Method of Signing Digital Forms

[ZMoodie]

My wife and I submitted our application for Spousal Sponsorship 3 months ago, and the application was sent back saying that 2 forms were not signed. We had assumed that the digital signature was enough. Apparently not. Now that we are signing and sending the forms back, we want to make sure that everything is right this time.

My question is, we obviously can't print the document, sign it, and then add the signed page back into a verified/locked pdf, so are we just supposed to type our names? Is that sufficient? Please help my confused brain.

 

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

My wife and I submitted our application for Spousal Sponsorship 3 months ago, and the application was sent back saying that 2 forms were not signed. We had assumed that the digital signature was enough. Apparently not. Now that we are signing and sending the forms back, we want to make sure that everything is right this time.

My question is, we obviously can't print the document, sign it, and then add the signed page back into a verified/locked pdf, so are we just supposed to type our names? Is that sufficient? Please help my confused brain.

Are those two forms IMM1344 and IMM5532? If so, the problem is that 3 months ago, IRCC specifically told you to print out those forms and sign by hand. See this archived IRCC webpage from May below

https://web.archive.org/web/20220512053852/https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html

• you must print and sign these forms by hand, if you need to include them:
  • Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344)
  • Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation Form (IMM 5532)
  • Declaration for Minors Travelling to Canada (IMM 5604)
  • Use of a Representative (IMM 5476)

They even bolded it; I'm not sure how you could miss that.

However, instructions have changed when IRCC updated that webpage on July 18, now specifically telling you NOT to print and sign any of those forms. You are supposed to digitally sign those forms now. Please check the IRCC webpage diligent: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html

As of 2022-08-29, the instructions on signature are:

The sponsor must

• download and complete these forms
• digitally sign, along with the principal applicant (PA)
  • Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking [IMM 1344] (PDF, 478.72KB)
  • Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation Form [IMM 5532] (PDF, 2.21MB)
  • If the principal applicant is a minor child (under 18 years old) their parent or legal guardian must sign the forms, and consent and declaration on their behalf.

For our online application, which we submitted on Aug 2, we digitally signed IMM1344 by typing out our names in the signature fields. For IMM5532, we had to print it and sign it by hand because the form has not yet been updated to allow you to type in signatures.

We got AOR 15 days later, meaning that IRCC deemed what we did acceptable.

 

[ZMoodie]

Are those two forms IMM1344 and IMM5532? If so, the problem is that 3 months ago, IRCC specifically told you to print out those forms and sign by hand. See this archived IRCC webpage from May below

https://web.archive.org/web/20220512053852/https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html



They even bolded it; I'm not sure how you could miss that.

However, instructions have changed when IRCC updated that webpage on July 18, now specifically telling you NOT to print and sign any of those forms. You are supposed to digitally sign those forms now. Please check the IRCC webpage diligent: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html

As of 2022-08-29, the instructions on signature are:



For our online application, which we submitted on Aug 2, we digitally signed IMM1344 by typing out our names in the signature fields. For IMM5532, we had to print it and sign it by hand because the form has not yet been updated to allow you to type in signatures.

We got AOR 15 days later, meaning that IRCC deemed what we did acceptable.

Thank you so much for that explanation. I swore we combed through everything, but I guess not. We will try again!

 

[ablaghosn]

Hi
I am currently working on my application and for some reason I am not able to digitally sign IMM 5532 Realtionship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation on Adobe Reader. For the other documents such as IMM 1344, it wasn't't a problem on Adobe Reader. Could anyone be of help?

 

[2b.or.not.2b]

Hi
I am currently working on my application and for some reason I am not able to digitally sign IMM 5532 Realtionship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation on Adobe Reader. For the other documents such as IMM 1344, it wasn't't a problem on Adobe Reader. Could anyone be of help?

Download the latest version of the 5532 form, from what I have heard the new form allows digital signatures.

 

[VisaApprovalSent]

Download the latest version of the 5532 form, from what I have heard the new form allows digital signatures.

Can you confirm if imm5532 needs hand signatures or is digital okay ? I dont want them to be returned back .

 

[2b.or.not.2b]

The imm 5533 checklist mentions imm5532 needs to be signed digitally.

 

[Nunavut28]

Hello all, I'm applying spousal sponsorship, I tried to validate without signature but pop up says it has to be signed, I was trying to validate first then print out, sign with hand writing then scan back but it seems it's impossible now. so should we write just name or name and last name or digital signature? Please help what did you do

 

[sumitroy2632]

Can you confirm if imm5532 needs hand signatures or is digital okay ? I dont want them to be returned back .

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html

• Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation Form [IMM 5532] (PDF, 2.21MB)
  • Important: To digitally sign the form, you must first complete the form and then select “print to PDF”. This will create a new a version of the form that can be digitally signed.

 

[JMWI]

Did you put your Last Name, First Name and Middle Name?

 

[NivedhithaCibi]

Did you just type your name in digital signature after the print to pdf step or did you actually draw the signatures using adobe just like you do on paper

 

[Downtown_YYZ Guy]

I think we dont print 5332 and type our name online?

 

[Sonikell]

So what worked for us was we edited the forms in our browser itself, instead of downloading them. After entering all the information and signing, we THEN saved the files on our desktop. We rechecked that everything was fine by opening the file again on acrobat reader and THEN uploaded the forms.

‘IF we just saved them on our desktop and edited them on reader the signatures couldn’t be added. I hope this method works for you.

 

[Downtown_YYZ Guy]

So in the form 5532 you signed by just typing your ful name? Is that what you mean or did you draw your signature

 

[Sonikell]

2.1. E-signature laws
Jurisdictions throughout the world have adopted laws that recognize the validity of electronic documents and e-signatures. Although frameworks and definitions vary by jurisdiction, their principles are largely the same. Appendix Alists a number of these sources and their associated definitions.

In Canada, Part 2 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) provides a regime that establishes electronic equivalents to paper-based documents and signatures at the federal level. Part 2 of PIPEDA defines an e-signature as “a signature that consists of one or more letters, characters, numbers or other symbols in digital form incorporated in, attached to or associated with an electronic document.” Essentially, an e-signature can be virtually any form of electronic representation that can be linked or attached to an electronic document or transaction, including:

• user authentication to an internal application to approve something, such as when a supervisor logs into an application to approve a leave request
• using a stylus on a tablet touchscreen to write a signature by hand and capture it in electronic form
• a typed name or signature block in an email
• user authentication to access a website, coupled with a mouse click on some form of acknowledgment button to capture intent
• a scanned hand-written signature on an electronic document
• a sound such as a recorded voice command (for example, a verbal confirmation in response to a question)

as far as I’m aware, simply typing your official name correctly along with the date you sign it, should be sufficient and is perfectly acceptable