Detailed Outline of the Steps for Immigration

[achkorea]

Greetings!
I've searched the threads and have not found what I am looking for, so perhaps someone can help me, thereby helping others

I am very curious as to what happens during each step, does anyone know? I received an email stating that I had met the requirements for eligibility to sponsor my partner, of course we're happy because that's one less thing to worry about. But, what does that mean? What do they check when they are checking for my eligibility? Will they continue to check more about me during the next step? The reason I ask is that I am applying as a non-resident of Canada (I was born and raised in Canada, but have lived abroad for 7 years), but I have every intention of returning when my partner's application has been accepted (hopefully). I have no job offer, I have no rental agreement, or property etc. to prove that I will return. I do have an end date for my current employment contract, and letters from family to say they will assist us if need be, upon our arrival, and I wrote a letter outlining our plans once we arrive. So, does the fact that I have met the requirements for eligibility mean that they understand that I intend to return to Canada?
Then, what happens during the next steps?
I'd appreciate any help, so that I know what I should worry about and what I shouldn't :-\ Thanks in advance, for your help.
ACH

 

[canadianwoman]

The application can still be refused after the sponsor has been approved as a sponsor, if the visa officer doesn't believe you will be going back to Canada. It is more of an issue for recent immigrants. If someone was born and raised in some other country, stays in Canada just long enough to get citizenship, then goes back to his original country, marries, and sponsors, proving his intention will require more evidence.

Once it is closer to the interview, you can send in additional evidence of your plans to return, or your spouse can take it to the interview.

 

[achkorea]

Thank you for that prompt reply, CANADIANWOMAN. Ok, good to know. Do you know approximately what is evaluated during the first step?

Sponsorship Evaluation
-Age
-Financial Ability
-Criminal check

Anything else?

 

[canadianwoman]

They are basically just checking that the sponsor is eligible to be a sponsor: so they check to see if the sponsor is on welfare, is an undischarged bakrupt, is in prison, or has a criminal record. The first three mean you can't sponsor; a criminal record will cause CIC to investigate further, to see if it is something that will rule out sponsorship.
CIC also verifies that all the documents necessary have been submitted and signed.

 

[hopetoland]

hi,

my husband and i were in the same situation, he lives with me here in germany since 4 years. we sent the application he got approved and we thought he went through so just my part would be important. after 2 weeks the vo in berlin asked us to send more evidence that he wants to go back to canada. so we did, he does not have any job offer or a rental agreament. but we had letters from family and we also explained why he has no job offer etc., and we had contract with a moving company and also that we sold the house and cars and that he quit his german course.

first we were afraid that those things weren´t enough evidence but it worked and we got approved in only 3 month!!!

thanks to the berlin vo, i think one of the fastest in europe.

bye

 

[achkorea]

Wow, that is an amazing story!! I checked the processing times in Berlin and it said that the average processing time is 13 months!! You received it in 3?! That's very fast and congratulations, I hope we will be as fortunate. Good luck and thanks for sharing your story. We included 3 letters from my family (my mother, father, and sister), and 8 from friends which state their knowledge of and support for our immigration. My family's letters state that they will help us in any way they can to ease the transition. We're applying as common-law partners because we live in South Korea and are same-sex partners, so we are unable to get married here. I also included emails, messages and chat logs between my partner and I, as well as correspondence between my family and friends about my partner, shortly after we met 3 1/2 years ago. We live together, our leases have been in my name, but the bills are mostly in his name~it has always made things easier as he is Korean, and Korea can be challenging for foreigners to open some accounts (like cell phones etc.). We've added much more, and I just hope that it all proves that our relationship is valid, and that will hopefully translate to an easy process.
Oh, there is one more thing that I am concerned about, and I am unsure if this covered under the first or second step; because I am applying to sponsor my same-sex partner, and this kind of thing is very frowned upon (both my partner and I could lose our jobs if anyone were to find out), I could not ask my employer for a letter indicating my employment etc. However, I wrote a letter about why I didn't include it, and instead, I included a translated version of my employment contract which explains the information that the employment letter covers. On the website, it states that Step 1 is the Assessment of the Sponsor and Step 2 is the Assessment of the person being sponsored. I was just curious if that is definitely the case.
Thanks again!

 

[canadianwoman]

The translation of the contract was accepted in lieu of the employment letter, since you were accepted as a sponsor. Once the file has been transferred to the Canadian embassy in Seoul, the visa officer will mostly be investigating your partner and whether or not your relationship is genuine. The visa could be refused if he/she doesn't believe you will be going back to Canada, as mentioned, but your job evidence is no longer an issue.

 

[achkorea]

Thank you again, CANADIANWOMAN. I figured as much, but thank you for confirming what I had hoped. Your help is very much appreciated, you're doing a very wonderful thing providing people with information. I hope as our process goes along, we can do the same.