Hi there! I have a set of questions about specific sections on the spousal sponsorship forms, for which I kindly ask your help. We are going to apply in July 2016 and I'd like to make sure I understand everything and have a good idea what to expect. (the post is long, but I really could use some tips as to all the questions!)
First, a handful of info about us. I am a common-law spouse of a Canadian citizen, I currently have a work permit, for renewal of which I will apply this May. We are both academics. We met in Poland, as he was working there and so was I (at the time we didn't know he'd be moving back here, nor that we'd be applying for PR for me, nor what that involved, so we didn't retain much evidence that we had a relationship; it was also only budding there). We met in 2011, and slowly developed a relationship. in early 2013 he got a job in Ontario, so he moved back home, but I couldn't (had to finish my PhD studies; he's 15 years older than me), so I stayed for one year in Poland, and he came to visit me twice, and I him once, during that time. We have tons of skype logs for that, and a few texts.
I moved in with him (and to Canada) in September 2014, as a temporary worker, according to the CIC definition we became common law in Sep 2015, but we didn't apply right away because in April 2015 I took a trip to Poland (I am a Polish citizen) for 3 weeks (for my PhD exams) and we were worried that disrupted the 12 months uninterrupted cohabitation requirement, so we decided to wait until a full 12 months passed since (end of) April 2015. We took a holiday together at the beginning of May 2015 (he joined me in Poland after those 3 weeks), came back together to Canada in mid-May 2015, then I went to a conference for a few days, then he went for a conference/research trip for a week, then I went to Poland for my defense for a week, and then he went for another research trip for a week in July, so we decided to wait until July in case those short trips last summer also somehow influence the cohabitation. I am also thinking of taking a holiday trip to my family, 10 days, in July and I wonder - do you think it's best we apply before that (even though the last research - one week- trip my husband took was actually late July, and then another week in August), or after that? Should I move my holiday to august?
Now, as for evidence of relationship, we have:
- a joint lease for our apartment, dated Sept 1st 2014, though I moved in on the 4th, the landlord had a standard lease form
- joint hydro bills for electricity (but not for the full 12 months, I think, hydro comes only every 2 months, and it took them some time to add me as the other tenant)
- a joint bank account and credit cards linked to that account. I am the primary account holder, so the credit cards are in my name, but they said at the bank they can give us a letter stating the credit card is linked to an account we both own. Also, the credit card account has two cards issued, his and mine
- from that account we pay the internet bill, together, as we do the hydro bills, and our gym membership
- we have a joint, family, membership at the gym
- tons of mail addressed to either of us and both of us for the same address, I also have other documents stating my address as the same as his
- driving licenses and ohip cards for both of us with the same address
- we gave each other as common law spouses in the bank account documents for our account, and he did for his savings account
- we just submitted our taxes together, giving each other as common law spouses, we will also print the C form from CRA and attach it to the application
- we bought lots and lots of furniture for our apartment together, though most of it before we got our joint bank account so some of the purchases were made with his card, and some with mine (my Polish bank cards), we also had lots of that purchases shipped to us so there is the address for both of us, or either of us, on the shipping forms
- we have lots (lots!) of pictures of us together, with our families, friends, from various occasions, and travel together
-we have proof of travel together (2 trips for holiday, and one for conferencing together) - boarding cards, petrol receipts, pictures
- we have lots of skype logs from when we didn't live together and from the last two years when we did for the times we were taking trips separately; we also have tons of texts from the last 2 years, including for times we were on our trips
- we will sign the Common Law declaration and submit it along with the application
- I am thinking of getting insurance naming him as benefactor
- our families met once (my mom came to visit me and we organized a family get together), I am good friends with his family and he is with mine; I can submit lots of email exchanges between me and his family, and we have evidence that when I skype with my family he always joins us
- we have lots of mutual friends who we will ask to write letters for us, so that hopefully we can get around 11 letters for the 2 ones CIC expects.
Is this enough, do you think?
Now, my questions (please bear with me, I know the post is long, but I really need your help guys!)
