Sasquatch888

Hi there,

New to this forum even though I have read many topics on here during my research. So hello! I am really hoping someone can lend a hand with this, i'd really appreciate it and I will try and help with future posters from my experiences in the future. I will try and make this brief:

My partner and I are going through the steps for emigrating to Canada next year. We will do by her being the principle applicant through a common law application. We have done quite a bit on it so far (we know we will get the crs scores etc, done IELTS and ECA) but now looking at the evidence needed to prove common law, I know there has been a lot of questions on this in the past, I have looked and looked but I would just like some clarification please.

She moved in start of June last year and changed the address on most of her important documents by July so we are aiming to get in the pool July 2019.

I have come across checklist IMM5589E and the way I understand it, it is only the first 2 out of 3 list that is there to prove cohabitation for 12 months. So for this primary requirement we have:
-Backdated council tax bill from July.
-Car insurance documents with the same address from July (also named on each others policies as partner).
-Can also add other documents to show us both at the same address, drivers license, individual mobile bills, individual back account statements, if needed.

We then have the second requirement of pictures plus will add tickets and bookings made together.

The 3rd requirement, the second list which you need 2 out of 3 does not have to be dated to prove 12 months cohabitation (again, if I am understanding it correctly), so for this we have:
-Letters from friends and family.
-We can start a life insurance policy now with one as the next of kin to the other.

I am going to add my partner to the gas utility bill as a backup in case the council tax bill is not accepted for the first 2 out of 3. And we are going to open up a joint account as backup for the second 2 out of 3 - if either of these will be needed we will do our application again in October.

If anyone can pass comment if this looks good for applying in July, if we have everything we need, I would be very grateful.

Many thanks

jimmynoshoes

When we did ours, we had a fair bit of history of living together, paying rent and then a mortgage. It was the last year however, that we had literally no further evidence for as we sold the house and moved in with a family member so we could save whilst I also helped provide care for them. Bills wise, we had none except broadband.

To that end, we provided the following:

• Broadband bill that was in my name, but paid for by partner. Also attached an email from provider that showed her as an authorised person to make account decisions.
• Letter from my parents stating history of relationship and explaining current living arrangements. This was then hand signed by both to provide extra authenticity.
• With our local GP, we are listed as each others next of kin. We therefore got our Dr to provide a written statement confirming our relationship to each other and confirm we are each others next of kins. The letter also included the dates we joined the practice (we both joined it at the same time).
• Cat insurance policy with both of us listed.
• Cat breed certificates with both names listed under ownership. (We have Ragdolls registered with the GCCF)
• Car insurance policy listed named driver for myself under her policy.

Our IMM5409 was signed by a solicitor, which I guess also provided extra assurance that all was truthful.

Obviously in our case we also provided mortgage docs and rental stuff, which may well have made the above semi redundant.

DigitalGhost

Unless I'm mistaken, IMM5589E is for family class immigrants (ie sponsored by a Canadian citizen or currently residing PR). If you're both British and applying for PR under the same EE FSW application then I'm not sure that checklist applies.

On an EE application you will just need to complete the notarised 5409E and provide basic proof of mutual residence (e.g. tenancy agreement). You don't need to start including photos or letters from your family etc although I doubt you'd ever be penalised for it.

The 5409E is the all important part as it's a legal oath and lying on that form makes you both guilty of perjury. Remember that Canada formally recognises common law relationships whereas Britain just considers you to be unmarried and cohabiting.



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Sasquatch888

That's great, thank you both for your replies.

So, with the IMM5409 (do you just download this and get it signed?) with the other supporting docs, would you think we can apply in July with this and it be successful?

Again, many thanks for your help - I just want to get everything tee'd up so we can apply in July and not have any issues then have to wait months before having the correct documentation. We unfortunately don't have a tenancy agreement or joint lease - bit of a long story, but this isn't really an option.

DigitalGhost

Correct. Print the form and take it to a solicitor or some other notary public and they will endorse it.

You won't be able to get that form notarised until you've been living together for a year though.

You won't need much else by way of proof since the 5409 itself is a legal affadavit taken under oath. Lying on it automatically makes the principal applicant (and by proxy all their dependents) automatically inadmissible.

