I have no real idea what I'm doing aka sponsoring husband to move to Canada

[Blake42]

My husband and I have been working on our application for about a year now. I'm sponsoring him to move to Canada and I feel like I'm in over my head. We're long distance as he lives in New Hampshire. We don't talk on the phone much due to cost (cell phones for both of us), relying on MSN chats for daily communication. We don't email or text much either. I've got close to 5 years of chat logs. Is that enough for proof of ongoing communication?
Also, we have hardly any pictures for proof of relationship. Photos from our wedding are about all we have of the two of us together. We only get to see each other once a year, so taking pictures was never foremost in our minds. Can we include individual pictures of each other than we took, or is that not worth it?
I'm worried we don't have enough stuff and we're both very intimidated by this whole process so a lot of our answers to questions are very bare bones,l plus I have no idea how to organize things.
Does anyone have any advice for us? I'm in a panic and he's confused. Help! :'(

 

[KJG]

Hi Blake42.....my suggestion is that you print off all the forms.....together with the checklist...then not to overwhelm yourself just do one at a time...it is a very lengthy process even for those of us with organization skills but you can do it. There is much help on this forum to encourage you through this process. Do the forms one at a time and a form might take you the better part of a week but so be it....do it slow and right and all will be fine. Because your husband is available on MSN chat then you he can help you......have him print off the forms as well and do them together.

With respect to proof if you chat everyday that is good....try to find as many couple pictures and family pictures as you can and hopefully you have saved your travel docs from visiting each other this will also help.

 

[parker24]

I posted a very descriptive explanation a few weeks ago, here it is copy and pasted

I'm the Canadian one in my marriage, husband is American.

First you need to read over the application guide, found here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900ETOC.asp

You will need to fill out these papers:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5491E.PDF
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM1344E.PDF
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5481E.PDF
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5540E.PDF

You will also need Option C for 2011 Tax year. You can obtain this from CRA by calling 1-800-959-8281. It's free. There's no set amount of how much each of you need to have with spousal sponsorship, as long as you aren't bankrupt. If you have a job, a letter from the employer is requested as well. If you don't you will need to write a letter stating how you will support both of you, be it living with your parents or living with a family member etc.

Hubby will need to fill out these papers:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM0008ENU_2D.pdf
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5669E.PDF
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5490E.PDF

He will need to get an FBI background check as well. This take take up to 12 weeks to do. Just go get his fingerprints wherever you are and send them into the FBI headquarters. More information at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/north-america/united-states.asp This should be one of the last things you do.

He will also need a medical done. He will have to find a doctor closest to you. Check out here to find one: http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medical.aspx He will need 4 photos for the appointment usually. Check the link in the paragraph below for the paper to take with him to get photos done. He will need 4 MORE to send WITH your application. This needs to be done generally within three months of sending your application. As in, the medical needs to be less than 3 months old when sending your application.

Total fees to be sent to CIC is $1040. It's suggested you pay for the full amount to avoid any delays.

You will also need proof of a genuine relationship. Photos, bills with both names on it, banking accounts with both names on it, cards addressed to both of you, chat logs, phone bills showing you called each other etc. Even letters from family members stating they have met you and the like. You'll also need a copy of the marriage certificate, and your passport. Your husband will need to prove he's who he says he is too, usually with a birth certificate. Just follow the documents checklist (the first link in your section and this one for hubby: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3910e.pdf), and it'll all come together!

Both parts, your husband's and yours, needs to be sent together. They both go to Mississauga and then to a VO in the US (or to Ottawa, with Buffalo closing, that part I'm confused about!)

Good luck! Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to!

 

[Blake42]

Parker24, if I'm reading your post correctly, we really messed things up. My husband's already had his medical done. Heck, we're on the second attempt for the fingerprints because we jumped the gun on them the first time around. Why could I not find any coherent time lines for this stuff on the CIC website? Did he just waste a bunch of time and money because I can't read things?
He's not listed on any of my bills and my bank won't let me add him to my account because he's not living in Canada. I wasn't even allowed to add him to my apartment lease because he's not living here.
We've got birth certificates, drivers licenses, marriage certificates, passports, chat logs and a smattering of pictures, but no real phone records due to cost of getting paper copies now. I've given up on asking my family to write letters for us because it's just become a headache. There's no cards addressed to both of us because, well, I think you get the picture by now.
And apparently I need to get a new Option C. This just gets better and better.

