IMM 5540 have you resided in countries other then canada

[verbotten]

Hi, I am sponsoring my wife and my question is regarding question 8 in IMM 5540

Have you resided in countries other then Canada?

Give the name of the countries you resided.
Give complete address(es) and telephone numbers in these countries, as well as period of residence at each address.

I am Naturalized Canadian , received Canadian citizenship in June 2006. My question is HOW FAR do they want my residence history.
Is it since birth? since I received Canadian citizenship or what.

If anyone can help me out here .
Thanks in advance.(btw I searched forum for 30 min, found no satisfactory answer.)

( .. and I can't remember all addresses and telephone numbers......... :-[)

 

[nyssa]

If you don't know, assume the worst! Go from birth. With my husband who is my sponsor, he lived in the US from 1999 - 2009. So we documented to the best of our ability every month and year. He moved around a lot so we explained that as best we could in an additional letter.

 

[nyssa]

On the form, it only says what verbotten wrote:

"Have you resided in countries other then Canada?

Give the name of the countries you resided.
Give complete address(es) and telephone numbers in these countries, as well as period of residence at each address."

From the sound of it, they want to know just what they're asking. There is no 10 years or age 18, that is for Personal History on the Sponsored Spouse Questionnaire, I see the confusion.

You should answer what the question wants, and that is in full. I also thumbed through the Sponsor Guide, and it doesn't explain that question any further.

 

[iarblue]

correct my mistake you need to list every country you have lived in since you been born.

 

[verbotten]

Wow, that is annoying , I don't remember addresses and telephone numbers nor time-frames I lived since I was born.
I feel stalled.
IMO very weird request for a Canadian citizen to show all of his addresses and telephones etc etc before he became a citizen, i mean who cares...

some sponsors could be like 70 or so, imagine all the addresses and telephone numbers to track for a 70 year period. Who would remember such a thing in the precision this info is asked in.

I'll do my best, but I cant write what don't remember nor there is a way to retrieve all the info with 100% accuracy.

 

[nyssa]

verbotten, my husband's was not 100% accurate but we did the best we could and we explained that to the IO in our letter. They were months and years, but no phone numbers, and not even addresses, just towns becuase my husband moved so frequently.

 

[iarblue]

Apparently you have moved around a lot.In most cases i guess they are assuming you only lived in one or two countries.This is actually so they can see if you lived in a country that is on a high crime rate and so on.
Just do your best.

 

[verbotten]

Apparently you have moved around a lot.In most cases i guess they are assuming you only lived in one or two countries.This is actually so they can see if you lived in a country that is on a high crime rate and so on.
Just do your best.

Yea, I guess they just expect couple of country as average. But I am already Canadian citizen and have lived in Canada for over 15 years, what is my possible residence in hi-crime country has to do with me sponsoring a wife. I'm just not connecting dots here.

 

[nyssa]

It's more than just high-crime, they want to see what you've been doing, like the Applicant has to answer under "Personal History". If you've lived in several countries, why? I imagine it's like a background check of its own. Each situation is different, and living in different countries shouldn't hurt your application, especially since you've been in Canada for 15 years. It's just another way of figuring out who you are and what your motives may be if not genuine.

 

[iarblue]

Its just more of a way for them to track what you did where you lived,you got to understand these forms are for a wide range of people.Yes it should state addresses for a certain portion of time,but it does not so you need to list everywhere you lived.The best you can i guess.I wouldnt worry so much about phone numbers as i would for addresses and country.ex.florida united states from this date to this date approx.dont over lap dates and dont leave gaps.
I could imagine if you moved to a lot of different countries when you young then this could be hard.Phone numbers ??????why they ask for this i dont know as phone numbers are recycled every three months.Thats why here when you get a new number you have people calling loking for someone else.
So just do your best,if you can only remeber towns and countries and years do it that way.

 

[nyssa]

iarblue, you said it perfectly: "you got to understand these forms are for a wide range of people".

here is what we put for my husband:

CONTINUATION OF ADDRESSES IN THE ONLY COUNTRY I HAVE RESIDED IN BESIDES CANADA: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


Country Addresses FROM
DD / MM / YYYY TO
DD / MM / YYYY
United States town, state / 07 / 2004 / 07 / 2006
United States town, state / 07 / 2003 / 07 / 2004
United States town, state / 07 / 2002 / 07 / 2003
United States town, state / 07 / 2001 / 07 / 2002
United States town, state / 07 / 2000 / 07 / 2001
United States town, state / 12 / 1999 / 07 / 2000

 

[iarblue]

exactly

 

[joecreosta]

as long u write contri names and city names thats fine. but give explaintiation why u dont remembre address and phone

 

[canadianwoman]

CIC does not specify in the question how far back they want you to go (like they do for other questions) so they want from birth.
If you cannot remember or find out certain addresses or phone numbers, just leave that part blank and attach an explanation. Your application will not be rejected just because you couldn't remember your phone number or street address from 20 years ago. Answer as much as you can, explain you have forgotten certain details, and don't leave any gaps.

For my application, I couldn't remember the street addresses for a couple of the places I lived in one country, I lived for three years in another country where the houses don't have addresses, and spent one year in rural China where there were not even any streets. I just gave as much of the address I knew, and for the Chinese one described where the house was, and explained I didn't know the rest. Neither CIC nor the visa officer ever had any problem with this.

 

[kal1313]

Just to let you know , you are not the one being investigated here more than likely they already have your information . Just put down the all the places you have resided in before you became a Canadian citizen and I believe you do not have to put down all the places you have visited either , get it up to the best of your knowledge .