How I organized our applcation and a summary of all helpful tips I have learned

[pelipeli]

peeeeeeeeeeliiiiiiiii congrats here too u see it did come and yeah definately hope the stage 2 would b shorter for aaaaaall but realistically....hm..hm....hmm....

thanks missmini..... ))

[PerrinAyabara]

I read this post and got really scared. Over 400 pages, really?
So I decided to call CIC and mentiond this post and they said to keep it to minimum. That if everyone sent 400 pages they wouldn't get their job done. So I am happy with my 40 something pages. You should not go crazy with it. All they want are the filled forms with required documents and some pictures and maybe a couple e-mail conversations.

First thing to get information from should be CIC!

What a relief!  Thank you for calling CIC for information on this.  I couldn't possibly gather a tenth as much information as the OP has. 

I feel that this clarification is important to this thread.  This clarification contains actual info from CIC and is entirely non offensive.

[koala18]

Sponosrship Approved.. FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 97 days!!!!!! OMG I'm so happy I'm crying with joy... and this is only the 1st stage... :,))))))) Thank you everyone who gave their support and made me strong, and kept me believing..

I received the email from OttPilot-Immigration and the subject says FCP - Eligibility Decision - F0000*****

This is the email:

Date: May 1, 2012
 
UCI:  ********
Application:  F0000*****
  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXX
 
Dear XXXXXXXX:
 
This refers to the Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class you submitted to this office on behalf of XXXXXXX and family (if applicable).
 
You have met the requirements for eligibility as a sponsor. Accordingly, the Application for Permanent Residence for your relative(s) has been forwarded to a visa office abroad for further processing.

Congratulations!!! We filed ours already too last month. Hopefully processing takes shorter than expected. Thank you for your help!

[pelipeli]

Congratulations!!! We filed ours already too last month. Hopefully processing takes shorter than expected. Thank you for your help!

Thanks Good luck on your application! I hope what happened in March (6 weeks of no movement from CIC ) wont happen again. .

[gurleegurl]

Peli,

Congrats deary *hugz*

[pelipeli]

Peli,

Congrats deary *hugz*

thank you so much

[kaede1977]

Congrats Pelipeli...well done, all the best to you both!

[Emily2301]

looool it's not boring if they can have fast what they r looking for....as for repetition i mainly reffered to repeating the proofs, send them around in circle, having hard time to come back where they started like this....but they see this every day i'm sure they have their ways and i'm sure ur package will b from the good organized group i don't think it's bad to emphasize some important things, for my taste the table and the letter r not repetition....if u feel like that then why not put the table with the sponsor package? the sponsor needs to write a relationship essay too, he can use the table....i did like that, but i didn't refer to the proofs in the table also (it was kind of repeating and getting too large)....the applicant refered to the proofs when answering the questions....hmm joining finance is important for common-law but not major if u have other joined assets...whatever u lack, maybe u can put an explanation why u lack it in case u tried to have it, u can put proof that u tried and was not successful (u can put it as answer to the common-law question maybe?)....not for everything but for anything u find it could have been better to have it but due to some circumstances it was not possible...

good luck!! u r almost there

Hi Missmini, thank you so much for the encouragement!!  I've been buried in papers, haha, but getting close! I have found that most of our proof will go in the common-law pile since with that you prove a) conjugal relationship and b) cohabitation. Then there will be some additional proof for question 9 (development) like copies of receipts and tickets and our pictures (lots of them). This will all go in one folder (proof of relationship) but I might have to make a separate one for proof of communication since I couldn't find really big envelopes, one of these weird problems you don't think could hold you up...
Since the question about the development comes before the common law question, do you think I should arrange the proof in that order or it won't matter as long as everything is listed in the toc and to be found?
About the finances: we simply were a bit dumb  and didn't put my name on the bills even though I had thought about it before. We just never did and now it is making me nervous. (And I feel stupid  ) I am added to his credit card though and named as beneficiary in his insurance, and we also have a shared cell phone account (one bill and all the itemized calls to each other). I have decided to address the issue and let them know that we just didn't do the joint bills, but that we now have (we finally did! Yay us.) and that I can send a few bills if requested at a later time. What do you think of that?? One last thing about the essay and table: I will put both with my part of the application since my partner wrote a letter for his. He didn't go into many details of the development but wrote from his heart and about his feelings. It is very sweet! He won't need another recap of our history, right? A letter should be enough? I think the listing of the details and a table is more my style so I will attach it to my development essay in case the IO doesn't want to read 8 pages about our relationship. Since I included some personal stuff in the essay, not crazy mushy but personal and subjective, I think I won't write another essay. I don't want to cut down on my essay and I don't just want to cut and paste out the personal stuff either. I feel like at this point another relationship essay would just be a summary of how great he is and how great we are together. If you guys think I should do it, I will  Thanks again for all the great advice!!

PS: I just thought of something... If my partner wrote a letter for the sponsor part of the application, do they not look at that as part of my (applicant) part later on? Would they look at it in Mississauga but then only send my part to Berlin and those guys wouldn't see his letter? Which means he would have to write something for my application specifically? Help, I'm confused!

[pelipeli]

Finally, my ecas was updated:

Sponsorship Application Status: Decision Made

We received your application to sponsor ******** on January 25, 2012.
 
We sent you a letter on May 1, 2012 about the decision on your application. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.

Permanent Residence Application Status: Application Received

We received ********'s application for permanent residence on January 25, 2012.
 
Medical results have been received.
 

[pelipeli]

Congrats Pelipeli...well done, all the best to you both!

Thanks ! Good luck on your app too, best regards! =)

[mc1234]

Peli, sorry if I missed this, but was that the frist time you could access your E-cas?

[canadianwoman]

PS: I just thought of something... If my partner wrote a letter for the sponsor part of the application, do they not look at that as part of my (applicant) part later on? Would they look at it in Mississauga but then only send my part to Berlin and those guys wouldn't see his letter? Which means he would have to write something for my application specifically? Help, I'm confused!

Both parts of the application go to the visa office that will process your application. So the visa officer will see your partner's letter.

[pelipeli]

Peli, sorry if I missed this, but was that the frist time you could access your E-cas?

Hi, I actually was able to log in e-cas on May 1st, right before I got the email for sponsorship approval, but the status on both sponsor and applicant was still "Application Received" and shows just the date when they got the app. It was like that until last night. this morning , its Now DM for SPonsor and Medical results received for applicant. =)

[Emily2301]

Both parts of the application go to the visa office that will process your application. So the visa officer will see your partner's letter.

PHEW! I'm happy to hear that! Thank you for your reply! 

[itscoezy]

CONGRATS!!!! So happy for you that you got this news