Sorry for angst/anger and despair.

Edit: Thinking on it, when I called the CIC hotline, the lady I spoke with told me it was six months for the medical and fingerprints and three for the pictures. Was this wrong?

 

[parker24]

Parker24, if I'm reading your post correctly, we really messed things up. My husband's already had his medical done. Heck, we're on the second attempt for the fingerprints because we jumped the gun on them the first time around. Why could I not find any coherent time lines for this stuff on the CIC website? Did he just waste a bunch of time and money because I can't read things?
He's not listed on any of my bills and my bank won't let me add him to my account because he's not living in Canada. I wasn't even allowed to add him to my apartment lease because he's not living here.
We've got birth certificates, drivers licenses, marriage certificates, passports, chat logs and a smattering of pictures, but no real phone records due to cost of getting paper copies now. I've given up on asking my family to write letters for us because it's just become a headache. There's no cards addressed to both of us because, well, I think you get the picture by now.
And apparently I need to get a new Option C. This just gets better and better.

Sorry for angst/anger and despair.

Edit: Thinking on it, when I called the CIC hotline, the lady I spoke with told me it was six months for the medical and fingerprints and three for the pictures. Was this wrong?

I should have edited that part haha. The medicals are still okay as long as it's not over 6 months yes. Police thing has to be under 3 months old (from the date on the letter you'll get) Sorry about that! I went over it and must have skipped that part.

My best friend sponsored her husband from the states, they just had three photos and two letters from family and got approved in 9 months. So just a few photos is okay! The chat logs work great too! My husband and I were friends for 4 years before we started dating and I included some Myspace messages between us, plus a few facebook messages too!

Is your Option C for 2011 or 2010?

 

[Blake42]

Oh Thank God. I was about ready to burst into tears. *relief*
My Option C is for 2010. But I can probably get a 2011 in time. Should I do this?

 

[parker24]

Oh Thank God. I was about ready to burst into tears. *relief*
My Option C is for 2010. But I can probably get a 2011 in time. Should I do this?

If it's ready, yes. If not, then just send 2010. CIC understands that 2011 might not be ready in time. Ours was sent in March with 2010. But do call and ask if 2011 is ready.

 

[Steph C]

It's really overwhelming.. I just kept my head down and thought to myself "forward ever.."
Just do it bit by bit. I had a really hard time myself sorting through 5 years of chat logs.. it was very emotional too. At least the two of you are married and have your marriage certificates. I think if you were applying as conjugal or something else the lack of photos may be a problem. But you guys are actually married.. I wish I could say the same!
If you look at application success rate percentages it's pretty high.. and you know that your relationship is real. So why wouldn't you have just as good a chance as anybody else. Just go for it! And meanwhile order your option C, it only takes about 10 days to arrive, and take that time to do the forms piece by piece.

 

[frege]

Blake42,

I'm not sure how useful this will be, but it ought to be possible for the two of you to open a joint bank account in Canada the next time he visits.

Banks vary in how receptive they are to opening accounts for non-residents. BMO didn't want to open one for my wife and me, and they practically led us to believe it would be against the law to do so. (My wife is on visitor status at the moment.) Later I learned this is simply an internal policy of BMO. BMO only accepts the kinds of ID that the law says they have to.

We had no trouble opening account at CIBC, and based on what I've read, RBC ought to be fine too. A US passport and US driver's licence will be enough at those banks. They don't require a SIN for most kinds of accounts either. Here are the lists of ID they accept:

www dot cibc dot com/ca/acceptable-identification dot html
www dot rbc dot com/canada/_assets-custom/includes/pop-up/list-of-valid-identification dot html

(Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links, so you're going to have to change all the "dot"s to periods.)

One potential difference is that we said we both live at my address, which is true while we wait for our PR application to go through. I'm not sure to what extent this makes a difference to the banks.

 

[Isometry]

Blake42,

I'm not sure how useful this will be, but it ought to be possible for the two of you to open a joint bank account in Canada the next time he visits.

