Applying for Canada Spousal Visa Online from the Philippines (Part 4: Application)

After we had good idea on what the forms are and other supporting documents we needed to prepare, it was time to finally lodge the application.

According to the CIC website,

"As of September 23, 2022, you must now apply online for this program.  If you can’t apply online, and require accommodations, including for a disability, you can ask for the application in another format (paper, braille or large print)." 

Source: https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

Brace yourself especially if you're not very into technology and online applications. The portal can sometimes run into trouble, but if you're sure that you're doing everything carefully and doing it right, you don't have to worry much.  If you are having technical problems with the portal, you may submit a form here: https://secure.cic.gc.ca/enquiries-renseignements/canada-case-cas-eng.aspx

Again, here are important things to know about our application:

• My husband is a Canadian permanent resident residing in Canada, but a Filipino citizen (holding a Philippine passport). I am a Filipino citizen.
• This is both our first (last and only) marriages.
• We dated for 2+ years before getting married. 
• We have been married for around a month by the time we lodged the application.
• Both my husband and I have no record of visa overstay or violations in Canada and in any other country. 
• I (sponsored applicant) have not resided in any country other than the Philippines.
• We don't have any dependent on this application.
• This blog series is published months after we completed the entire process. The month and year the post was written is at the end of each post.
• This is not a comprehensive guide or a hack to get approved, but merely a record of our experience. For the latest information, visit https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp .
• You may view all parts of the series here

Outline of Part 4: Application

• Part One: Creating  a Canada Permanent Residence Portal account.
• Steps 1-5
• Part Two: Starting a New Application
• Step 1. Create a New Application
• Step 2. Select a Permanent Residence Program.
• Step 3. Fill out and upload forms. 
• Digital forms - these needed to be filled out directly in the portal
• PDF Forms - Need to be downloaded,  filled out and uploaded to the portal.
• Step 4. Upload required and supporting documents.
• Step 5. Pay your application fees.
• Step 6. Submit your application.
• Technical errors experienced
• Form status stuck in "In Progress" even if the form is completed.
• There was a technical error when handling your request. Please try again later.

Part One: Creating  a Canada Permanent Residence Portal account.

Step 1. Permanent Residence Portal. This portal can be used for application of Permanent Residence (if you are eligible) as well as renew, replace or request online for a new PR card for permanent residents. 

Direct link: https://prson-srpel.apps.cic.gc.ca/en/login

You can also use the portal to apply for other permanent residence programs. You may read the information here: 

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/how-to-apply-online.html

Step 2. I clicked Create Account at the bottom of the page.

Step 3. I entered my account information such as email and password. I made sure to READ before I accepted the terms and conditions.

Step 4. I was then taken to a page where I needed to confirm my email using a code. The email went to my junk folder.

Step 5. After I confirmed my account, I signed in again using the credentials in the account registration.

Part Two: Starting a New Application

In the home page which I was redirected to after a successful login, I found the information on the general application process. I suggest you take time to read through this.

Step 1. Creating a New Application

Right below the information are two boxes that has options to create a new application or renew a PR card. In this case, we have to choose the Create a New Application button. It looks like this:

Step 2. Selecting a Permanent Residence Program.

I chose the Family program under Spouse category and Family Class because I live outside of Canada. I also added my own customised title to this application.

Side note: You may check for your eligibility as principal applicant or as sponsor here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/eligibility.html

Step 3. Filling out and uploading forms. 

After entering your program category, a complete list of forms will be loaded at the bottom half of the page. If you're interested, more details on these forms are available on Part 2: Forms of this series. There are also other sections that will be loaded but I will talk about them in the succeeding steps. These are the forms for my case:

Digital forms - these needed to be filled out directly in the portal

• IMM 0008 - Generic Application Form for Canada (This form is mandatory for all programs)
• IMM 5406 - Additional Family Information (This form is mandatory for all programs)
• IMM 5562 - Supplementary Information - Your Travels
• IMM 5669 - Schedule A: Background/Declaration (This form is mandatory for all programs)

As you fill out and complete digital forms, the status will go from Not Started to Ready to Submit. If the form is incomplete but has been opened, the status will change from Not Started to In Progress.

