Revised Outline

[nyssa]

Hello ;D ...I used to have a few outlines, but they've all been tossed for various reasons. Mainly, my husband and I have a farily straight-forward relationship and 8lbs worth of evidence didn't end up seeming too practical. I've been pouring through the forum day and night and here is what I'm come up with. What have you done? Does this seem do-able?

It's long, I just threw it all out there, sorry. Maybe I can help someone else in the process. Hopefully!! I've been in this process since November 2009 and am still waiting on the FBI Clearance. :'(

Folder 1: Sponsor Forms & Supporting Documents
Folder 2: Applicant Forms & Supporting Documents
Folder 3: Proof of Relationship
Folder 4: Proof of Communication

Folder #2's Sponsored Spouse/Partner Questionairre appears like this on the outline:

5. IMM 5490 - Spouse/Partner Questionnaire
- Question 1: How We Met
- Question 6: First Meeting
- Question 9: Development of Relationship
- Question 11: Additional Close Friends/Family Sponsor Met
- Question 14: Engagement
- Question 15: Wedding
- Question 18: Reception
- Question 19: Honeymoon
- Question 24: Sponsor’s Visit
- Question 25: Applicant’s Visits
- Original Letter From Applicant Providing Additional Details to Prove the Marriage is Genuine and Continuing

On the form itself, I will add "See attached" instead of writing anything and then the explanation will appear where you see "Question 15: Wedding", etc. I will explain the wedding, and then underneath, "See Folder #3, Tab #1, Letter A" and here's what I have for Proofs. I have photos all together, in chronological order, and everything else by timeline.

1. Photo Evidence
A. Sponsor Visits Applicant (February 25, 2007 - March 4, 2007)
B. Applicant Visits Sponsor (March 22, 2007 - April 7, 2007)
C. Living Together (May 12, 2007 - July 1, 2008)
D. Living Together (July 2, 2008 - April 20, 2009)
E. Sponsor and Applicant Visit Canada (April 20, 2009 - May 5, 2009)
F. Applicant Visits Sponsor: Engagement (July 18, 2009 - July 30, 2009)
G. Miscellaneous Pre-Wedding Photos (October 22, 2009 - October 24, 2009)
H. Wedding Ceremony (October 24, 2009)
I. Wedding Reception (October 24, 2009)
J. Honeymoon (October 27, 2009 - October 30, 2009)
K. Applicant Visits Sponsor (April 24, 2010 - May 9, 2010)
L. Sponsor Visits Applicant (July 17, 2010 - July 25, 2010)

2. Visits
A. April 20, 2009 - May 5, 2009
1. Megabus Reservation Summary
2. Flight Itinerary
B. July 18, 2009 - July 30, 2009
1. Air Canada Round Trip Flight Itinerary
2. July 18, 2009 - Canada Passport Stamp and July 30, 2009 - USA Boarding Pass Stamp
3. Stag and Doe Party at Sponsor’s Sister’s House on July 18, 2009
C. October 17, 2009 - November 19, 2009
1. October 17, 2009 - Air Canada Boarding Pass
2. October 17, 2009 - Passport Stamp
3. November 19, 2009 - MegaBus Reservation Receipt
4. November 19, 2009 - United Airlines Return Itinerary
D. February 13, 2010 - February 28, 2010
1. February 13, 2010 - Air Canada Boarding Pass
2. February 13, 2010 - Passport stamp
3. February 28, 2010 - Air Canada Boarding Pass
4. Valentine’s Day Present from Sponsor: Build-a-Bear Certificate
E. April 24, 2010 - May 9, 2010
1. April 24, 2010 - May 9, 2010 Itinerary
2. April 24, 2010 - Passport Stamp
3. May 9, 2010 - Air Canada Boarding Pass
F. July 17, 2010 - July 25, 2010 (Sponsor’s Visit to the USA)
1. Air Canada & United Airlines Flight Itinerary
2. July 17, 2010 - Passport Stamp