Banks vary in how receptive they are to opening accounts for non-residents. BMO didn't want to open one for my wife and me, and they practically led us to believe it would be against the law to do so. (My wife is on visitor status at the moment.) Later I learned this is simply an internal policy of BMO. BMO only accepts the kinds of ID that the law says they have to.

We had no trouble opening account at CIBC, and based on what I've read, RBC ought to be fine too. A US passport and US driver's licence will be enough at those banks. They don't require a SIN for most kinds of accounts either. Here are the lists of ID they accept:

www.cibc.com/ca/acceptable-identification.html
www.rbc.com/canada/_assets-custom/includes/pop-up/list-of-valid-identification.html

(Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links, so you're going to have to change all the "dot"s to periods.)

One potential difference is that we said we both live at my address, which is true while we wait for our PR application to go through. I'm not sure to what extent this makes a difference to the banks.

I was able to open a joint BMO account with my husband with no issues, just before we even married. The banker we spoke to said it was easy for us because my husband already had an account there. This was a checking account--a savings account could not be opened without a SIN.

 

[Blake42]

Thanks for that information, guys. I think the problem we're having is that we're living separately and the banks are being fussy. The only thing I was able to add him to was my contact info at the vet's office. At this point, I'm not sure it's worth worrying about.
My real concern now is presentation of what supporting proof we have. The chat logs will have to have their own envelope, since there's... a lot. I was feeling a little bit vindictive when I printed them off. 500+ pages, I think. I included a file log, with each printed entry highlighted in the list. I scrounged up every picture of us I could find, plus ones that we'd taken of each other when we were out on a hike. I'm hoping those count. How should I be presenting those? Loose with dates and names written on the back, or is it better to tape them to paper and write below each picture?
I was also going to write a little letter explaining why I would not be including phone records, but only if that's a smart idea.
I've calmed down a bit, so it should be a little smoother sailing now. And you've all helped with that. Thanks!

 

[crna80]

Hi,
We have had joint account for almost 20 years with TD. Again my husband had an account already and just added my name. Should be possible.

 

[crna80]

Hi,
We have had joint account for almost 20 years with TD. Again my husband had an account already and just added my name. Should be possible.

i guess i should add that he is Canadian and I am American and we have resided and been married in the US for the past 19 years.

 

[Steph C]

Thanks for that information, guys. I think the problem we're having is that we're living separately and the banks are being fussy. The only thing I was able to add him to was my contact info at the vet's office. At this point, I'm not sure it's worth worrying about.
My real concern now is presentation of what supporting proof we have. The chat logs will have to have their own envelope, since there's... a lot. I was feeling a little bit vindictive when I printed them off. 500+ pages, I think. I included a file log, with each printed entry highlighted in the list. I scrounged up every picture of us I could find, plus ones that we'd taken of each other when we were out on a hike. I'm hoping those count. How should I be presenting those? Loose with dates and names written on the back, or is it better to tape them to paper and write below each picture?
I was also going to write a little letter explaining why I would not be including phone records, but only if that's a smart idea.
I've calmed down a bit, so it should be a little smoother sailing now. And you've all helped with that. Thanks!

As for pictures, maybe your friends have pictures of the two of you. I think they are meant to be loose with writing on the back.

 

[padgett]

Don't worry! It's not as bad as you might think. I just got my approval letter yesterday. My husband and I got married after only 3 months of being together, and we met on facebook. We did wait a year after being married to apply so we had lots of pictures and. It is rare that american's sponsored in the family class don't get accepted into canada. Since you don't have a lot of photos and emails, I would just write out a letter to go along with the application explaining your situation. ironically, my husband and i both suffered hard drive crashes on our computers and lost all of our skype logs. that is how we communicated when we were apart. we explained that in the letter. If your love relationship is genuine you will have no problem. Having some close friends and family write out letters would be really helpful. We typed the letters for them and just had them sign them, it makes it easier.

The application is overwhelming, but just print off the checklist and take it one step at a time. Once I had all the documents, I took me one weekend to finish the rest of the application. It also only took 5 months to approve it. Good luck!