Statutory Declarations

[Aroundtown22]

We're in the final stages of getting our common-law application together and because my partner (do I call her my spouse now? haha) is from Western Europe, we need to have at least 2 statutory declarations from people that know about our relationship.

I am going to get one from my parents (we lived with them for the first 1.5 months when my partner got here, this fact will be included in the stat. dec.) and the other from some friends.

I am not sure how word either of these declarations... should they state that they know we've been cohabiting in a conjugal relationship since she got here? Or should they just state that they are aware of our relationship and believe it to be genuine and ongoing?

 

[tgchi13]

What it should be is honest and heart-felt. If you get several you should have it covered.

 

[Aroundtown22]

I should have been a little more specific I guess.

The stat dec from friends was going to talk about how they know we have been living together since last August... but they didn't meet my partner until Sept '09. I just don't know what can and can't be in a stat dec.

Also, we've been writing letters for my partners family and friends and emailing them out, getting them signed scanned and emailed back. They are all almost exactly the same because we wrote them. Is this the best way to go about this or should we be asking everyone to write their own?

 

[sbwv09]

You should give them a few general directions, but they should have their own personalized letters. CIC may be suspicious if they get several copies of the same letter with just different signatures.

I just had both of the mothers write letters for us (we are married so it wasn't required, but we just wanted some extra evidence!). Here's the guidelines we used:

-When you first heard about the relationship
-When you first spoke to the other partner
(these two were important because we dated for several years before we met the parents due to the fact that we didn't live close to either family or each other!)
-When you first met the other partner
-Other occasions you were with the couple (trips, parties, etc)
-How they know you have a genuine relationship

The more personal the letter, the better. His mom wrote about how there was a big difference in his behavior and attitude after we started dating, and my mom wrote about how she and my dad are very religious and would never condone a marriage done for anything but love. Things like that are helpful.

Since you are applying as common law, it would be good for them to also include that they know that you lived together for X amount of time, they spent time at your common home, etc.

 

[Aroundtown22]

Thank you very much for your pointers! I think this will result in some very interesting letters for us (I am excited to see what people come up with).

We're including probably a total of 5 letters on top of the 2 stat decs for a total of 7 =)

 

[canadianwoman]

The stat dec from friends was going to talk about how they know we have been living together since last August... but they didn't meet my partner until Sept '09. I just don't know what can and can't be in a stat dec.

Also, we've been writing letters for my partners family and friends and emailing them out, getting them signed scanned and emailed back. They are all almost exactly the same because we wrote them. Is this the best way to go about this or should we be asking everyone to write their own?

Don't write the letters yourself and have people sign them. Even if everything is true, it doesn't look good to CIC. Give your letter writers general guidelines, and have them write their own. This way the letters will be personal, will include details that maybe you would have not thought to add but that could be helpful, and will seem authentic. A notarized letter, an statutory letter, or an affidavit can be very formally worded, or it can be just like a regular letter - all the writer is doing is swearing that the contents are true.

 

[silverbee]

Definitely have everyone write their own letter!

My family wrote personal letters about how much they like my partner and us as a couple, how we met, what we did, and what they thought about our future. One of them was two pages long, one was just a paragraph, but the meaning was the same.

I sent two stat decs and two emails to the same effect.

 

[BeShoo]

I think this will result in some very interesting letters for us (I am excited to see what people come up with).

We gave our friends guidelines (which I think were based on sbvw09's request letter) and they each wrote personal letters according to their personal knowledge of our relationship, which is a conjugal partnership. My partner has been living with me on a temporary basis for 7 months now, so some of my friends have had a chance to meet him and spend time with us both. Some of them also met him on a previous short visit. (I'm in a same-sex relationship, by the way, and I'm still gradually "coming out" to various people.)

