Sponsor Questionnaire; Uknown details; Country changes

[GuerricH]

So I've encountered a problem with filling out the Sponsor Questionnaire while trying to sponsor my girlfriend.  The questionnaire requires me to state the previous addresses and telephone numbers of all the places I've lived outside of Canada.

Unfortunately, I've lived in 7 different apartments in Germany over the past 5 years.  Of those 7, four did not have a telephone connection, and I simply don't remember the telephone numbers of the other three.  Only one of the apartments is still inhabited by the same people that were there when I lived there.  Furthermore, 3 were in school housing buildings (once for a private institution, twice for university), so what "contact details" should I provide - contact details for the owning organization (including a potentially different address from the place I actually lived), or for the actual room where I lived?

Also, when they ask me for "Years Completed" next to the highest level of education I've completed, do they mean years spent in that highest level of education (i.e. university)?  Or do they mean total years completed of any formal education at all?

[AllisonVSC]

Don't leave any blanks. I think if there was no phone connection you should write "not applicable" or "n/a."  For any that you are not sure of the entire address (or phone numbers) list anything you do remember, street, city etc and put "don't recall" where the number goes. They correspond to your school years, the VO will understand. I'm not sure about the "contact details" though I think it is pretty unlikely anyone is going to call and check if you actually lived there.

For the years completed I went for years spent in formal education and put 19 (12 for school until high school+4 university+3 masters degree).

Hope that helps

[GuerricH]

Thanks!  I'll try not to leave any blanks.

Two more issues has just cropped up: My partner was born in what is now the Ukraine, but she was born there when it was still the Soviet Union, as were her parents.  What should we enter under country of birth - Ukraine, or USSR?

Also, we don't know much about her father, besides his nationality, since he disappeared when she was only a child.  Nobody in her family seems to know his date or place of birth anymore. What should we say about him?

Also, do Russian patronymics count as "given names", i.e. should we include her mother's patronymic as one of her given names? (in her case, it's something like Vladimiryevna).

[canadianwoman]

I'd put Ukraine, USSR, as the place of birth.
For the father's info, put as much as she knows and then attach a note explaining the situation.
For the patronymic: you can list it as her middle name, or list it as her patronymic in the answer to the question "Do you use any other names?" You can also attach an explanation for this, though the visa officer in Europe should know anyway.