cola99

Hi,

Today I received a letter from buffalo, and it says "We have now completed the initial assessment of your application, and ......" WHAT!!!! After more than 1 year of waitting, I just got initial assessment completed!!!! How could this be possible!!!:scared:

It asking me "Document over the last 12 months which show that your relationship is a Conjugal Relationship. These documents must show interdependency - combined affairs and permanence." We already submitted our proof so that we can pass the first stage in Mississauga. So, why I still need to provide??? I just don't get it.....

Also, what are the best documents that I should submit to them?? Any suggestion?? Thanks...

I am in spousal sponsorship -- common-law.

amancharan

they just want documents that establishes ur relationship to ur sponsor! maybe credit card statements, joint accounts and other stuff! and also, any document that is a proof of a persisting relationship!
u will have to send them anyways!! there's no choice!
i am wondered though as to why they took this long?? normally spouse, common-law or conjugal partner cases are done pretty quickly..
anyways, there is no choice mate! u will have to give them the documents that they ask fr! also, i think that later on they might ask u fr recent police clearances and updated medicals, if not asked already.
probably they want some without needing an interview; so provide them with the requested documents
cheers

cola99

What is the different between Common-law and Conjugal Relationship?? Is there any differences? If so, we applied under Common-law partner but how come they wanted me to provide doc that show our relationship is a Conjugal Relationship?? thanks

Andrew Miller

Common-law partners - couple living together (cohabiting) in *conjugal relationship* and having done so for at least 12 months.

Conjugal partners - couple in at least 12 months long *conjugal relationship* who for valid reasons (other than convenience) cannot either get married or live together to meet definition of common-law partners, regardless well documented trying.

If you applied as common-law and have conclusively documented that you are living together and have done so for at least 12 months then probably you still didn't prove that you are living in conjugal relationship (nothing to do with conjugal partners above), and are not just roommates.

Note that definitions of both above relationships (common-law partners and conjugal partners) include requirement that they are *conjugal relationships*. This is what Immigration Manual says about *conjugal relationship*:

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The term “conjugal” was originally used to describe marriage. Then, over the years, it was expanded by various court decisions to describe “marriage-like” relationships, i.e., a man and a
woman in a common-law relationship. With the M. v. H. decision in 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada further expanded the term to include same-sex common-law couples.

The word “conjugal” does not mean “sexual relations” alone. It signifies that there is a significant degree of attachment between two partners. The word “conjugal” comes from two Latin words, one meaning “join” and the other meaning “yoke,” thus, literally, the term means “joined together” or “yoked together.”
In the M. v. H. decision, the Supreme Court adopts the list of factors that must be considered in determining whether any two individuals are actually in a conjugal relationship from the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Moldowich v. Penttinen. They include:

• shared shelter (e.g., sleeping arrangements);
• sexual and personal behaviour (e.g., fidelity, commitment, feelings towards each other);
• services (e.g., conduct and habit with respect to the sharing of household chores)
• social activities (e.g., their attitude and conduct as a couple in the community and with their families);
• economic support (e.g., financial arrangements, ownership of property);
• children (e.g., attitude and conduct concerning children)
• the societal perception of the two as a couple.

From the language used by the Supreme Court throughout M. v. H., it is clear that a conjugal relationship is one of some permanence, where individuals are interdependent – financially,
socially, emotionally, and physically – where they share household and related responsibilities, and where they have made a serious commitment to one another.
Based on this, the following characteristics should be present to some degree in all conjugal relationships, married and unmarried:

• mutual commitment to a shared life;
• exclusive – cannot be in more than one conjugal relationship at a time;
• intimate – commitment to sexual exclusivity;
• interdependent – physically, emotionally, financially, socially;
• permanent – long-term, genuine and continuing relationship;
• present themselves as a couple;
• regarded by others as a couple;
• caring for children (if there are children).

People who are dating or who are thinking about marrying or living together and establishing a common-law relationship are NOT yet in a conjugal relationship, nor are people who want to live together to “try out” their relationship.

Persons in a conjugal relationship have made a significant commitment to one another. A married couple makes the commitment publicly at a specific point in time via their marriage vows and ceremony, and the marriage certificate and registration is a record of that commitment. In a common-law or conjugal partner relationship, there is not necessarily a single point in time at which a commitment is made, and there is no one legal document attesting to the commitment. Instead, there is the passage of time together, the building of intimacy and emotional ties and the accumulation of other types of evidence, such as naming one another as beneficiaries of insurance policies or estates, joint ownership of possessions, joint decision-making with consequences for one partner affecting the other, and financial support of one another (joint expenses or sharing of income, etc. When taken together, these facts indicate that the couple has come to a similar point as that of a married couple – there is significant commitment and mutual interdependence in a monogamous relationship of some permanence.
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So, CIC wants you to prove now all of the above, not only the fact of living at the same address.

ozinca

Cola99, I really do feel your frustration. If I was in your situation, I would send them the following:

-joint residential lease showing both names
-joint bank account showing both names
-joint bills - like Hydro and phone
-statutory declarations from friends and/or family confirming your relationship to be genuine and continuing. Collect as many as you can.
-recent photos of you and your partner together at home, on vaction etc.

Collect as much as you can and courier it all off to Buffalo as soon as you can. I know it is hard to believe it right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will get your passport request letter eventually.

Best wishes, stay cool,
Ozinca