Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all the quality content and advice on this forum. It was a big help in preparing the application.
I'm Canadian, he's British. We applied via OUTLAND - London UK. He is currently here in BC on a study permit.
The application arrived in Mississauga October 3, 2011, and I had sponsorship approval and notification that the package was being sent to London within just over a month.
London started processing it February 3, 2012, and the COPR letter arrived today. There are errors in the marital status for both him (applicant) and myself (sponsor). Additionally, my maiden name is on the document, even though I have obtained a new passport with my married name,
Our original application was as Common Law. We had a substantial amount of information and references to demonstrate our relationship was genuine, so we weren't too worried about that side of things. There were some personal factors that led us to make the decision to not wait until our application came through to tie the knot. I checked everything over on the forum and on the CIC website, and it appeared to not be a problem if we got married, as long as the landing papers had not been issued, and we let them know of a change in marital status. We didn''t think it would jeopardize things since we had already provided documentation that our CL relationship was genuine - so we thought it would only strengthen the application anyway. With enough time to advise everyone of the change, we thought if shouldn't make too much of a difference. We knew it wasn't ideal, from an application perspective, but we got married November 7, 2011 (here in BC). (and I don't regret that one bit... I'm just dreading this process to make it all correct again... I hope it's not a huge big hassle.)
I contacted Mississauga (via email address on CIC website) as soon as we obtained the official marriage certificate, to advise of the change in personal circumstances. They replied stating that since my sponsorship approval had already been processed, I should contact London with this updated information, since they had already forwarded the application to them for the next stage in processing.
I then used the email contact form on the London High Commission website, and I explained the situation and attached the marriage certificate and included all the information they said to provide on the CIC website, to make this change. We received the confirmation email that they had received my email contact form, and then heard nothing from them until the letter arrived in early February asking him to complete and return the IMM5406 Additional Family Information. We completed the IMM5406 and couriered it to London that same day.
It would appear that either they never received my email contact form about the change in marital status (although they sent the automated receipt), or somehow it didn't get linked up to our file.
I know that it is CRITICAL to not make a change to marital status once the landing papers have been issued, but I tried to advise them of the change at the appropriate time, which was well in advance of our file being assessed.
I have to wait until Monday now.. and I am really worried that this will jeopardize the acceptance or cause a long delay before we can complete the process at a border crossing.
**Does anyone know if you can make these kind of edits at an immigration agency at a border crossing? Would they have access to the update email contact form I completed and sent to London as proof that I informed them right away and somehow there has been a mixup?
**Is it enough to bring our marriage certificate with us and have them make this edit right there at the border? (and my new passport with the same last name as my husband?)
**Or am I going to have to fill in the IMM1436B and send it to London and pay fees to change this now, and then wait for it all to come back with the edits?
Ack! I thought I was taking all the precautions I could and letting everyone know in a timely and concise manner. I chose not to mail the information because I worried that they might process the application before the change in personal circumstances update had arrived, leaving us in a real dilemma, having to start the whole application over again.
In hindsight I wouldn't get married while the application is in progress. In our circumstances, we didn't want to wait and keep everything on hold for personal family reasons...
In hindsight, I should have sent the information through registered mail with a signature on delivery. I have the email confirmation - but it doesn't contain the information I entered into the form - so I don't even know if that would constitute proof that I tried to inform them.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, and will set my mind at ease a little while I wait until I can call for help.
Thanks
Mighty Sparrow
Thanks so much for all the quality content and advice on this forum. It was a big help in preparing the application.
I'm Canadian, he's British. We applied via OUTLAND - London UK. He is currently here in BC on a study permit.
The application arrived in Mississauga October 3, 2011, and I had sponsorship approval and notification that the package was being sent to London within just over a month.
London started processing it February 3, 2012, and the COPR letter arrived today. There are errors in the marital status for both him (applicant) and myself (sponsor). Additionally, my maiden name is on the document, even though I have obtained a new passport with my married name,
Our original application was as Common Law. We had a substantial amount of information and references to demonstrate our relationship was genuine, so we weren't too worried about that side of things. There were some personal factors that led us to make the decision to not wait until our application came through to tie the knot. I checked everything over on the forum and on the CIC website, and it appeared to not be a problem if we got married, as long as the landing papers had not been issued, and we let them know of a change in marital status. We didn''t think it would jeopardize things since we had already provided documentation that our CL relationship was genuine - so we thought it would only strengthen the application anyway. With enough time to advise everyone of the change, we thought if shouldn't make too much of a difference. We knew it wasn't ideal, from an application perspective, but we got married November 7, 2011 (here in BC). (and I don't regret that one bit... I'm just dreading this process to make it all correct again... I hope it's not a huge big hassle.)
I contacted Mississauga (via email address on CIC website) as soon as we obtained the official marriage certificate, to advise of the change in personal circumstances. They replied stating that since my sponsorship approval had already been processed, I should contact London with this updated information, since they had already forwarded the application to them for the next stage in processing.
I then used the email contact form on the London High Commission website, and I explained the situation and attached the marriage certificate and included all the information they said to provide on the CIC website, to make this change. We received the confirmation email that they had received my email contact form, and then heard nothing from them until the letter arrived in early February asking him to complete and return the IMM5406 Additional Family Information. We completed the IMM5406 and couriered it to London that same day.
It would appear that either they never received my email contact form about the change in marital status (although they sent the automated receipt), or somehow it didn't get linked up to our file.
I know that it is CRITICAL to not make a change to marital status once the landing papers have been issued, but I tried to advise them of the change at the appropriate time, which was well in advance of our file being assessed.
I have to wait until Monday now.. and I am really worried that this will jeopardize the acceptance or cause a long delay before we can complete the process at a border crossing.
**Does anyone know if you can make these kind of edits at an immigration agency at a border crossing? Would they have access to the update email contact form I completed and sent to London as proof that I informed them right away and somehow there has been a mixup?
**Is it enough to bring our marriage certificate with us and have them make this edit right there at the border? (and my new passport with the same last name as my husband?)
**Or am I going to have to fill in the IMM1436B and send it to London and pay fees to change this now, and then wait for it all to come back with the edits?
Ack! I thought I was taking all the precautions I could and letting everyone know in a timely and concise manner. I chose not to mail the information because I worried that they might process the application before the change in personal circumstances update had arrived, leaving us in a real dilemma, having to start the whole application over again.
In hindsight I wouldn't get married while the application is in progress. In our circumstances, we didn't want to wait and keep everything on hold for personal family reasons...
In hindsight, I should have sent the information through registered mail with a signature on delivery. I have the email confirmation - but it doesn't contain the information I entered into the form - so I don't even know if that would constitute proof that I tried to inform them.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, and will set my mind at ease a little while I wait until I can call for help.
Thanks
Mighty Sparrow
