Confused about new checklists. Please help me determine which ones we need

[epmarshall]

Hi all,

My common law partner (Canadian citizen) is sponsoring me (American citizen) and we're trying to discern which checklists we need to follow. We're doing outland common law sponsorship and have filled out most of the forms we thought we needed, but we are confused which ones we actually need since we've seen multiple checklists and things have been updated very recently.

I've been using this link to get our checklist so far by just putting in "common law" and "USA."
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

The link gives me only one checklist, which is IMM 5589. The thing that confuses me is that I know there's a US-specific guide and I've seen a sponsor checklist (IMM 5491) as well. This link doesn't mention any of these at all. Do we need these? Is there a link that someone can point me to that lists all the checklists and forms we need in one place?

-----Here are some miscellaneous questions that I was also wondering if someone could help me with.

I've come across a lot of things that are confusing me on this new checklist. For example, it says to submit up to 20 photos maximum. Is this another recent change? I know I've seen people on here who've submitted more than this.

I'm also not sure if we need Form IMM 5481 Sponsorship Evaluation. We filled it out because I figured it was mandatory, but now I'm confused since the guide states:
"The sponsor fills out this form if sponsoring only a dependent child who has no dependent children of his or her own."
My common law partner is just sponsoring me and we don't have any dependents. Does that mean we don't need this form?


I hope my concerns make sense and I don't mean to ask so much. I'm just hoping someone can give me some direction so I can read the guides and checklists that I need. We just want to submit this correctly and make sure we don't miss a checklist. I just feel like I'm missing something, so I am wondering how you guys determine which forms and checklists you need.

Thanks and sorry for the long post. I would really appreciate anything that anyone has to offer.

 

[danawhitaker]

Hi all,

My common law partner (Canadian citizen) is sponsoring me (American citizen) and we're trying to discern which checklists we need to follow. We're doing outland common law sponsorship and have filled out most of the forms we thought we needed, but we are confused which ones we actually need since we've seen multiple checklists and things have been updated very recently.

I've been using this link to get our checklist so far by just putting in "common law" and "USA."
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

The link gives me only one checklist, which is IMM 5589. The thing that confuses me is that I know there's a US-specific guide and I've seen a sponsor checklist (IMM 5491) as well. This link doesn't mention any of these at all. Do we need these? Is there a link that someone can point me to that lists all the checklists and forms we need in one place?

-----Here are some miscellaneous questions that I was also wondering if someone could help me with.

I've come across a lot of things that are confusing me on this new checklist. For example, it says to submit up to 20 photos maximum. Is this another recent change? I know I've seen people on here who've submitted more than this.

I'm also not sure if we need Form IMM 5481 Sponsorship Evaluation. We filled it out because I figured it was mandatory, but now I'm confused since the guide states:
"The sponsor fills out this form if sponsoring only a dependent child who has no dependent children of his or her own."
My common law partner is just sponsoring me and we don't have any dependents. Does that mean we don't need this form?


I hope my concerns make sense and I don't mean to ask so much. I'm just hoping someone can give me some direction so I can read the guides and checklists that I need. We just want to submit this correctly and make sure we don't miss a checklist. I just feel like I'm missing something, so I am wondering how you guys determine which forms and checklists you need.

Thanks and sorry for the long post. I would really appreciate anything that anyone has to offer.

There is no longer a U.S. specific guide. That was done away with with the new application kits. All of the country specific guides/checklists are gone. There is one checklist depending on what type of sponsorship it is. You basically need to forget everything you learned about the old process. Go exactly by what's on that screen.

As for the photos, same instructions as above. Don't submit more than 20. They don't want more than that, and will ask for more if they want it. You shouldn't compare your application to applications that were done using the old kit. Basically ignore anyone who posted about what they submitted in terms of relationship proof using the old kit. It is not relevant to your submission anymore for the most part, especially in terms of quantity. Many of us went the overkill route as an abundance of caution.

The new kit redid the sponsorship evaluation form. 5532 replaces 5481 for spousal sponsorship, from what I can discern. 5481 would be what you would use if you were only sponsoring a dependent child, and no spouse.

There is only one checklist for you, and that will be 5589.

 

[epmarshall]

There is no longer a U.S. specific guide. That was done away with with the new application kits. All of the country specific guides/checklists are gone. There is one checklist depending on what type of sponsorship it is. You basically need to forget everything you learned about the old process. Go exactly by what's on that screen.

As for the photos, same instructions as above. Don't submit more than 20. They don't want more than that, and will ask for more if they want it. You shouldn't compare your application to applications that were done using the old kit. Basically ignore anyone who posted about what they submitted in terms of relationship proof using the old kit. It is not relevant to your submission anymore for the most part, especially in terms of quantity. Many of us went the overkill route as an abundance of caution.

The new kit redid the sponsorship evaluation form. 5532 replaces 5481 for spousal sponsorship, from what I can discern. 5481 would be what you would use if you were only sponsoring a dependent child, and no spouse.

There is only one checklist for you, and that will be 5589.

Awesome, thank you so much for clearing that up danawhitaker! I really appreciate you taking the time.
Okay, so no form 5481 for us then I guess. This should make the process much easier for us since we have some direction and know our checklist.

 

[danawhitaker]

Awesome, thank you so much for clearing that up danawhitaker! I really appreciate you taking the time.
Okay, so no form 5481 for us then I guess. This should make the process much easier for us since we have some direction and know our checklist.

Glad I could help! Good luck.