Want to sponsor wife, both living in PH

[crayon]

Hello,

My Filipino wife and I are planning to try out Canada, and as a Filipino-Canadian living in the Philippines for 15 years, I'm looking into submitting my spousal sponsorship application while still here. I've been filling out the sponsorship papers, and I've encountered some questions that I can't seem answer. Can I ask this forum for advice with these?

DOCUMENT IMM1344E (Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement)

#9b, the UCI / Client ID
I can't seem to locate this. Is it all right to leave this blank. Will a scan of my citizenship ID card do?


DOCUMENT IMM5540E (Sponsor Questionnaire)

#6. Are you currently employed?
I'm a freelance web / IT consultant at the moment, so do I need to put that down or not? The form IMM5481E (Sponsorship Evaluation) asks whether I'm employed, unemployed, or self-employed...

#9. Are you a naturalized Canadian or PR of Canada - On what date did you become a PR?
- I don't know when this is because it's been so long already. I did look at this though:

britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271477

And the advice given here was to put the date I landed. I did find my Record of Landing papers here, and there's a date filled on "45. Landed on...". Just confirming, is this the one I need to use?

#9. Are you a naturalized Canadian or PR of Canada - Which Canadian visa office issued your immigrant visa or confirmation of PR
- Since I was born in the Philippines and lived here for a couple of years before migrating to Canada, this is referring to the Canadian Embassy, Manila, am I correct?

Were you yourself sponsored to come to Canada?
From what I was told, my father was the principal applicant for an entrepreneurial visa and we all went to Canada together before. My Record of Landing papers say I was a dependent child. Does this count as being sponsored, and do I answer 'yes'? How about the date, do I put down the same as the date I entered in #9?

11. Provide proof of your intention to re-establish in Canada...
As of the moment, I've been doing freelance web/IT work, does this count? Do I still need to provide hard proof like an employment contract for this, or maybe a signed agreement I'll be renting a friend's basement?

14. Has your spouse/partner met any of your close friends and family?
The dates they're asking for here doesn't need to be accurate does it? I mean, How would I remember which specific day/month/year I became friends with someone...


DOCUMENT IMM5590E (Sponsored Spouse, Partner Questionnaire)


Questions about our relationship
It seems the questions are more geared towards Canadians who might have met their wives over the Internet or some snail mail penpal network. The immigration people are not expecting something lengthy are they? Do I need to provide phone bills and letters as proof? I met my wife during my college days here in the Philippines and our relationship developed from there.


DOCUMENT IMM5669E (Schedule A, Background Information)

On the very top of the doc: Indicate whether you are... the principal applicant or sponsor, common-law wife, etc...
Who is the principal applicant here? The sponsor (me) or the one whom I'm sponsoring (wife)?

Any help in clarifying these for me would be of great!

Thanks everyone

 

[Isometry]

Hello,

My Filipino wife and I are planning to try out Canada, and as a Filipino-Canadian living in the Philippines for 15 years, I'm looking into submitting my spousal sponsorship application while still here. I've been filling out the sponsorship papers, and I've encountered some questions that I can't seem answer. Can I ask this forum for advice with these?

Absolutely. Please do!

I can answer a few of these so...

DOCUMENT IMM5540E (Sponsor Questionnaire)

#6. Are you currently employed?
I'm a freelance web / IT consultant at the moment, so do I need to put that down or not? The form IMM5481E (Sponsorship Evaluation) asks whether I'm employed, unemployed, or self-employed...

I would put that down as "yes", and then explain that you're self employed on #7.

Were you yourself sponsored to come to Canada?
From what I was told, my father was the principal applicant for an entrepreneurial visa and we all went to Canada together before. My Record of Landing papers say I was a dependent child. Does this count as being sponsored, and do I answer 'yes'? How about the date, do I put down the same as the date I entered in #9?

This does count as being sponsored. Not sure about the date issue. Do your parents have better records of the exact dates?

11. Provide proof of your intention to re-establish in Canada...
As of the moment, I've been doing freelance web/IT work, does this count? Do I still need to provide hard proof like an employment contract for this, or maybe a signed agreement I'll be renting a friend's basement?

Show where in Canada you're planning to live. Work out the cost of living for that city and show that it'll be supportable with your freelance income--if not, perhaps show that your wife plans to find work. If you'll be living in a friend's basement, provide a letter from the friend stating this. Explain that you can continue your freelance work in Canada, and show evidence that you've looked at the appropriate taxes/paperwork/whatever for running your own business in Canada. Is your wife fluent in English/French or will she need classes? If she'll need tutoring, show how you plan to get that.

Basically, the more concrete information you provide here, the better.

14. Has your spouse/partner met any of your close friends and family?
The dates they're asking for here doesn't need to be accurate does it? I mean, How would I remember which specific day/month/year I became friends with someone...

Make the dates as accurate as possible, and then add a note stating that some dates are approximate.

Questions about our relationship
It seems the questions are more geared towards Canadians who might have met their wives over the Internet or some snail mail penpal network. The immigration people are not expecting something lengthy are they? Do I need to provide phone bills and letters as proof? I met my wife during my college days here in the Philippines and our relationship developed from there.

