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ARCHIVED – Operational Bulletin 326 -July 18, 2011

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We have archived this page and will not be updating it.

You can use it for research or reference.

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

New Form for Permanent Residence Applications

This Operational Bulletin has expired.

Issue

Effective July 18, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will launch a new application form entitled Generic Application Form for Canada [IMM 0008] and Schedule A – Background / Declaration [IMM 5669] that will be available for all categories of permanent residence (PR). This form will be applicable to both in-Canada and overseas applicants.

Background

The introduction of the new Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form on October 14, 2010, was an initial step towards the vision to integrate application forms. Following the successful implementation of new forms for all temporary resident lines of business, the PR application form will now follow.

Global Case Management System (GCMS) is now deployed to all offices overseas, with an anticipated release date of December 1, 2011, for PR lines of business at in-Canada offices. Bar codes have been included in the PR application form to facilitate data entry into GCMS. With this new PR application form, applicants can save a partially completed form electronically and complete it at a later time.

Current status

Currently, the application forms for all PR categories are available on the internet and are utilized by those applicants who wish to enter or remain in Canada on a permanent basis. This application form is completed by a principal applicant and must include information on all dependants.

The current application form is bilingual and is generally completed by hand and submitted to the respective visa office along with all required accompanying documentation. It is fillable only and cannot be saved electronically, nor can the information on the form be scanned into existing CIC systems.

New forms

Effective July 18, 2011, the application forms and supporting documentation listed below will be made available to all PR applicants, and previous versions will no longer be available.

The CIC website will be updated to reflect the changes to forms. With regards to mission websites, most websites will not be affected as they link directly to the CIC main website. Missions’ websites with direct links to old forms have been contacted. However, all missions should review their websites and local documents carefully for any textual references to now outdated forms or procedure. For any discrepancies, requests for changes to the missions’ websites should be made directly to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s web team at canada-international@international.gc.ca with a copy to International Region / RIX at IRCC.INMissionSupport-SoutienMissionRI.IRCC@cic.gc.ca. As of July 18, 2011, the URLs for the new PR forms on the CIC website will be as follows:

All in-Canada and overseas offices must ensure that they dispose of all stocks of previous versions of the old IMM 0008 and corresponding documentation that were used when applying for PR. Any specific local instructions or links to the above documents must be modified or removed by July 18, 2011. Local contacts should also be made aware of the new PR application forms, corresponding instruction guides and supporting documentation. This may involve requesting the removal of paper forms which may be with honorary consuls, lawyers / consultants, host Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices, Service Canada offices, travel agencies, etc.

Previous versions of PR applications forms will continue to be accepted by CIC until March 31, 2012.

Family class (FC) applications for permanent residence

All applications to sponsor under the FC must now be accompanied by an IMM 0008. This represents a shift in the way some FC applications (including parents, grandparents, other relatives, adoptions and orphans) are submitted to Case Processing Centre-Mississauga (CPC-M) for sponsorship eligibility assessment. Previously, for all non-priority FC applications submitted to CPC-M, only the IMM 1344 A and IMM 1344 B forms, and supporting sponsorship documents were submitted. Submission of the IMM 0008 to a visa office was undertaken after a sponsorship eligibility decision had been made at CPC-M. The submission of both forms simultaneously is now necessary to allow for file creation in GCMS, and it will streamline the process. Although both forms will now be sent to CPC-M, only the supporting documentation for the sponsorship application is required for non-priority family class applications. Supporting documentation for the IMM 0008 will be requested following the determination of the sponsor’s eligibility. Applications that do not contain the IMM 0008 will be returned to the sponsor for completion.

Schedule A – Background / Declaration – IMM 5669

A new Schedule A – Background / Declaration form, which replaces Schedule 1, will be included in all PR applications. The corresponding guides and checklists have been updated to reflect the new form designation as IMM 5669. This form was previously referred to as Schedule 1 for both in and out of Canada applications for PR. The new IMM 5669 will be included for all PR categories and is an interim step until a Schedule A can be agreed upon for all types of travel to Canada. Further changes will be the subject of a separate operational bulletin (OB) later this year.

Form details

The new Generic Application Form for Canada [IMM 0008] should now be accessed electronically, and applicants can save a partially completed application form. Similar to the Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form, data entry is facilitated into GCMS by incorporating barcodes which will be generated when applicants complete their form electronically. The barcodes will only appear on the IMM 0008 application form once all required information has been correctly completed and the “Validate” button (located at the top and bottom of the application form) has been pressed. The barcodes, which will print on the last two pages of the form, will contain all of the data entered by the applicant, and may be scanned for direct upload into GCMS. To assist applicants to accurately complete the new IMM 0008, they will be prompted electronically as they progress through the form. With the increased amount of data collected by GCMS, this feature will be very important to assist offices inputting data. CIC continues to examine ways to further facilitate data entry to ensure that the information requested from clients will be available for case processing without having to enter it manually.

The principal applicant completes an application form on behalf of all accompanying family members. The application form will allow for a maximum of five (5) dependants to be added electronically. If there are more than five (5) dependants, the principal applicant must complete the Additional Dependants / Declaration (IMM 0008DEP) form. Applicants are not encouraged to attach a separate piece of paper indicating the letter and / or number of the question they are answering if additional information is required.

Applicants under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign on their behalf. All application forms must continue to be reviewed to ensure accuracy as well as completion, and offices must continue to retain the entire completed application form once processing is completed.

Officers should encourage applicants to complete the new forms electronically (not by hand) and not submit old application forms. Officers and applicants are encouraged to read the instruction guide as it contains further details regarding the completion of the new application forms.

Similar to the TRV application form, it is accessed electronically.

All categories of PR applications are now consistent, and the same form is used for both in-Canada and overseas applicants.

Communication products regarding these new application forms will be provided to the CIC Call Centre, and information will be made available on WebCART.

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