Final questions for American outland spouse application

[elithx]

Hi there,


This forum has been so helpful. My wife and I are just about ready to send off our application.

I have a few final questions.

1) We have put all of our documents in an expanding plastic tabbed envelope. Will this be ok? I believe the guide says to put all the paperwork in an envelope, but it is not going to fit or stay as organized.

2) I just noticed this document that is specifically for American immigrants. Does this mean my wife will need to get these technical photos done? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3910e.pdf. If so, can we just go to a Walmart or similar photo place?

3) I am thinking of shipping using FEDEX. Is this the correct address for outland applications?

Spouses, common-law or conjugal partner and dependent children:
CPC Mississauga
P.O. Box 3000, Station A
Mississauga, ON
L5A 4N6

4) Should I mention anywhere on the envelope that this is an outland application?

5) (silly question) Should I be creating a shipping address label, or will Fedex do this?


I think that just about does it. It's such a relief to be so close to being finished!

 

[profiler]

Hi,

1. They will re-organize it anyway. So, send it however you wish.

2. Walmart's photographers know how to take passport / PR / immigration photos. Any place that does passport photos can do it.

3 & 5. A courier is a great idea. They will print their own label. If you are sending via courier, send to:
2 Robert Speck Parkway,
Suite 300
Mississauga, ON
L4Z 1H8

4. No, the paperwork you have filed identifies it as outland. Remember to include your checklist(s), your fee receipt (and if you haven't, consider paying the RPRF). Barcode pages on top!

Best of luck!

 

[elithx]

Hi,

1. They will re-organize it anyway. So, send it however you wish.

2. Walmart's photographers know how to take passport / PR / immigration photos. Any place that does passport photos can do it.

3 & 5. A courier is a great idea. They will print their own label. If you are sending via courier, send to:
2 Robert Speck Parkway,
Suite 300
Mississauga, ON
L4Z 1H8

4. No, the paperwork you have filed identifies it as outland. Remember to include your checklist(s), your fee receipt (and if you haven't, consider paying the RPRF). Barcode pages on top!

Best of luck!

Thank you so much Profiler, this answers all of my questions!

 

[elithx]

Actually I have 2 more questions:


1) It states that we need photos for my wife and every member of her family. Does this include her parents and siblings, or now because we are married, and she is over 18 this will not apply?

2) According to this cic video they make it sound like we way overdid the supporting documents. We have 113 pages of text message, 12 pages of Facebook messages, 13 pages of Skype logs, about 80 pages of receipts from our 9 visits during the course of our relationship, and other documents to prove our relationship. Will this actually hurt our application speed. They specially say in this video to avoid documents not requested: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/multimedia/video/complete-application/complete-application.asp

 

[profiler]

1. Her family I believe includes dependants and you now. From what I have read in the documentation, that's who they will examine for admissibility, so maybe it's the same definition?

2. This is one of the most common questions. It's hard to say how much proof they want. There is a balance between too much proof and processing time. Too much, and they will just spend time looking through your proof (or shredding it).

For us, we filed inland (so, we have to reside together during the process). We gave them: 32, then an additional 33 (in a case update) photos of us, her with my family, her with my son, her mother and my family, etc. All depicting a proper family cohesion (BBQ's, fishing, visits to parks, visits to NF and Toronto, wine tours, dinners, etc). We sent beneficiary statements, insurance policies, etc. If they want more, they can always ask, right?

 

[CDNPR2014]

Actually I have 2 more questions:


1) It states that we need photos for my wife and every member of her family. Does this include her parents and siblings, or now because we are married, and she is over 18 this will not apply?

2) According to this cic video they make it sound like we way overdid the supporting documents. We have 113 pages of text message, 12 pages of Facebook messages, 13 pages of Skype logs, about 80 pages of receipts from our 9 visits during the course of our relationship, and other documents to prove our relationship. Will this actually hurt our application speed. They specially say in this video to avoid documents not requested: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/multimedia/video/complete-application/complete-application.asp

1. only your wife, the applicant needs to submit photos or applicant forms. for application purposes, "family members" is referring to those people included in the application also seeking PR. for spousal sponsorship, this is generally only the principal applicant and any dependent children who are not canadian citizens.

