Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of… Everything?

[nyssa]

Sorry for the mild surplus of posts lately (a few nagging questions here and there...)

I understand attaching relationship proofs and on a seperate sheet of paper explaining things which cannot be explained fully on the form. But is it wise to include proof of everything individually for the individual sponsor and applicant regarding school transcripts (proof of high school diploma & college credits for applicant), proof of what organizations you were a member of (if I can dig that kind of information regarding Girl Scouts), proof of my job history and addresses (old letters/bank statements/job pay stubs) from the past to prove I did in fact live and work where I said I did? And the same for the sponsor?

Basically, should I follow up with proof behind everything even if it doesn't pertain to our relationship? Any one have any experience with this? It would just be nice to know before I scan every little thing which may or may not be necessary. My application is already going to be shipped in a box as it is! Many thanks.

 

[The Littlest Hobo]

Girl Guides??? Are you mental?

Holy-moly, we didn't at all!

Just the required support documents plus proof of relationship and also, as I might've mentioned once, a few extra pages bragging that my hubby is financially independent, a professional at a senior level with a good/reputable company, and fluent in English. Hoping that would make it clear that he didn't need to come to Canada, in fact for him it's a huge sacrifice in some aspects since Swiss geography, climate, infrastructure, air quality, take-home-salary, etc. are all as good or better than Canada. (of course he has no regrets because he's heard a rumour that Canadians are really, really nice! Is that compensation? LOL)

Now I'm glad you're not going through Berlin as well Nyssa, they'd look at your box compared to our puny envelope and think that we really don't want it bad enough!!! (which reminds me, has anyone ever tried paperclipping (or stapling?) a $100 bill to their application? LOL)

 

[Suin]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

we sent all the proof we could find. we thought that it was better to send more than not enough. our application was about 4 kilos.

 

[nyssa]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

Ahahah TLH thanks! It was something that popped in my head before I went to sleep last night... you know how that works. I already pulled out my college transcript and then started to wonder what everybody else did in regards to proving that you're not lying about yours/partner's previous history.

Haha unfortunately my husband and I lack bragging rights. I'm a managar at a restaurant and he works in a warehouse, but we're young. Canada's our new start as a married couple. Of course the US could have been too but hey, I'm the one with the non-messed up background so what can you do? Lol!

P.S... About the box. I have been wondering about that myself. I see Priority Mail flat-rate boxes and such and realistically... unless I'm going a bit overboard (and I very well may be, I know) I have a couple hundred pages of proof (travel, text messages, xbox live messages, facebook - a good hundred right there, support letters, phone call proof) and 500+ pictures (when you include the wedding and honeymoon). I just don't know if any envelopes will suffice. But again, I may just be over-doing things a wee bit.

 

[nyssa]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

we sent all the proof we could find. we thought that it was better to send more than not enough. our application was about 4 kilos.

Suin!! That's quite a bit! Did you have to use a box too? And did you like TLH not send in proof of previous addresses/jobs/employment, is that just relationship proof? (If so, WOW! Impressive!)

 

[Suin]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

we sent just everything we could find as a proof of our relationship. we actually sent 60 pics about our relationship including wedding and honeymoon. 500 is too much!
we included everything according to the checklist. as for my job - we just sent a letter from my employer - that was the only job I was working at for the past 12 years. I included just a few pay stubs as in the sponsorship they don't need so much proof related to job as they do in FSW program.
have a good luck with your application!

 

[NYCtoNB]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

Ahahah TLH thanks! It was something that popped in my head before I went to sleep last night... you know how that works. I already pulled out my college transcript and then started to wonder what everybody else did in regards to proving that you're not lying about yours/partner's previous history.



P.S... About the box. I have been wondering about that myself. I see Priority Mail flat-rate boxes and such and realistically... unless I'm going a bit overboard (and I very well may be, I know) I have a couple hundred pages of proof (travel, text messages, xbox live messages, facebook - a good hundred right there, support letters, phone call proof) and 500+ pictures (when you include the wedding and honeymoon). I just don't know if any envelopes will suffice. But again, I may just be over-doing things a wee bit.

i sent like 25 pictures tops not counting the actual forms the give and request i think i only added 30. i hope it just becomes apparent that we didn't exactly document our relationship rather than look like we were too lazy to put in the effort but when two people who hate having their pictures taken and are very private get married, what are they supposed to do?

 

[nyssa]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

We lived together for 2 years... took a few family vacations and whatnot... and yeah... my mom is a big fan of seasonal pictures

My husband (sponsor) will just send his job proof then as requested.

As for my proofs... I realize I will have to narrow the pictures down a bit. Right now, I'm just collecting all the evidence before I sort through and decide what's relevant and what's not. I'd like to avoid a box since I don't see that posted very often, but at the same time, I don't want to NOT send proofs!