3. Wedding and Reception
A. Original Wedding Invitation
B. Sponsor and Applicant’s Wedding Homepage on the Internet
C. Ceremony Venue Contract (3 pages)
D. Reception Venue Contract (2 pages)
E. Photocopies of the pages in our Guest Book (3 pages)
F. Wedding Night Suite for Sponsor and Applicant

4. Honeymoon
A. Greyhound Tickets for Arrival and Departure (3 pages)
B. Hotel Reservation Summary
C. Facebook Status Updates - Sponsor and Applicant (2 separate pages)
D. Activity Receipts and Tickets (2 pages)

5. Wedding Misc.
A. Wedding Cards from Family and Friends (16 of them)
B. Facebook Status Update - APPLICANT - Comments on Being Married
C. Facebook Status Update - SPONSOR - Comments on His Change of Relationship Status from “Engaged” to “Married” (4 pages)
D. Copy of the newspaper Wedding Announcement
E. Copy of the Proclamation for Celebrated Wedding Day

NOTE: The wedding cards are photocopies, because we adore the originals and I am holding on to them for sentimental value. I can send them if requested.

6. Financial
A. Sponsor’s Benefit Plan mentioning Applicant as beneficiary. This was done before marriage, thus why Applicant is listed here as “Other”.
B. Applicant’s Original Letter from Credit Union showing Sponsor as beneficiary.
C. Western Union Receipts: Applicant to Sponsor
D. Western Union Receipts: Sponsor to Applicant

7. Support Letters from Family and Friends
A. Sponsor’s Family and Friends (5 of them)
B. Applicant’s Family and Friends (5 of them)


Folder 4: Proof of Communication

1. Text Messages - Samples from May 2009 - July 2010
A. Proof of Sponsor’s Cell Phone Number
B. Applicant’s Cell Phone Summary Statements from May 2009 to July 2010
C. Sponsor’s Text Messages to Applicant
D. Applicant’s Text Messages to Sponsor

2. Phone Records - Applicant’s House Phone Records, in Chronological Order

3. XBOX Live - XBOX 360 Game Console
A. Proof of Sponsor’s XBOX Live Account
B. Proof of Applicant’s XBOX Live Account
C. Sponsor’s Inbox Messages from Applicant
D. Applicant’s Inbox Messages from Sponsor
E. Receipt from Applicant Purchasing XBOX Live Vision Camera for Sponsor to have Video Chats

5. Facebook
A. Sponsor’s Profile, samples in chronological order
B. Applicant’s Profile, samples in chronological order
B. Facebook chats, a few screenshots

6. SKYPE Video Chat
A. History sample
B. Screenshot of our chat

 

[britincanada]

Wow you application looks similar to mine lol I had 8lb of proof too...

I broke mine down into 10 sections I used bulldog clips, paper clips and coloured paper with the sections printed on them;

On the very top I put an over all cover letter to explain anything that was missing etc..then

Section 1 - Sponsors Application
-Sponsors forms, check list, cover letter

Subsection 1
- Sponsors Supporting documentation - Id, Option C Printouts, receipt, Letter of Employment etc..

Section 2 - Applicants Application
- Applicants Forms
- Question 1: How We Met
- Question 6: First Meeting
- Question 9: Development of Relationship
- Question 15: Wedding
- Question 18: Reception

Subsection 1 - Applicants Supporting Documentation - Id, Photos (for App), Birth cert, cover letter etc
Subsection 2- Supporting documents for both applicant and sponsor - Marriage Cert, our childs birth cert & Passport, letters from friends & family

Section 3 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2005 - flights, proof of address etc
Section 4 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2006 - flights, proof of address, Insurance policy, joint bank account
Section 5 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2007 - proof of address, Insurance policy, joint bank account
Section 6 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2008 - flights, trips together, proof of address, Insurance policy, joint bank account etc
Section 7 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2009 - proof of address, Insurance policy, joint bank account, engagement
Section 8 - Proof of our relationship for the year 2010 - trips together, proof of address, Insurance policy, joint bank account
Section 9 - Our Wedding in 2009
Section 10 - Photos to prove our relationship

I thought mine was well organized with an index for each section and each additional page was foot noted to state where the evidence can be found! Now I have seen how yours was put together I am wondering if the IO will have a lot of work! ??? I wish you had posted this before I mailed mine lol..all the financial, proof of relationship and trips etc are all mixed up in the section for each year by date!

