Spousal Sponsorship - Proof of Relationship Evidence
As a cross-border immigration lawyer based in Windsor, Ontario, Christina Loebach helps couples who live on opposite sides of the Windsor-Detroit border reunite and live together. This blog post discusses IRCC’s requirement to provide evidence of the relationship between the sponsor and the principal applicant.
As part of the spousal sponsorship application process, the Canadian government requires that many different pieces of evidence be provided. The evidence requirements focus on several different things: identity, status in Canada, civil documents, admissibility, financial capacity to sponsor, and of course - proof of relationship. As a general line of division, evidence requirements are different for couples who are currently living together, versus couples who are currently living apart.
Couples Living Together
For couples who are currently living together, IRCC expects to see evidence that demonstrates you are, in fact, living together. This takes the form of things like driver’s licenses showing the same address, joint bank accounts, utility bills showing both of you listed at the household, and other joint bills. Couples often struggle with pulling this evidence together, especially when the sponsored person is in Canada on a temporary status. Think about your relationship holistically, and how you share bills. For example, does one spouse cover the other spouse’s cell phone bill? In that situation, you can show the credit card statement with the cell phone charge highlighted, as well as the cell phone bill itself.
Couples Living Apart
For couples who are living apart, IRCC wants to see proof of contact AND proof of visits. Most couples take screenshots their text message exchanges to prove contact. If you communicate by other means - email, phone calls, video calls, etc. - you will want to provide evidence of that. Typically, between 5 - 10 pages of evidence will be adequate, although of course it will depend on your personal circumstances.
With respect to proof of visits, we strongly encourage couples to maintain a detailed record of their border crossings. This also helps when concerns about crossing the border too much, or dual intent issues, arise. Beyond that, we advise couples to pull records of tunnel or bridge toll payments, flight records from vacations taken together, etc. to demonstrate that they physically traveled to spend time together in the same place. For couples who are displaced further away, flight records and hotel reservations will be very important.
Additional Proof of Relationship Evidence
If you’ve been married for at least two years, are currently living together, were never previously married or in a common law relationship, and you have children together, you aren’t required to provide additional proof of relationship evidence. If even one of those things isn’t true for you, you are required to show more evidence.
First, you will need to provide photo evidence of your relationship. These photos should be chronological, and you should provide the names of people, dates, and some context for each photo. If you cannot provide more than a couple of photos together, that raises questions as to the bona fides of your relationship.
You must also provide other proof of relationship evidence such as evidence of joint bank accounts and shared expenses, evidence that your friends and family acknowledge your relationship, and evidence that you recognize each other as spouses. Often, this takes the form of being named a beneficiary to employment, insurance, or retirement account benefits.
It may feel like your relationship is obvious, and that you don’t need to include everything listed on the document checklist to prove this. However, if you do not provide everything required, your application will be returned as incomplete. Your best bet is to provide everything, documented to the best of your ability, right at the get go.
Especially in the Windsor-Detroit area, it’s common for Canadians and Americans to fall in love and get married. Christina Loebach is licensed to practice law in both Canada and the United States, and loves working with clients who are considering sponsorship on both sides of the border. If you would like Christina to provide legal advice tailored to your situation, please schedule a consultation.