Common-law partner question (TWP)

Old Feb 9th 2017, 5:54 pm
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Question Common-law partner question (TWP)

Hi all, me again.

Currently waiting for an LMIA for a TWP. I'm planning on moving to Canada with my common-law spouse. The idea is to apply at POE and for me to get a work permit and her an open work permit tied to mine. We've lived together for about 3 1/2 years. Thing is, she moved in after I rented the apartment so her name is not on the lease. We are living in Germany, I had some questions about the proof needed to demonstrate we are a legit common-law couple.

So far we have amassed:

- Photo album of our 4 years together. We have A LOT of pictures. Everything from summer afternoons in the beer garden to photos from vacations, nights out with mutual friends and so on. We also have pictures of us together with both of our families. We got all these printed and will stick them in an album, with a description below each photo, and where available, other physical evidence of the location the picture was taken at (restaurant receipts, airline boarding passes, train tickets, etc.)

- joint bank account from which rent is paid every month. She keeps a separate account on which she receives her salary, she transfers me half of rent/utilities every month + any other expenses. When we buy groceries I usually pay from our joint account and she transfers half the money to it from her "salary account". We can demonstrate this with bank statements

- will get a notarized declaration of common-law union (see question about that further down)

- letters to both of us sent to the same address

- this is going to sound cheesy haha, but we sometimes leave notes for eachother at home when one of us is working a different shift. I'm talking scraps of paper with cute stuff written on them for the other person, I've kept a couple handful of them so I was thinking of adding these to our pile of "evidence" as well.

- pay stubs from work (we work for the same company), again showing our names and proving we live at the same address.

- in Germany you have to register your place of residence with the Government, so we'll get a certificate from the city office which will state how long each of us have lived at our shared address.
- hoping to get a notarized letter from our landlord when my LMIA is through that states we have lived at the address for so-and-so-long.

- going to collect notarized statements from friends/family/neighbors/co-workers (currently aiming at 4 notarized statements and maybe 2-3 more that won't be notarized) describing our relationship and how they know us, etc.

- a written relationship history. Basically, the idea is to write a 1-2 page letter describing how we met, how our relationship started and evolved, what we mean to eachother, describe our vacations and trips we went on together, etc.

- photographs of our door bell and mailbox with both our names on them.

- hotel reservations, airline tickets, train tickets. Some of them paid by her, some paid from joint account or under my name.

- utility bills from our landlord with both our names and address on it. Not signed yet, but hoping to get him to sign it in front of a notary with me.

That's it so far. Do you think this is enough? I'm a little worried about her not being on the lease (we weren't really planning on moving to Canada until I was offered a job in November so never got her name added). Hoping landlord will be cooperative in signing the statement.




*****Some questions***** (sorry if this is long):We are going to apply for the TWP at POE once I get the LMIA






Bank statements: do we have to get each single bank statement translated? If we need to prove minimum 12 months of joint expenses, that would mean at least 12 nearly identical looking bank statements. The only difference from statement to statement would be the transactions. Would it suffice to translate one statement so the officer understands what he's looking at and then just bring the remaining months in the original language (German)? Also, do I need to show all transactions for each month or only maybe a page from each month showing that it's a continuous thing?

Receipts and bills: we have some restaurant receipts, hotel & flight reservations, and bills that are in languages other than English or French. Some restaurant receipts are kind of faded by now and are literally like "1 coffee, 1 tea, two slices of cake". Would these all have to be translated? Some airline boarding passes are in German, because they were printed from German websites. It is obvious from looking at them that they are boarding passes, would you I need to get all this translated?

And a couple final questions about filling out the declaration of common law union:


- point 1b) "jointly own property other than our residence" We do not really own any property together, we bought a couple of book cases at IKEA together but no longer have receipts, we bought a toaster, no receipt kept, some other random stuff with no receipts kept. I would like to answers "yes" to as many questions as possible but since I had purchased most of my household items prior to my partner moving in with me I am having some trouble with this.


- point 1d) on the form: "have declared common-law union under Canadian income tax act". As we are outside of Canada is this even doable for us? How would we go about doing this/is this required?

- point 2) "I have life insurance which names my common-law partner as beneficiary". I just signed a beneficiary designation form for life insurance that my soon-to-be employer emailed me. I listed her as beneficiary. I have a "plan contract number" but not "plan member certificate number" yet, as I'm still in Germany. Could I check the "yes" box here? I have attached the form to this email.

So that's it pretty much. I'm unsure how much of what I have should be translated. If I have to get every single bill and bank statement page translated that might be very costly, so I'm hoping somebody can help me with this. I'm also unsure if the evidence i have would be enough. I want an airtight case because applying at POE is kind of an all-or-nothing situation.

THANK YOU!!!

