netherlands for those few months that I will still be here, I don't know if that's smart. And I don't know if I could get a life insurance in Canada already since I'm not a permanent resident yet.
Or do you mean only my boyfriend?

I will also ask my boyfriend if he can change his marital status at the CRA.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[MissDominica]

Hey Remrov,

It seems someone has answered your questions already. I just wanted to let you know that I applied C/L as well and we sent this form along even though it was not "required" because my partner was not a sponsor or vice versa. We had heard that sometimes they request it as extra proof and so we went ahead and did it anyway. Good luck!

 

[Rob_TO]

What I do wonder.....where can I get a life insurance. To set that up here in the Netherlands for those few months that I will still be here, I don't know if that's smart. And I don't know if I could get a life insurance in Canada already since I'm not a permanent resident yet.
Or do you mean only my boyfriend?

Since your bf is the Canadian citizen, it would probably be fine if he just set up a term insurance policy with you as the beneficiary. In this case it doesn't matter who you are, what status or where in the world you live. I believe for a youngish person with no major health issues... you often can do the entire thing online or over the phone, and some people can do it with insurance benefits through their employer. And as soon as the PR is approved, you can just cancel the insurance if you didn't really want it.

Of course this is not required, but is great as extra proof if you are lacking in proof in other areas.

 

[Remrov]

Thank you!!!!
I will definitely talk to my boyfriend about this.

 

[Remrov]

What I was wondering....

In the two months that I just visited my boyfriend in Montreal (from september 17 to november 11th) I found a job there already. There's an school for autistic people (I have autism myself and I can give lectures and help with families etc) and they want to hire me as soon as I get my perminant residence.

Would it be a smart thing to let my VO know about this?
Since I have autism and it's a reasurement for them that I'm not going to cost the state money or something.

 

[Sweden]

What I was wondering....

In the two months that I just visited my boyfriend in Montreal (from september 17 to november 11th) I found a job there already. There's an school for autistic people (I have autism myself and I can give lectures and help with families etc) and they want to hire me as soon as I get my perminant residence.

Would it be a smart thing to let my VO know about this?
Since I have autism and it's a reasurement for them that I'm not going to cost the state money or something.

I think it's a good thing to include in your letter to the VO. It shows that you are clearly waiting for them to issue the PR and that you have started looking for things in Canada ( so your relationship is genuine as you're making every effort to build a life there), and indeed it also shows that you are an asset to the country and adaptable, as you already have a job offer before even getting the PR ( well done there! impressive!).
Just make sure that you mention that you didn't actively "look for work" ( not really allowed on a tourist visa I would think), but it just happened like this, and that the school is waiting for your PR to finalise the job offer.
Good luck! your VO will be very impressed then they receive your additional documents and they will have no choice other than just approving your PR right away!
Sweden

 

[Remrov]

Okay,

Thanks again!!!

I'm really happy with it all, and I'm pretty confident that everything will work out great.