Spousal Sponsorship Proof of Communication
What proof of your relationship IRCC will require depends on what type of relationship you, the sponsor have with the principal applicant.
Proof of Communication where the Sponsor and Principal Applicant are Legally Married
You need to submit a completed form IMM 5532 is required as we covered in a previous chapter. As we mention in Chapter 4, in the last part of form IMM 5532 – specifically question 11 – you can provide details of the wedding, like photographs of the couple and the main guests to provide further evidence of the veracity of the event.
A marriage certificate proves you are married, but it does not prove you have a relationship. So in order to prove the relationship, you cannot just submit photos. You have to prove you communicate.
Because our couple has not been able to co-habit, they will need to provide a detailed written explanation for how they are married but not living together in the same place. You need to convince IRCC in clear and factual language that you are indeed married but unable to live together. Your reasons must be laid out in a compelling fashion.
In our case, they will have to explain why either Horatio has not moved to Brazil to be with his wife and lay out their plans in specific detail of how Carmen will move to Canada and join Horatio to live with him at his house in Kingston.
Copies of text messages, emails, letters, phone calls, etc. become especially important if the sponsor and the principal applicant are not co-habiting when you submit your sponsorship application. In this case, you will therefore need all the proof you can gather to show that your relationship is genuine.
As with wedding photographs, you are essentially telling a story with your text messages, emails, etc. You are showing IRCC officials that you have a genuine relationship.
Remember to include details, like text messages confirming travel dates and arrival times for when either one travelled to meet the other partner, for example. Or emails about money transfers that include the reasons why the money was sent and what it will be used for. An email or text message about an apartment you rented when you did co-habit should obviously be included.
Please note: if you are applying for inland sponsorship as a married couple there is less of a burden to prove your relationship is real through proof of communication. You should still provide evidence of communication however, especially if the sponsored spouse has only recently arrived in Canada.
Proof of Communication where the Sponsor and Principal Applicant are in a Common-Law Relationship
For most common-law sponsorship applicants, proof of communication is not as important as proof of cohabitation. However, proof of communication can be used to support claims the relationship is genuine, especially if the couple have been separate for any length of time during the period of cohabitation.
Immigroup strongly advises couples who are not currently common-law but who wish to apply for sponsorship as a common-law couple to get married before applying instead.
Proof of Communication where the Sponsor and Principal Applicant Cannot Marry and Cannot Co-Habitate (Conjugal Sponsorship)
Nowhere is proof of communication more important than in conjugal sponsorship applications. In this case, with no marriage certificate possible and no common-law status possible, the burden of proof for the relationship relies almost entirely on proof of your constant communication.
Just like with married couples, copies of text messages, emails, letters, phone calls, etc. are especially important for conjugal couples submitting sponsorship applications.
In this case, you will therefore need all the proof you can gather to show that your conjugal is genuine. Just like with wedding photographs, you are essentially telling a story with your text messages, emails, etc. You are showing IRCC officials that you have a genuine relationship.
Remember to include details, like text messages confirming travel dates and arrival times for when either one travelled to meet the other partner, for example. Or emails about money transfers that include the reasons why the money was sent and what it will be used for. An email or text message about an apartment you rented when you did visited should obviously be included.
As with photographs, try to place your communications in chronological order with an explanation below each message/email/Facebook message/etc. just like a caption for a photograph. This will make the IRCC officials’ job easier as they review your application.
You are allowed up to 10 pages of information, so you may have to carefully choose the best messages, emails, to tell your story.
However, make sure you keep at least 1 of those 10 pages of information open for another type of data that will help prove your relationship.