 

[minna]

thanks for posting these! I haven't finished putting everything together yet but i have a vague plan of how it will all fit together.

I was going to put everything in order that it appears on the document checklist, just to simplify organizing everything. I went out and bought an assortment of tabs, labels, paper clips and binder clips. That way the document checklist also acts as a table of contents. I plan on paperclipping each form together and putting any necessary additional pages at the back of the form, in order that it appears in the form.

The proof of relationship papers will be in a large envelope separate from both the sponsor's and applicant's applications. I will do up a table of contents for this section. But so far it will include:

1) copies of both of our driver's licenses, as they list our address
2) proof of joint bank account
3) proof that my partner is beneficiary on my retirement accounts
4) phone records of our 'family plan' - I'm only planning on sending a few months worth, because we don't talk that much on the phone - mostly quick check-ins of a 3-5 minutes, rather than long converations
5) Statutory letters documenting our common-law status (unless these are required to be in a different section, I seriously can't find the section that asks for these, so will be waiting to include them when I'm doing the final go-through) and various other emails from friends and family.
6) photos - both digital (word document with captions) and loose (for hard-copies of pictures with explanations on the back)
7) notes between us (we kept a notebook and wrote notes back and forth for a few months while my partner was working nights)
8) cards received from friends and family
9) ticket stubs from events attended together
10) proof of travel together


I think that's everything?? I might be forgetting something.

 

[nyssa]

The only downfall is that I have no real documentation of words we've sent each other. A couple facebook things... a sampling of actual text messages sent, but they're not real long obviously. We don't send each other e-mails because we never have much to say hahaha. We know each others' lives and they're pretty stagnant right now, so the "I love you" texts do it for us. Hopefully that won't be a huge issue... I'm hoping the fact that we lived together for 2 years and have photos to prove so many outings will be sufficient.

 

[britincanada]

I have lived with my Husband for the majority of the last 5 years in Canada except for 6 months when I went back to England...So we dont have much in the way of words i.e emails texts either we mostly kept in contact orally over the phone when I wasnt in Canada!

 

[rrdiggy76]

Oh my, i thought ours was organised, but it appears it could have been 'easier' to navigate after reading your outlines!

However, with it all sat in the box in front of me ready to be taken to the courier in the morning, i'm hoping it will be ok. I can't bare the thought of re-organising it all, it's taken day's already!

 

[jillandmat]

ahh i didn't include even HALF of that info.. hmmmmm

 

[AlanWales]

ahh i didn't include even HALF of that info.. hmmmmm

Great effort, but I wouldn't like to be the IO who has to go through all that.

 

[Love_Young]

Wow you have so much. That is amazing.
Well I am not quite finished with the final touches but it should be mailed off in a day or two.

This is how is will go:
Document Checklist
Letter of Enclosures
A letter explaining why my sponsor goes by his middle name
All the forms in order of the document checklist including copies of things required
(all answers on additional sheets of paper are attached at the end of the corresponding form)

Table of Contents to explain for Supporting Evidence of Relationship (each paper naming chapter has a color tab with the name and each section has title page with a short description of it as well)
Chapter 1: Communication
Section A: Text Messages
Section B: Phone Records
Section C: Cards Given To Each Other
Section D: Notes and Letters To Each Other
Section E: Cards Given To Us By Friends and Family
Section F: Cards Given To Friends and Family by Us
Section G: Letters of Support
Section H: Messages Sent When Going To Canada
Section I: Messages About Doing Activities Together
Section J: Messages Sent To Each Other Before Meeting
Section K: Messages from (sponsor)'s Family Wishing (applicant) a Happy Birthday
Section L: Messages Between (applicant) and Her Friends Talking About (sponsor)
Section M: Messages Sent While (sponsor) Was Visiting (applicant)