General questions first:
1. even though it seems everyone is doing it, can I please confirm - even though I live and will continue to live with him as a temporary resident, can we apply outland? The Warsaw office is fast in terms of processing, so we are hoping to have our application considered within 13 months. If so, if we can apply outland, how do we indicate in the application that we live together and will continue to?
2. For documents that need to be translated, will certified translations do? and can they be both from translators in Poland and Canada, or do they all have to be from Canada?
3. Do you fill in the forms in pen, or through a computer and then sign?
Now, questions for specific forms:
the checklist for the sponsor
- point 13 - is the passport as proof of identity enough? What to do with boxes that do not apply to me? leave blank? write N/A?
- point 18 - what is, then, required: a letter from the employer OR his pay stubs AND/OR his tax returns for the last 3 years, or all of these? In other words, does he need to give proof of employment and income, or either and both are sufficient, or what? I am worried here because he is pre-tenure, which means his contract is renewed every year until he gets tenure, and then it's permanent. do we somehow explain that? or do we ask his boss to write him a letter like that? Also, what is 'minimum income'? Given that he's an academic, employed by a Canadian university, does he need to submit a,b, or c?
IMM 1344
- 6 - his status is 'Canadian citizen' - does that mean he leaves everything else blank?
- 8 - is that me?
- 18 - anyone knows which/where to find those? He was arrested about 20 years ago as a part of a group that protested against something and I think pulled out a few plants out of a garden, or tried to plant them (activism); they were to be prosecuted but on the day of the trial the prosecutor withdrew the case, so they were never convicted of anything. Later, my husband had his record cleaned. Will that somehow affect the application? should he say 'yes' to this question and explain on a separate sheet? or say 'no'? How can I check what sentence that crime he was accused of carried? (I doubt it was 10 years, but I don't know).
As for the co-signer, he has none, so does he leave that blank but include the full form in the application, or do we not submit that part at all?
IMM5481
- 3 -net personal income as calculated from his pay stubs? his bank account? or taxes? and is the period of 12 months for the tax year, employment year, or 12 months exactly to the day of submitting the application?
- 5 - I am baffled with this one. What is a "current undertaking"? he's never sponsored anyone, is not due to pay any alimony or anything. Is this "current undertaking" me?
- 7 - so here, the number is 2, him and me?
- 5Biv/6A - is this me?
IMM5440
- 9 - leave all blank? (he's a citizen)
- 12 - is that me?
- 14 - we have lots of info here, we could describe it, should we do it on a separate sheet or just indicate names in the box?
Now, my checklist, for the sponsored person (eastern europe; there is no form number as far as I can tell):
A/A2
-7 - is my birth certificate enough? Do I need to prove relationship to all my family members if they're not coming with me? (I have no dependants, and my family will not be moving to Canada with me)
- 8 - I have no children (though we are trying for a baby now) - where shall I state that? on a separate sheet? or leave this box empty?
- 9 I live in Canada - do I attach a copy of my work permit?
- 10 - proof of partnership: is what I enumerated above enough, do you think? as for 'visits' - as I've explained above, we've lived together for almost 2 years now, and so do I give evidence for his trips back when I used to live in Poland and he in Canada (I might not have much, just ticket info and a few skype conversations) back in 2013/2014, or do we explain on a separate sheet that we live together so the evidence is a bit different?
Also, very important here, how else can we prove our relationship is genuine and continuous? How do you do it/did you do it?
- 14- this is what baffles me. In Poland we've never had those kinds of documents (a labour/work book), so I have nothing to show here, even though Poland used to be a ussr state until 1989. Do I explain on a separate sheet? what do people do normally in situations like that, when something that looks like it's required does not apply to them? I could probably ask my employers from Poland to write me reference letters, though, and could ask my Canadian employer to do the same, but is that required?
What with the declarations? (I have no dependants) - leave blank or not include?
And a big conundrum: do I include info on my mother, brother and his wife and children, on the 'Family info' form, seen as how they're not going to accompany me nor, most likely, ever want me to sponsor them? Also, I assume I need to give info on my father, but we do not keep in touch and i don't know his current address.
