Please help! Missing passport stamps?

[juliakristof]

We were finished putting our OWP + PR package together and doing a final check when we noticed that my common-law spouse (applicant) is missing stamps in his passport for entry into Canada as a visitor for Sept. 2nd 2018 and Sept. 22 2018. They just didn't stamp it! (He has an entry stamp for Nov. 11th 2018 because that's the date he flagpoled the border to activate his working holiday visa).

Just wondering how to justify this to immigration since the forms ask for photocopies of his passport pages showing all entry stamps into Canada?

Thank you!

 

[21Goose]

They are used to this - CBSA often doesn't stamp passports. They will be able to look up the records online, so as long as you have mentioned the dates of travel accurately in your travel history, you'll be fine.

You can also explain this in your letter of explanation. It won't be an issue.

 

[juliakristof]

They are used to this - CBSA often doesn't stamp passports. They will be able to look up the records online, so as long as you have mentioned the dates of travel accurately in your travel history, you'll be fine.

You can also explain this in your letter of explanation. It won't be an issue.

I do not have a letter of explanation - we just wrote one sentence on a sticky note that these dates are missing.

Also, we have extra information included under IMM 5532 where it asks for additional proof. Do we include these documents at the back of the 5532 form or at the back of all the documents on the checklist?

 

[21Goose]

I do not have a letter of explanation - we just wrote one sentence on a sticky note that these dates are missing.

Also, we have extra information included under IMM 5532 where it asks for additional proof. Do we include these documents at the back of the 5532 form or at the back of all the documents on the checklist?

The sticky note should be fine. Since the missing stamps are for trips to Canada, they will be able to get the entire history from the CBSA database.

Doesn't matter too much where you include the extra information, but you should try and make it easy for the officer by putting it in the most logical place - if you ran out of space to explain something in the IMM5532 and needed to use an extra page, put it next to the IMM5532.

 

[juliakristof]

The sticky note should be fine. Since the missing stamps are for trips to Canada, they will be able to get the entire history from the CBSA database.

Doesn't matter too much where you include the extra information, but you should try and make it easy for the officer by putting it in the most logical place - if you ran out of space to explain something in the IMM5532 and needed to use an extra page, put it next to the IMM5532.

Thank you! Going along with this, I realized that if they scan my Canadian passport (I am the sponsor), they won't find evidence of entries in Europe because I have dual citizenship and used my Polish passport (not by birth - my parents are both from Poland). Should I also include my polish passport?

 

[Smarties17]

Thank you! Going along with this, I realized that if they scan my Canadian passport (I am the sponsor), they won't find evidence of entries in Europe because I have dual citizenship and used my Polish passport (not by birth - my parents are both from Poland). Should I also include my polish passport?

I would. And then provide a separate sheet of paper attached to the copies of your passport pages briefly explaining that you used your Polish passport for entries into Europe. Remember to put your full name and DOB on the paper.

 

[juliakristof]

I would. And then provide a separate sheet of paper attached to the copies of your passport pages briefly explaining that you used your Polish passport for entries into Europe. Remember to put your full name and DOB on the paper.

Why is the full name and DOB required? It has that written on the passport...

 

[Smarties17]

Why is the full name and DOB required? It has that written on the passport...

The name and DOB needs to be on any addendum or attachment you have. It states this in the instruction guide.

For example, in your case you have two passports, one Canadian, one Polish. You stated the Canadian passport does not show entry stamps proving your entries into Europe. So, you should provide copies of both passports IMO just to be safe and also to be safe, you should provide an explanation for it. As you're assembling your application package, you'll make copies of the picture page(s) and entry stamp page(s) relevant to any visits between you and the PA. Let's say in total you have 6 photocopied pages of all the passports. Immediately following those 6 pages, page 7 should be a brief, typed explanation stating that you provided a photocopy of your polish passport to show entry stamps of your visit to the PA in Europe. On THAT page, you need your name and DOB.

Make sense?

 

[juliakristof]

The name and DOB needs to be on any addendum or attachment you have. It states this in the instruction guide.

For example, in your case you have two passports, one Canadian, one Polish. You stated the Canadian passport does not show entry stamps proving your entries into Europe. So, you should provide copies of both passports IMO just to be safe and also to be safe, you should provide an explanation for it. As you're assembling your application package, you'll make copies of the picture page(s) and entry stamp page(s) relevant to any visits between you and the PA. Let's say in total you have 6 photocopied pages of all the passports. Immediately following those 6 pages, page 7 should be a brief, typed explanation stating that you provided a photocopy of your polish passport to show entry stamps of your visit to the PA in Europe. On THAT page, you need your name and DOB.

Make sense?

But what if I hand-wrote that short explanation directly on the page with the photocopied passport?

 

[Smarties17]

But what if I hand-wrote that short explanation directly on the page with the photocopied passport?

I suppose you could...I can't really say if it would be an issue to them or not. I just personally feel its "best practice" to not write on a photocopy of an official document. But I tend to err on the side of caution.

Quickly skimming the app guide IMM5289 i found this:

Be complete and accurate
Fill out all sections. If a section doesn’t apply to you, write “N/A” (or “not applicable”) next to the appropriate section. If your application is incomplete it may be returned to you (see section 10 of the IRPR for more information) and this will delay processing.


If you need more space for any section, use a separate sheet of paper. Make sure you label this sheet with your name and the question you are answering.

I thought I ran across something more specific that supports my statements but I can't find it at the moment.

 

[juliakristof]

I suppose you could...I can't really say if it would be an issue to them or not. I just personally feel its "best practice" to not write on a photocopy of an official document. But I tend to err on the side of caution.

Quickly skimming the app guide IMM5289 i found this:

Be complete and accurate
Fill out all sections. If a section doesn’t apply to you, write “N/A” (or “not applicable”) next to the appropriate section. If your application is incomplete it may be returned to you (see section 10 of the IRPR for more information) and this will delay processing.


If you need more space for any section, use a separate sheet of paper. Make sure you label this sheet with your name and the question you are answering.

I thought I ran across something more specific that supports my statements but I can't find it at the moment.

Yes I read that too so I printed all "extra information" such as chat logs with the header that includes both the PA and Sponsor name along with the question/section it is linked to. The DOB was only to be included on the photos I thought.

 

[21Goose]

But what if I hand-wrote that short explanation directly on the page with the photocopied passport?

While you can do this, it would be better to have one letter (printed, not handwritten) that explains everything properly. It'll take you an hour to do and will make the officer's job easier.

If you scatter explanations around the file, you're giving the officer a chance to miss something and delay your application.

While I don't think this is a serious problem (or even a problem), it's best to be systematic and organized, and to err on the side of caution.

 

[juliakristof]

While you can do this, it would be better to have one letter (printed, not handwritten) that explains everything properly. It'll take you an hour to do and will make the officer's job easier.

If you scatter explanations around the file, you're giving the officer a chance to miss something and delay your application.

While I don't think this is a serious problem (or even a problem), it's best to be systematic and organized, and to err on the side of caution.

I understand what you're saying but this warrants just a one sentence explanation - I don't think there is any more to say then "I have a polish passport because both my parents were born in Poland and I use it travel within Europe".

 

[21Goose]

I understand what you're saying but this warrants just a one sentence explanation - I don't think there is any more to say then "I have a polish passport because both my parents were born in Poland and I use it travel within Europe".

At the end of the day, it's your application and you should do what you think is right.