Any Good References On Immigration Agencies ?

[Cleric515]

I am a Canadian Citizen in the military getting married to an American Citizen come this September 6/14. I was told that when I go through the ceremony of doing the marriage through the Justice of the Peace in Tyler, TX I'm to tell them to file it to my address so that I can have a copy of the marriage certificate because I will need this when applying for Spousal Sponsorship and her applying for Permanent Residency.

I know I'm not the first one to wonder which agency is a good one to go with so if I were to get possibly some reviews from others that have gone through an immigration agency it would be highly appreciated. Reason why I would like to go through an immigration agency is because of all the paperwork that there seems to be and I wouldn't even know where to begin with in regards to which forms to fill out.

 

[PMM]

Hi

I am a Canadian Citizen in the military getting married to an American Citizen come this September 6/14. I was told that when I go through the ceremony of doing the marriage through the Justice of the Peace in Tyler, TX I'm to tell them to file it to my address so that I can have a copy of the marriage certificate because I will need this when applying for Spousal Sponsorship and her applying for Permanent Residency.

I know I'm not the first one to wonder which agency is a good one to go with so if I were to get possibly some reviews from others that have gone through an immigration agency it would be highly appreciated. Reason why I would like to go through an immigration agency is because of all the paperwork that there seems to be and I wouldn't even know where to begin with in regards to which forms to fill out.

It is really straight forward, for a spousal sponsorship, if you read the instructions and the checklist thoroughly. Most people do it themselves, unless there are criminality or previous Immigration violations.

See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp

 

[Cleric515]

So if I may ask, which forms do i fill out for Spousal Sponsorship and which ones does she fill out for Permanent Residency as both have to be filed at the same time right?

Also when clicking on some of the links, it says my adobe reader is out of date which is impossible as I have the most up to date version. Even gave the link to my future wife and she also ran into the same problem with not being able to view certain forms such as:

Part 1
Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking [IMM 1344] (PDF, 434 KB)
Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union [IMM 5409] (PDF, 47 KB)

Part 2
Do I fill these all out or is this her part, this is where I get confused.

 

[rhcohen2014]

definitely start reading the family sponsorship board on this forum. you will find a lot of info there. For the most part, it's not recommended to use a consultant. It has been proven time and again they give very bad advice, and are a waste of money. The information you will find on the family sponsorship board on this forum will be more accurate and reliable. If the paperwork is overwhelming, have your wife help you.

Part 1 is for the sponsor
Part 2 is for the applicant
*keep in mind in the applicant forms, when it says they need to be filled out by every family member and spouse, that does NOT mean you, the sponsor. The "spouse" and "family members" being referred to are those families who are all being sponsored together. For example if a husband and wife and their children were ALL applying to be sponsored.

If you are married, you do not need a declaration of common-law. It does not apply to you.

If the forms aren't opening right, you will either have to try a different browser (ie: internet explorer vs. google chrome), or an entirely different computer. I believe I had to use 3 different computers to get one of the forms to work correctly. My advice is to print out the guide, checklists and the forms to get an idea of what is needed.

Again, move over to the family sponsorship board. there are a lot of answers already there, and a ton of info for US/Canadian couples.

 

[Cleric515]

Thank you very much for your post. From reading this can I assume that this part 1 and part 2 contains both the application for spousal sponsorship and permanent residency where

Part 1 (i fill out as I'm the sponsor) and

Part 2 (she fills out as this is her part of applying for permanent residency)

Part 3 (she fills out and sends all the required documents to me as i am the sponsor)

Once I have all 3 parts fully completed I send this off and play the waiting game to see whether or not she is approved to come and live in Canada with me. Please correct me if I misunderstood anything.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Thank you very much for your post. From reading this can I assume that this part 1 and part 2 contains both the application for spousal sponsorship and permanent residency where

Part 1 (i fill out as I'm the sponsor) and

Part 2 (she fills out as this is her part of applying for permanent residency)

Part 3 (she fills out and sends all the required documents to me as i am the sponsor)

Once I have all 3 parts fully completed I send this off and play the waiting game to see whether or not she is approved to come and live in Canada with me. Please correct me if I misunderstood anything.

yes, exactly. you fill out the sponsor forms, she fills out the applicant forms, gets the required docs (FBI & Medical), you/her supply proof of your relationship, package it all together and send it to mississauga. you will wait for sponsorship approval, the file will be sent to the visa office in ottawa (assuming there's no criminal issue), and she will wait for her approval.

She can visit you or stay in the states. Current us applicants are getting through the process in 5-7 months, so the stats listed on the website are not accurate. A)they are not an average, and B) they reflect a time period from last year.