POST PICS OF YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE HERE

[bobshynoswife]

Well we managed to send in a 100% conplete application without the "advice" of the forum and if we had seen some of the pictures on this site after we had sent ours in we would have felt like total failures, but we went through with no blips and would have potentially added another few months to the time before sending it, collating loads of unnecessary information. Now I am not saying that some people need to send in more than others, but people with a pretty much open and shut case, don't need to send in a box full of stuff. A little great evidence is better than a lot of repetitious stuff.

You often post about how you sent so little and were fine. I'm very happy for you, but hopefully people realize that you were not applying from a third world country.

I'm one of those who sent in a HUGE application (640+ pages and 220 photos) because of the advice on this board. I'm sure glad I did, because rather than be in Nigeria and still in the 10-22 month processing queue in Accra, my husband is at this moment raking leaves in our Edmonton front yard less than 3 months after Accra received our application.

I still stand by my belief that everyone should send as much evidence as they possibly have - especially those from third world countries.

 

[AlanWales]

You often post about how you sent so little and were fine. I'm very happy for you, but hopefully people realize that you were not applying from a third world country.

I'm one of those who sent in a HUGE application (640+ pages and 220 photos) because of the advice on this board. I'm sure glad I did, because rather than be in Nigeria and still in the 10-22 month processing queue in Accra, my husband is at this moment raking leaves in our Edmonton front yard less than 3 months after Accra received our application.

I still stand by my belief that everyone should send as much evidence as they possibly have - especially those from third world countries.

Obviously, it depends where you are applying from, I have never denied that, but I still feel that people get a skewed view sometimes.

 

[CharlieD10]

You often post about how you sent so little and were fine. I'm very happy for you, but hopefully people realize that you were not applying from a third world country.

I'm one of those who sent in a HUGE application (640+ pages and 220 photos) because of the advice on this board. I'm sure glad I did, because rather than be in Nigeria and still in the 10-22 month processing queue in Accra, my husband is at this moment raking leaves in our Edmonton front yard less than 3 months after Accra received our application.

I still stand by my belief that everyone should send as much evidence as they possibly have - especially those from third world countries.

I'm with you on this one. I see cases of others who have sent in "smaller" packages, but I am sending in the maximum amount of evidence because as I see it, the deck is already stacked against us and we must present the best case possible, because I am from a Third World country and I am not going to battle just Immigration rules and regulations, I am going to be battling the prejudices of the IO as well. I do not say prejudices as in race/colour, but in the case where someone from a wealthy country sees someone from a poor country marry someone from their country, there is bound to be some suspicion of my motives. Add to that the fact that any number of immigrants from my own country have not "behaved" well in Canada, and I know I am up against a poor reputation as well! So...if it comes out weighing a tonne and I need a container to ship it to CPC-M, so be it!

 

[AlanWales]

Ahhhh but theres the rub....how does one truly know if we have an 'open and shut case'?

Also, I have to avoid being called for an interview, due to the prohibitive cost of crossing the atlantic and back when one is already on a shoestring.

The GF can support us here in Canuckland no worries, but If i can avoid costing her the best part of 2k by sending in an extra 50+ pages (cos c. $10) then by golly that package is gonna grow!

Thence the body of evidence.

think I might put up a disclaimer in the first post, to stop people prematurely freaking out *EDIT* Nope, too late to modify!

IA

What you do is what you do, I am just giving the other side of the discussion. I know of someone on here who spent so long putting together their application that their medical results have almost ran out by the time they posted it due to really over obsessing on the application.

 

[AlanWales]

I'm with you on this one. I see cases of others who have sent in "smaller" packages, but I am sending in the maximum amount of evidence because as I see it, the deck is already stacked against us and we must present the best case possible, because I am from a Third World country and I am not going to battle just Immigration rules and regulations, I am going to be battling the prejudices of the IO as well. I do not say prejudices as in race/colour, but in the case where someone from a wealthy country sees someone from a poor country marry someone from their country, there is bound to be some suspicion of my motives. Add to that the fact that any number of immigrants from my own country have not "behaved" well in Canada, and I know I am up against a poor reputation as well! So...if it comes out weighing a tonne and I need a container to ship it to CPC-M, so be it!

