Stuck on a couple of questions

[dpcan]

Hello everyone.

I am sponsoring my wife and we are filling the last forms (applying In-Canada). So far I am stuck with two questions.

1. Did you and your sponsor go on outings and/or trips together?

What exactly do they want? I have plenty of pictures from different times we went out to bars, restaurants, family meetings, friends, and receipts from Wonderland, theaters, hotels and things like that, both from when we visited each other and from after we got married and moved in together. How many of those should I include?

Also, should I cite situations we do not have pictures or receipts for (for instance Thanksgiving last year with my whole family present)?

2. On a separate sheet of paper, provide any additional details of your current relationship that you believe would help to prove that your relationship is genuine and continuing.

I wasn't sure what to write so I told our story, how we met on the internet, how our first meetings went, etc, attached some e-mails and pictures that we sent over to each other. I am wondering if that's sufficient or if they are expecting something totally different. Part of the reason why I got stuck here is that I already mentioned and provided pictures for some events on the question above, so talking about it again would be redundant. Should I make the first answer really short and talk about everything else on the second question?

Lastly, can I glue pictures to the text (kinda like a real book) or should I just put them in the envelop? It's a four page document and I mentioned a few situations that I have pictures for.

I really appreciate any help on getting my papers done.

Thank you in advance.

[mitamata]

I used that last question/note as a chance to tell our story too. I did a quick summary of the 5+ years we've been together. It came out to 2 and a half printed pages. I tried to make it as short as possible, so they'd actually read it rather than just skim through it. The forms already told the facts (like when we met), but this is where you get to tell more. Like the circumstances you found yourself in, the reasons for your decisions etc. For example, on the form, I could put down the time we started talking (we met online as well). Here, I could explain how I was in college at the time, he just finished high school, I got to explain why we waited a year before meeting, why I was the one to go there to meet etc. I see it as a way to show the broader picture, unlike the forms that mainly state the facts.

It's a very open question, you get to write whatever you want. I'm sure they get many different things, so yours will be fine whatever you make it. It's what most people do as well, tell the whole story.

As for the outings... we went out several times too, but I didn't really include any specifics about it. I mean, I doubt they expect or want to hear about every date you went on. Trips are great though, be sure to mention all of those. But don't overdo it - you don't need a two page essay for this.

For the pictures... I know some people printed the pictures at home and then added the text underneath them. Personally, I'd rather not glue them to paper, but I think that would be ok. I would suggest just putting them all in an envelope though. Write the date on the back (just the month and year will do), add who's in the picture and where it was taken. Should be enough, it was for us :)

Hope some of the above helps you out.