 

[The Littlest Hobo]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

Well I don't think you need to prove where you went to school and where you lived and so on. I think you only need to provide that info, and as long as you swear it's true and it shows you didn't have any gaps in your history, then they can easily confirm it via "The Matrix" or whatever you call all the CSIS-FBI talky-talky background stuff.

There was another thread about the quantity of photos and PoR a while ago, and people mentioned how many pages and pictures they were sending. There was a huge range - from >10 to 500+ photos or something!

Now we haven't gotten our PR yet... so no idea if ours is enough, but for info: We sent only print-outs of our photos on normal paper, 2 to a page, usually one from each date weekend when we were LDR, plus one each from the occasional other events with other people involved (which they could check up on by calling our friends if they wanted to) like a birthday party at a restaurant or something. 6 from the wedding (and my husband thought that was overkill). In total maybe 40-50 photos. We also put in ticket stubs and hotel reservations, 5 or 6 emails, and a list of skype calls and some screenshots from skype with the date of the skype call on it. We wrote a 4-5 page "love story" of our relationship including a fair amoutn of detail. I wrote most of it so it's pretty much a romantic fairy tale about how the dashing, myopic prince of IT was overwhelmed by the grace and beauty and good ice-hockey skills of the fair engineering maiden... (more of a romantic comedy I guess) But honestly, that's all! The whole file was barely 1 inch thick.

Hey, don't worry, it doesn't matter what kind of job - I'm sure it reflects well on you that you're employed anyhow, and it's definitely not a requirement. Students get through this process too, which I think is pretty great of our government! We were only bragging as a way of taking advantage of the little invitation to "attach any other information which you think would help your application". (hence my idea for the $100 bill... of course we would've written our name and page number neatly on the top left corner... )

 

[ariell]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

Sorry for the mild surplus of posts lately (a few nagging questions here and there...)

I understand attaching relationship proofs and on a seperate sheet of paper explaining things which cannot be explained fully on the form. But is it wise to include proof of everything individually for the individual sponsor and applicant regarding school transcripts (proof of high school diploma & college credits for applicant), proof of what organizations you were a member of (if I can dig that kind of information regarding Girl Scouts), proof of my job history and addresses (old letters/bank statements/job pay stubs) from the past to prove I did in fact live and work where I said I did? And the same for the sponsor?

Basically, should I follow up with proof behind everything even if it doesn't pertain to our relationship? Any one have any experience with this? It would just be nice to know before I scan every little thing which may or may not be necessary. My application is already going to be shipped in a box as it is! Many thanks.

I think you've misunderstood what proof they are looking for. They are looking for proof of your relationship. They are not looking for proof to substantiate every single detail that you wrote on your application. So no, you do not need to give them a copy of your high school diploma and your girl scout badges and 10 year old pay stubs etc. etc,. While they certainly ask for alot of information, they would only ask you for proof of what you wrote (or would investigate on their own) if they had doubts about how truthful the information was. Don't go making this more work than it needs to be. Focus on your RELATIONSHIP details. Attaching additional sheets is meant to be used to explain what you could not fit in their boxes on the forms, not for providing proof of every detail you mentioned about yourself.

 

[tgchi13]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

i sent like 25 pictures tops not counting the actual forms the give and request i think i only added 30. i hope it just becomes apparent that we didn't exactly document our relationship rather than look like we were too lazy to put in the effort but when two people who hate having their pictures taken and are very private get married, what are they supposed to do?

Tell me about it. Under natural circumstances we take a ton of photos each, a few of each other and ummm...one? two? together. It seems so odd to have to stop and say hey! Let's get a pic of both of us for immigration - it's not like we are the kind of couple who poses in front of landmarks together. And the privacy bit is a little hard also. My guy is sweet and loving and mushy with me and to share those thoughts and intimate declarations to strangers so they can pass judgement has been difficult. In fact to me, it sounds the opposite of sincere when we are privately not publicly demonstrative. We don't mind sharing logs and volume to represent the contact, but really feel the content is personal and rather than mushy emails sent one's where we communicated in resolving a problem (as an example). (No response needed...I know what the response is, I'm just saying it's tough

Good luck NYCtoNB!

 

[nyssa]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

Thank you all for your replies!

As for our relationship proofs, I believe I will narrow down the photos then to just one from each occasion rather than all of them.

TLH thank you for your 4-5 page "love story" idea! Basically the timeline, no? I plan on including one of those myself. The questionairres where they ask "provide further information to prove your relationship is genuine and continuing..." is where I'll put the "okay seriously, we love each other" bit.

It's relieving to gain more and more understanding of the process as I go along. Also to have it narrowed down to questions such as these. My understanding of the photos/proofs is whether it's 10 or 500 as long as it's well put together you'll be fine, and hopefully I can do so.

And TLH - I'm no longer a student (I'm not really doing anything in the US particularly productive at this point considering *fingers crossed* I won't be here for TOO much longer) but I'm sure it won't reflect negatively. (Next question hopefully won't be until I get my IL State Clearance back...)

