General application questions.

[Squidleet]

Alright, so, let's go.

I am American. I am married to a Canadian, and beginning the application process to living in Canada. I tend to have just one question about each form. I've glanced over horror stories about filling something in wrong and getting denied, so I'm a bit nervous about doing something wrong.

So, on form IMM0008, in the section PERSONAL DETAILS, question ten asks my current country of residence. I am an American citizen, as stated above, but I do have visitor status in Canada. My visitor record is good until December (Or until I submit my application and extend it). Do I put Canada > Visitor, or America > Citizen as my answer?

Similarly, on form IMM5490, question twenty-seven asks if my Canadian and I have ever lived together. I am hesitant to answer this one, because while I have stayed here with him for weekends, up to months, I have always returned home, usually for only a day or two, as ordered by my visitor records. For example, I have been staying in Canada from February until now, though I have been home for a day or three, three separate times. When I've crossed the border for extended times, and said that I planned on living with my Canadian, they've never stopped me, but almost always had issue with the use of the phrase "living with" versus "staying with" and it gets very confusing when I get to this part of the application.

On form IMM5406, it asks for information regarding siblings - including half- brothers and sisters. I haven't been in contact with my father for over ten years, but I know he has two other children. Do I need to get their birth dates and locations still, regardless of the fact that I probably haven't seen or spoken to them since before I was ten? Again, I've seen denial stories about incomplete family records.

I know that they ask for proof of relationship. I have photos to provide, and there are some letters I sent my Canadian. I also have almost five years of daily chat logs. How much of that should I include? I only ask because I know I have to print it out and send it. That's a lot of paper. Should I include logs before we started dating, when we were just friends? Or only after we met and began our relationship?

 

[Sweden]

Just be honest CIC usually is aware that situations are not black and white... and gray zones are very common.

Country of Residence> US. You're not a resident (unless you live in Canada as a visitor etc.), if you're only visiting, then you're maintaining your residence in the US. If you want, you can add a paper explaining that you have a visitor record valid until that date and you are currently visiting Canada for an extended period of time.

Living with your partner: you can answer yes, and then add a separate explanation. as long as you're legally in the country, it just shows that you're spending as much time as possible with your partner, that's a rather positive point for your application.

Family: if you have not completely cut ties with your father, you could ask. Or you can fill out the papers and put that to the best of your knowledge, you have 2 half siblings, but because you are not in touch with your father since 2000 ( or whenever that is), you don't have their details.

Logs: only since you started dating. don't print everything. Choose the "relevant parts" where you can show meaningful conversations. If you can, print an overview of the chat logs, showing how often and since when you communicate, and provide a sample, stating that you're willing to provide more if needed. Quality over quantity. some people have included more, but you seem to have a straightforward case : married, more or less living together, long dating history, and US citizen: you're not suspicious in the eyes of CIC, you're probably not in a Marriage of Convenience (MOC), so there is no need to go overboard.

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[Squidleet]

Thank you so much for your answer, Sweden.

When including additional information on a separate sheet of paper, is it necessary to include a different sheet for each bit, or could I do one sheet, labeling each bit of additional information?

To be more clear, would I need one sheet for the part about my half-siblings, another sheet for the part about living here? Or could I have one sheet, and mark that one line or two is for this form, and another is for another form? Saving paper, as it were.

Haha. I'm sorry, sometimes I ask these things, and realise I'm probably the only person in the world who actually cares about anything I'm asking.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thank you so much for your answer, Sweden.

When including additional information on a separate sheet of paper, is it necessary to include a different sheet for each bit, or could I do one sheet, labeling each bit of additional information?

To be more clear, would I need one sheet for the part about my half-siblings, another sheet for the part about living here? Or could I have one sheet, and mark that one line or two is for this form, and another is for another form? Saving paper, as it were.

Haha. I'm sorry, sometimes I ask these things, and realise I'm probably the only person in the world who actually cares about anything I'm asking.

Don't put it all on one page, use one additional sheet for each form. Then when you organize your forms, the additional sheet goes behind each relevant form. It might seem a bit silly (we also had a few additional pages with only a couple lines) but it just prevents confusion for the people reviewing your file.

 

[Squidleet]

One more question, then I swear I am done and printing these stupid things out.

Would it be best to print out a second form with the necessary additional information, or just using a blank sheet of paper?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Blank sheet . Good luck

 

[Sweden]

One more question, then I swear I am done and printing these stupid things out.

Would it be best to print out a second form with the necessary additional information, or just using a blank sheet of paper?

blank sheet - just make sure that in the header you reference the form, the applicant name, question number etc. Just in case a paper slides away, they can put it back together.

