Organizing documents question

[tgchi13]

Oooh...definitely keep us updated dated.  This really seems like a manageable method!

[toby]

One more thing.

It is true that the forms sometimes seem to ask for the same or similar information in different questions, and different forms can ask for similar information.

I either summarized the answer, and said "see question x in IMMxxxx for more detail", or I repeated the answer verbatim. I felt the repetiton was better than breaking the visa officer's concentration by forcing him or her back to a different question, and especially a different IMM form.

[nyssa]

Toby thank you for clarifying! I think I have a better understanding now. For the questions that you wrote "see page 45" did you not write anything else there? I am typing mine out, and may run out of room before typing "see page xxx". For example, "Where did you get married, etc?" Obviously I'm going to run out of room explaining all the details so should I just say "see page 45 for further explination" and write it all out there fully? Hmm...

[diddagirl]

Hi nyssa,
I replied to your messager you sent me. Can you send me your email so I can attach the docs?

[toby]

It's a balancing act. I only used Annexes where there simply was not enough room in the form. In your specific question about "where did you get married?", I recall that I had enough room in the IMM form to state the city. But in other questions, if I thought more detail was needed, I would fill out the space in the form, then say "See Annex to IMM xxxx, page 35". 

At the top of  each Annex I stated the IMM form, and name of applicant, in case the Annex got separated from the corresponding form. Where an IMM form called for an Appendix, I made sure to call it an Appendix, to distinguish it from my Annexes.

You mentioned my example in which I cited "page 45". That was for my lease in Canada, to show intent to reside in Canada. In that example, there was room in the IMM form to state the city where I intended to reside, and then I said "see page 45 for lease".

But where in other questions there is very little room in the form, I might simply say "See page xx".

You will no doubt refine this approach. Just put yourself on the place of the Visa Officer reading the application, and make sure s/he can immediately locate any document needed to support what you are saying in the IMM form. And if there is little room in the form, refer the Officer immediately to the supplementary page number.

If the application pages get mixed up, the Officer can put them back in order using the page numbers.  If I had to do it again, I would number the Sponsorship application pages S-1, S-2 etc to distinguish them from the Immigrant application pages (I-1, I-2, etc).

If you refer in one form (e.g. page 13) to a supporting document for a different form (e.g. page 45), there is nothing easier for the Officer than to go to that page 45, since it is arranged sequentially.

[monarch]

Yes, I wondered about that too. Both sponsor forms and applicant forms ask for any further information to support the relationship. It our case, it seems that it would just be a duplicate of the same information.
1. Do most people do both, eg have the each spouse write their own version?
2. Do you think this looks better in the application?

[AllisonVSC]

I think people do it both ways...each partner writes their own version of how the relationship developed or they write one together. We wrote ours together because we happened to be together when we were working on that part of the application...plus it was kinda fun reliving our history. We made a handwritten timeline then typed a document and embedded pictures in the document. We included the timeline draft as evidence because it had both of our handwriting on it. If each person writes one, be sure to compare them for consistency and accuracy in the details.

[nyssa]

Thank you so much. I can't imagine I have any further questions considering the effort of what all of you put here. If I have any further questions, I will address them if they pop up during my organization, but now I know where to begin! Best of luck to all of you (or congrats!)