Last edited by kleinluka; Feb 9th 2017 at 5:59 pm.
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Old Feb 9th 2017, 6:25 pm
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

Aaah being married makes this all so much easier! Haha
We did what you're doing a month ago.
Husband had job offer and LMIA. We arrived at Calgary airport and at POE applied for his TWP and my SOWP. Immigration guy was really nice.
All we needed for me was literally our marriage certificate. They didn't care about anything else. (Not that we brought anything else).
Getting married would probably be cheaper than getting everything translated. Haha

I'm not 100% sure on what you'd need. I do think what you've said sounds like plenty- and I don't think they're as strict if you're only coming in on a TWP. Different if it was PR.

There's a few people on here who will be along soon no doubt to answer your question (unlike me) apologies.

Good luck!!
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Old Feb 9th 2017, 9:54 pm
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

Originally Posted by kleinluka
Hi all, me again.

Currently waiting for an LMIA for a TWP. I'm planning on moving to Canada with my common-law spouse. The idea is to apply at POE and for me to get a work permit and her an open work permit tied to mine. We've lived together for about 3 1/2 years. Thing is, she moved in after I rented the apartment so her name is not on the lease. We are living in Germany, I had some questions about the proof needed to demonstrate we are a legit common-law couple.

So far we have amassed:

- Photo album of our 4 years together. We have A LOT of pictures. Everything from summer afternoons in the beer garden to photos from vacations, nights out with mutual friends and so on. We also have pictures of us together with both of our families. We got all these printed and will stick them in an album, with a description below each photo, and where available, other physical evidence of the location the picture was taken at (restaurant receipts, airline boarding passes, train tickets, etc.)

- joint bank account from which rent is paid every month. She keeps a separate account on which she receives her salary, she transfers me half of rent/utilities every month + any other expenses. When we buy groceries I usually pay from our joint account and she transfers half the money to it from her "salary account". We can demonstrate this with bank statements

- will get a notarized declaration of common-law union (see question about that further down)

- letters to both of us sent to the same address

- this is going to sound cheesy haha, but we sometimes leave notes for eachother at home when one of us is working a different shift. I'm talking scraps of paper with cute stuff written on them for the other person, I've kept a couple handful of them so I was thinking of adding these to our pile of "evidence" as well.

- pay stubs from work (we work for the same company), again showing our names and proving we live at the same address.

- in Germany you have to register your place of residence with the Government, so we'll get a certificate from the city office which will state how long each of us have lived at our shared address.
- hoping to get a notarized letter from our landlord when my LMIA is through that states we have lived at the address for so-and-so-long.

- going to collect notarized statements from friends/family/neighbors/co-workers (currently aiming at 4 notarized statements and maybe 2-3 more that won't be notarized) describing our relationship and how they know us, etc.

- a written relationship history. Basically, the idea is to write a 1-2 page letter describing how we met, how our relationship started and evolved, what we mean to eachother, describe our vacations and trips we went on together, etc.

- photographs of our door bell and mailbox with both our names on them.

- hotel reservations, airline tickets, train tickets. Some of them paid by her, some paid from joint account or under my name.

- utility bills from our landlord with both our names and address on it. Not signed yet, but hoping to get him to sign it in front of a notary with me.

That's it so far. Do you think this is enough? I'm a little worried about her not being on the lease (we weren't really planning on moving to Canada until I was offered a job in November so never got her name added). Hoping landlord will be cooperative in signing the statement.




*****Some questions***** (sorry if this is long):We are going to apply for the TWP at POE once I get the LMIA






Bank statements: do we have to get each single bank statement translated? If we need to prove minimum 12 months of joint expenses, that would mean at least 12 nearly identical looking bank statements. The only difference from statement to statement would be the transactions. Would it suffice to translate one statement so the officer understands what he's looking at and then just bring the remaining months in the original language (German)? Also, do I need to show all transactions for each month or only maybe a page from each month showing that it's a continuous thing?

Receipts and bills: we have some restaurant receipts, hotel & flight reservations, and bills that are in languages other than English or French. Some restaurant receipts are kind of faded by now and are literally like "1 coffee, 1 tea, two slices of cake". Would these all have to be translated? Some airline boarding passes are in German, because they were printed from German websites. It is obvious from looking at them that they are boarding passes, would you I need to get all this translated?

And a couple final questions about filling out the declaration of common law union:


- point 1b) "jointly own property other than our residence" We do not really own any property together, we bought a couple of book cases at IKEA together but no longer have receipts, we bought a toaster, no receipt kept, some other random stuff with no receipts kept. I would like to answers "yes" to as many questions as possible but since I had purchased most of my household items prior to my partner moving in with me I am having some trouble with this.


- point 1d) on the form: "have declared common-law union under Canadian income tax act". As we are outside of Canada is this even doable for us? How would we go about doing this/is this required?

