US outland applicants' thread :)

[julies879]

I have two different questions:

1.) Barcodes. Do we keep them in the order that they print with the application or do we take that sheet out and put it at the front? Is there a CIC webpage that describes "barcode etiquette"? hah

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

 

[Aquakitty]

I have two different questions:

1.) Barcodes. Do we keep them in the order that they print with the application or do we take that sheet out and put it at the front? Is there a CIC webpage that describes "barcode etiquette"? hah

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

1) I believe what they mean is put barcode for sponsor on top of that set of documents, then put barcode for applicant on top of that set of documents.

Checklist > barcode > IMM 1344 > rest of docs
Checklist > barcode > IMM 008 > rest of docs

That's how we did it anyways.

2) Don't sweat that too much. My guess is 100-150 on average, but it can vary a ton depending on the amount of pics. I think ours was 110 pics and maybe 50 pages. I feel our pics were excessive though. I'm bad at making decisions so I just put them all in.

 

[julies879]

1) I believe what they mean is put barcode for sponsor on top of that set of documents, then put barcode for applicant on top of that set of documents.

Checklist > barcode > IMM 1344 > rest of docs
Checklist > barcode > IMM 008 > rest of docs

That's how we did it anyways.

2) Don't sweat that too much. My guess is 100-150 on average, but it can vary a ton depending on the amount of pics. I think ours was 110 pics and maybe 50 pages. I feel our pics were excessive though. I'm bad at making decisions so I just put them all in.

So print off 2 document checklists?

Another question: at the end of some of the forms it asks for evidence of the relationship. Is it recommended to attach the evidence to the form or put ALL the evidence into one separate folder entitled "Supporting Documents"??

Also, AquaKitty - I looked at your profile timeline...your process really go that fast?!?!!

 

[Aquakitty]

So print off 2 document checklists?

Another question: at the end of some of the forms it asks for evidence of the relationship. Is it recommended to attach the evidence to the form or put ALL the evidence into one separate folder entitled "Supporting Documents"??

Also, AquaKitty - I looked at your profile timeline...your process really go that fast?!?!!

Sorry I meant the second checklist is the country-specific checklist for the applicant.

I put ours at the end of each form, but some people separate it out.

Yes, it was that fast, 3 months 21 days I think. I've seen some people just recently get very close to that despite the holidays, 3 months and 27 days.

 

[julies879]

Sorry I meant the second checklist is the country-specific checklist for the applicant.

I put ours at the end of each form, but some people separate it out.

Yes, it was that fast, 3 months 21 days I think. I've seen some people just recently get very close to that despite the holidays, 3 months and 27 days.

That's so great - happy for you!

May I ask: Did you submit FBI check upfront or include a letter explaining long processing times?

 

[CDNPR2014]

I have two different questions:

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

don't be so concerned about quantity of proof. they are looking for QUALITY. also, as a us citizen, the threshold to prove a relationship is far lower than other countries. all in all, my entire application was 90-something pages. this included everything - sponsor app, applicant app, required docs, proof of relationship. my theory is the easier it is to read and understand, the easier it will be for the officer to approve it. they don't need and probably don't want 400-1000 pages of pictures and messages. highlight the important things and make sure they know other people know about your relationship.

 

[smr21]

I have two different questions:

1.) Barcodes. Do we keep them in the order that they print with the application or do we take that sheet out and put it at the front? Is there a CIC webpage that describes "barcode etiquette"? hah

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

1. Just sent in my application, and I put the sponsor barcodes on top of the sponsor application packet, and the applicant barcodes on top of that application. I paperclipped all of the proof of relationship stuff together.

2. In total, I think our application was around 100 pages, including the application. I had heard that same advice that CDNPR2014 gave, of quality over quantity for proof of relationship. I printed out emails to our parents that had photo attachment, a bunch of FB messages from between when we met and when we moved in, some bills, and a few pages of other photos.