Good luck to you and I don't blame you for sending is as much as you can. I am just saying that not everyone need to, if the deck isn't stacked up against them.

 

[hoping75]

I have to say that I have never heard of an application being refused because there was too much evidence, but I have heard of many being refused because there was not enough.

I was not taking chances, I sent everything but the kitchen sink, and happily my Husband was accepted and we are enjoying our lives together.

It is true that you must really consider what country your spouse is from, mine is from Morocco. It makes a world of difference when presenting evidence, especially when you do not have the oppertunity to spend a lot of time together in person, the other contact information and pictures of when you were together is the all the agent has to rely on to judge your relationship. If you send little, they have little to confirm this relationship is sincere. I think pictures with the family and friends of your spouse helps a lot also, but that is just my opinion. I know at the interview the agent did go through the pictures and ask who were the people in the pictures with us. This was a big part of his interview. The really concentrated on his family members that we visited, and who attended our wedding. They like to see that your spouse made you part of the family.

I think it really sends up a red flag if he did not introduce you to many of his family and friends.

Good luck to everyone

An agent at CIC told me the more evidence the better, so I took her advice.

 

[canadianwoman]

Yeah, I am also one of those who think you should send in a lot of evidence. Read appeal cases on CanLii - I've never seen one yet where anyone had a problem with too much evidence, but I've seen a lot that were refused because they didn't have enough.

But if the applicant is from a first-world country and everything about the relationship, courtship and marriage is 'normal', I'm sure you can send in a small application and get accepted. But I don't think our advice to newcomers to the forum should be "only a small amount of evidence is necessary." Our advice should be to look long and hard at your relationship, be as objective as possible, and identify those red flags that are going to scream 'immigration fraud' to the visa officer. If there are any of these red flags, send in all the proof your relationship is real that you have.

 

[AlanWales]

My advice isn't to send in a small amount, all I am saying is that there is a tendency to see someone send X in and for another person to send X + Y.

Just be true to yourself and if you feel you have sent enough, it most probably is.
I actually thought our application was over the top until I came here and as I say, I would have been freaking out that I haven't sent enough. Sometimes it is better to go with your own instinct than to just try and outdo others, which is a culture that this place can inadvertently breed.

Anyway, my advice is obviously unwanted, so please everyone, spend your life collating evidence instead of actually getting to where you want to be.

Peace.

 

[bobshynoswife]

What you do is what you do, I am just giving the other side of the discussion. I know of someone on here who spent so long putting together their application that their medical results have almost ran out by the time they posted it due to really over obsessing on the application.

Now that's silly. We were lucky in that I had kept phone bills and cards and letters. It took less than a week to gather the rest of the evidence, such as his phone records (called the company, they emailed them to him), chat logs, screen captures of emails, printing emails etc. We had some receipts, and put in as many as we could. The entire application took us about 8 hours to fill out the questions and then two weeks to print everything and assemble, and I worked on it a few hours a day. Put everything you have and can get easily, but don't stress yourself out, and don't wait months for something that might not really matter in the end. Send what you have!

 

[bobshynoswife]

My advice isn't to send in a small amount, all I am saying is that there is a tendency to see someone send X in and for another person to send X + Y.

Just be true to yourself and if you feel you have sent enough, it most probably is.
I actually thought our application was over the top until I came here and as I say, I would have been freaking out that I haven't sent enough. Sometimes it is better to go with your own instinct than to just try and outdo others, which is a culture that this place can inadvertently breed.

Anyway, my advice is obviously unwanted, so please everyone, spend your life collating evidence instead of actually getting to where you want to be.

Peace.

