Resign yourelf to the fact that you will need to become an absolute expert at spousal sponsorship immigration. By the time you are done you will be able to open your own immigration consulting agency, thats how much you will have learned. I've been doing this for a year and half and i'm still confused but i am also 10x smarter than when I started.
Read all the forms and all the instruction manual. Slowly, and carefully. There is no way around this. Read them all. You are fortunate you found this forum, it is absolutely invaluable. Ask quests whenever you have them.
Ok step by step (anyone please feel free to add to this as needed):
Step 1: Get all your documents in order. Birth certificate, marriage cert, police cert, option C, etc. Some documents that are not in english will need to be translated by a certified translator.
For inland, Do NOT do your medical first. CIC recommends doing the medical first but its a lie. That was when wait times were less than a year. If you do your meds they may expire before they ever get used. So wait for CIC to ask for meds.
Step 2. Fill in all the forms. write N/A in every spot where you dont fill in anything. Dont leave anything blank. Dont leave any time gaps in the background declaration. Dont make any mistakes. Check your spouses forms over with a fine tooth comb, have your spouse check over yours. These forms need to be perfect. After they are all perfect. Set them aside for a day, then look at them again and make sure you didnt miss anything.
Step 3. Photos. Get your wedding photos together and photos from all your vacations and your honey moon. Also get the passport photos you need to send with the application.
Keep copies of everything in a well organized folder. Dont send CIC anything that you dont keep a copy of.
Step 4: pay the fee and keep the receipt.
Step 5. send the application by registered mail.
Step 6. You shoud get AOR (acknowledge of receipt) this is very important because it has yours and your spouses UCI numbers which let you log in and check your application status. These are the only numbners you can use to login to eCAS, despite what eCAS says none of the other numbers (like receipt number) will work.
Step 7: after that theres a lot of waiting.
Step 8: they sometimes call an interview
Step 9: this is around the time they will ask for medicals. So you would do them and have them sent in.
Step 10: AIP: Approval in principal. Letter or email. This is the end of "stage 1". It means the sponsor qualifies as a sponsor. You can now apply for Open Work Permit or study permit. Its also the time when some provinces allow you to apply for medical coverage. Depends on province, please find out the rules for your specific province.
Step 11: File is transfered to local office. You will get a letter about this, and then later a letter from the local office asking for a landing interview.
Step 12: Landing interview
Step 13: wait for PR card in the mail.
What did I forget? What did I mix up? Am I ready to open my own consulting agency yet? lol
Optional Step 14: apply to see your case notes under access to information.
