Thought we could provide some insight on how our application was organized - we owe so much to this forum for helping us with this process, so we thought we should add some info on what worked for us! FYI we are a couple that share the "torvic" account - M (Canadian woman) and A (Australian man, and now Canadian PR!). M is writing this summary!
We should note that we spoke to an immigration lawyer and an immigration consultant. Both asked us about our backgrounds and noted that there were no red flags (in a relationship for 4+ years, living together for 2+ years, we are both currently employed, no previous sponsorships or common law partners, no dependents, no criminal background) - we asked both professionals if they thought we needed their services, and both said as long as we were diligent and read all the forms very closely, we should have no problem completing the application on our own.
Our approach was to create something that would make it easy for the CIC officer(s) to find anything they were looking for within the application. We separated the app into 3 sections: sponsor documents, primary applicant documents, and proof of relationship documents. For each section, we included a table of contents that was specific to our application, printed on green paper so at a glance they could flip to whichever section they needed. The TOCs were tailored to the contents that we included, with specifics (e.g. Lease agreement for ADDRESS, dated MONTH DAY YEAR; Statutory declaration from NAME, etc). Although the CIC document checklists are helpful, and we maintained the order they specified in the checklists, we wanted to use our own TOCs to itemize each and every document we were including.
On top of the package, we included the two checklists (sponsor IMM 5491 and the country-specific instructions for Australia IMM 3906).
Next we included a cover letter which we wrote ourselves, to explain how we had laid out the application in three sections, as well as summarizing why A was a good candidate for permanent residency (no criminal history, already employed, good health record, contributing to society, etc.). This is in no way necessary, but we thought it might be a good way to appeal to the officer who was reviewing our application and to explain any other details we needed to tell them.
Next we had the sponsor documents including all required forms, which included an additional response to IMM 5540, in which M summarized how we met in a few pages of text, including some details on how A is an ideal partner and how we rely on each other for emotional support, etc. We also included photocopy of passport, Option C printout from CRA, employment letter.
The primary applicant documents included all required forms. A included an elaborated response to Question 9 on IMM 5490E, which summarized the details of our meeting and progression of our relationship. He included some important emotional details (e.g. when we first said I love you, how it felt when we had to leave each other after visits, when we first moved in together), pictures of us together throughout the relationship, including trips together. As well, A included a copy of his birth certificate, passport, and current IEC visa.
Our proof of relationship section was the biggest section by far. We were very fortunate in that we had been living together for so long due to the amazing IEC setup between Canada and Australia (A was on his 3rd IEC visa when we applied), so we had plenty of photos together and proof that we lived together. When we first started dating, we decided to keep a box of our cards and letters back and forth to each other, tickets from trips and concerts, etc. so we could have it as proof down the road - one of our better ideas! (NOTE FROM A: In truth, this was all M's idea. Fellas, if your woman says to date and save all your cards and tickets etc, just trust she knows what she's doing). All we had to do was pull out our box and choose what to include and make photocopies! We labelled any documents recommended in the document checklists (lease, utility bills, etc) with some removable document flags, as an extra way to show, at a glance, that we had included these.
In this section we included: a copy of our apartment lease; rental receipts for each year we had been in the apartment (we asked our management office to prepare these); photocopy of both our driver's licenses showing the same address (A got an Ontario license shortly after he moved here in 2011); a copy of our tenant insurance document for the apartment where we live and a letter regarding an insurance matter we dealt with in early 2013; photocopies of pieces of mail to each of us from our cell phone companies; bank and CRA statements that showed our joint address; copies of our hydro bills throughout our tenancy; and internet bills from our tenancy. We also included receipts for joint household purchases: Sofa, ikea receipts, A/C unit, Apple TV, bed, TV, chest of drawers. We included a copy of a spreadsheet we use to keep track of our household expenses (just a way to show that we share financial responsibilities – we don't have a joint bank account and didn't have each other as dependents on our insurance at the time of our application). We had 2 statutory declarations – one from M's parents in Canada and one from A's best friend in Australia, as well as 13 letters from other friends and family. (This seems like overkill looking back on it, but we put out a call for letters attesting to our relationship and we gratefully received an overwhelming response!!). We also included emails back and forth during the time we were apart (11 months from July 2010 to June 2011), Skype call logs, selected Facebook chat logs, cell phone bills for a few months with the other person's number highlighted to show frequency of calls.
We included lots of photos. We did this as a table in a Word document, with photos pasted into the left side of the table, with a caption on the right side, detailing names of people in the photo, place photo was taken, and the approximate date (month and year in most cases). We also included some personal details in these caption to make our application more "human" (e.g. this is A trying his first oyster, he didn't like it
). We tried to include photos that showed each of us with each other's family, and any friends who had written us letters or Stat Decs. Next, we included cards, post cards and letters from throughout our relationship organized by approximate date.
We also included some email confirmations from travel or hotel bookings for trips taken as a couple, and photocopies of tickets for movies, concerts, and other events we had attended together.
At the end of the application we included A's National Police Certificate, eMedical form from his medical exam, and his immigration photos.
Phew!!
It was a long process preparing our application – it felt like we had homework every night for about a month and a half but it was SO worth it. We definitely recommend including as much detail as you can. If there are no red flags or things to hide, and you provide those details about what makes your relationship special, it shows the CIC that you are well and truly legit and in love with each other. Also, if you have enough time on your current visa, definitely go through the Sydney office rather than Ottawa. We made that decision the night before we sent our application, and it was one of our best decisions ever! 86 days from start to finish!
We are so grateful to everyone on this forum who helped us with answering our questions – there are so many little details to keep track of or awkward wordings on the CIC forms and communications – so it was helpful to have a sounding board for this stuff.
Hope this post helps you with your applications in the future!
TL;DR - If there are no red flags, DIY – read everything carefully, seek help from the forum, include as much detail & proof as you can in a package that is very organized; apply through Sydney, and be patient!
Also, here is a picture of our application at the very end. Hairy hand for scale.