IMM 0008
- 1-2 what are the proper names? family class/family sponsorship, or something else? please help.
- 6 - do I say 'no' and/or leave blank?
- 10 - temporary resident, or temporary worker?
- 14 - can I add on a separate sheet that as I've met my now common law husband I was separated, though not legally, from my then-husband, with whom the official divorce came through in 2014? Also, as for ID - is my passport enough, or do I need to submit my passport and something else? my Polish ID, maybe?
- as for languages: all my degrees are in English (BA, MA, PhD), and I've studied and worked in English-speaking countries - can I just explain that on a separate sheet? I will not have taken any tests confirming my grasp of English before we apply for PR
- leave the 'dependants' section blank?
IMM5406
-Can I include my family here?
IMM5490
- how do I explain that we were introduced 5 years ago by a mutual friend just over a pint (my husband was a visiting scholar then), so not for relationship purposes?
22-23 - ok, this is big here. So, we are officially not engaged and we did not have a formal reception, because, quite frankly, we just didn't really think about it, and didn't really want to! we had family over when my mom was visiting for a nice family dinner, but it wasn't formal, though it was of course celebrating our relationship, we also go to all family gatherings together and we are often celebrated by our families
but nothing formal, no reception, etc. Is this a problem? do we need to fix a date for some kind of a formal ceremony because if we don't CIC will assume we're not serious? If we do, do we need to provide some kind of evidence for booking, or just give the date? or can we say we don't have a date yet, but that we are planning something big once I get PR?
- 24-25 - we live together, so this is irrelevant? do we explain/leave blank?
- 27 - can I give the 'to' date as the date of the application and maybe write somewhere that it's continuous?
- 30 we live together, but he pays rent - does that count? I didn't receive any money from him before I moved in, and since I did we joined our money etc, so does any of what we do now count?
IMM 5996
I am the principal applicant, correct?
- 2 - is this necessary?
Thank you so much for any help, guys! Hope you had the patience to go through this post and that you will want to give me a few tips on how to fill in all these documents!
First, a handful of info about us. I am a common-law spouse of a Canadian citizen, I currently have a work permit, for renewal of which I will apply this May. We are both academics. We met in Poland, as he was working there and so was I (at the time we didn't know he'd be moving back here, nor that we'd be applying for PR for me, nor what that involved, so we didn't retain much evidence that we had a relationship; it was also only budding there). We met in 2011, and slowly developed a relationship. in early 2013 he got a job in Ontario, so he moved back home, but I couldn't (had to finish my PhD studies; he's 15 years older than me), so I stayed for one year in Poland, and he came to visit me twice, and I him once, during that time. We have tons of skype logs for that, and a few texts.
I moved in with him (and to Canada) in September 2014, as a temporary worker, according to the CIC definition we became common law in Sep 2015, but we didn't apply right away because in April 2015 I took a trip to Poland (I am a Polish citizen) for 3 weeks (for my PhD exams) and we were worried that disrupted the 12 months uninterrupted cohabitation requirement, so we decided to wait until a full 12 months passed since (end of) April 2015. We took a holiday together at the beginning of May 2015 (he joined me in Poland after those 3 weeks), came back together to Canada in mid-May 2015, then I went to a conference for a few days, then he went for a conference/research trip for a week, then I went to Poland for my defense for a week, and then he went for another research trip for a week in July, so we decided to wait until July in case those short trips last summer also somehow influence the cohabitation. I am also thinking of taking a holiday trip to my family, 10 days, in July and I wonder - do you think it's best we apply before that (even though the last research - one week- trip my husband took was actually late July, and then another week in August), or after that? Should I move my holiday to august?