I'm sorry for only paying attention to part of your message, and not the rest of it. You are absolutely right that no one should look at these applications and freak out because theirs wasn't 'big enough'. That kind of thinking won't help anyone. If anyone reads this who is sponsoring a spouse from a 'difficult' country and thinks their application wasn't complete enough, you now know what type of evidence to gather to bring with you to a possible interview. They will always give you the chance to explain at interview, or add additional evidence.

I do appreciate your input, Alan.

 

[hoping75]

This is just my personal opinion, but in our experience, and the experience of many others, the agents don't really take the time to look at much evidence that the person brings with them to the interview. My husband had 2 briefcases full with him, and they never even looked at any of it. they just asked him questions about evidence that we had sent in the application.

He presented the things he had with him, but they never asked to see any of it.

I hate to say this, but I think they have a good idea of their decision before the interview based on what was in the application package.

Again it is just my personal opinion, but I would advise people to send the most important evidence with the application, don't wait until the interview because the agents may not have the time to even look at it then. They only have the interview for a short period of time, and that time is taken asking a list of questions they already have chosen based on your case.

It took us 2 weeks to get our application prepared and sent off.

This is not intended to scare people that have sent their application, but to advise the others before they sent theirs.

 

[HoneyBird]

I'm with you on this one. I see cases of others who have sent in "smaller" packages, but I am sending in the maximum amount of evidence because as I see it, the deck is already stacked against us and we must present the best case possible, because I am from a Third World country and I am not going to battle just Immigration rules and regulations, I am going to be battling the prejudices of the IO as well. I do not say prejudices as in race/colour, but in the case where someone from a wealthy country sees someone from a poor country marry someone from their country, there is bound to be some suspicion of my motives. Add to that the fact that any number of immigrants from my own country have not "behaved" well in Canada, and I know I am up against a poor reputation as well! So...if it comes out weighing a tonne and I need a container to ship it to CPC-M, so be it!

i wish i had a like button for this..to press about 20 times! wish my husband can understand this. sadly he doesn't and thinks that i am acting desperate for wanting to submit more information.

 

[CharlieD10]

i wish i had a like button for this..to press about 20 times! wish my husband can understand this. sadly he doesn't and thinks that i am acting desperate for wanting to submit more information.

LOL, well every time I come up with a different form of evidence we can access and put together, my husband asks me if I think that list is long enough. I tell him Immigration is not fooling around, neither should we. You never know what they might ask for, you put your additional information together and keep it organised! If they ask for it, you are well-prepared, if they don't ask for it, you have lost nothing by being overly-prepared.

 

[HoneyBird]

yeah but i am submittg additional info voluntarily simply because i feel i have not submitted enough before. my husband disagrees. i however need to be able to sleep at night. even before coming on this forum i had my doubts on what he submitted. originally he talked about like 20 pictures etc and i had to talk him into more. and i never saw what he sent and i am worried becuause he is so an intensely private person, i just dont know if he sent the right stuff and enough.

btw he does not want me on this forum as he feels its like there are spies every where and that the forum is turning me against him since i listen to people on the forum.

i am very tired arguing today. :'(

 

[CharlieD10]

Well, I don't know about spies, LOL. As for listening to others on the forums, all I can say is, I like to listen to people who can say "been there, done that" about something I am getting into and don't know anything about!

My husband thinks it should be as easy as submitting the paperwork, and our marriage license and a few pictures too. I told him that if he thinks that is enough, he needs to come on here and read the experiences of people on here! Sometimes I realise that he is not seeing it from my point of view...he is going home to Canada, I am the one asking them to accept me in their country because I am married to him, and while he may think it's enough that he married me, I know it's not enough for Immigration. I place the burden of proof on myself.

As for you submitting the additional information voluntarily, it's really up to you. Talk to him, don't argue. Explain why you feel it is important...emphasise that the end of this process means you will be together as a family, and anything you can do to make that process as smooth as possible is all you are trying to do