Schedule 1 background declaration

[DetectivePopcorn27]

Hi guys and gals.

My Canadian girlfriend is looking to sponsor me (I am British). We've been dating 6 years and living together for 5. My girlfriend meets the sponsorship requirements and we have a ton of supporting evidence to help verify our relationship. Whilst I was looking through the document package I came across the Schedule 1 background declaration form, and had a couple of questions.

The occupation history which you are required to enter covers 10 years, but asks for fairly little information. Will I need to provide further information? Or is the information I'm providing more to give them a general understanding of what I've been up to, and they can confirm with calls to my previous employers?

From what I understand, the strength of the application is based on my partner meeting the sponsorship requirements and us being able to provide sufficient proof that we have been in a relationship. And that providing I have no criminal background, my job history wouldn't have too much impact on the application?

I just want to be able to give previous employers fair warning as to the level of scrutiny they may face in regards to my previous employment.

Thanks for your help.

 

[paint.thinner]

The occupation history which you are required to enter covers 10 years, but asks for fairly little information. Will I need to provide further information?

Nope. Please do not provide "further information". Just give them what the Doc Checklist asks for. If IRCC needs extra information in the future, they will ask for it.

Or is the information I'm providing more to give them a general understanding of what I've been up to

Correct, this is just for them to get a general understanding of what type of a person you are (by profession) and what you've been up to. They will also use this information to judge if you and your girlfriend is a good match. For example if your girlfriend is a very big Investment Banker in Canada but you have been doing small jobs in another part of the world, they would probably question this because your "profiles" do not match really well. Same with your educational backgrounds - your girlfriend holds a PhD while you dropped out of high school may be - this would be questionable. Hope you get what I mean. Thus, they collect your background information to see what kind of a person you are (academically and professionally).

they can confirm with calls to my previous employers?

I don't think they will, but yes, they might. If possible, just let your previous employers know that you are applying for Canadian Permanent Residency and you are submitting information relating to your previous jobs and contact information for those organizations.

From what I understand, the strength of the application is based on my partner meeting the sponsorship requirements and us being able to provide sufficient proof that we have been in a relationship. And that providing I have no criminal background, my job history wouldn't have too much impact on the application?

Correct, that's what I think. Your job history does not matter too much.

I just want to be able to give previous employers fair warning as to the level of scrutiny they may face in regards to my previous employment.

Again, shouldn't be too much of scrutiny as you are being sponsored by your girlfriend. If you were applying under the Federal Skilled Workers program (Express Entry) or something similar that factors in work experience as a major qualifying factor, yes the scrutiny regarding your work experience would have been much higher. In your case though, no, not a lot. Scrutiny should be regarding the relationship with your girlfriend, which I think shouldn't be an issue since you have been together for 6 years. Good luck @DetectivePopcorn27

 

[DetectivePopcorn27]

Thanks a lot for your reply, that clears quite a lot up! Much appreciated

 

[DetectivePopcorn27]

Hey, just had a quick question about the same section of the form. I have read elsewhere that in the same personal history section, you must include holidays aboard? My understanding was that you only include travel if you were visiting another country for an extended period of time without working.

 

[Hurlabrick]

Here is a bit of a goldmine of information for you:

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousal_Sponsorship-Canada/FAQ_-_New_Application_Forms

 

[paint.thinner]

Hey, just had a quick question about the same section of the form. I have read elsewhere that in the same personal history section, you must include holidays aboard? My understanding was that you only include travel if you were visiting another country for an extended period of time without working.

From what I understand, you have to provide a continuous timeline with information on what you were doing over the last 10 years or since you turned 18, whichever is most recent.

For example, if you had a job from Jan-2018 to Dec-2018, but took a one-month paid vacation in Jul-2018, you don't have to mention it. Just mention that you were in the job from Jan-2018 to Dec-2018. Because you just took some time-off and travelled. You never resigned, you never left the job, they never fired you during the year and you were still an employee of the organization when you were travelling.

However, if you left the job at the end of Dec-2018 and then travelled for one-month (Jan-2019) before starting your new job on 01-Feb-2019, you have to mention it because travelling was all you were doing in Jan-2019. You were not employed at that time, so IRCC wants to know what you were upto during this one-month period.

It doesn't matter if your travels were within your own country or abroad. What matters is what your profession was at the time - if you were employed (and on vacation) or if you were travelling full-time and did not have a job at all.

 

[DetectivePopcorn27]

Great, thanks for that!