IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) wants to know that you and your spouse have a genuine relationship. A marriage of convenience or a forced marriage is precisely what immigration authorities in Canada are on the lookout for.
You have to prove that your marriage is not one of convenience, and has been entered into willingly by both you and your spouse. That means a lot of documentation must be assembled in order to make your case to the authorities.
Do you feel that a Spousal Sponsorship Letter is a fairly straightforward part of your application where you or other family members lay out the basics of your sponsorship of a spouse or partner?
Think again.
A Relationship Letter of Support is a key document that immigration officials use to try and evaluate whether you and your spouse or partner have a genuine relationship. Whether it’s called a Proof of Relationship Letter, a Letter of Support for Immigration Through Spousal Sponsorship, or a Spousal Sponsorship Letter, it is in fact an effective way of showing Canadian immigration officials that you and your spouse are the real thing.
When you file an IRCC Spousal Sponsorship application, IRCC will be combing through your supporting documents and looking for any clues that your relationship is not well-supported and of dubious authenticity. A good proof of relationship letter has to provide both the facts and the tone that suggest your spouse and you have a genuine relationship, one that is hopefully recognized by members of both your families. Otherwise alarm bells start going off and your application could be in trouble.
Now, the relationship letter can be written by you the sponsor, or it can be written by family members who provide confirmation of your relationship.
You can even include more than one – say one written by you the sponsor and another written by a family member – as long as you review both support letters to ensure the facts in the two letters are consistent and supportive of the events in your relationship.
So, you’d better get your Relationship Support Letter right. Let’s start with a few definitions.
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Keep these terms in mind when putting together your relationship letter(s) of support. IRCC wants to know as precisely as possible the nature of your relationship and your sponsored spouse and their situation in their home country – including family members, especially those who might wish to come to Canada at a later date.
But again, your support letter is really about showing officials that:
This is especially true if the supporting evidence is somewhat weak. What do we mean by this? Consider the following:
| Factors that weaken proof of relationship | Factors that strengthen proof of relationship |
|---|---|
| Relationship approximately one year | Relationship a few years old |
| Lack of family involvement in relationship | Lots of interactions with both families |
| Wedding poorly attended | Lots of family and friends at wedding |
| No children | The couple has at least one biological child |
| Have lived together for less than 1 year | Have built a life together over several years |
If your relationship is genuine but, for various reasons, you had a poorly-attended wedding and little family involvement in a relationship that has lasted a relatively short time, your Relationship Letter of Spousal Support will be even more important in convincing Canadian immigration authorities of the authenticity of your relationship with your sponsored spouse.
In this case, you should strongly consider getting a close family member to write a letter of support to provide immigration officials with evidence that family members are aware of and approve (hopefully) of the relationship. It can be emotional, but it also has to be factually accurate. It can be in addition to a relationship letter you the sponsor also write.
Regardless of who writes it, your spousal sponsorship letter should include the following:
Things to keep in mind:
Check out our outline for writing a support letter below for more details.
Here’s an outline of how to structure a Letter of Relationship Support, in case you aren’t familiar with Canadian norms, or letter writing is not something you have much experience with.
First of all, you need to list the people involved (just like characters in a stage play) as well as what class you are sponsoring under Family Class Program.
Name of Sponsor, Applicant, Dependents, Dependents Children (if any)
Date of Birth of all the above
Citizenship of all the above and where each currently live (location)
Class you are sponsoring under (Family in this case)
Next, you need to outline the basic story of how you met your spouse:
Where did you meet?
When did you meet?
How did you meet?
Give dates and locations and even time of day if possible.
Then you have to explain how the relationship evolved:
When did you begin to cohabit?
What important events occurred while cohabiting?
What trips did you take together? Dates, Places, Airlines, Hotels names
What is it about your spouse that you love?
When did you decide to marry?
Most importantly, provide lots of detail about the wedding:
Where was the wedding ceremony? Civil? Religious?
When was the wedding ceremony? Day, month, year
Who was at the wedding? Names & Relation to Couple – Family? Friends?
Where was the wedding party?
If you have had a child together provide detail on the pregnancy and birth of the child:
When did you find out about the pregnancy?
How was the pregnancy?
Where was the child born? Hospital/Clinic/Other, Date
When did you decide to name the child?
Finally, outline your settlement plans for when you are together in Canada:
Where will you stay when you first arrive in Canada? Purchase or rent?
Explain how you have researched the town or city you plan to settle in.
Explain how you have researched school (if you have a child) in your local area.
Explain how you have purchased private medical insurance for at least your first year in Canada.
Explain what work you the sponsor will be doing or is doing in Canada.
Explain what studies or work (if applicable) the applicant will be doing in Canada.
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Who can skip hiring a professional to help you review your application and who needs to hire one? And why?
Here is simple test, please answer honestly:
If you agreed with all three of these statements, you can simply follow this article and you can skip hiring an immigration professional (again assuming your case is strong, and the application is thoroughly completed).
If on the other hand this are not your strong points in your skill sets, don’t worry about it, just reach out to Immigroup and we will step you through the process.