And don't worry - we've all asked strange questions!
Sweden

 

[Squidleet]

Yep, I've got the form number (IMM xxxx) and title at the top, as well as each question answered on the paper numbered.

The more I think about it, the more I wish I could do an overview of the logs, just dates, but I suppose that really would just be a calender lol Plus msn just saved things weird. Oh well.

Since I'm here, I came across two more questions. Minimum.

Regarding photos, do they need to be a specific size? Do they need to be printed out individually? I saw a thread where the OP put as many photos as would fit on a single page. Is that truly acceptable? And how many do I need? I mean, I have over a hundred from the wedding, and I haven't even gotten back my professional photos yet.

On the checklist of documents, it has a bunch of stuff listed for me, the sponsored person, and I don't know if they want originals or copies, or what some of them even are. The list says "As per document list provided with The Immigrant's Guide" but the guide that I saw did not include a list.

• Identity and civil status documents
• Children information
• Travel documents and passports
• Proof of relationship to sponsor
• Originals of police certificates and clearances
• Proof of medical examination for the sponsored person and each of his or her dependents (Copy of blah blah blah)

Now, I don't have any kids, so I'm not worried about that, and I'm getting stuff to prove my relationship. I don't know what they're asking for in the identity documents. Surely they can't want my actual ID card? And related, do I really send in my passport?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Regarding photos, do they need to be a specific size? Do they need to be printed out individually? I saw a thread where the OP put as many photos as would fit on a single page. Is that truly acceptable? And how many do I need? I mean, I have over a hundred from the wedding, and I haven't even gotten back my professional photos yet.

Remember that it is quality over quantity; 20 pics that clearly highlight your life together is better than 200 pics that don't. And the officer reviewing your app probably doesn't want to have to look though hundreds of loose photos. The best way to organize them is to put them into Word. Choose pics from over the course of the relationship, some from important events like the wedding and trips, and some from day-to-day life, like you guys hanging out with friends, at a sports game, at home with the pets etc.

For example, with your wedding, pick out around 10 of the pics that show you guys with your families, with your wedding party, cutting the cake etc. Just the ones that highlight the event. Organize them on 1 or 2 pages in Word and add captions telling who is in the pics.

For my partner's app, we included 9 pages of pics; each page had anywhere from 4 to 12 pics on it. At the top of each page, we put a title, like "Christmas in Canada 2010"; underneath the pics, we wrote captions. We had a page for our trip to Thailand, 2 pages for my partner's first trip to Canada, a page of different pics over the course of a year living in NZ etc.

On the checklist of documents, it has a bunch of stuff listed for me, the sponsored person, and I don't know if they want originals or copies, or what some of them even are. The list says "As per document list provided with The Immigrant's Guide" but the guide that I saw did not include a list.

You are looking at the country specific guide for the US? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3910e.pdf.

If you have a look at the top of page 2, it says "Send originals of the immigration forms (items 1 to 5 below) and police certificates. Send photocopies of all other documents, unless instructed otherwise." So unless it specifically says to send the original of something, a photocopy is fine.

Looking at the "Identity and civil status documents" section, nowhere does it say "Original", so copies of your birth certificate and marriage certificate are fine. Same goes for "Travel documents and passports section", doesn't say "Original", so just send photocopies.

 

[Squidleet]

Welp, I am going to be honest, I didn't even make it to that guide lol My bad.

Looking through it now, and printing it out. Thanks so much for the prompt help.

/edit

Actually, another quick question. On this list, it lists Detroit as an option for the interview location. If I check it, but have New York listed on another form (Because I didn't know Detroit was an option) what do I do? Should I just redo the form, or make a note on my extra paper?

 

[Sweden]

Welp, I am going to be honest, I didn't even make it to that guide lol My bad.

Looking through it now, and printing it out. Thanks so much for the prompt help.

/edit

Actually, another quick question. On this list, it lists Detroit as an option for the interview location. If I check it, but have New York listed on another form (Because I didn't know Detroit was an option) what do I do? Should I just redo the form, or make a note on my extra paper?

I would re-do the form, so the information is consistent. CIC is already confused as it is, no need to add room for extra mistakes.
Keep in mind - interviews are the exception rather than the norm for US/Can couples, and in your case, if you're married and living together, that's quite unlikely. But still - make the forms as consistent as possible!
Sweden

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Welp, I am going to be honest, I didn't even make it to that guide lol My bad.

Looking through it now, and printing it out. Thanks so much for the prompt help.

You would have got there eventually