Now, as for evidence of relationship, we have:
- a joint lease for our apartment, dated Sept 1st 2014, though I moved in on the 4th, the landlord had a standard lease form
- joint hydro bills for electricity (but not for the full 12 months, I think, hydro comes only every 2 months, and it took them some time to add me as the other tenant)
- a joint bank account and credit cards linked to that account. I am the primary account holder, so the credit cards are in my name, but they said at the bank they can give us a letter stating the credit card is linked to an account we both own. Also, the credit card account has two cards issued, his and mine
- from that account we pay the internet bill, together, as we do the hydro bills, and our gym membership
- we have a joint, family, membership at the gym
- tons of mail addressed to either of us and both of us for the same address, I also have other documents stating my address as the same as his
- driving licenses and ohip cards for both of us with the same address
- we gave each other as common law spouses in the bank account documents for our account, and he did for his savings account
- we just submitted our taxes together, giving each other as common law spouses, we will also print the C form from CRA and attach it to the application
- we bought lots and lots of furniture for our apartment together, though most of it before we got our joint bank account so some of the purchases were made with his card, and some with mine (my Polish bank cards), we also had lots of that purchases shipped to us so there is the address for both of us, or either of us, on the shipping forms
- we have lots (lots!) of pictures of us together, with our families, friends, from various occasions, and travel together
-we have proof of travel together (2 trips for holiday, and one for conferencing together) - boarding cards, petrol receipts, pictures
- we have lots of skype logs from when we didn't live together and from the last two years when we did for the times we were taking trips separately; we also have tons of texts from the last 2 years, including for times we were on our trips
- we will sign the Common Law declaration and submit it along with the application
- I am thinking of getting insurance naming him as benefactor
- our families met once (my mom came to visit me and we organized a family get together), I am good friends with his family and he is with mine; I can submit lots of email exchanges between me and his family, and we have evidence that when I skype with my family he always joins us
- we have lots of mutual friends who we will ask to write letters for us, so that hopefully we can get around 11 letters for the 2 ones CIC expects.
Is this enough, do you think?
Now, my questions (please bear with me, I know the post is long, but I really need your help guys!)
General questions first:
1. even though it seems everyone is doing it, can I please confirm - even though I live and will continue to live with him as a temporary resident, can we apply outland? The Warsaw office is fast in terms of processing, so we are hoping to have our application considered within 13 months. If so, if we can apply outland, how do we indicate in the application that we live together and will continue to?
2. For documents that need to be translated, will certified translations do? and can they be both from translators in Poland and Canada, or do they all have to be from Canada?
3. Do you fill in the forms in pen, or through a computer and then sign?
Now, questions for specific forms:
the checklist for the sponsor
- point 13 - is the passport as proof of identity enough? What to do with boxes that do not apply to me? leave blank? write N/A?
- point 18 - what is, then, required: a letter from the employer OR his pay stubs AND/OR his tax returns for the last 3 years, or all of these? In other words, does he need to give proof of employment and income, or either and both are sufficient, or what? I am worried here because he is pre-tenure, which means his contract is renewed every year until he gets tenure, and then it's permanent. do we somehow explain that? or do we ask his boss to write him a letter like that? Also, what is 'minimum income'? Given that he's an academic, employed by a Canadian university, does he need to submit a,b, or c?
IMM 1344
- 6 - his status is 'Canadian citizen' - does that mean he leaves everything else blank?
- 8 - is that me?
- 18 - anyone knows which/where to find those? He was arrested about 20 years ago as a part of a group that protested against something and I think pulled out a few plants out of a garden, or tried to plant them (activism); they were to be prosecuted but on the day of the trial the prosecutor withdrew the case, so they were never convicted of anything. Later, my husband had his record cleaned. Will that somehow affect the application? should he say 'yes' to this question and explain on a separate sheet? or say 'no'? How can I check what sentence that crime he was accused of carried? (I doubt it was 10 years, but I don't know).
As for the co-signer, he has none, so does he leave that blank but include the full form in the application, or do we not submit that part at all?
IMM5481
- 3 -net personal income as calculated from his pay stubs? his bank account? or taxes? and is the period of 12 months for the tax year, employment year, or 12 months exactly to the day of submitting the application?