PDF Forms - Need to be downloaded,  filled out and uploaded to the portal.

• IMM 1344 - Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking
• IMM 5532 - Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation Form
• IMM 5533 - Document Checklist: Spousal Sponsorship (Including Dependent Children) (IMM 5533)

Additional Application Forms

• No additional application form necessary for my case.

Step 4. Uploading required and supporting documents.

I went through the supporting documents in Part 3: Supporting Documents of this series. Each document is uploaded as required by the portal.

Per row in the table for main and supporting documents, each document required is identified on the left hand side and an upload button for it is directly to its right.

Main required documents:

• Travel documents and passports
• Police certificates and clearances
• Photo(s)
• Birth certificates
• Proof of status

To upload the supporting documents, I needed to scroll down the page and navigated my way to the Additional Supporting Documents section and looked for the search bar with this icon:  🔍 . I looked for the supporting document type and a row added below for that type after choosing it.

Additional supporting documents:

• Translation and Affidavit - Affidavit of our translator together with the translated document
• Marriage certificate
• Proof of relationship - We used this document row for the first 10 photos of wedding and different times of the both of us, with family and friends.
• Others - We used this document row for the additional 10 photos.  In our case, the maximum allowed was 20.
• Proof of relationship to sponsor
• Letters from friends and family stating their awareness and support of our relationship. We uploaded four.
• Joint bank account certificate. This was not in the checklist but we added this because we had one.
• Proof of contact - screenshots of our conversations since we met. This was the original document that the translations were derived from.
• Proof of social media activity
• Proof of financial support - remittance receipts

IMPORTANT: These documents are what we felt fit our situation and application. These are not necessarily the same exact types or the standards that you submit. Make sure your main reference is the document checklist (IMM 5533).

Step 5. Paying the application fees.

The sponsor (your Canadian permanent resident or citizen spouse) will pay for the application. Here's the general process:

• Go to https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/fees/pay.asp
• Scroll down and navigate your way down to Option 2: Choose your fees from the list.

• From the Family sponsorship section, choose Spouse, partner or children

• You will be led to a page where you can add the necessary quantity of chargeable fees to your application. In our case it was:

• Click submit.
• The next page is a summary of the fees to be paid. Click Login and Pay.
• If the sponsor has a pre-existing account for online government transactions, all he/she needs to do is to log-in. If not, a new account has to be created. Follow the instructions in creating a payment account accordingly.
• Pay for the fees using any of the accepted payment methods.
• Wait for the receipt that will be sent via email. This receipt will be in PDF form. Download this receipt.
• Go back to the Permanent Residence portal and upload the receipt in the Pay Your Fees section.

Step 6. Submitting the application.

After uploading your receipt and reviewing all of my documents, the Submit Your Application button at the bottom of the page changed to the colour green. 

When I was ready, I clicked Submit Your Application.

I received an email that confirmed that my application has been submitted. 

IMPORTANT: This is not an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR). Once an agent is done reviewing your submission and it's okay to proceed, you will receive another email.

Technical errors experienced

Form status stuck in "In Progress" even if the form is completed.

I tried to fix this multiple ways including logging in and out, refreshing the browser, restarting my computer and restarting with a new application. I initially used Safari and Google Chrome. It only got fixed when I switched to Mozilla Firefox which (side note) I honestly didn't know still existed.

There was a technical error when handling your request. Please try again later.

I tried logging in and out, resetting my connection and restarting my computer but it kept giving me that error. I made the big mistake of deleting my started application with the hopes of restarting a new one but it still gave me that error. For this, I think it's best to wait it out.

Part 4: Application written on June 2023