Questions (Forms IMM 1344 & IMM 5540)

[CanadianPrairieGent]

Hello all.

I'm heading to Ukraine in 23 days to marry my fiancee and immediately after our civil service, the issue of our marriage registration, as well as both her national and international passports, we are then going to submit paperwork to the CIC for an outbound family class sponsorship. To save time and some hassle, I hope, I've printed off both the sponsor's and the applicant's applications and all the required forms, and we are beginning to fill them in now. Once we are together in Ukraine, we will complete "good copies" of all the forms, and I will return to Canada with them. When her new passports are issued, about a month after application, she will send me her new passport info and then I will submit our completed applications to the CIC.

As I read through the various applications and forms, the English teacher and literalist in me has some questions. I hope you can help, please. Rather than post all of my questions, pertaining to all of the forms I have questions about, I'll split up my questions in a few separate posts, so as to not monopolize, as well as potentially outwear my welcome. In advance, thanks for your assistance! Some of the questions may seem foolish, but I want to be clear on what steps I need to take, and to avoid missteps, causing unwanted delays. I do find some of the questions a bit vague and misleading and actually getting a call through to the CIC is impossible.

Questions about Form IMM 1344 (Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Understanding):
1) The form must be completed and signed by both the sponsor and applicant. How do we do this while living in different countries? Can my wife sign the forms while we're together in Ukraine, and then I date and submit them once I'm back in Canada and have her new passport info about a month after our wedding? Or, do we fax and scan these documents? Or, do these documents need to be originals, that we courier back and forth? If the latter, what happens if these originals get lost by agencies we use to deliver documents?

2) Is an online application really that much quicker than one done by hand?

3) Question #8c (under the Sponsor's Details section) asks for my spouse's family name. Does this mean my surname that she will take before we apply to the CIC? Or, are they referring to her maiden name, or her most recent surname, which is that of her ex-husband?

4) What do we do in the application about non-standard English spellings when translating from Russian/Ukrainian into English? For example, her previous surname, that of her ex-husband, can be spelled in English as either, "Mala", "Malyj", or "Malaya."

5) At the top of every page, it asks for the applicant's name and date of birth, presumably to keep pages of the document together. However, whose name and date of birth do they want? I would guess they want my name and date of birth, as I'm the sponsor, but the form asks for the applicant's name and date of birth.

6) The information guide I read indicated that I should put "N.A." in all sections that don't apply. Does that direction apply to all the forms that I will fill out? And, what do I do for the "Yes" or "No" tick boxes? Do I just leave them blank?


Questions about Form IMM 5540 (Sponsor Questionnaire):
1) Question #7 asks about my income. Because of CPP and EI deductions and when they max out, my income fluctuates. Do I simply take my 12 month salary and average it out? Also, do they want gross or net figures?

2) Question #8 asks about having lived overseas. I was in Australia on a one-year working holiday visa quite some time ago (1995/1996). Does this count? If so, I can't recall my period of residence, so what should I state?

3) Question #11 asks about since when have I been currently living in Canada. Would this be since my birth, or would it be from my return after my one-year working holiday in Australia?

4) Question #14 -> Does Skype count as my spouse "meeting" my close friends and family?

5) Question #17 asks information about my ex-wife. The form asks for her family name. Do they want my ex-wife's maiden name, or my surname (which she took when we were married), or should I list both names?

Thanks for your time and assistance. This forum is a Godsend!

 

[Aquakitty]

Questions about Form IMM 1344 (Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Understanding):
1) The form must be completed and signed by both the sponsor and applicant. How do we do this while living in different countries? Can my wife sign the forms while we're together in Ukraine, and then I date and submit them once I'm back in Canada and have her new passport info about a month after our wedding? Or, do we fax and scan these documents? Or, do these documents need to be originals, that we courier back and forth? If the latter, what happens if these originals get lost by agencies we use to deliver documents?

2) Is an online application really that much quicker than one done by hand?

3) Question #8c (under the Sponsor's Details section) asks for my spouse's family name. Does this mean my surname that she will take before we apply to the CIC? Or, are they referring to her maiden name, or her most recent surname, which is that of her ex-husband?

4) What do we do in the application about non-standard English spellings when translating from Russian/Ukrainian into English? For example, her previous surname, that of her ex-husband, can be spelled in English as either, "Mala", "Malyj", or "Malaya."

5) At the top of every page, it asks for the applicant's name and date of birth, presumably to keep pages of the document together. However, whose name and date of birth do they want? I would guess they want my name and date of birth, as I'm the sponsor, but the form asks for the applicant's name and date of birth.

6) The information guide I read indicated that I should put "N.A." in all sections that don't apply. Does that direction apply to all the forms that I will fill out? And, what do I do for the "Yes" or "No" tick boxes? Do I just leave them blank?


Questions about Form IMM 5540 (Sponsor Questionnaire):
1) Question #7 asks about my income. Because of CPP and EI deductions and when they max out, my income fluctuates. Do I simply take my 12 month salary and average it out? Also, do they want gross or net figures?

2) Question #8 asks about having lived overseas. I was in Australia on a one-year working holiday visa quite some time ago (1995/1996). Does this count? If so, I can't recall my period of residence, so what should I state?

3) Question #11 asks about since when have I been currently living in Canada. Would this be since my birth, or would it be from my return after my one-year working holiday in Australia?

4) Question #14 -> Does Skype count as my spouse "meeting" my close friends and family?

5) Question #17 asks information about my ex-wife. The form asks for her family name. Do they want my ex-wife's maiden name, or my surname (which she took when we were married), or should I list both names?

Thanks for your time and assistance. This forum is a Godsend!

1) The safest bet is your first plan, just bring the docs and get her to sign them while you are there. I am fairly sure they accept scanned signatures of the IMM's, but I am not certain on that one.

2) Can you even fill them out by hand nowadays? I would think it would be a huge pain in the rear to do it by hand as the docs need to be validated and have barcodes, if it's even possible. Keep in mind though, some of the IMM's cannot be changed after you close them without having to redo the entire application (the PDF locks out). To get around this, I left all the forms open on my PC until we were ready to submit so I could change any mistakes we found.

3) Family name = surname, the name she has on her passport/identity documents: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=014&top=4

4) It should be whatever the certified translator translates it to.

5) You don't fill those out; they appear filled automatically when you validate.

6) Put N/A on every field left blank.

1) Whatever is on your Notice of Assessment is fine.

2) Yes put that in.

3) I'd put the date you started living in Canada (birth).

4) No, they mean in person, but you can mention the Skype meetings somewhere.

5) Whatever name she uses on her identity documents.