Road To Canada Forums

Hello,

My partner and I applied from the US in the Skilled Worker category. We applied July 2005, AOR August 3, 2005, IA August 23, 2006. An interview is not required at this time.

They requested updated proof of employment in the form of 2004 and 2005 W2 forms and pay stubs. My partner left work in March and I in July to work on renovating our house to get it ready to sell. We had plenty of work experience for the points we claimed before that, so I'm assuming that our not currently being employed shouldn't be an issue, but I should let them know that and send the W2 forms and the last pay stub I have. Does that sound right?

The also requested the statutory declaration of common law partnership. That form asks if you jointly own your residence. We do not jointly own the house in the states (I had it before we met) but do own a house in Canada that we are using as a "seasonal residence" until we get PR. Will it raise any red flags to say we jointly own our residence and show the bill of sale for the house in Canada, since we're not yet PRs? I'd also like to redirect our correspondence there since I hope to go up in a month or two when the house in the states sells and stay there until we get our PR. I guess if this is problematic, I can leave our address in the states and say that we jointly own "other property" on the statutory declaration.

Enough questions for now. Sorry about the length of the post, but if anyone has any ideas on the above, let me know.

Thanks!
Michael

HI Michael: I just saw this post, and realize we have the same timeline (along with one other person here, amazingly enough). Congratulations on making it thus far!

I think you are correct in giving CIC your final pay stubs and W2, along with an explanation that you both voluntarily left your jobs in order to wrap things up at home. You obviously meet the point requirement and as long as your finances are good, I can't imagine any red flags there. I would also agree that you should inform them about your jointly owned home in Canada--I don't think it's too uncommon for Americans (esp. those interested in permanently living in Canada) to own property in Canada, and that you purchased your home together should definitely serve as further proof of your relationship. Maybe someone in the family class forum can help with common law partnership questions; even though you're not going the sponsership route, there have been several successful common law cases over there.

Best of luck to you!
Claudia

Thanks Claudia. We have the same timeline and may end up in the same city, too, eh? I'm feeling a little more calm about what they asked for. When I first got the request, I was thinking, "Proof of current employment?! I don't have current employment! What am I gonna do?!" but since I've plenty of points without it, I don't think it matters. They also asked for life insurance policies for each of us naming the other as beneficiaries but, since we're not working, we don't have that either. I suppose we could buy policies, but they'd see that we just bought them after they were requested, so I'm inclined to just tell them we don't currently have them, and send them something from my 401(k) accounts showing my partner as beneficiary. I ordered our FBI files around mid-July in anticipation of getting the IA around now, so hopefully they'll be here soon.

Thanks again and good luck to you as well!
Michael