We only included that form and the last page of our tenancy agreement on the EE profile. It's not like applying for a UK or Canadian spousal visa where you need a ton of supporting documentation.

Sasquatch888

Thanks again. Sorry another bit of clarification please - so next July I get this form signed by a solicitor - I can take my council tax bill to them as proof of cohabitation for a year and this will be enough proof for them to sign it? We submit the form, along with council tax bill (which includes water usage so it is like a utility bill) and other evidence like mail for individual insurance policies etc going to the same address, and this will be enough for our EE application?

Many many thanks

christmasoompa

What do you have that shows you are living as husband and wife? The council tax bill etc, just show you are sharing the same house - but roommates would have that too! Individual insurance policies again only show you are sharing the same address, they don't show that you have 'combined your affairs' as required for common-law. Do you have a joint bank account, insurance in both names, wills naming each other as beneficiaries etc? Those are the kind of things that show you're living in a marriage like relationship and that they'll be looking for.

What is your OH scoring on the CRS and will her points drop due to age between now and then?

DigitalGhost

I'm not sure if that's how it works tbh. I think the signed and endorsed affadavit is the key. My OH and I don't share any bills etc. We just have a joint council tax bill and tenancy agreement. Everything else is managed individually because the UK is such an anally retentive pain when it comes to joint accounts and data protection.

We weren't required to provide anything additional on our EE profile though and the CIC never questioned it.

christmasoompa

Odd, I've never had an issue with 'anally retentive pain' adding my husband to any of my accounts (and vice versa), it's usually a simple phone call. The affidavit is indeed key, but personally I wouldn't risk not having any other proof just in case personally. The OP has mentioned life insurance, so if they get that that would do it (and is sensible to have anyway if living as married).

DigitalGhost

My parents have had issues talking with banks etc about their joint accounts in the past but many utility companies won't give people joint accounts anymore anyway.

The good thing here is that Canada never seems to penalise people for providing too much documentation so as you say it's definitely better to include too much rather than too little.

Sasquatch888

Hi thanks for your reply and input. We do have all of those things, joint bank account, life insurance policies with each other as the beneficiary. However, they are as of now, not dated from July. We could include these as evidence but the council tax bill and various individual bills / mail will be the only proof we have of 12 months cohabiting. We would really like to apply in July if possible as it will take a while to sort everything out to actual get out there. So in July we could provide:
-Signed 5409 by solicitor
-Council tax bill from July
-Car insurance from July with the other on each others policy as a partner
-Individual bank statements and mobile phone bills going to the same address from July
-Drivers license with same address
-Photos, plane tickets and holiday bookings
-Joint bank account as of Oct (letter from the bank confirming this)
-Life insurance policies with each other as the beneficiaries
-Joint gas utility bill from Oct

So, would this be sufficient for July or will we have to wait until October? And is there anything else we can or should do in the mean time?

Thank you!

Sasquatch888

Should have said, life insurance from Oct

DigitalGhost

For what little it's worth, I don't see any problem with everything you've listed there. Keep in mind though that immigration rules can change at any time. Although unlikely it's always possible that the current EE system could be revamped between now and next July. When you're talking about nearly a year away from filing an EOI, you can only prepare so much in advance.

Sasquatch888

Yes, very true. I just want to do everything we can in order to apply as soon as possible, next July is as soon as we can hope for. I just hope, barring any changes, that what we have will be enough. I'm trying to avoid delays and would be pretty gutted if we had to wait longer to apply.

Thanks again for all your help. It's pretty difficult to find out if what we have is sufficient. I'm still going to try and search for more concrete reassurances on it as I'm a bit worried that the joint bank account and insurance policies only run from October. But then I guess there is proof that we have been there for 12 months, and proof that we have joined our lives together further down the line. So.. fingers crossed!

DigitalGhost

Whenever a couple move in together then it's only normal that it would take time for some documents to be generated etc. I wouldn't worry about this too much if I were you. Depending on your score, if you file an EOI next July then it could be September-October before you receive an ITA anyway and that's if you do receive one.