Some (perhaps silly) questions about the application, please bear with me

[imp]

Hi all,
Just to clarify, I am a US citizen and my husband is a Canadian citizen and we will file an outland spousal application.  I'm trying to get the application forms all filled out and I'm feeling a bit confused on some points so I thought I might as well look like a fool and ask silly questions, rather than make silly mistakes.    I'll try and make this as organized as possible that way if someone can answer some questions but not others it won't be difficult to sort out.  Thanks in advance for any answers you may be able to help me with.

General questions:
Some of the spaces to type in aren't large enough. Should I leave them blank and fill those ones by hand even though the rest of the application will be typed? Other suggestions?
When giving descriptions of things do you refer to yourselves by first name, "sponsor" and "sponsored," or what?
I will have stayed in Canada for approximately five months, split into different time periods, and am hoping to be able to visit while the application is processing.  Will I require an RCMP clearance?

Questions regarding IMM 5490 (Sponsored Spouse-Partner Questionnaire):
Question 4 & 5 asks about giving my sponsor gifts, or my sponsor giving me gifts.  Should include small things like birthday, Christmas, and "just because I love you" gifts?
Question 18 asks about a reception.  We were married in Canada and only my immediate family was able to attend so we are planning for another reception in the US for family and friends that weren't able to attend in Canada.  It will take place after we have sent in the application.  Should I mention it?
Question 27 asks if we have lived together.  I visited him for approximately four months last summer and we lived in the same home, should this be counted?
Question 28 asks when my sponsor returned to Canada, but he never left aside from short visits to the US.  Leave it blank?

IMM 5540 (Sponsor Questionnaire):
Question 8 asks for countries he has resided other than Canada.  Do we take this to include all countries/addresses since birth?

IMM 0008 Schedule 1 (Schedule 1 Background/Declaration):
Question 12 asks about organizations.  Is this supposed to include everything I've been involved with, ever?  For example I used to show horses, prior to age 18, and was a member of USDF and USEF (both horse showing organizations).  Would these be included?

I think that's it for now, sorry if these seem really silly, I just like to be thorough and I worry so much that things will be wrong so I wanted to ask.  Again, thanks so much for any answers.

~imp

[cdngrl]

For the spaces that are too small to type into, I ended up filling it in by hand

We used the words sponsor/ sponsored person where applicable...

I'm not too sure about the rest of the questions, I'm sure someone else will be able to fill you in soon

[fibud]

General questions:
Some of the spaces to type in aren't large enough. Should I leave them blank and fill those ones by hand even though the rest of the application will be typed? Other suggestions?
When giving descriptions of things do you refer to yourselves by first name, "sponsor" and "sponsored," or what?
I will have stayed in Canada for approximately five months, split into different time periods, and am hoping to be able to visit while the application is processing.  Will I require an RCMP clearance?

If there is not enough space I suggest typing on a Word document (Entitle it the APPENDIX for FORM # for either the sponsor or sponsored person's full name and the question number. This is what we did and what the immigration law office I used to work for would do.

In most cases when describing events it is up to you how you are comfortable writing. If you are decribing your relationship however, I suggest using first person - and calling your spouse by first name, wife/husband/partner over 'sponsor/sponsored".

Depending on how long you will be visiting Canada...You may want to do one just in case...even if you don't stay you may get an immigration officer who will ask for one anyways...


Questions regarding IMM 5490 (Sponsored Spouse-Partner Questionnaire):
Question 4 & 5 asks about giving my sponsor gifts, or my sponsor giving me gifts.  Should include small things like birthday, Christmas, and "just because I love you" gifts?
Question 18 asks about a reception.  We were married in Canada and only my immediate family was able to attend so we are planning for another reception in the US for family and friends that weren't able to attend in Canada.  It will take place after we have sent in the application.  Should I mention it?
Question 27 asks if we have lived together.  I visited him for approximately four months last summer and we lived in the same home, should this be counted?
Question 28 asks when my sponsor returned to Canada, but he never left aside from short visits to the US.  Leave it blank?

Q 4&5 - Remember that these questions are about your FIRST MEETING. You could write that when you first met you did not exchange gifts, but as the relationship grew you celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, holidays with gifts.
Question 18 - Mention both...that you had a small reception with friends/family and have set (if you have a date) to have a larger celebration.
Question 27 - Yes.
Quesiton 28 - Check NO - and write the date he last returned to Canada and in addition if you wish to make sure you are clear - in the APPENDIX include Question #28 and write a sentence or two clarifying the situation.

