This forum has been a wealth of information.
I guess I'm here to vent, moreso because I am so angry with myself! I am Canadian, born and raised, but lived in the UK for 8 years after I met and married my hubby. Getting him to Canada went so smoothely; spousal sponsorship. From the time we applied till he got his visa it was a total of 5 months (this included getting his medical) The application was submitted in June 2007 and by the end of November 2007, he had his visa! This took us by surprise because we were expecting a long wait.
Now in Canada since 2008. He applied for citizenship in October 2011 and in January 2013, received notification of his test on March 6 and oath on March 7. (We live in a small community in Northern Ontario) EXCELLENT! When hubby read his letter, he was like a child, the excitement on his face was priceless!
Then the problem. I wanted to get all his documents together. But I can't find his expired passport. It SHOULD have been in the briefcase with the other passports. We have searched everywhere, and I am definitely blaming myself on this one because I am the one who carries the passports when we travel to the States. We went for a weekend trip to the US in May of last year, and took his old passport just in case we needed it as it had his visa in it. But I have never been careless with passports as I know how important the expired ones are, because of my visa to the UK. Then I keep asking myself if I tossed it out with other things. An old purse? A pile of papers on the computer desk? Grrrr! I am so mad at myself for not remembering!
The only trips we have taken are a few to the US fro weekend getaways. He has no immediate family in the UK, as an only child, when his mom passed away, we made the move to Canada. But without that old passport, there's no way to verify it all. I would have felt better if all passports were lost and not just the most important one with the stamps!
So I have been working my butt off gathering supporting documents. I have all his T4's and Notices of Assessment from 2008 to present, all his ROE's. We have our house deed (both owners), insurance policies, property tax and water bills (both our names, from 2008 onwards), our work insurance policies listing each other as beneficiaries, bank statements from 2008 onwards, copies of his bank account applications, receipts and credit card statements with his name on, a presciption transaction of all scripts from 2008 up, all his medical visits (we haven't received his report from OHIP yet but the clinic here provided this in the interim), all his dental visits, eye test receipt. My goodness, we even have letters of support from various community leaders: the Mayor of our town, a former town councillor, his former employer, our bank manager, the CEO of a neighbouring community I work in where hubby has done volunteer work....I will add at this point, there's something to be said for living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else! We don't have many immigrants here so when my hubby moved here, it was well noted lol. And his work in retail over the years has helped him get to know more people than I do!
We have sent away for the OHIP, CBSA and CBP reports but those won't be here anytime soon.
I don't know how it will go next month, but as it stands now, there isn't much we can do that hasn't already been done. We have a lot of documentation, but will it be enough? We'll have to wait and see. I feel so bad for my husband because he was so close and now, the RQ will mean his 4+ years here will count for nothing. The RQ process takes so long! But it's my carelessness that caused it and I guess that's where my guilt comes in.
I realize that there are a lot of people in worse situations and I do thank you for letting me vent.
I wish you all the best as you travel the path towards Canadian citizenship!
I guess I'm here to vent, moreso because I am so angry with myself! I am Canadian, born and raised, but lived in the UK for 8 years after I met and married my hubby. Getting him to Canada went so smoothely; spousal sponsorship. From the time we applied till he got his visa it was a total of 5 months (this included getting his medical) The application was submitted in June 2007 and by the end of November 2007, he had his visa! This took us by surprise because we were expecting a long wait.
Now in Canada since 2008. He applied for citizenship in October 2011 and in January 2013, received notification of his test on March 6 and oath on March 7. (We live in a small community in Northern Ontario) EXCELLENT! When hubby read his letter, he was like a child, the excitement on his face was priceless!
Then the problem. I wanted to get all his documents together. But I can't find his expired passport. It SHOULD have been in the briefcase with the other passports. We have searched everywhere, and I am definitely blaming myself on this one because I am the one who carries the passports when we travel to the States. We went for a weekend trip to the US in May of last year, and took his old passport just in case we needed it as it had his visa in it. But I have never been careless with passports as I know how important the expired ones are, because of my visa to the UK. Then I keep asking myself if I tossed it out with other things. An old purse? A pile of papers on the computer desk? Grrrr! I am so mad at myself for not remembering!
The only trips we have taken are a few to the US fro weekend getaways. He has no immediate family in the UK, as an only child, when his mom passed away, we made the move to Canada. But without that old passport, there's no way to verify it all. I would have felt better if all passports were lost and not just the most important one with the stamps!
So I have been working my butt off gathering supporting documents. I have all his T4's and Notices of Assessment from 2008 to present, all his ROE's. We have our house deed (both owners), insurance policies, property tax and water bills (both our names, from 2008 onwards), our work insurance policies listing each other as beneficiaries, bank statements from 2008 onwards, copies of his bank account applications, receipts and credit card statements with his name on, a presciption transaction of all scripts from 2008 up, all his medical visits (we haven't received his report from OHIP yet but the clinic here provided this in the interim), all his dental visits, eye test receipt. My goodness, we even have letters of support from various community leaders: the Mayor of our town, a former town councillor, his former employer, our bank manager, the CEO of a neighbouring community I work in where hubby has done volunteer work....I will add at this point, there's something to be said for living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else! We don't have many immigrants here so when my hubby moved here, it was well noted lol. And his work in retail over the years has helped him get to know more people than I do!
We have sent away for the OHIP, CBSA and CBP reports but those won't be here anytime soon.
I don't know how it will go next month, but as it stands now, there isn't much we can do that hasn't already been done. We have a lot of documentation, but will it be enough? We'll have to wait and see. I feel so bad for my husband because he was so close and now, the RQ will mean his 4+ years here will count for nothing. The RQ process takes so long! But it's my carelessness that caused it and I guess that's where my guilt comes in.
I realize that there are a lot of people in worse situations and I do thank you for letting me vent.
I wish you all the best as you travel the path towards Canadian citizenship!
