Urgent advice needed

[enigmatic93]

So I came to Canada as a student in 2016 and now I have a postgraduate work permit that will expire in June 2022. I got married in August 2020 to a Canadian citizen and applied for in-Canada spouse sponsorship in January 2021. A couple of days ago I realized that I have not postal codes and countries for my parents and siblings (living in Pakistan) in IMM 5406. Somehow, I only mentioned the address and name of the city, and missed country as well as postal codes for their address in Pakistan.

Now I am very confused seeing that so many people have their applications returned due to postal codes missing or country missing in IMM 5406. I spent months working on this application and now found out this mistake. I was thinking to just withdraw my PR application through spouse sponsorship, instead sit for the IELTS exam and apply for Express entry which is a simple application and straightforward. I do have one year of experience in Canada and obtained a degree in Canada so if I assume my IELTS score, I have more than 470 points using the express entry calculator.

Please suggest to me what should I do? I have already sent my updated IMM 5406 through the webform, but given the high rate of refusal and application being returned, I am concerned that I might just be wasting my time? I do need to have an outcome of my application before June 2022 which is only a year or so away. Given that IRCC returns the application for missing information in 6 months or so, I might just be wasting my time. Instead, apply another way for my PR. What do you suggest? Should I just wait? or do something about it.

 

[*nn*]

If you're pretty confident that you qualify under express entry, I'd suggest you withdraw the sponsorship application as it's still at its very early stage (might be returned as well for the missing info) and apply express entry. Comparing both programs' published processing times, Express entry looks faster.

 

[armoured]

I suggest not making any quick decisions and wait.

Look into express entry carefully first. In parallel.

 

[armoured]

So I came to Canada as a student in 2016 and now I have a postgraduate work permit that will expire in June 2022. I got married in August 2020 to a Canadian citizen and applied for in-Canada spouse sponsorship in January 2021. A couple of days ago I realized that I have not postal codes and countries for my parents and siblings (living in Pakistan) in IMM 5406. Somehow, I only mentioned the address and name of the city, and missed country as well as postal codes for their address in Pakistan.

Now I am very confused seeing that so many people have their applications returned due to postal codes missing or country missing in IMM 5406. I spent months working on this application and now found out this mistake. I was thinking to just withdraw my PR application through spouse sponsorship, instead sit for the IELTS exam and apply for Express entry which is a simple application and straightforward. I do have one year of experience in Canada and obtained a degree in Canada so if I assume my IELTS score, I have more than 470 points using the express entry calculator.

Please suggest to me what should I do? I have already sent my updated IMM 5406 through the webform, but given the high rate of refusal and application being returned, I am concerned that I might just be wasting my time? I do need to have an outcome of my application before June 2022 which is only a year or so away. Given that IRCC returns the application for missing information in 6 months or so, I might just be wasting my time. Instead, apply another way for my PR. What do you suggest? Should I just wait? or do something about it.

Okay, a bit more detail:

-You did the right thing in submitting the updated / corrected form through webform. So far it seems those who have submitted corrections have had success in getting the correction 'attached' to the paper file, but it will still take a while, and you only submitted recently.

-You can certainly prepare to submit an express entry (or other type of) application. Since you haven't taken the IELTS yet, go ahead and do that. You can prepare the forms.

-But I would NOT cancel the sponsorship app immediately, not until you are certain that it is a preferred route for you. That would include checking the express entry forums to see how processing is going for recent applications. One thing I'd note there is that there may be a LARGE backlog of express entry apps actually being finalized, because for the most part, express entry applicants can't enter Canada (unless they qualify under immediate family exemption). Note though I dont' know how they are treating express entry apps for those already in Canada.

-In addition, I'd note that you can have two types of apps ongoing at the same time. It does potentially mean that you'd lose the application fees - but in terms of importance, I'd say losing those fees is a pretty minor thing.

-In contrast, we do know that sponsorship apps are still being processed. They seem to be catching up with new applications (AOR1) although there remain lots of issues. You have a reasonable amount of time - almost 18 months - to hope that it proceeds without issue. If this continues as now, there is a reasonable chance that (worst case) if your sponsorship app is returned, that it will be reasonably soon - giving you enough time to resubmit the sponsorship app and/or express entry.

-I assume that you also applied for an OWP? If you did, I assume that obtaining the OWP resolves most of your issues as you'd be able to work and remain in Canada while waiting. So for you the critical issue is not getting PR finalized before June 2022, but just the OWP.

So overall, I think the best suggestion is to take a deep breath, use your time carefully and research, prepare for submission of the express entry (or similar) app, and if you decide later to cancel your sponsorship app and switch to express entry, only do that when you are certain it's a better course of action.

 

[enigmatic93]

Okay, a bit more detail:

-You did the right thing in submitting the updated / corrected form through webform. So far it seems those who have submitted corrections have had success in getting the correction 'attached' to the paper file, but it will still take a while, and you only submitted recently.

-You can certainly prepare to submit an express entry (or other type of) application. Since you haven't taken the IELTS yet, go ahead and do that. You can prepare the forms.

-But I would NOT cancel the sponsorship app immediately, not until you are certain that it is a preferred route for you. That would include checking the express entry forums to see how processing is going for recent applications. One thing I'd note there is that there may be a LARGE backlog of express entry apps actually being finalized, because for the most part, express entry applicants can't enter Canada (unless they qualify under immediate family exemption). Note though I dont' know how they are treating express entry apps for those already in Canada.

-In addition, I'd note that you can have two types of apps ongoing at the same time. It does potentially mean that you'd lose the application fees - but in terms of importance, I'd say losing those fees is a pretty minor thing.