IMM 5540 (Sponsor Questionnaire):
Question 8 asks for countries he has resided other than Canada.  Do we take this to include all countries/addresses since birth?

The general rule is to list all addresses outside of Canada over the last 10 years OR since the age of 18 - whichever is longest.

IMM 0008 Schedule 1 (Schedule 1 Background/Declaration):
Question 12 asks about organizations.  Is this supposed to include everything I've been involved with, ever?  For example I used to show horses, prior to age 18, and was a member of USDF and USEF (both horse showing organizations).  Would these be included?

Again general rule is over the last 10 years/since age of 18 - whichever is longest. You could list them just to be sure as they will pose no red flags...


Good luck!

[missmini]

the previous answer is the same i would advise u except these:

IMM 5540 (Sponsor Questionnaire):
Question 8 asks for countries he has resided other than Canada.  Do we take this to include all countries/addresses since birth?

The general rule is to list all addresses outside of Canada over the last 10 years OR since the age of 18 - whichever is longest.

IMM 0008 Schedule 1 (Schedule 1 Background/Declaration):
Question 12 asks about organizations.  Is this supposed to include everything I've been involved with, ever?  For example I used to show horses, prior to age 18, and was a member of USDF and USEF (both horse showing organizations).  Would these be included?

Again general rule is over the last 10 years/since age of 18 - whichever is longest. You could list them just to be sure as they will pose no red flags...

the last 10 years OR since the age of 18 applies to the applicant not the sponsor; so for the sponsor it's better to write down all the addresses since birth...even if he does not remember at least describe it approximately...to make sure u can call the office and ask but state clearly that it's for the sponsor questionnaire, not the applicant

as for the organizations: i guess horse show it's not something very important from their point of view but as long as u remember it, do mention it, it won't harm; important ones r political, professional (engineers order, etc), student associations, etc

as for the gifts: yes the question is abt the first meeting gifts but make sure u write separately abt any other gifts u gave to each other and for what occasion (receipts, pictures, description, anything u have) and in the form make a note for them to know where to find this extra info

good luck!

[waikiki]

I don´t remember giving my husband any gifts prior to our marriage. What then? Is that bad or what? Am I the only one?

[imp]

Thanks for the answers so far, though I'm sure there will be more questions to come.  I think I may call and ask about his addresses outside Canada, and in the mean time hope we don't have to try and figure out every address since he was born.

waikiki: We didn't give each other any gifts for our first meeting.  Basically we just wanted to see if we liked each other as much in person as we did online so we spent a weekend together then, and here we are now.  Since we knew we needed to be saving money we only gave each other small gifts for birthdays and things.  I think it's understandable when people are living far away and probably need to be saving money that they're not able to give too many gifts, at least I hope it is.  Unfortunately, we don't have a money tree growing in the back yard

[sidkrose]

I don´t remember giving my husband any gifts prior to our marriage. What then? Is that bad or what? Am I the only one?

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure there are lots of people who don't give each other a lot of "gifts" in the traditional sense. For example, me and my common law partner are both students so we often don't give expensive gifts, but instead take each other shopping for clothes, make each other baked goods for birthdays, cook a romantic dinner, things like that. I'm sure if you have lots of examples of a genuine relationship (pictures together, letters/cards/emails to each other, evidence of trips together etc) you should be fine if you don't list the gifts.

[missmini]

we don't have fancy gifts either most of them r small souvenirs...i prefer the personalized ones, handcraft by me or something like that... no matter what u did it's from the heart and they could see it....

[imp]

Yay more questions!  I am trying to figure out all the dates, evidence, etc for my visits to my husband and his visits to me.  My question is that on several occasions we met halfway to reduce driving distance for both of us, since we could only do a weekend visit, and stayed at a hotel.  Should we list these in both his visits and my visits? Thanks!

~imp

[missmini]

why not consider this as trips together?....u'll put pictures together, hotel reservations, receipts, etc...and u'll have other check mark somewhere else

also maybe it will help if u write a timeline of ur relationship, in a table or something; like this they will get the whole picture clearer