2. US/Canadian applicants have a lower threshold for relationship proof. it's certainly not necessary to overload the visa officer with a lot of stuff. whether it slows down the processing is anyone's guess. think of it this way: a person or persons have to go through the entire application, scan it, read it and make sense of it. how long that takes depends on the skills of those people, how many approvals each item needs, and the amount of stuff to go through. our application was 97 pages TOTAL, including relationship proof and pictures. we did not supply any chat or text logs. for us, simply mentioning how we communicated and proof being available if needed was enough. they want to see that your relationship is legit and known to others in your life. it is possible to do this without sending in an enormous amount of paper. pick and choose the important things, and get rid of the rest. more than likely, CIC is going to destroy most of it anyway, as it may not be considered relavant.

 

[floribec]

We sent our application via FedEx and we were super happy with their service. The application arrived in one day and the tracking online was efficient. But I am sure other couriers are good too.

 

[elithx]

Thank you very much for all the replies everyone. This forum has been incredibly helpful, and has given me the confidence to submit our application on my own.


Cheers

 

[canuck_in_uk]

2) According to this cic video they make it sound like we way overdid the supporting documents. We have 113 pages of text message, 12 pages of Facebook messages, 13 pages of Skype logs, about 80 pages of receipts from our 9 visits during the course of our relationship, and other documents to prove our relationship. Will this actually hurt our application speed.

It is a bit of overkill for a Canadian-American couple. Since you guys were long-distance and didn't really live together, it's good to have some of those proofs. You can cut the texts WAY down; I would say no more than 10-20 pages. Include a lettering stating you can provide X more pages of texts if requested.

 

[elithx]

It is a bit of overkill for a Canadian-American couple. Since you guys were long-distance and didn't really live together, it's good to have some of those proofs. You can cut the texts WAY down; I would say no more than 10-20 pages. Include a lettering stating you can provide X more pages of texts if requested.

Thank you Canuck_in_uk. I scaled it away back to 15 pages (each page has the first chats for each of the 15 months we have been communicated).


I actually have one other question. I just got our photos taken (2 for myself - sponsor, and 2 for my wife - sponsored person). In the American PDF instructions it states that on the back of one of the photos there needs to be the name/address of the photographer/ date it was taken, however there also needs to be our name and birthday. Can I hand write this in myself or should we go back to the walmart? The address and date info was a stamp by the Walmart photographer.

This is how the Walmart stamp looks:


Photo taken: ______
I certify this to be a true photograph of
_____________________
_____________________
Signature of Official


All of the above fields are blank with the exception of the date.

 

[profiler]

Thank you Canuck_in_uk. I scaled it away back to 15 pages (each page has the first chats for each of the 15 months we have been communicated).


I actually have one other question. I just got our photos taken (2 for myself - sponsor, and 2 for my wife - sponsored person). In the American PDF instructions it states that on the back of one of the photos there needs to be the name/address of the photographer/ date it was taken, however there also needs to be our name and birthday. Can I hand write this in myself or should we go back to the walmart? The address and date info was a stamp by the Walmart photographer.

This is how the Walmart stamp looks:


Photo taken: ______
I certify this to be a true photograph of
_____________________
_____________________
Signature of Official


All of the above fields are blank with the exception of the date.

Go back and ask them to complete the stamp.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thank you Canuck_in_uk. I scaled it away back to 15 pages (each page has the first chats for each of the 15 months we have been communicated).


I actually have one other question. I just got our photos taken (2 for myself - sponsor, and 2 for my wife - sponsored person). In the American PDF instructions it states that on the back of one of the photos there needs to be the name/address of the photographer/ date it was taken, however there also needs to be our name and birthday. Can I hand write this in myself or should we go back to the walmart? The address and date info was a stamp by the Walmart photographer.

