Clarification needed regarding spousal sponsorship application

[SSARA]

Hi, I am a Canadian citizen currently a university student and i would like to sponsor my husband , I am a little bit confused about the application process. and what to send in initially according to the checklist and forms provided on CIC website . because some of the forms on the application checklist require to be filled out by the principle applicant who is currently living outside of Canada. My question is what do i need to send in initially , do i only send in the forms that are required by the sponsor or do i need to include the forms from the principle applicant as well? meaning does my husband have to fill out the forms required by the principle applicant and send them to me and then i need to include them in my initial submission of the application? reason i am asking is some of the forms require to be signed by the principle applicant and he currently is not here. and some of the other requirements is that he provides at least 2 photos. also how long would it take approximately to hear an initial response regarding an applicant. if anyone has an answer please let me know as i would like to avoid mistakes or errors in the application process that could result in a delay.

 

[Miraclejj]

Hi, I am currently a university student and i would like to sponsor my husband , I am a little bit confused about the application process. and what to send in initially according to the checklist and forms provided on CIC website . because some of the forms on the application checklist require to be filled out by the principle applicant who is currently living outside of Canada. My question is what do i need to send in initially , do i only send in the forms that are required by the sponsor or do i need to include the forms from the principle applicant as well? meaning does my husband have to fill out the forms required by the principle applicant and send them to me and then i need to include them in my initial submission of the application. also how long would it take approximately to hear an initial response regarding an applicant. if anyone has an answer please let me know as i would like to avoid mistakes or errors in the application process that could result in a delay.

You need to download the whole package, then fill all of them, plus all the required supporting documents listed on the check list and forms. If you think that you have some specific items/questions that you want to clarify more, then write explanation letter(s) upfront. You have to submit all the forms with all required supporting documents as a package to CIC. The initial response from CIC will be AOR1, which stands for acknowledgement of receive (1), you probably will wait around 8 weeks from the date CIC received you package. And from this on, every steps will have different time frame, based on each individual case, VOs and your husband's nationality. In general, you should expect 8-10 months processing time for a straight forward case, and 12 months or more for a case with complicity issues.

 

[SSARA]

You need to download the whole package, then fill all of them, plus all the required supporting documents listed on the check list and forms. If you think that you have some specific items/questions that you want to clarify more, then write explanation letter(s) upfront. You have to submit all the forms with all required supporting documents as a package to CIC. The initial response from CIC will be AOR1, which stands for acknowledgement of receive (1), you probably will wait around 8 weeks from the date CIC received you package. And from this on, every steps will have different time frame, based on each individual case, VOs and your husband's nationality. In general, you should expect 8-10 months processing time for a straight forward case, and 12 months or more for a case with complicity issues.

Thank you for your reply ! So whats the best way you recommend he sends the forms to me required by him to fill out by filling them out and then emailing them as photocopy ? or by him having to mail them out to me from there to here? Especially those that require his signature please let me know

 

[SSARA]

Also , if anyone can please clarify to me how do we combine the application package ? Is he suppose to send me all the forma that need to be filled out by the principle applicant and i combine them with the forms that i filled out as the sponsor ? It also mentions to provide two passport pictures of him , does he need to mail those to me to include as well ?And for the signatures , does he have to print them and hand sign them and then scan them or can he provide an electronic signature and email them to me? I am very confused and any help would be greatly appriciated !

 

[Ukrainian girl]

Also , if anyone can please clarify to me how do we combine the application package ? Is he suppose to send me all the forma that need to be filled out by the principle applicant and i combine them with the forms that i filled out as the sponsor ? It also mentions to provide two passport pictures of him , does he need to mail those to me to include as well ?And for the signatures , does he have to print them and hand sign them and then scan them or can he provide an electronic signature and email them to me? I am very confused and any help would be greatly appriciated !

All the signatures have to be in ink, no electronic signatures or scans are accepted. Your spouse will have to fill out all the forms, sign them in ink and mail them to you so you can sign them too wherever your signatures as a sponsor were required. Your spouse will also have to add all the other required documents from the checklist such as passport photos of him ( you can look up requirements for those photos on the document checklist), his birth certificate translated and notarized etc and any other documents from the country specific requirements and mail it all to you in one package. Then you sign those forms too (wherever your signature was required), add your documents (such as a photocopy of sponsors passport or birth certificate, letter from employee etc), put it all together and mail to Mississauga.

 

[SSARA]

Thank you guys for the replies ! One more thing on the forms that need to be filled out by the principle applicant and the sponsor , should i fill it out and then send it to him to sign it or do we have to fill them out toegther ? And also my husband perfers the french language so can he fill the principle applicant forms in french or mine in english or is it perferred that both are in the same language ?

 

[jordo]

French and English may be used interchangeably throughout the application. As has been mentioned above, any language used other than French or English for the forms or for supporting docs would need to be translated by a certified translator.

I'd add that you can help each other fill the forms in and work together on them. My wife and I did so over skype. Also, try to fill out the forms electronically (in Adobe Acrobat or your pdf program of choice) as much as possible and email those forms back and forth to each other (or use a shared cloud account like Google Docs to be able to work on the same form together.
Note that although some browsers will allow you to preview a pdf form in the browser window, you'll run into problems unless you download a local copy to your computer first then open the pdf file to fill in the forms.
Once things are filled out, then they can be printed and signed by the applicant, who can then physically mail the forms they are required to sign to you to sign.

Be careful not to miss any signatures as some signatures are required in the middle pages of some forms.

 

[Ukrainian girl]

Thank you guys for the replies ! One more thing on the forms that need to be filled out by the principle applicant and the sponsor , should i fill it out and then send it to him to sign it or do we have to fill them out toegther ? And also my husband perfers the french language so can he fill the principle applicant forms in french or mine in english or is it perferred that both are in the same language ?

You can just fill in your information on the computer, save those forms and email them to your spouse as attachments. Then he will have to just add his information in there electronically, validate them (whenever required), print them out, sign and mail them to you. No need to mail it back and forth twice.