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IMM 5533E - Employment / Source of Income (Wording Confusion)

OnlyAHobo

Member
Oct 28, 2020
13
2
Hi all,

Probably overthinking this, but I'm a little confused by the wording in IMM 5533E, Part B #5, Employment / Source of Income:

You need to show that you can support the person(s) you are sponsoring. Provide documents from one of the following options:

1) If you are working in Canada, provide an original letter from your current employer stating your period of employment, salary, and regular hours per week or supporting financial documents if you are self-employed AND one of these documents issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA):

- Your most recent Notice of Assessment. This must include line 150 (Total Income), or
- Proof of Income statement (Option C).

If you cannot provide a Notice of Assessment or a proof of income statement (Option C) for the most recent taxation year, you must provide an explanation on a separate sheet of paper, accompanied by relevant supporting financial documentation to show how you can support the person(s) you are sponsoring.

2) If you are not working in Canada, provide other documentation showing that you can support the person(s) you are sponsoring. This must include a detailed explanation of how you plan to support yourself and the sponsored person(s) on a separate piece of paper.



My status as the Sponsor is I'm a Canadian citizen, and was working for my last employer for 6 years until I was laid off in May 2021. I decided to take the opportunity to visit my spouse for nearly 5 months, getting married in the process. I had enough savings to cover this, and also started an [ongoing] Employment Insurance claim to supplement during the periods I was still in the country.

My confusion is the wording here: does "If you are / are not working in Canada" ask whether or not you are CURRENTLY EMPLOYED in Canada, or is it asking whether or not your employment is PHYSICALLY within Canada? I am leaning towards the former, but could see cases for both. I should have no issue providing the required documentation for either option (I think an ROE would count as a letter from my last employer), but since my documentation is pretty much the same either way, I just want to double check I'm selecting the correct option.

Thanks!