Hi all! My husband and I are just finishing up our application for spousal sponsorship (I am a Canadian citizen sponsoring my husband, a US citizen, for PR). We are applying outland, but he is living with me in Canada. I have a few questions regarding our finances; I’m aware that for spousal sponsorship there is no minimum income requirement, but I want to make sure we represent our financial situation in the best way possible—especially mine (since I am sponsoring him). But first I want to give some background info. My apologies in advance if this post is long; I want to be very clear, and I may or may not want to relay similar information to CIC—so please let me know if you think any of it is good to mention! So, background:
As it stands, both our parents are helping to support us financially until we find work/get a business going. I am unemployed/self-employed. My work history from the past few years is spotty, largely because I’ve moved around a lot and gone through a lot of changes after completing my master’s degree. I attended six years of post-grad education (all attended in the US) and now have two degrees (English and Creative Writing/Publishing, master’s degree completed in 2010). I was Managing Editor for my university's literary journal during this time. I still technically run my own literary press, though it’s largely inactive (I still sell the book occasionally, but mostly for fun). I had one short-term contract job after graduating, back in 2011, for six months, working as a writer for an internet startup based out of San Francisco. After my contract job ended I was dealing with a lot of depression/anxiety, and seeing a psychologist, and struggling to find fulfilling work as a writer in the US so that I could apply for a work visa (at the time I was still in a relationship with someone else, so I was trying to stay in the US). In the end I decided I wanted to move back to Canada, and my relationship ended. In May 2012 I moved back to Canada to stay with my aunt and uncle in the Vancouver area (Mission), then moved into my own place a few months later in the nearest city (Maple Ridge). I was having a lot of contact with T (old friend, now my husband) at the time since I moved back. I visited him, then he came to Canada in November 2012, and we were married in January 2013. A few months later we moved to Vancouver, thinking it would be better for both of us career-wise, despite him not working yet—we did make a lot more contacts, but we’ve had trouble finding our niche here, and are currently in the process of moving to a smaller, more arts-centered community. I have been going through a lot of soul-searching with regards to my career path and life, while self-managing my moods. T and I are creating a business together (though not currently making money, as we’re still in the planning stages—it is, of course, illegal for him to be doing that yet anyway). We are both artists, I am a writer and he is a musician, and we are both interested in spirituality and practice various healing arts. In all the time I was unemployed I was also doing a ton of independent study with regards to my interests/online business. I have written, created, and researched pretty much nonstop in the direction of my goals. T, on the other hand, never completed college, and was traveling a lot for years in the US in between working a few jobs, and making a lot of art/DJing. His last official job was at a bakery in 2012, a few months before he came to Canada. He has not been DJing since he came to Canada, and has little interest in it these days, but he has started making wire-wrapped crystal jewelry, which we plan to make a part of our business. We would like to center it around the arts and healing modalities (products and services). I can outline a rough business plan for CIC, if it would help, and go into more detail if necessary (though I keep wondering what their attitude toward our interests will be, as spirituality plays a big part in it). We would also both like to work with plants in the future, and I would like to work with children as well, so we will probably pursue work in those directions, and can mention that as well (or in place of business pursuits, if it would be best). In the meantime, we have financial support until we need it.
Whew! So, questions:
1. How can we best represent our situation? Will CIC be more interested in our work histories or our future plans, or both? How much information should I/we include, as sponsor and applicant? Is there anything we should leave out? If possible, I want it to be concise, but effective.
2. Our parents have both written us letters of financial support for the purpose of T's visitor extension(s). The most recent letters are from July 2014 (last summer)—can we reuse these letters or do we need more recent ones? The one from his Mom promises to support him with $10,000 for a year, but if it would be more appropriate to word it differently (ex. a higher number for the next few years) we can get a new one from her. We would also include a recent bank statement from her. We could potentially get one from his Dad as well, who does offer support from their savings at times—or just one from both of them. The one from my parents is a bank letter stating all their assets which may be used to assist family members (they have more to offer than his mom does; I would say my family gives two thirds of the financial support). If a more personal letter from them would be helpful (ie. not just one from the bank) I can obtain one. Please let me know what you think.
3. On the Sponsorship Evaluation form, I will have to check either Unemployed or Self-Employed. I’m not sure which one to check. I would like to say Self-Employed, but since I am not really conducting activities for profit lately, and have not made enough to claim on my income tax, is it best that I say Unemployed? For Self-Employed, it asks for the business name and date established. I do have a name picked out, but I don’t know if I can say it is established as it is not official and no profit has been made under said business name (I also don’t CIC to suspect that my husband is working illegally, since he plans to be a part of my business).
4. The Sponsor Checklist (IMM 5491) says under Item 18 of Supporting Documents that I should include Proof of Employment AND/OR Proof of Income (which seems to specifically refer to business activities). I have neither right now, other than the “income” from our parents’ support. I am technically self-employed, but I haven’t made income this past year, and we are currently starting a business together, but it’s not ‘official’ since he can’t legally work yet. I was told by a forum member a year or so ago (amikety) that I should include a plan of financial support, and that should be fine since there is no minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship. I hope this still holds true.
5. As per the checklist, I am sending in my 2013 Notice of Assessment from my income tax (I have not yet filed my taxes for 2014, but my income was 0. It was also 0 for 2013). If we file the paperwork before the end of April (income tax due date), will this be recent enough, or do you think they will want my 2014 Notice of Assessment too? It just says to send it for ‘the most recent taxation year,’ so I’m not sure what they mean by this. My Mom still receives my documents at the moment, so I would have to have her mail the original to me. We need to send it in rather soon, so I might skip this if it’s not a big deal.