I was a little surprised to see how other people viewed our relationship. The guy who had his back to my back in our student office at my university knew a lot more about what I was typing on the computer than I ever guessed. (I thought he couldn't really see that I was chatting with my partner from time to time.) We've participated in many events at the campus Pride Centre in recent months and I was surprised to learn that we're apparently somewhat of a role model of a long-term, committed relationship for the other gay students who are generally considerably younger than we are!

After getting the runaround as to where to get a statutory declaration commissioned or notarized, we ended up talking to a legal aid lawyer. He later admitted that we weren't technically eligible, but we wanted to help us out. (It might have helped that he was recently a law student at my university.) Rather than just witness what my friends had typed up, he reworded their letters into a very formal style and after checking with them to make sure everything was correct, had them sign the more formal document. Here's a sample with the identifiable details replaced by explanations in square brackets. Of course, no-one is going to copy any of the contents of this, but this gives you an idea of the style of the two stat decs we are sending in.

I, [FRIEND'S NAME] of [123 MAIN ST], in the City of [City],

MAKE OATH AND DECLARE THE FOLLOWING:

1. I met [SPONSOR NAME] in [Month] [Year] when I became a graduate student in the Department of _____ at the University of _____. Mr. [Sponsor] was a Ph.D. student in the same department.

2. We became friends not long after my arrival. We have attended workshops for Teaching Assistants together and met at various social outings.

3. Mr. [Sponsor] told me about his homosexuality and his conjugal relationship with [APPLICANT NAME] on [Date], [Year]. I remember that it was after I told him about the the [club for gay Christians] which I had founded at the University of ______.

4. After Mr. [Sponsor] had come out, we became even closer friends. Mr. [Sponsor] became an active member of the [club for gay Christians] and, in [Month] [Year], was named its vice president.

5. During our club meetings and socials, Mr. [Sponsor] often talked about his online conversations with Mr. [Applicant]. He described how he and Mr. [Applicant] used to eat dinner together via Instant Messaging. I remember Mr. [Sponsor] being very concerned about Mr. [Applicant]'s change of apartments in [State]. Mr. [Sponsor] decided to travel to [State] to help him move to a new place.

6. Mr. [Applicant] and I met on [Date], [Year] during a discussion panel about spirituality and sexuality organized by the University of ______ Pride Centre. Mr. [Applicant] joined the [club for gay Christians] and, together with Mr. [Sponsor], participated in the club's meetings. I enjoyed talking with Mr. [Applicant] and found him happy and in love with Mr. [Sponsor].

7. I believe that Mr. [Sponsor] and Mr. [Applicant] are in a loving and genuine relationship.

SWORN BEFORE ME at the
City of [City], in the Province of
[Province], on [Date], [Year]
{signature} {signature}
[LAWYER'S NAME] [FRIEND'S NAME]
A Commissioner for taking Affidavits in
[Province]

 

[BeShoo]

... my partner (do I call her my spouse now? haha) is from Western Europe ...

One more thing, about this, the official technical term under federal legislation (including the immigration act) is "common-law partner" but several provinces (ex. British Columbia) specify provincial benefits for a "common-law spouse." I don't suppose that the immigration officers care much about whether you use "spouse" or "partner". Someone here was arguing that "spouse" sounds more convincing, but I'm not sure whether it does or not and it's not technically the correct term for IRPA.

 

[AllisonVSC]

It's funny about the spouse/partner lingo thing, BeShoo.

I always refer to my guy here as my partner; we applied in the conjugal partner category. When I was a teacher I referred to him as my sweetie, or sweetheart, because "boyfriend" just didn't appropriate for a 50 year old and "lover" wasn't appropriate for my kiddos, lol. In my App I just referred to him by name.

He, on the other hand, refers to me when speaking to others as his spouse sometimes as his wife. I think there should be some left finger hardware to go with that title, but he hasn't gotten the less than subtle hints yet. ;D

Hope you are well. Allison

 

[tgchi13]

Allison, that made me smile. Being 'of an age' I've always referred to my now-husband as my partner, for the same reasons!