- 5 - I am baffled with this one. What is a "current undertaking"? he's never sponsored anyone, is not due to pay any alimony or anything. Is this "current undertaking" me?
- 7 - so here, the number is 2, him and me?
- 5Biv/6A - is this me?
IMM5440
- 9 - leave all blank? (he's a citizen)
- 12 - is that me?
- 14 - we have lots of info here, we could describe it, should we do it on a separate sheet or just indicate names in the box?
Now, my checklist, for the sponsored person (eastern europe; there is no form number as far as I can tell):
A/A2
-7 - is my birth certificate enough? Do I need to prove relationship to all my family members if they're not coming with me? (I have no dependants, and my family will not be moving to Canada with me)
- 8 - I have no children (though we are trying for a baby now) - where shall I state that? on a separate sheet? or leave this box empty?
- 9 I live in Canada - do I attach a copy of my work permit?
- 10 - proof of partnership: is what I enumerated above enough, do you think? as for 'visits' - as I've explained above, we've lived together for almost 2 years now, and so do I give evidence for his trips back when I used to live in Poland and he in Canada (I might not have much, just ticket info and a few skype conversations) back in 2013/2014, or do we explain on a separate sheet that we live together so the evidence is a bit different?
Also, very important here, how else can we prove our relationship is genuine and continuous? How do you do it/did you do it?
- 14- this is what baffles me. In Poland we've never had those kinds of documents (a labour/work book), so I have nothing to show here, even though Poland used to be a ussr state until 1989. Do I explain on a separate sheet? what do people do normally in situations like that, when something that looks like it's required does not apply to them? I could probably ask my employers from Poland to write me reference letters, though, and could ask my Canadian employer to do the same, but is that required?
What with the declarations? (I have no dependants) - leave blank or not include?
And a big conundrum: do I include info on my mother, brother and his wife and children, on the 'Family info' form, seen as how they're not going to accompany me nor, most likely, ever want me to sponsor them? Also, I assume I need to give info on my father, but we do not keep in touch and i don't know his current address.
IMM 0008
- 1-2 what are the proper names? family class/family sponsorship, or something else? please help.
- 6 - do I say 'no' and/or leave blank?
- 10 - temporary resident, or temporary worker?
- 14 - can I add on a separate sheet that as I've met my now common law husband I was separated, though not legally, from my then-husband, with whom the official divorce came through in 2014? Also, as for ID - is my passport enough, or do I need to submit my passport and something else? my Polish ID, maybe?
- as for languages: all my degrees are in English (BA, MA, PhD), and I've studied and worked in English-speaking countries - can I just explain that on a separate sheet? I will not have taken any tests confirming my grasp of English before we apply for PR
- leave the 'dependants' section blank?
IMM5406
-Can I include my family here?
IMM5490
- how do I explain that we were introduced 5 years ago by a mutual friend just over a pint (my husband was a visiting scholar then), so not for relationship purposes?
22-23 - ok, this is big here. So, we are officially not engaged and we did not have a formal reception, because, quite frankly, we just didn't really think about it, and didn't really want to! we had family over when my mom was visiting for a nice family dinner, but it wasn't formal, though it was of course celebrating our relationship, we also go to all family gatherings together and we are often celebrated by our families
but nothing formal, no reception, etc. Is this a problem? do we need to fix a date for some kind of a formal ceremony because if we don't CIC will assume we're not serious? If we do, do we need to provide some kind of evidence for booking, or just give the date? or can we say we don't have a date yet, but that we are planning something big once I get PR?- 24-25 - we live together, so this is irrelevant? do we explain/leave blank?
- 27 - can I give the 'to' date as the date of the application and maybe write somewhere that it's continuous?
- 30 we live together, but he pays rent - does that count? I didn't receive any money from him before I moved in, and since I did we joined our money etc, so does any of what we do now count?
IMM 5996
I am the principal applicant, correct?
- 2 - is this necessary?
Thank you so much for any help, guys! Hope you had the patience to go through this post and that you will want to give me a few tips on how to fill in all these documents!
