Hello everyone,
So I've been working on my application to sponsor my wife from China for quite some time (though there was a bit of procrastination here and there...). We do live together in China, and we started with the application package back in October and have spent most of the past few months gathering relationship proof such as photos and chat logs. Our chat logs are all from a messenger app called WeChat, and I don't think there is a way to directly import these chat logs onto the computer so what we've been doing is screenshotting relevant conversations page by page. In addition, we communicate in Chinese, so I've also provided a Microsoft Word document with English translations (done by me) for each image. I don't believe these count as official documents, so I'm not sure whether I should have gotten the translations done by a notary public and notarize them as well; I hope someone can clarify this for me!
Back to the point, we've spent months screenshotting and translating, and when we finally thought we were finished, I checked the CIC website and realized the application package changed after January 31st (completely my fault for not constantly checking the CIC site). Now there are much more specific guidelines in the checklist, such as providing a maximum of 20 photographs and and 10 pages of conversation.
This leaves me with two questions: I guess we have no choice but to filter through the 100+ photos we've chosen and pick out 20 important ones, and filter through our 100+ chat log screenshots/translations and pick 10. The work is already done though, but would it be a bad idea to submit the rest of our photos/chat logs as additional proof and provide another letter explaining our situation (putting together proof for the previous application package but didn't finish in time)? This leads into my second question: My spouse and I have not been married for 2 years yet and we also don't have a child together, but aside from photos and chat logs, we don't have any of the other requested documents to show proof of relationship (aside from our marriage certificate). I am working in China as a teacher on yearly contracts, and the contract for our apartment is signed and paid for by my employer. Joint utility accounts also don't exist (as far as I know), since gas and electricity are paid by putting money on their respective utility cards for each home, which is also owned by the landlord. I've also had a chat with a few banks and they don't allow adding a second name onto a bank account. I also don't see how I can officially prove that I am supporting my spouse financially; she is not working, we do live together and my job is our sole source of income, but I'm not sure how I can show on paper that she is financially dependent on me.
I apologize for such a lengthy post, but we could really use some clarification for our situation!
So I've been working on my application to sponsor my wife from China for quite some time (though there was a bit of procrastination here and there...). We do live together in China, and we started with the application package back in October and have spent most of the past few months gathering relationship proof such as photos and chat logs. Our chat logs are all from a messenger app called WeChat, and I don't think there is a way to directly import these chat logs onto the computer so what we've been doing is screenshotting relevant conversations page by page. In addition, we communicate in Chinese, so I've also provided a Microsoft Word document with English translations (done by me) for each image. I don't believe these count as official documents, so I'm not sure whether I should have gotten the translations done by a notary public and notarize them as well; I hope someone can clarify this for me!
Back to the point, we've spent months screenshotting and translating, and when we finally thought we were finished, I checked the CIC website and realized the application package changed after January 31st (completely my fault for not constantly checking the CIC site). Now there are much more specific guidelines in the checklist, such as providing a maximum of 20 photographs and and 10 pages of conversation.
This leaves me with two questions: I guess we have no choice but to filter through the 100+ photos we've chosen and pick out 20 important ones, and filter through our 100+ chat log screenshots/translations and pick 10. The work is already done though, but would it be a bad idea to submit the rest of our photos/chat logs as additional proof and provide another letter explaining our situation (putting together proof for the previous application package but didn't finish in time)? This leads into my second question: My spouse and I have not been married for 2 years yet and we also don't have a child together, but aside from photos and chat logs, we don't have any of the other requested documents to show proof of relationship (aside from our marriage certificate). I am working in China as a teacher on yearly contracts, and the contract for our apartment is signed and paid for by my employer. Joint utility accounts also don't exist (as far as I know), since gas and electricity are paid by putting money on their respective utility cards for each home, which is also owned by the landlord. I've also had a chat with a few banks and they don't allow adding a second name onto a bank account. I also don't see how I can officially prove that I am supporting my spouse financially; she is not working, we do live together and my job is our sole source of income, but I'm not sure how I can show on paper that she is financially dependent on me.
I apologize for such a lengthy post, but we could really use some clarification for our situation!
