The pieces of the puzzle

A complete application comes in seven PDFs. They are:

• IMM0008– this is “Generic’ and it gets typed directly into the online immigration portal

• Schedule A - gets typed directly into the portal

• Schedule 2 - gets uploaded into the portal

• Supporting Documentation – these used to be combined into one big file, but with the online portal, you updload them separately

• Passport Photo – see the previous post on how this should look

• Sponsor Documents – these are the files relating to the sponsors and settlement team. You used to have to combine them all with the settlement plan, but now they get uploaded separately into the portal. And note: nothing needs to be signed any more! Just type the name in the place where the signature used to go.

• Proof of funds – this shows where the money is stored and how you got it

Each individual PDF can be no larger than 5 megabytes

Your web tools

There are a bunch of free websites that will do all the work you need when it comes to converting, compressing and merging PDFs. 

• https://www.ilovepdf.com/ Has all PDF tools

• https://tools.pdf24.org/en/merge-pdf - merges PDFs 

• https://tools.pdf24.org/en/split-pdf - splits PDFs

• https://shrinkpdf.com/ - compresses PDFs

The final package - How to name the files

Now you need to recombine the documents in the way that immigration likes. You even have to name the files in them strange and specific ways: "Last Name - First Name – Document type - #." For example: "Wong - John - Proof of Education -1."

Please make sure your documents are labelled properly. For example, if you upload a picture of your child, you should label the file so that it includes the name of that child.

File names can only contain the following characters: "A-Z" "a-z" "0-9" "-" "_" "."

So the result would be as follows:

Sponsor documents

• Settlement plan
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Settlement plan"
  In this case "Family name and first name" mean the name of the refugee.
  No need to sign this.

• Sponsor assessment
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Sponsor assessment"
  In this case "Family name and first name" mean the name of the sponsor.
  No need to sign this. Just type the sponsor's name twice, writing the name like it appears on their ID

• Sponsor ID
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - PR Card" (or Passport or whatever kind of ID it is)
  In this case "Family name and first name" mean the name of the sponsor

• Police Check
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Police Check"
  In this case "Family name and first name" mean the name of the sponsor

Refugee documents

• Generic application form to Canada IMM0008
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - IMM0008"
  This one gets typed directly into the portal, so you don't actually need the PDF, except to gather the information.

• Schedule A
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Schedule A"
  This one gets typed directly into the portal, so you don't actually need the PDF, except to gather the information.

• Schedule 2
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Schedule A"
  Note that this one should not be signed

• One photo per applicant
  There will be two files: "Family Name - First Name -  Passport photo - 1" (for the front)
  There will be two files: "Family Name - First Name -  Passport photo - 2" (for the back)

• Passports: if available for the PA, family members and sponsors providing proof of status with a copy of passport
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name – Passports"

• Refugee Status Determination (RSD) document for the PA
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name -  RSD"

• Proof of Funds:
  Name this file: "Family Name - First Name - Proof of Funds"

Remember, no single attachment can be above 5 megs in size

Our guide to using the online portal to submit the application is next.