- point 2) "I have life insurance which names my common-law partner as beneficiary". I just signed a beneficiary designation form for life insurance that my soon-to-be employer emailed me. I listed her as beneficiary. I have a "plan contract number" but not "plan member certificate number" yet, as I'm still in Germany. Could I check the "yes" box here? I have attached the form to this email.

So that's it pretty much. I'm unsure how much of what I have should be translated. If I have to get every single bill and bank statement page translated that might be very costly, so I'm hoping somebody can help me with this. I'm also unsure if the evidence i have would be enough. I want an airtight case because applying at POE is kind of an all-or-nothing situation.

THANK YOU!!!
I actually think you might have overkill here a little bit. The officer at the border is not going to appreciate you handing him a 400 page document with a photo album of 4 years worth of pictures.

I would suggest you concentrate on the legal documents showing the same address and going back a couple of years (you are consider common law after 1 year). If you are worried about her name not being on the lease a letter from the landlord would help.
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 6:40 am
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

I mean the photo album would be a separate physical album, just to document our years together in pictures. It's sorted chronologically. The officer won't have to look at all the pictures if they don't want to, but they can if they do. Isn't it better to bring a bit too much than not enough?

Right now, I am also a bit concerned because our utility bills are all under my name (we never thought to change it). She does transfer me half every month along with the rent but we don't have a bill with her name on it :/ We just have a bill the landlord sent for other household costs that are excluded from the rent (gardening, housekeeping services, etc.) -- these are things we get billed for by the landlord. Both of our names are on it. Would that be acceptable?

Still curious about what we need to get translated exactly too (see my original post). So much to think about.......Panicking a bit

Last edited by kleinluka; Feb 10th 2017 at 6:43 am.
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 10:24 am
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

Anything that you want the officer to consider that isn't in English
or French will need translating. Another good reason to limit the package size.

I still think you may be overthinking/worrying unnecessarily about this. Concentrate on documents from legal third parties (bank statements, landlord
Bills, letter from landlord stating when you both lived there etc. There is a checklist used for PR applications for common law that may help.

Photos wise I would suggest 2-3 photos for each year. An album of ever photo in 4 years is overkill and no amount of photos will replace the other documents if that is what the officer wants to see. It is better have a little bit more than needed but don't
Bombard the officer or he may see it as a sign you are not confident and dig more than he
Might otherwise.
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 11:05 am
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

Originally Posted by Engineer_abroad
Anything that you want the officer to consider that isn't in English
or French will need translating. Another good reason to limit the package size.

I still think you may be overthinking/worrying unnecessarily about this. Concentrate on documents from legal third parties (bank statements, landlord
Bills, letter from landlord stating when you both lived there etc. There is a checklist used for PR applications for common law that may help.

Photos wise I would suggest 2-3 photos for each year. An album of ever photo in 4 years is overkill and no amount of photos will replace the other documents if that is what the officer wants to see. It is better have a little bit more than needed but don't
Bombard the officer or he may see it as a sign you are not confident and dig more than he
Might otherwise.
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Yes, maybe I'm worrying too much, you are right. Will do what you said and downscale the photo album and get those other documents sorted out.

If anybody could answer my 2 questions about the common-law declaration form it would be great, because I'm really not sure what to do with this:

- point 1d) on the form: "have declared common-law union under Canadian income tax act". As we are outside of Canada is this doable for us? How would we go about doing this/is this required?

- point 2) "I have life insurance which names my common-law partner as beneficiary". I just signed a beneficiary designation form for life insurance that my soon-to-be employer emailed me. I listed her as beneficiary. I have a "plan contract number" but not "plan member certificate number" yet, as I'm still in Germany. Could I check the "yes" box here?
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 1:57 pm
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Default Re: Common-law partner question (TWP)

Originally Posted by kleinluka
- point 1d) on the form: "have declared common-law union under Canadian income tax act". As we are outside of Canada is this doable for us? How would we go about doing this/is this required? ?
No not doable. By the sounds of it this list is not a 'must answer yes to all questions to qualify' but to assist the officer with where to focus their efforts when screening.

Originally Posted by kleinluka
- point 2) "I have life insurance which names my common-law partner as beneficiary". I just signed a beneficiary designation form for life insurance that my soon-to-be employer emailed me. I listed her as beneficiary. I have a "plan contract number" but not "plan member certificate number" yet, as I'm still in Germany. Could I check the "yes" box here?
IMO you cant tick this box. The beneficiary form you have filled in is just part of your onboarding process. You will not be enrolled in the companies benefits program until you start work i.e are in Canada and have the work permit. At the time you are at the airport asking for the work permit you will not have life insurance on which your partner is a beneficiary (unless that is you have another policy).
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