LHaywood1

Not related to PR but I'm going back to the UK for a short trip in March and whilst I'm there the new eTA comes into effect. Can I apply for an eTA before I leave Canada or do I have to apply whilst I'm in the UK? I'm having difficulty getting onto the CIC website today.

Any help would be much appreciated

rtoddpm

I've been having problems with the site for the last couple of days too.

Siouxie

If you don't have PR yet, then you can apply for it now - there's no need to wait.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcen...sp?q=1056&t=16



(or when CIC website decides to work again!)

LHaywood1

Great, thank you! I'll do it when the website starts to work!

sunshinedust

Now that I've stopped crying I'm going to try and make sense what of has happened.

My Canadian husband is sponsoring me, we submitted our application last month after triple checking everything against the guides to make sure everything is filled in correctly. We applied outland, with me currently in Canada as a visitor.

I just checked our mailbox and found our whole application has been returned to us as "not complete". The reason checked off is as follows :

"A correction to the mailing address specified on the Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM0008) to reflect the mailing address of the Principal Applicant; or if the Principal Applicant wishes to have correspondence mailed to the address specified, a completed and signed use of a Representative form (IMM5476) is required for the authorization of release of documents and information to the individual residing at this address"

On IMM0008 there are two sections that have been highlighted :

1. Current country of residence. In this section I wrote England

2. Mailing address. I provided the address where I am staying with my husband in Toronto. The residential address I provided below is my UK address.


These sections were filled out according to the guides given and the very useful spousal sponsorship FAQ, so we have absolutely no idea why our application was deemed not complete!

This is really quite frustrating. We triple checked everything against the guides and were sure that everything was filled in correctly. Added frustration is that we now have to apply for a new police certificate as the six month validity of the one we initially submitted has expired.

Any advice on what we did wrong?

adfletch83

Hey,

Sorry to hear your woes. I may be wrong and I'm no expert. But the first thing that comes to mind is that you've told them you're in England. But then you want your personal information (correspondence/COPR etc) mailed to you in... Canada. I'm assuming they think this is strange. And I think according to the following phrase:

"... if the Principal Applicant wishes to have correspondence mailed to the address specified, a completed and signed use of a Representative form (IMM5476) is required for the authorization of release of documents and information to the individual residing at this address"

... they're thinking that you have to give them permission to send any correspondence to the mentioned mailing address? Is the mailing address you provided the residential address of your sponsor?

So you've kinda told them that you're in England (current country of residence) and your residential address is in England.... however you want your COPR to be mailed to Canada. The COPR is the document you'll need to bring WITH YOU to Canada to activate your PR. Maybe they can't understand why you'd want it sent to Canada whilst you're 'residing' in England?

As I said, I'm no expert at all but it was my first thought.

BUT, don't be disheartened. They've not told you "no", they've not denied your application, you're not banned from applying. You've just lost a month and another £45 I guess but it's not the end of the world. Annoying, yes. Frustrating, yes. Time consuming, yes. But hopefully you'll look back on this in a few years and smile.

Maybe someone else has a better understanding?

SchnookoLoly

I'm also confused by the note... not sure what happened. We often tell people it's fine to use your residency address as England and your mailing address as Canada if you are in Canada as a visitor, since you can't actually have a residential address in Canada without being, you know, a resident.

So I'm really not sure what happened... it SUPER sucks, sunshinedust... don't let it get you too down. At least the return was quick and not 4 months down the road. I'm also surprised they didn't just email asking for clarification but maybe CPC-M doesn't do that. Not sure.

For the police check, presumably you are referring to the UK one... you can get a rush on it so at least you won't have to wait too much longer.

It really sucks.

jk94441

I'm pretty sure this is correct. If you are applying from within Canada then your Q.10 on IMM008 Current country of residence should be "Canada" and there is a box to indicate your status in Canada (worker, visitor etc.). As far as I understand it your Current Mailing Address and Residential Address (Q1. and Q2. in Contact Information) should then be your Canadian address, if you are living in Canada.

