questions regarding IMM5257 (employment hist, funds, edu start/end dates)

[flx2015]

i'm helping my wife fill out this form and we have a couple of questions we need help with.

1. the form asks for employment history even though she has none. those are required fields as well so i'm not sure we can leave them blank. what do we do here?

2. there's a question asking how much funds she has available for her stay in canada. since i'm going to be providing her financial support, is it fine if i put whatever balance i have in my savings account? or does it have to be a balance from the her account?

3. they ask for her post secondary education start/end dates. this is tricky. on her spousal sponsorship forms we put her anticipated finish date because she was still studying when we were filling out the sponsorship app. fast forward to spring 2016, her classes ended up finishing 2 months early so her actual finish date is different than what we put on her sponsorship forms. what date should we put on the TRV application form? i'm worried that if we put the actual date, they'll ban her for misrepresentation because that date is different from what we put on the sponsorship forms. if we put the same date we have on the sponsorship form, that actually IS misrepresentation because she's already finished her classes.

 

[Jalex23]

1. the form asks for employment history even though she has none. those are required fields as well so i'm not sure we can leave them blank. what do we do here?

Unemployed

2. there's a question asking how much funds she has available for her stay in canada. since i'm going to be providing her financial support, is it fine if i put whatever balance i have in my savings account? or does it have to be a balance from the her account?

Does she has access to the account without your intervention? The funds have to be available to her at any time during her trip... if your interaction is required in any way, shape or form then it is not fine.

3. they ask for her post secondary education start/end dates. this is tricky. on her spousal sponsorship forms we put her anticipated finish date because she was still studying when we were filling out the sponsorship app. fast forward to spring 2016, her classes ended up finishing 2 months early so her actual finish date is different than what we put on her sponsorship forms. what date should we put on the TRV application form? i'm worried that if we put the actual date, they'll ban her for misrepresentation because that date is different from what we put on the sponsorship forms. if we put the same date we have on the sponsorship form, that actually IS misrepresentation because she's already finished her classes.

Put the latest info. The info should be true up to the date it is submitted, CIC understands that data after submission can change.

 

[flx2015]

Unemployed

what do i put in for the start/end date? the start date is required but the end date is optional. the question asks for employment details "for the past 10 years", so should she just put down the current year minus 10 years as the start date? she has been a student for the past 10 years and has never worked.

Does she has access to the account without your intervention? The funds have to be available to her at any time during her trip... if your interaction is required in any way, shape or form then it is not fine.

no, she does not have access to the account. in this case, i suppose the correct answer would be to put down the current balance of her bank account, right? will they ban her if she spends some of that money and her balance ends up being different by the time they make a decision?

 

[Jalex23]

what do i put in for the start/end date? the start date is required but the end date is optional. the question asks for employment details "for the past 10 years", so should she just put down the current year minus 10 years as the start date? she has been a student for the past 10 years and has never worked.

start date she began to be unemployed.
end date blank

no, she does not have access to the account. in this case, i suppose the correct answer would be to put down the current balance of her bank account, right? will they ban her if she spends some of that money and her balance ends up being different by the time they make a decision?

CIC only cares of the funds at the time of submission and months prior. That is, there has to be enough evidence the funds have been consistent with her lifestyle and usual spend behaviour. For this effect statements from the last 3 to 6 months to show historical data that points towards healthy financials.

 

[flx2015]

start date she began to be unemployed.
end date blank

i'm confused as to what you mean by "began to be unemployed". she has never worked, so technically she's been unemployed her entire life.

 

[Jalex23]

i'm confused as to what you mean by "began to be unemployed". she has never worked, so technically she's been unemployed her entire life.

In many countries children cannot work, so they cannot be unemployed and can only be classified as unemployed after legal working age. Others count it after high school or grad studies.

There is no definitive answer... it depends on your specifics.

 

[flx2015]

In many countries children cannot work, so they cannot be unemployed and can only be classified as unemployed after legal working age. Others count it after high school or grad studies.

There is no definitive answer... it depends on your specifics.

got it, i'll think this through.

lastly, is the "end date" for studies the last day of classes or the date of graduation? the graduation ceremony is usually held several weeks after the last day of classes.

 

[Jalex23]

got it, i'll think this through.

lastly, is the "end date" for studies the last day of classes or the date of graduation? the graduation ceremony is usually held several weeks after the last day of classes.

It again depends on your specifics. There is no answer to that.... some countries have graduation ceremony but they do not grant the title until the council exam is approved, so they remain being student for that time or start working.

Use common sense and your projected plans when answering future dates.

 

[flx2015]

It again depends on your specifics. There is no answer to that.... some countries have graduation ceremony but they do not grant the title until the council exam is approved, so they remain being student for that time or start working.

Use common sense and your projected plans when answering future dates.

ok. i'm starting to overthink things after reading about people getting 5 year bans for making mistakes in their application. i'm just really afraid of falling into that "accidental misrepresentation" trap even though i'm answering all questions honestly. there's just too much ambiguity and the guide also doesn't tell me what they want.

1. for the highest level of education start/end dates, i'm going to set the end date to be the last day of classes, NOT the date of the graduation ceremony.
2. for the employment start/end dates, i'll set the start date of unemployment to be the same date as above.

this is the best i can do.

 

[Jalex23]

ok. i'm starting to overthink things after reading about people getting 5 year bans for making mistakes in their application. i'm just really afraid of falling into that "accidental misrepresentation" trap even though i'm answering all questions honestly. there's just too much ambiguity and the guide also doesn't tell me what they want.

1. for the highest level of education start/end dates, i'm going to set the end date to be the last day of classes, NOT the date of the graduation ceremony.
2. for the employment start/end dates, i'll set the start date of unemployment to be the same date as above.

this is the best i can do.

Misrepresentation happens when you fail to communicate your status and therefore give a false impression that could potentially help you get the TRV. For example stating you work with a big salary and you are not working, or missing to mention visits to other countries or rejected visas, failing to state that you are married and declaring yourself as single....

Stating an end date based on grad ceremony or last day of class is quite irrelevant and CIC also uses common sense to assess that dates can be read differently and that those dates are flexible.

Yes you are overthinking it and questioning too much for something that is quite simple and straightforward.

 

[flx2015]

thank you Jalex23.

+1 for your help.