A few questions

[rawr]

Hi, my spouse and I are currently working on the applications, hoping to send at the end of the month or beginning of March.
My spouse is a Canadian citizen living in BC (and has lived there her entire life). I am a US citizen applying to move to Canada.

I have a few questions and would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help.
1.) Since my spouse is Canadian and is applying to be my sponsor, does that mean she is not technically considered a "family member" for the application process and does not have to submit a police certificate and medical exam?

2.) For the additional family information form, it asks for address of parents and siblings. I have not spoken to my family in over a year, haven't seen them in person for about two years. I don't currently know their address (my siblings are all younger than me and still live with my parents) as they have moved since the last time we talked. I know that they live in the same city, just different house. Should I just put the city and state for the address and explain on a separate sheet of paper? (A little background: Parents don't agree with my sexuality or relationship - never even met my wife because they wanted nothing to do with it. Already plan on explaining why they weren't at the wedding and having my grandparents write a letter about it.)

Does the CIC contact the family listed on the form? I could potentially get the address from my grandparents, but I'm pretty much disowned at this point and really don't want my parents to have anything to do with my life going forward.

3.)The photos that have to be sent with the application (the one that would be used on the PR card), are they the same requirements as a passport photo? If so, do I have to go to a professional or can I go to a store/drug store that takes passport photos?
Has anyone had any problems with this form?

4.)How long will my police certificate be valid for? I was told that it takes long to process and that I had to include it with the application, so we submitted my fingerprints in December and I received them a few days ago, way before expected. With the updated application, should I include the police certificate when I submit the application or wait for CIC to request it? As well, am I suppose to submit the copy of or the actual document?


Thank you to anyone that can help!

 

[CDNPR2014]

hi

1. correct, for application purposes the sponsor is not a "family member" or "spouse", they are ONLY the sponsor. The sponsor does not fill out any applicant forms or submit medical/police clearances/pictures. The "family members" listed in the application is for when couples and families are applying for immigration together in the same application through other streams. If it is just you and your sponsor, there are no other family members that need to fill out the applicant forms - only you do.

2. yes, you can put the city/state and then provide a letter of explanation that you are not in communication with them and do not have their current address. it is my understanding that the people on this form are not contacted by cic (at least my family wasn't), and this is essentially used for information purposes if any of those people apply for sponsorship in the future. IMO you don't have to worry about them contacting your family because they are listed on this form.

3. the photo specifications may be slightly different than passport photos, however this may have been recently changed. it's usually best to bring the specifications where you get your pictures done to make sure they match what is required. i can tell you from experience, i got passport pictures done at AAA and i had no issue with the size requirements.

4. if you are currently in the country you need a report for and intend to be while your application is processing, the record is valid for 6 months. this means IRCC must receive it within 6 months of it being issued. as long as it's sent to them and considered received before 6 months, then they should not request another one. if you are no longer in the country you need a record for and do not intend to return during your processing, then i believe there is no expiry for application purposes.