 

[The Littlest Hobo]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

And TLH - I'm no longer a student

Sorry, I know, that wasn't what I meant - just making the point that restaurant manager is at least a real job, show responsibility and leadership and that you can support yourself - whereas student can be a range of things, and yet they still allow it, so I think on that front you already exceed the lowest expectations so not to worry.

But here's a question for you (you can answer in PM if you prefer) Why wait until February to file? Why not just reschedule your medical and file your app as soon as you get your PCC from Illinois? I'm sure by now you can get your marriage licence (and you can send that later anyhow, just use the solemnization of vows+short explanatory note)

Oh, and by the way re: our love story :-* (aka timeline of our relationship) we had chapters/sections of it for different phases/major events, with big bold titles, including "How we met", "Our First Date" and "Meeting the Parents" and "Long distance dating" and "Living together" and "Our Wedding". We wrote the sections as a narrative, which was the first 3 or 4 pages I think, then at the end of all the narrative bits we wrote:

Please find the attached documents and photos in support of the above timeline:
1. How we met
-Emails, MSN and skype video conversations between us
2. Our first date
-Photos of us in France and of gifts we exchanged
-Travel documents
-Emails between us, and to friends and family discussing the date
-Facebook screen capture of Relationship Status changed to "In a relationship" including responses of friends

etc.

Then we labelled our printed pages (including print-outs of photos mixed in with printed travel confirmations, emails etc) with these headings so that all our proof was grouped (with a paperclip) into each of these phases, rather than a mass of photos together, a bunch of emails together, etc.

We found it easier for us to organise and to ensure we had a little bit of proof from all phases and developments of the relationship but I'm sure the IOs are good at making sense of these things either way. I think this way really helped us also because our courtship was so short and we wanted to make sure it was clear how intense things were throughout and that by now it's a serious, full-fledged, mature thing and not something which we've taken lightly, blah, blah... (it was so much fun to write the timeline - I kept getting all mushy! Though it was really hard to resist putting jokes in there...) We also included more photos from certain things than others, like there are a couple photos from our first date and 6 or so from our wedding, but only about 6 photos from 5 months of long distance date weekends and only maybe 4 or 6 from when we have been living together (just a couple shots from events with friends in the local area)

Not sure if that is a useful idea for you or anyone else, it's just what we did. :

Hope you have some fun with it girl!
Cheerz
TLH

 

[hbwpg]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

This topic relates to one of my concerns.

We only have about 20 photos together. The fact is that I HATE having my picture taken and my partner does also, most of the time. A perfect time for photos together would have been my sister's wedding in July, but as my partner has formal photography training, he was asked to be the photographer so there are NO pictures of us together save for a few candids while camping that weekend.

As someone mentioned above, it seems silly to stop and say 'lets take a photo for immigration.' We just don't think that way.

We know that when we get married there will be lots of photos so that will help make up for it but it's still a concern.

At this point we decided to put together letters from all of our friends and family - about 10 total - vouching for our relationship, a year's worth of online conversations (except for the gaps when he was actually here, which are evident), a few things we've sent back and forth to each other like cards, a copy of some utility bills he is listed as a participant on, proof our joint bank account, phone records, and facebook messages.

Did anyone here have conversations online ABOUT the immigration process and did you include those? My partner is worried because in some of them he speaks of the IO who rejected his request to extend his stay in a not-so-nice way. If you talked about it online did you include those as well?

Also, I'm considering sending in conversations I've had with other friends about our relationship/wedding plans/etc. has anyone else done that?

 

[nyssa]

Re: Attaching Proofs - Sponsor/Applicant Proof of... Everything?

1. I really wouldn't worry about the photos. People get accepted/rejected whether they send 10 or 100+. It's all about how you present them. My worry, for example, is how to present that many photos and whether or not I should. I am going to downsize actually, so you're in good shape I'd imagine!

2. Yes, the wedding photos will help immensely. As will honeymoon photos.

3. Sounds like we have the same kind of proofs, and I've mentioned them on here before in the past, and everyone has agreed that those proofs are sufficiant. Facebook messages work (and are great I think because it even shows your full names!), phone records of course and that. My husband and I lived together for 2 years, we aren't including conversations then. Just pictures, really.

4. Interesting about your talking about the process question. Yes, we are including texts like that where we talk about the process and our concerns. However, the ones where he talks negatively about the IO... my gut says that's a bad idea. But if that's in A LOT of your proofs, maybe just black it out with a marker? Though my husband and I just had that marker conversation and think it may also look suspicious... so I would go with the leave them out route. But again, no one can say for sure.

5. I will be doing that! I have lots of conversations with my husband's sister about our wedding, as she helped me plan it (she lives in Canada and helped me with some venues and ideas!) I think it's an excellent idea as it shows proof of support by friends/family. Facebook is another great route for that if that's what you're considering (for example, when my husband changed his status to "married" we have 30-40 responses!!! You'd better believe I copied and pasted that!)

Best of luck!