 

[canus77]

I have two different questions:

1.) Barcodes. Do we keep them in the order that they print with the application or do we take that sheet out and put it at the front? Is there a CIC webpage that describes "barcode etiquette"? hah

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

I agree with CDNPR - don't be too concerned, but it really is nice to hear what other people did.
What would be helpful is if CIC actually explained things better - as there have been SO many questions about things that could simply be explained.

Julies - I left my barcodes in the order they printed because I had no idea what to do. They took it!
We all have different ideas of 'proof' - we probably went a bit overboard, but kept it all very organized, clear, and easy to follow. I was concerned we didn't have flight itineraries or passport stamps (they just don't do that anymore!) so I opted for what we did have.
I put thumbnail size pics on 8.5" x 11" paper so I could send a whole bunch, messages, emails, affidavits..
In any of the the forms that asked for pictures I put in "please see attachments" so I didn't have to send more than one copy of something - then yes, we had a supporting documents section of anything that they asked for in more than one of the forms.

Best of luck!

 

[Snowisland]

I have two different questions:

1.) Barcodes. Do we keep them in the order that they print with the application or do we take that sheet out and put it at the front? Is there a CIC webpage that describes "barcode etiquette"? hah

2.) If you had a pretty straight forward relationship, all in English/French, all with family involved, if you have children together, etc, etc...how big was your application total? I see posts on in the forum about how their app's are like, 400 pages long. We are nowhere near that. I would love to get an idea of what can fall into the "normal" category.

I had 111 pages total and about 50 pictures. Sent application in October and got COPR already.

 

[julies879]

I had 111 pages total and about 50 pictures. Sent application in October and got COPR already.

The cases that are processed this quick: was the FBI check sent in with the app or was a letter included station that you have submitted and they are having slow processing times.

 

[canus77]

The cases that are processed this quick: was the FBI check sent in with the app or was a letter included station that you have submitted and they are having slow processing times.

We sent our app in Aug - started processing Sponsor App in Oct, PR in Nov. Just got DM last week.
We included our FBI check, medical reports and all fees upfront.
I have read quite a few people that submitted a letter stating the FBI check was in progress.. If I knew we could do that we would have due to the insane wait times

 

[Aquakitty]

That's so great - happy for you!

May I ask: Did you submit FBI check upfront or include a letter explaining long processing times?

FBI up-front, but we were lucky, they still allowed channelers at the time so it only took a week to get his FBI report :/

 

[iiiEllie]

FBI up-front, but we were lucky, they still allowed channelers at the time so it only took a week to get his FBI report :/

Aquakitty, I'm wondering what ecas updates when they send your COPR? Ours seems confusing at the moment, we got our DM Feb 28th, a third photo request via e-mail March 10th, but we were able to set up his landing appointment, Monday we have a line showing "We sent you a letter, please consider mail delivery delays before contacting us". They apparently sent that on March 11th. We assumed we'd have his COPR by now, but nothing. It almost looks like they took 2 weeks to even send it after DM.

 

[Aquakitty]

Aquakitty, I'm wondering what ecas updates when they send your COPR? Ours seems confusing at the moment, we got our DM Feb 28th, a third photo request via e-mail March 10th, but we were able to set up his landing appointment, Monday we have a line showing "We sent you a letter, please consider mail delivery delays before contacting us". They apparently sent that on March 11th. We assumed we'd have his COPR by now, but nothing. It almost looks like they took 2 weeks to even send it after DM.

ECAS can be all over the place for different people. I think it depends on how the officer updates it, so people have different wording on there. I assume the letter is the COPR.

 

[Canusa2016]

Hi everyone,

I'm Canadian about to sponsor my American husband via outland. He is currently in Canada on the Post-Graduate Work Permit but it expires March 27. Our plan is to go visit his family in Boston for Easter (leaving March 24) and return to Toronto on March 27 and switch his status to Visitor. We won't be able to submit our outland application until the first week of May because we are waiting on the marriage certificate but everything else is done.

Anyone have experience re-entering Canada after a work permit expires? What should we prepare for?