OpenVisaWhat proof of relationship counts for spousal sponsorship: photos, chats, letters?
Range across the relationship, not volume from one source.
The checklist lists several kinds of relationship evidence and caps the volume: 10 pages of messages, and on the common-law checklist 20 photos. What counts is range: dated items of each kind, across the whole relationship.
1. What does the checklist ask for?
The proof-of-relationship section of the document checklist (item 7 of IMM 5533 for spouses, IMM 5589 for common-law partners) lists the kinds of evidence IRCC asks for. Read it as categories, and cover each one you can:
- Together in person: photos with dates and places, with family and friends at least some of the time; boarding passes, hotel bookings, visits.
- In contact apart: samples of messages and call logs spread across the relationship, each with a visible date, not a full export.
- A shared life: a lease or ownership, joint accounts or bills, each other as beneficiary or emergency contact, money sent to each other.
- Known as a couple: letters from family and friends, with the writer's contact details and how they know you; wedding or engagement announcements; social media that shows the relationship.
Married couples who answer yes to all four questions in item 7 of IMM 5533 don't need to send more proof at this stage.
If you checked this box, you do not need to provide any additional proof of relationship at this time. Your application will be reviewed to determine if additional information is necessary.
2. How much is enough?
IRCC sets the limits: the common-law checklist (IMM 5589) caps photos at 20 with a short description of each, and Guide 5289 allows no more than 10 pages of messages or other proof of contact, translated if they aren't in English or French. Within those limits, choose dated items spread across the relationship.
A maximum of 10 pages of proof of communication documents may be submitted with your application.
A short index page listing what's attached and when it's from lets an officer see the relationship at several points in time from more than one angle.
3. What do people get wrong?
- Everything from the last 3 months and nothing from the first year.
- Screenshots with no date or no name visible.
- Letters that are form templates signed by five people.
- Evidence that contradicts a form: a photo from a trip that isn't on the travel history (IMM 5562).
4. On the form
The dates in your evidence are the dates an officer can compare with the relationship form (IMM 5532) and the travel history (IMM 5562). In OpenVisa each date is entered once and used on every form that asks for it; the evidence index is yours to write, and the categories above are its headings.
OpenVisa is software, not a lawyer or RCIC. This page explains what the rules and forms say; it is not advice about your case. You submit your application yourself.