Chapter 2 Joint Documentation
Section A: Envelopes Received At Shared Address
Section B: Joint Purchases On Joint Credit Card
Section C: Joint Scotiabank Account
Section D: Joint RBC Account and Documents
Section E: Shared Family Plan with Telus
Section F: Miscellaneous Joint Correspondence

Chapter 3 Receipts
Section A: Receipts From Outings Together
Section B: Receipts For Purchases of Gifts and Cards

Chapter 4 Engagement/Wedding
Section A: Our Engagement Journal
Section B: Emails Between Us and Our Wedding Planner
Section C: Our Permit To Marry In The Park As Well As Our Ceremony Agreement With Our Commissioner
Section D: Copies From Our Wedding Guestbook
Section E: Copies Of Cards Given To Us For Our Wedding
Section F: Messages About Engagement, Planning For Wedding, Reception and Our Honeymoon
Section G: Congratulations Messages On Our Marriage
Section H: Congratulations Messages On Our Engagement
Section I: Receipts For Engagement, Wedding, and Honeymoon
Section J: Emails About Honeymoon Reservation and Permit To Marry In The Park

Chapter 5 Photos Throughout Relationship
(I haven't finished the titles of the sections yet but it will probably something like this. Pictures printed in Word document)
Section A: Special Occasion Pictures
Section B: Pictures on Outings Together
Section C: Engagement Pictures
Section D: Wedding/Reception Pictures
Section E: Honeymoon Pictures

Chapter 6 Travel
Section A: Emails of (sponsor) and (applicant)'s Itinerary
Section B: Copies Of Our Flight Tickets
Section C: Copies Of (applicant)'s Passport Stamp and Visitor Records. As Well As A Letter By (sponsor) Explaining Why He Doesn't Have A Passport Stamp From Visiting (applicant)
Section D: Miscellaneous Travel Documents

Chapter 7 Miscellaneous Supporting Documents
(there isn't a need for sections in this chapter just a matter of paperclipping them together)

Then I have a neon label on every page to list all mine and my hubby's information, what chapter it is, and page number.
Then after scanning every page, I will put post it notes on things that need a tad bit more explaining. Then I should be mailing it off.

 

[britincanada]

rrdiggy76: At the end of the day the IO pulls the whole application apart and goes through it in the order they wish to! So dont worry too much..the IO that opens mine will probably take one look and say "I will deal with that one later" : s

 

[britincanada]

love_young: Wow what a great job.. I also put photocopies of envelopes with my Husbands name and our address on, my name and our address on (from same time periods) and ones with both our names on! I now wish I dad set mine out like this and not by each year with an index and then by date under each year!

 

[Love_Young]

love_young: Wow what a great job.. I also put photocopies of envelopes with my Husbands name and our address on, my name and our address on (from same time periods) and ones with both our names on! I now wish I dad set mine out like this and not by each year with an index and then by date under each year!

Aww you really think so? Thank you much. :-*

 

[nyssa]

love_young, you are making me worried, hahaha! yours is a lot of evidence, incredebly organized! that's more information than i have, for sure!

 

[Love_Young]

Haha aww dear, I didn't want to make you worried. Yours is wonderful too.
And everybodies evidence is going to be different upon their situation.

I really don't think I did that great on organizing but thank you so much. It makes me feel more ready to send it off tomorrow.
Good luck with everything and just remember to try and keep things simple and you should do good.

 

[nyssa]

Thanks!! Yeah, I'm really nervous about the organization... I wish I could just throw everything in there unlabelled, hahaha.

I did notice on the Sponsored Spouse Questionairre that the trips taken to see each other is in the Maintaining Contact section of the form. I kind of prefer to keep that in the Proof of Relationship section. Anyone have any problems with that?

ALSO - EDIT - A lot of my pictures on Word documents and cards and all sorts of things aren't going to be full A-4 size sheets of paper, they're going to be cut down to eliminate the evidence of my old organization method... if that makes any sense... the old header. I just can't afford that much ink wasted... do you think that's going to be too weird?