_________
Thanks for bearing with me! I’m also open to suggestions if you think there’s anything else we could/should include to make our case stronger! Thanks in advance!
As it stands, both our parents are helping to support us financially until we find work/get a business going. I am unemployed/self-employed. My work history from the past few years is spotty, largely because I’ve moved around a lot and gone through a lot of changes after completing my master’s degree. I attended six years of post-grad education (all attended in the US) and now have two degrees (English and Creative Writing/Publishing, master’s degree completed in 2010). I was Managing Editor for my university's literary journal during this time. I still technically run my own literary press, though it’s largely inactive (I still sell the book occasionally, but mostly for fun). I had one short-term contract job after graduating, back in 2011, for six months, working as a writer for an internet startup based out of San Francisco. After my contract job ended I was dealing with a lot of depression/anxiety, and seeing a psychologist, and struggling to find fulfilling work as a writer in the US so that I could apply for a work visa (at the time I was still in a relationship with someone else, so I was trying to stay in the US). In the end I decided I wanted to move back to Canada, and my relationship ended. In May 2012 I moved back to Canada to stay with my aunt and uncle in the Vancouver area (Mission), then moved into my own place a few months later in the nearest city (Maple Ridge). I was having a lot of contact with T (old friend, now my husband) at the time since I moved back. I visited him, then he came to Canada in November 2012, and we were married in January 2013. A few months later we moved to Vancouver, thinking it would be better for both of us career-wise, despite him not working yet—we did make a lot more contacts, but we’ve had trouble finding our niche here, and are currently in the process of moving to a smaller, more arts-centered community. I have been going through a lot of soul-searching with regards to my career path and life, while self-managing my moods. T and I are creating a business together (though not currently making money, as we’re still in the planning stages—it is, of course, illegal for him to be doing that yet anyway). We are both artists, I am a writer and he is a musician, and we are both interested in spirituality and practice various healing arts. In all the time I was unemployed I was also doing a ton of independent study with regards to my interests/online business. I have written, created, and researched pretty much nonstop in the direction of my goals. T, on the other hand, never completed college, and was traveling a lot for years in the US in between working a few jobs, and making a lot of art/DJing. His last official job was at a bakery in 2012, a few months before he came to Canada. He has not been DJing since he came to Canada, and has little interest in it these days, but he has started making wire-wrapped crystal jewelry, which we plan to make a part of our business. We would like to center it around the arts and healing modalities (products and services). I can outline a rough business plan for CIC, if it would help, and go into more detail if necessary (though I keep wondering what their attitude toward our interests will be, as spirituality plays a big part in it). We would also both like to work with plants in the future, and I would like to work with children as well, so we will probably pursue work in those directions, and can mention that as well (or in place of business pursuits, if it would be best). In the meantime, we have financial support until we need it.
Whew! So, questions:
1. How can we best represent our situation? Will CIC be more interested in our work histories or our future plans, or both? How much information should I/we include, as sponsor and applicant? Is there anything we should leave out? If possible, I want it to be concise, but effective.
2. Our parents have both written us letters of financial support for the purpose of T's visitor extension(s). The most recent letters are from July 2014 (last summer)—can we reuse these letters or do we need more recent ones? The one from his Mom promises to support him with $10,000 for a year, but if it would be more appropriate to word it differently (ex. a higher number for the next few years) we can get a new one from her. We would also include a recent bank statement from her. We could potentially get one from his Dad as well, who does offer support from their savings at times—or just one from both of them. The one from my parents is a bank letter stating all their assets which may be used to assist family members (they have more to offer than his mom does; I would say my family gives two thirds of the financial support). If a more personal letter from them would be helpful (ie. not just one from the bank) I can obtain one. Please let me know what you think.
3. On the Sponsorship Evaluation form, I will have to check either Unemployed or Self-Employed. I’m not sure which one to check. I would like to say Self-Employed, but since I am not really conducting activities for profit lately, and have not made enough to claim on my income tax, is it best that I say Unemployed? For Self-Employed, it asks for the business name and date established. I do have a name picked out, but I don’t know if I can say it is established as it is not official and no profit has been made under said business name (I also don’t CIC to suspect that my husband is working illegally, since he plans to be a part of my business).
4. The Sponsor Checklist (IMM 5491) says under Item 18 of Supporting Documents that I should include Proof of Employment AND/OR Proof of Income (which seems to specifically refer to business activities). I have neither right now, other than the “income” from our parents’ support. I am technically self-employed, but I haven’t made income this past year, and we are currently starting a business together, but it’s not ‘official’ since he can’t legally work yet. I was told by a forum member a year or so ago (amikety) that I should include a plan of financial support, and that should be fine since there is no minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship. I hope this still holds true.
5. As per the checklist, I am sending in my 2013 Notice of Assessment from my income tax (I have not yet filed my taxes for 2014, but my income was 0. It was also 0 for 2013). If we file the paperwork before the end of April (income tax due date), will this be recent enough, or do you think they will want my 2014 Notice of Assessment too? It just says to send it for ‘the most recent taxation year,’ so I’m not sure what they mean by this. My Mom still receives my documents at the moment, so I would have to have her mail the original to me. We need to send it in rather soon, so I might skip this if it’s not a big deal.
_________
Thanks for bearing with me! I’m also open to suggestions if you think there’s anything else we could/should include to make our case stronger! Thanks in advance!
So I guess we'll cross our fingers!