This is how the Walmart stamp looks:


Photo taken: ______
I certify this to be a true photograph of
_____________________
_____________________
Signature of Official


All of the above fields are blank with the exception of the date.

FYI... you as the sponsor do not need to submit photos. the 2 photos are only for the applicant seeking PR status. These pictures are used for the approval paper and PR Card. For application purposes, you are not a "spouse" or "family member", you are only considered the sponsor. If the guide or form is referring to a spouse or family member, they are referring ONLY to those listed in the application seeking pr. For spousal sponsorship, that is only the principal applicant and any dependant children. this does not include the sponsor spouse.

as far as I know handwritten is fine. my pictures weren't even labeled.

 

[elithx]

FYI... you as the sponsor do not need to submit photos. the 2 photos are only for the applicant seeking PR status. These pictures are used for the approval paper and PR Card. For application purposes, you are not a "spouse" or "family member", you are only considered the sponsor. If the guide or form is referring to a spouse or family member, they are referring ONLY to those listed in the application seeking pr. For spousal sponsorship, that is only the principal applicant and any dependant children. this does not include the sponsor spouse.

as far as I know handwritten is fine. my pictures weren't even labeled.

Oh... I wish they would have stated clearly that it does not apply to you if you are sponsoring your spouse. It seemed pretty clear from the directions that I would need to have my photo taken since we are married and they state all members of your family. They could have stated something like "All members of your family that are not PR or Citizens of Canada. Either way, I might include my photos just to be on the safe side along with a cover letter.

How did you include your photos? Walmart has a little pouch that they place the 2 photos in. Should I just leave them in there?

 

[CDNPR2014]

Oh... I wish they would have stated clearly that it does not apply to you if you are sponsoring your spouse. It seemed pretty clear from the directions that I would need to have my photo taken since we are married and they state all members of your family. They could have stated something like "All members of your family that are not PR or Citizens of Canada. Either way, I might include my photos just to be on the safe side along with a cover letter.

How did you include your photos? Walmart has a little pouch that they place the 2 photos in. Should I just leave them in there?

there's no reason to submit your photos. as mentioned above, the "family members" they are referring to are those who are also seeking PR. as the sponsor, you are not considered a family member you are only considered the sponsor. these forms are generic forms that are used for most streams of immigration, the instructions are not necessarily specific to spousal sponsorship. your pictures are going to just be thrown out, as it is not necessary for the sponsor's application. i would recommend sticking to the checklists, and only submitting what is required on them. the sponsor has their own checklist. it does not say pictures are needed.

i got my pictures done at AAA. There was a little envelope, and I put them in the package as they were, clipped to my stack of papers.

 

[elithx]

there's no reason to submit your photos. as mentioned above, the "family members" they are referring to are those who are also seeking PR. as the sponsor, you are not considered a family member you are only considered the sponsor. these forms are generic forms that are used for most streams of immigration, the instructions are not necessarily specific to spousal sponsorship. your pictures are going to just be thrown out, as it is not necessary for the sponsor's application. i would recommend sticking to the checklists, and only submitting what is required on them. the sponsor has their own checklist. it does not say pictures are needed.

i got my pictures done at AAA. There was a little envelope, and I put them in the package as they were, clipped to my stack of papers.

Ok, thank you CDNPR2014. I will only include my Wife's 2 photos from Walmart.

One other question I just thought of. There is a separate "Country Specific Instructions" checklist for the United States. Does this need to be sent along with the main CIC forms and checklist? It is rather confusing because this USA checklist states that the forms need to be attached to the documents with a paperclip. I guess I can fill this checklist out, and put it at the front of my Wife's section of the application (we are using a tabbed folder).

One other thing I put the barcodes for both our applications at the front just after over table of contents and document checklist, is this correct, or do I need to put my barcodes in front of my forms, and her bar codes in front of her forms?

I'm sure they are smart enough to figure it out. But I'm a perfectionist and really want to avoid any confusions