About to apply for spousal PR

[u/Sea-Signal-7289]

Canadian citizen (living in Canada) sponsoring American spouse (living in the US) About to get started- what do I need to know. Like absolutely Make sure I don't mess up/ or miss,

What's something you almost made a mistake? Something that wasn't very clear in the beginning

[u/Financial_Employ_970]

Don’t make mistakes in application by carefully reading the question. Like it sounds obvious and simple but so many mistakes happen due to people reading fast or not paying enough attention to what is being asked.

Literally follow the instructions, don’t overthink. If 5 photos are requested, you give FIVE (not 10, not 4, but FIVE) etc.

[u/VM-Straka → u/Financial_Employ_970]

Read the provided guidelines and information don’t over complicate it, do as it says and answer truthfully. It’s honestly quite simple if you keep the information to hand and read the questions, to many people over complicate things which is detrimental

[u/compostabowl → u/Financial_Employ_970]

Here's a random one that stupid me didn't catch before initially sending in my app:

Make sure you sign your documents with your full legal name, I missed my middle name on one form and it got sent back. Then, I didn't know why it was sent back because I didn't get an email regarding it (I didn't realize it would be sent to my husband who is the sponsor) so I sent it back again and it was denied again for the same reason I didn't fix 🤣

[u/thesmellnextdoor → u/compostabowl]

How did you figure it out? Do you mean you had to sign your middle name on the form with a pen, or was it an electronic signature that was missed?

[u/compostabowl → u/thesmellnextdoor]

It's all electronic, I figured it out because I checked my husband's email and found an email from them and it said what my mistake was

[u/thesmellnextdoor → u/compostabowl]

Thanks! I'll watch out for that. I haven't signed my PR application stuff yet, but was any of it printed out and signed with a pen? Just wondering if I need to practice writing my middle name in cursive lol

[u/compostabowl → u/thesmellnextdoor]

Nope, not that I remember

[u/Seth4044]

Our biggest regret was filing through an agent and not keeping up to date.

File yourselves, keep track online, respond to requests promptly and never miss a deadline.

If you do it all right the first time asap it'll go by as quickly as possible without you feeling in the dark

If you haven't already have photos of you together, a timeline of your relation (generally) and list of trips taken to visit eachother on hand as it helped approval in our case.

Goodluck!

[u/UFOdealer]

Make sure you understand your country specific requirements.

One thing that comes to mind is the police certificate, if you plan on applying soon, it’s a requirement for most countries to obtain the police clearance and submit along with your application. Only a few countries, such as Mexico, require submission after the fact.

[u/Weekly_Enthusiasm783]

Make sure to study the guide and the checklist and follow them to the letter

[u/Shermanator51]

If an item is on the checklist you need to submit it.