Please Help!

[FordGirl027]

Hello Everyone,
I am working on the applications for sponsorship. My Fiance is a Canadian Citizen and I am a US citizen. We have been engaged for a little over 3 and 1/2 years and we are to get married on October 10th of this year. I will be moving up to Ontario once we are married and submitting the documents for "immigration".

A little background on me- I am 22 year old recent college graduate. I have no children. I live my parents and I have one sister who has a 18 month old.

My first question is- I want kind of get as much done ahead of the game as possible- and I wanted to submit the FBI fingerprinting stuff before the wedding. But, if I change my name, wouldn't I have to resubmit that anyway for my new last name? Has anyone been in a similiar situation as myself?? If this is the case, wouldn't it be more efficent for me to just keep my last name, or would it appear that I am not a genuine relationship?

My second question is- the forms all say to fill out information for family members, regardless of whether or not they are actually accompanying you to Canada. For me, this would be my parents and my sister. In the directions it says that family memebers 18 years of age or older must fill out the Schedule 1 Background/Declaration.... but on the actual form there is only the check boxes for 1. the primary applicant OR 2. The spouse, common law partner, or dependent children. So, do they have to fill this out?? Then medical history also states that all non-accompanying family members must also undergo a medical exam. I am confused by this. My parents will need to get the entire medical exam done? That seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I will continue to read the forums for more answers. This is a great find!!

 

[FordGirl027]

bump

 

[canadianwoman]

Keep your own name or not - as long as you have a lot of proof that your relationship is genuine, it won't matter.

In normal English, 'family members' means any of your relatives, including sisters, cousins, nieces, etc. The instructions for the Schedule 1 say that 'family members' for this section means your spouse, common-law partner, and children. Coming with you to Canada or not, these people fill out the form and must get a medical. Your parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews do not have to get a medical or be included in this part.
There is a section later where you do have to list your parents, and later your siblings. They don't need medicals.

 

[sbwv09]

I also started gathering the FBI forms and everything before my marriage, it's the best way if you want to apply asap after the marriage. I wouldn't worry about a name change until after everything is sorted out if at all.. dealing with that on top of everything would be stressful and could cause problems if you have different names on different forms of ID, etc. As Canadianwoman said, it won't matter that much if you change your name or not. People have children together and that in itself still doesn't prove the genuineness of a relationship for CIC.

As for the family members, Canadianwoman got that right too They mean your spouse and any children. Your spouse will be Canadian and you have no children, so don't worry about that. There is a seperate form where you include information about parents and siblings, but it's just general information (name, address,etc).

 

[FordGirl027]

Thank you!!!!!!

 

[RobsLuv]

Hello Everyone,
I am working on the applications for sponsorship. My Fiance is a Canadian Citizen and I am a US citizen. We have been engaged for a little over 3 and 1/2 years and we are to get married on October 10th of this year. I will be moving up to Ontario once we are married and submitting the documents for "immigration".

A little background on me- I am 22 year old recent college graduate. I have no children. I live my parents and I have one sister who has a 18 month old.

My first question is- I want kind of get as much done ahead of the game as possible- and I wanted to submit the FBI fingerprinting stuff before the wedding. But, if I change my name, wouldn't I have to resubmit that anyway for my new last name? Has anyone been in a similiar situation as myself?? If this is the case, wouldn't it be more efficent for me to just keep my last name, or would it appear that I am not a genuine relationship?

My second question is- the forms all say to fill out information for family members, regardless of whether or not they are actually accompanying you to Canada. For me, this would be my parents and my sister. In the directions it says that family memebers 18 years of age or older must fill out the Schedule 1 Background/Declaration.... but on the actual form there is only the check boxes for 1. the primary applicant OR 2. The spouse, common law partner, or dependent children. So, do they have to fill this out?? Then medical history also states that all non-accompanying family members must also undergo a medical exam. I am confused by this. My parents will need to get the entire medical exam done? That seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I will continue to read the forums for more answers. This is a great find!!

First of all, you can't "move up to Canada" to start the immigration paperwork. You can come to Canada with your new spouse to visit - but you can't live here until you're approved for PR. If you mention to the IO at the port of entry that you are coming to live, before you have PR, they will turn you around so fast it will make your head spin. So don't plan to bring all your belongings, etc., and don't tell the IO at the border that you're coming to "live". Your new spouse should be with you, to speak on your behalf, to get you visitor status to wait out the PR processing. See the Visiting link at US2Canada.com for more info about Visitor Records.

You can get your FBI done (and your medical, too) ahead of time - using your maiden name doesn't matter. But be aware that your FBI clearances must not be more than 3 months old when you submit the PR application. Your medical is valid for one year, and will have to be redone if your PR ap is not finalized before it expires - so don't do it too early either.

Your parents, and your sister, are not eligible to be sponsored as your family members . . . the only other people you would put on a spousal sponsorship application would be any children you might have from a previous relationship. You state you have no children, so you are the only applicant. Your parents and sister's name go in the "Additional Family Information" form, but not in IMM-0008 and they dont' have to undergo medical, or submit photos, or do police clearances. They are not immigrating, only you are. When all else fails, read the instructions in the Applicant's Guide and the little blurbs above the questions in the actual application forms. For example, the text above the "Family Members" boxes on page 2 of Form IMM0008 says, "You must include your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable (not, because your spouse is a Canadian), and all of your dependent children, and those of your spouse or common-law partner, who are not already permanent residents or citizens or Canada." It says nothing about listing parents or siblings.