IMM5540 Q8

[Fencesitter]

Hi all,

Hope everyone is making good progress with their PR applications. My wife and I are nearly finished!!!

So, IMM5540 Q8 asks for places I have resided outside of Canada. I have everything finished, but I wonder...I was staying with my Thai gf in the US back in 2000-2001. I wasn't working...I was basically on an extended holiday. Does that qualify as 'residing'? My interpretation is that I do not need to enter this information on the form. Am I correct? If I do, why? It was 12 years ago...what difference does it make? If I left it out, would CIC find out somehow, and would that cause a problem for me to sponsor my wife??

Also, and more importantly, why does CIC need this information in the first place? How important is it? I have entered places where I have lived and worked, but left holiday destinations out of it. Is that good enough??

Thanks,
FS

 

[Americana In T.O.]

Hi all,

Hope everyone is making good progress with their PR applications. My wife and I are nearly finished!!!

So, IMM5540 Q8 asks for places I have resided outside of Canada. I have everything finished, but I wonder...I was staying with my Thai gf in the US back in 2000-2001. I wasn't working...I was basically on an extended holiday. Does that qualify as 'residing'? My interpretation is that I do not need to enter this information on the form. Am I correct? If I do, why? It was 12 years ago...what difference does it make? If I left it out, would CIC find out somehow, and would that cause a problem for me to sponsor my wife??

Also, and more importantly, why does CIC need this information in the first place? How important is it? I have entered places where I have lived and worked, but left holiday destinations out of it. Is that good enough??

Thanks,
FS

If you were there 6 months or longer you must list it according to CIC.

 

[Fencesitter]

Thanks. The problem I have is I cannot remember the address or telephone number. I remember the street name, but that's about it. I was staying with my gf, so I wasn't too involved with the rental contract, etc...

What should I do??

Is this critically important for being approved as my wife's sponsor??????!!

Thanks,
FS

 

[Americana In T.O.]

Thanks. The problem I have is I cannot remember the address or telephone number. I remember the street name, but that's about it. I was staying with my gf, so I wasn't too involved with the rental contract, etc...

What should I do??

Is this critically important for being approved as my wife's sponsor??????!!

Thanks,
FS

I'm not sure. When I applied for my permanent residency (under skilled worker program) I had to go back and remember all of the addresses that I lived at. It was very difficult. I actually used Google Earth application to find the exact address as it goes down to the street level view in all of the U.S. You might want to do that.

 

[Fencesitter]

The thing is, I checked my passport for stamps from the period I was in the US. I have 4 stamps, but none show me staying longer than 6 months (no exit stamps at all - only entry stamps - and most were from when I traveled from Chicago to Thailand - in transit).

So, should I just leave this off the form? I don't see how CIC, or even the US Immigration, would be able to trace my whereabouts.

I am not trying to hide anything. I just can't remember my address or phone number when I was staying in the US, and I don't want any discrepancies on any of the forms that could put my sponsorship at risk.

Any other ideas from other members of this forum?

Thanks,
FS

 

[Fencesitter]

Anyone know what I should do??

Cheers,
FS

 

[CharlieD10]

Answer the question fully and honestly, noting what you remember, and explaining the rest in a side note. If you spent more than 6 months somewhere, it is best to include it. You'd be amazed by how long the US keeps information on travelers, and how much they do share with Canada and vice versa!

 

[Fencesitter]

But they wouldn't have any records. I crossed into the US via Sarnia. I was only visiting.

 

[CharlieD10]

You could rely on that assumption, and find that you incur delays because somewhere there IS a record. Or, you could answer the question and it doesn't matter one way or the other because either they don't have the information or it's not important because it was so long ago. I dealt with the questions on the principle of "leave them no questions to ask".

 

[Fencesitter]

What if I stayed longer than 6 months? Would that be a problem? I remember staying for a number of months and then coming back to Canada...then going back again...but I honestly can't recall if I was there longer than 6 months...

But my main question is whether Q8 is important to be approved for sponsorship? In other words, is this really that important for CIC???

FS

 

[Fencesitter]

Would this be a good enough explanation? I have all the other information, aside from the apt# and telephone#:

Note: I honestly cannot remember the apartment and telephone number when I stayed in Arizona – it was so long ago. I do remember that I was staying on the second floor across from the swimming pool.

Thanks,
FS

 

[canadianwoman]

1. I would include it.
2. Anything where you don't remember something specific, just state that. So say you don't remember the exact dates, but it was September 2000 to June 2001 (or whatever). Then just state you don't remember the apartment number or phone number.
It is better to include all you can and state you don't remember some detail, than to completely omit all reference to the stay. Because if they find out, it will cause bigger problems than just mentioning it in the first place.

 

[Fencesitter]

I spoke to my parents and they helped me remember. I stayed from Sept 2000 to June 2001. I know that I can legally stay in the US for up to 6 months per calendar year. The problem I have is that I stayed longer than 6 months in 2001. My dad told me that CIC is not likely to care about that because it really has no relevance to this case, and if anyone should care, it would be the US side. At the end of the day it was a long time ago, so I highly doubt an extra 4 months in the US is going to cause problems for my sponsorship approval...or am I totally wrong?

Thanks,
FS

 

[Fencesitter]

Sorry, October 2001...not June 2001.

 

[CharlieD10]

No, it won't cause any issues for your sponsorship approval that I can see.