-In contrast, we do know that sponsorship apps are still being processed. They seem to be catching up with new applications (AOR1) although there remain lots of issues. You have a reasonable amount of time - almost 18 months - to hope that it proceeds without issue. If this continues as now, there is a reasonable chance that (worst case) if your sponsorship app is returned, that it will be reasonably soon - giving you enough time to resubmit the sponsorship app and/or express entry.

-I assume that you also applied for an OWP? If you did, I assume that obtaining the OWP resolves most of your issues as you'd be able to work and remain in Canada while waiting. So for you the critical issue is not getting PR finalized before June 2022, but just the OWP.

So overall, I think the best suggestion is to take a deep breath, use your time carefully and research, prepare for submission of the express entry (or similar) app, and if you decide later to cancel your sponsorship app and switch to express entry, only do that when you are certain it's a better course of action.

Thanks for your post. Yup. There is no way that I will cancel the sponsorship application. I am only making my other option ready by taking IELTS and remain ready for this course if needed.
This morning I was able to get in touch with IRCC agent and she told me to send the form in mail to CPC Mississauga as my original file is not in system yet which means that it is not scanned. So she mentioned to write a letter of explanation and mail the form which will get scanned and added into my file. Lets see what happens. I will mail form tonight.
The only reason I am thinking about express entry is that I have a very good job in provincial government (sadly not in my field of studies so I cant apply for provincial nomination), and it comes with brighter opportunities for future. If any time, I will be out of status, this will be gone. I did not include application for OWP since I have Postgraduate work permit. I should have applied for OWP on safer side. Just did not think of it.

 

[armoured]

Thanks for your post. Yup. There is no way that I will cancel the sponsorship application. I am only making my other option ready by taking IELTS and remain ready for this course if needed.
This morning I was able to get in touch with IRCC agent and she told me to send the form in mail to CPC Mississauga as my original file is not in system yet which means that it is not scanned. So she mentioned to write a letter of explanation and mail the form which will get scanned and added into my file. Lets see what happens. I will mail form tonight.
The only reason I am thinking about express entry is that I have a very good job in provincial government (sadly not in my field of studies so I cant apply for provincial nomination), and it comes with brighter opportunities for future. If any time, I will be out of status, this will be gone. I did not include application for OWP since I have Postgraduate work permit. I should have applied for OWP on safer side. Just did not think of it.

I understand why they said to mail the corrected form but I would also submit by webform (as this way you will have a record of it), and I personally have more faith in their ability to 'link' electronic documents once identified as opposed to physical docs. (You could always send by mail and then webform either in several weeks or if/when you have determined that there is a temporary file number i.e. the point at which it is definitely 'in the system.')

Congrats on finding a good position. Understandable you'd want to have a backup plan - hopefully your file will be processed quickly as in Canada so long, some things like security screening might be quicker.

But it's impossible right now to say how long processing will actually take, and the evidence about your relationship will also matter, etc.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[enigmatic93]

I understand why they said to mail the corrected form but I would also submit by webform (as this way you will have a record of it), and I personally have more faith in their ability to 'link' electronic documents once identified as opposed to physical docs. (You could always send by mail and then webform either in several weeks or if/when you have determined that there is a temporary file number i.e. the point at which it is definitely 'in the system.')

Congrats on finding a good position. Understandable you'd want to have a backup plan - hopefully your file will be processed quickly as in Canada so long, some things like security screening might be quicker.

But it's impossible right now to say how long processing will actually take, and the evidence about your relationship will also matter, etc.

Anyway, good luck.

Thanks armoured. Really helpful suggestions from you.
One more thing, I did not know that we can have EE and spousal sponsorship application at same time, processing in parallel. Going for IELTS on March 13. Let see what happens next.

 

[enigmatic93]

I understand why they said to mail the corrected form but I would also submit by webform (as this way you will have a record of it), and I personally have more faith in their ability to 'link' electronic documents once identified as opposed to physical docs. (You could always send by mail and then webform either in several weeks or if/when you have determined that there is a temporary file number i.e. the point at which it is definitely 'in the system.')

Congrats on finding a good position. Understandable you'd want to have a backup plan - hopefully your file will be processed quickly as in Canada so long, some things like security screening might be quicker.

But it's impossible right now to say how long processing will actually take, and the evidence about your relationship will also matter, etc.

Anyway, good luck.

Hello.. I have my spousal sponsorship application in process (applied in February 2021) and I thought to do IELTS and submit my express entry application as well. So after getting score and calculating my points, I have score of 487. In my home country, I worked for more than 3 years and I have only one experience letter from them dating back in 2015, and it does not mention about my hours worked or responsibilities but states only my position title and how long I have been working with them. I do have copy of initial contract and my paystubs from that job. However, I am unable to get in touch with someone in that company and get updated work experience letter. Though I really want to claim those points since it will make my application more stronger. What do you suggest? What should I be doing?

BTW thanks for giving me some motivation that I can apply for two applications at one time, thus asking you for more suggestions. Thanks!

 

[armoured]

Hello.. I have my spousal sponsorship application in process (applied in February 2021) and I thought to do IELTS and submit my express entry application as well. So after getting score and calculating my points, I have score of 487. In my home country, I worked for more than 3 years and I have only one experience letter from them dating back in 2015, and it does not mention about my hours worked or responsibilities but states only my position title and how long I have been working with them. I do have copy of initial contract and my paystubs from that job. However, I am unable to get in touch with someone in that company and get updated work experience letter. Though I really want to claim those points since it will make my application more stronger. What do you suggest? What should I be doing?

BTW thanks for giving me some motivation that I can apply for two applications at one time, thus asking you for more suggestions. Thanks!

When you get into questions about the other types of application, post in the relevant forum (like express entry). Most in this forum don't know so much about those.