From the answers you gave they believe that you are actually in England but want your correspondence in Canada (which would be weird) and therefore if you really did want to do that you would need IMM5476 to allow the person at the Canadian mailing address to accept your mail for you.

sunshinedust

Thanks for all the kind words, it was just such a shock to see a big envelope sat there in the mail box filled with the 100+ pages of paperwork I was hoping to never have to lay eyes on again!

The main reason why I'm confused is that all the advice I had read, like Schnookololy said, is that I am only visiting Canada and not resident here so my country of residence should still be UK, but it would be fine to use my husbands address as my mailing address. Apparently not!

I have a friend who used to work at CPC-M processing these applications and she told me last night that it shouldn't have been returned to me, and is confused as to why the agent sent it back because my application clearly states that this is the address I am staying at for the foreseeable future.

I just spoke to someone at the CIC "misinformation line" and she also agrees that the application shouldn't have been returned. Her advice was to apply for a new police certificate, send the application again with a cover letter explaining why I have a Canadian mailing address, so this is what we are going to do.

jk94441

I'm not sure about that. If that were the case why do they give you the option to put status 'visitor' on this question. To me the question and term 'country of residence' means where you are actually living, regardless of your status there. Maybe I'm wrong but that is how we interpreted it and we did not have a problem. Good luck

toeknee

Uhoh! I also sent my spousal application in, received on Feb 1st, filling it in the exact same way, using a canadian mailing address where I am living (with visitor status) and my residential address back in the UK.

This was done after reading the FAQ's on here.

I would like to be added to the spreadsheet too

Application received in Mississauga: February 1st 2016
Common-Law (CL) / Married (M): Married
Location(City, Country): Toronto, Canada
Notes: Meds Exam taken October, 2015

Cheers.

SchnookoLoly

It sounds like just a bit of bad luck and an agent who made an error. It totally sucks donkey nuts, but it happens.

Get the new certificate, and I'd say leave the same addresses, and include a cover note explaining that you are officially still a resident in the UK, hence the UK address, but that you are staying with your other half in Canada as a visitor while you wait for your application to be processed, hence why you've used Canada as your mailing address. It should be just fine.

No offense, but this is incorrect. Sunshinedust is not a RESIDENT of Canada, she is a RESIDENT of the UK who is currently VISITING Canada. It sounds counter-intuitive, but this distinction is important for PR applications. As she posted, both her CIC friend and the call agent (grain of salt etc) said it should have been fine, and we have seen it countless times on here that what she did should have been fine.

Again, pretty sure it was an error on CIC's part. Don't sweat it. You did it correctly.

Added!

toeknee

Cheers!

FWIW my medical was completed on Oct 22 2015

jk94441

I'm sure you are right that many people have done it and not had a problem. Nevertheless in the guide it does say for this question:
"The name of your current country of residence. Your country of residence is the country in which you are residing, provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country."
If you are in Canada waiting on a PR application as a visitor then this is suggesting to me at least that your 'country of residence' is Canada. Hence why it gives you the option of choosing your 'status' for this question - one of the options is visitor. How can you be a visitor in a country where you are a resident? You would be a resident. So why would this question have that option unless it refers to the place where you are actually living.

SchnookoLoly

I get how you are interpreting it, but I still disagree with your interpretation. There is a distinction between the country where you are a RESIDENT, and the country where you are VISITING.

In Sunshine's case, she's admitted to Canada as a VISITOR and therefore is not a resident (she is APPLYING for residency!). That's why CIC asks ofr the two different addresses, they acknowledge that your residency may be in one country but that might not be where you're physically located. On a similar note, if Sunshine had gone up to the border guard when she entered Canada and said she was going to be living in Canada, she'd have been swiftly turned back. However, she instead says that she's entering as a visitor (not as a resident) and has maintained ties to the UK... and so on and so forth.

It's a bit like splitting hairs, yes, but that is the distinction that must be made.

Hope that clears it up.