You're right that this is what it's geared to, however, you still need to provide proof. Phone bills are good, so are photos of you together or with each other's families, and things like joint bank accounts and joint leases are great.

DOCUMENT IMM5669E (Schedule A, Background Information)

On the very top of the doc: Indicate whether you are... the principal applicant or sponsor, common-law wife, etc...
Who is the principal applicant here? The sponsor (me) or the one whom I'm sponsoring (wife)?

Your wife is the PA.

 

[canadianwoman]

DOCUMENT IMM5540E (Sponsor Questionnaire)

#6. Are you currently employed?
I'm a freelance web / IT consultant at the moment, so do I need to put that down or not?

I'd say 'yes', then attach an explanation of your situation.

#9. Are you a naturalized Canadian or PR of Canada - On what date did you become a PR?
- I don't know when this is because it's been so long already. I did look at this though:

britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271477

And the advice given here was to put the date I landed. I did find my Record of Landing papers here, and there's a date filled on "45. Landed on...". Just confirming, is this the one I need to use?

If that was the date you landed in Canda, then yes.

#9. Are you a naturalized Canadian or PR of Canada - Which Canadian visa office issued your immigrant visa or confirmation of PR
- Since I was born in the Philippines and lived here for a couple of years before migrating to Canada, this is referring to the Canadian Embassy, Manila, am I correct?

Yes.

Were you yourself sponsored to come to Canada?
From what I was told, my father was the principal applicant for an entrepreneurial visa and we all went to Canada together before. My Record of Landing papers say I was a dependent child. Does this count as being sponsored, and do I answer 'yes'? How about the date, do I put down the same as the date I entered in #9?

This is not the same as being sponsored. You were a dependant of an immigrant.

11. Provide proof of your intention to re-establish in Canada...
As of the moment, I've been doing freelance web/IT work, does this count? Do I still need to provide hard proof like an employment contract for this, or maybe a signed agreement I'll be renting a friend's basement?

This is going to be the big problem with your application. As a Canadian citizen, you can sponsor a spouse while livinig overseas, but because you have been living out of Canada for 15 years, they will want a lot of proof you intend to resettle in Canada. Proof of an employment contract would be great; a lease or mortgage on a house would be geat. You'll need to show your preparations to leave the Philippines as well.

14. Has your spouse/partner met any of your close friends and family?
The dates they're asking for here doesn't need to be accurate does it? I mean, How would I remember which specific day/month/year I became friends with someone...

Get the dates as close as possible; it is OK to leave the day or month blank; if the year is also unknown, just write a letter and attach it to the form explaining that because you've known each other so long, the exact dates you met each other's family and friends are not always available.

DOCUMENT IMM5590E (Sponsored Spouse, Partner Questionnaire)


Questions about our relationship
It seems the questions are more geared towards Canadians who might have met their wives over the Internet or some snail mail penpal network. The immigration people are not expecting something lengthy are they? Do I need to provide phone bills and letters as proof? I met my wife during my college days here in the Philippines and our relationship developed from there.

A couple who has been together for years will have different kinds of proof than a couple who has only been together for a short time. Provide whatever evidence you can showing you have been a couple for ... years. Photos over the whole span of your relationship would be good here.

 

[crayon]

Isometry, Canadianwoman,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll take note of your answers

@This does count as being sponsored. Not sure about the date issue. Do your parents have better records of the exact dates?

Only rough dates, that's why I had to look through these landing papers :/. Can't find this UCI/Client ID number, I've looked into other forums and some do say that if you don't know it, you don't have to put it in.

@Show where in Canada you're planning to live. Work out the cost of living for that city and show that it'll be supportable with your freelance income--if not, perhaps show that your wife plans to find work. If you'll be living in a friend's basement, provide a letter from the friend stating this. Explain that you can continue your freelance work in Canada, and show evidence that you've looked at the appropriate taxes/paperwork/whatever for running your own business in Canada. Is your wife fluent in English/French or will she need classes? If she'll need tutoring, show how you plan to get that. Basically, the more concrete information you provide here, the better.

At this point, I'm still open to Vancouver or Toronto. Is providing this answer acceptable for them, or do they want me to decide where exactly already and put this down as my answer?

Let's say we decide to move to another province/city a year after we move there (assuming all goes well), does CIC have a problem with this at least as far as my spouse is concerned?

This is going to be the big problem with your application. As a Canadian citizen, you can sponsor a spouse while livinig overseas, but because you have been living out of Canada for 15 years, they will want a lot of proof you intend to resettle in Canada. Proof of an employment contract would be great; a lease or mortgage on a house would be geat. You'll need to show your preparations to leave the Philippines as well.

Another option we could take is me going ahead and establish myself there first. Any difference in terms of chances if I take this route compared to staying in PH before we send our application?

 

[canadianwoman]

I would say that if you returned to Canada and got started establishing yourself there, you would be more likely to get accepted. (Because I think your only problem will be proving your intention to move back to Canada.) You would not have to go right away. You could time it so that you are back in Canada a few months before any interview would likely take place. Then send proof to the visa office that you have rented a place in Canada (or bought a house), have a job, etc.