2 babies and a wife..help?

Hello all.  My first post here.  I have some questions I hope you can help me with. 

I am applying to sponsor my common law partner.  We have 2 kids and live in Colombia. 

 

1.  I would like to know if it's absolutely necessary to show "proof of intention to re-estastiblish".  I don't meet any of the requirements which are : job offer, property rental agreement, property deed, employment contract, letter of acceptance by an educational institution, mortgage on property.

Are there any other valid options you guys could help me with??

 

2.  Are the 12 month statements showing you were working (in my case in Colombia) necessary too?

 

3. The application guide talks about getting your common law union certified under the supervision of a certified canadian authority.  Any ideas on who could do that in Colombia/other country?

 

4.  We have 2 kids together.  On the the Application to Sponsor and Undertaking am I supposed to put my kids too?  It asks for my wife's dependent children so I put them but then it means the current number of people I am undertaking is a total of 4 including me (according to the application sponsorship evaluation).  Is that correct?  My kids are citizens already.  Am I "undertaking" them?

 

5.  Is there any official place to ask all of these questions and get help other than on forums? 

Any recommendations on wether to hire someone for help ?

 

I hope someone can help me out.

 

Thanks alot.

 

Diego.

I will add a couple of things to Matthew's excellent response: first and foremost, all of this info (and Matthew's) is assuming you are a Canadian citizen.  If you are not, you aren't eligible to sponsor while you're living abroad.  Canadian permanent residents have to be residing in Canada in order to be eligible to sponsor - and, also, your children would not be Canadian citizens . . . which you seem to mention they are . . . so therefore our assumption that you are Canadian.

Anyway - second point: spousal/common-law sponsorships are minimum income exempt - therefore, no requirement to provide 12 months' worth of paystubs.  Your income in Columbia is a non-issue, really, anyway as it probably will not continue once you return to Canada.  If your children are Canadian citizens, they are not being sponsored - so they are only included on Form IMM5406 of your partner's application forms, and in the places Matthew mentioned on your sponsorship forms. 

Also, know the processing timelines for Columbia and consider them when you are providing your evidences of intent to return to Canada.  Bogota is currently finalizing spousal and c/l sponsorship applications in 10-15 months, plus CPC-Mississauga is taking about 5 weeks to assess a sponsor's eligibility.  That said, the application and the processing times are not infinite - assuming the application is approved, your wife will be issued a Confirmation of Permanent Residence that has an expiration date.  The expiration date will coincide with the expiration date of her passport or the one year anniversary of her immigration medical exam.  She will have to "land" in Canada before the COPR expires - so plan accordingly and include with your application proofs of your intention to come back to Canada at least by the time she'd be landing.  They want to know that you will be here to provide for your family - to secure housing and to have employment so that you can support them so there is no need for them to apply for social assistance.  So your proof(s) could also include evidence of you severing ties with your life in Columbia - planned resignation from your job, a copy of your status permit in the country that shows an expiration date that is close to the date this PR process will be coming to a close, etc.  This proof of intent to return to Canada is a very important piece - I have seen spousal applications refused because the sponsor was unable to successfully demonstrate that they were actually returning to Canada.  There must be some reason you're considering applying for permanent status for your wife - if it's only to secure that position for her for sometime in the future, it won't work.  You have to honestly be planning a reasonably soon move back to Canada. 

Thirdly, your children will need Citizenship Certificates in order to get their Canadian passports - and that will matter because Columbia is a non-visa-exempt country - requiring a visit visa in order to even board transport to Canada.  Get those ordered ASAP if  you haven't already because it is a time-consuming process.

Hope that answers at least some of your questions.  We're always here to help with any more that might come up. 

guys I have a couple other questions:

sorry, and if we are paying with a US credit card the total through the internet..how can we pay it in canadian dollars?

DCamargo wrote: guys I have a couple other questions:   I know that I said that both my kids were citizens but truth is that my 3 year old has her citizenship card while we havent put in the 1 and a half year old's application.  So really he is still colombian.  question: Can I still go forth with the sponsorship application even though my son's not yet a Canadian?  Will this bring me problems?   Also, where the heck is the form my wife needs to get her medical exam done?   Thanks.

Your son is still a Canadian citizen, he just needs to get the papers for it. That doesn't change the fact that he is already a citizen though. I would get that app in asap though to make relocating easier

The medical exam form is under the region specific forms :)