Philippines - Supporting Documents Questions

[S_and_C]

Hi all,

My wife and I are in the middle of gathering our documents in preparation for applying outland for permanent residence. We got married this past April and she is currently living in the Philippines. I have 2 questions related to the supporting documents, as it isn't clear when reading the guides on CIC...

1. Multiple Copies of supporting documents?

For example, as I was married before and divorced, I will be including my Divorce Certificate in the application. The sponsor guide says to include a photocopy, and the applicant guide for Philippines states to provide certified true copies (I will just provide the original I got from the courthouse which is stamped and signed by the clerk). Should I just include the one original, or put the original with the applicant form and a photocopy with my sponsor form?

2. Organizing supporting documents

I was thinking of putting all supporting documentation into an envelope within the package, and the forms for sponsor and applicant as well in separate envelopes. Proof of relationship is the bulk of the package and will be in yet another larger envelope. Are they expecting the supporting documents next to the forms where they are applicable? Or would they be happier with all supporting documentation in a separate envelope? I am expecting that a separate envelope would be best as the proof of relationship stuff has to be separate anyway due to the volume of "stuff".

Thanks in advance for your replies.
S_and_C

 

[canadianwoman]

Something that is asked for in more than one place, such as your divorce certificate, only has to be included once.
How to arrange all the documents and forms is up to you. Many people do do it the way you have suggested, with the supporting evidence all together in one packet. Separating things into envelopes is more for your benefit when arranging things (and to keep it all together during transit), as all packaging (such as paper clips, tabs, binders, envelopes) is discarded when the package is opened.

 

[S_and_C]

Something that is asked for in more than one place, such as your divorce certificate, only has to be included once.
How to arrange all the documents and forms is up to you. Many people do do it the way you have suggested, with the supporting evidence all together in one packet. Separating things into envelopes is more for your benefit when arranging things (and to keep it all together during transit), as all packaging (such as paper clips, tabs, binders, envelopes) is discarded when the package is opened.

Thanks for the reply canadianwoman. It makes sense if what they do is scan everything into their system once when they receive it. This way all supporting documents and forms are available electronically for processing by the visa officer.

I -assume- they aren't mailing huge bundles of papers all around the world to each visa office. However, one of the requirements for Philippines is to have 9 photos of the applicant included in the package, so it makes me think what they really use them for...

Thanks again,
S_and_C

 

[canadianwoman]

If they specifically ask for multiple copies of something, such as photos, you need to include them all. The photos, we assume, are used for security clearances, and so different departments of the government can each have one.

They scan things, but they also do send the paper applications to the visa offices. The visa officer who processed my husband's application had the whole thing with her in her office when she was interviewing him. They also mailed it back to CBSA for the appeal, and then mailed it back to the visa office after the appeal.