Operational Bulletin 325-B – February 06, 2012

The New 2D Bar Code Sponsorship Form (IMM 1344)

Issue

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) plans to launch a new two-dimensional (2D) bar code sponsorship application form. This form bears the title of Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344).

This form will be applicable to the spouse or the common-law partner in:

• The Canada Class and,
• The Family Class

The CIC plans to launch this form with effect from February 06, 2012.

Background

The authorities introduced the current 2D bar code titled Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) on July 18, 2011. However, despite this, the CIC had to enter the data contained in the IMM 1344 manually.

The Current Status

Situations will arise where Canadian citizens and permanent residents would want to sponsor members of the spouse or common-law partner for immigration to Canada in:

• The Canada Class or,
• The Family Class

Therefore, these Canadian citizens and permanent residents would need to complete and submit the Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344) form. In addition, they would need to complete and submit the Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) too. Applicants would need to complete these forms by hand. In certain situations, applicants would need to list co-signers on the form as well. However, this would only be applicable if there is a co-signer.

Officers would need to note that they would not be able to save these forms electronically. In addition, they would not be able to scan the information given on the form into the existing CIC systems too.

The New Forms

The authorities plan to make the new 2D bar code IMM 1344 available online. This will come into effect from February 06, 2012. Therefore, applicants would need to note that the previous versions would no longer be available.

The authorities would also update the CIC website accordingly. Therefore, the CIC website would reflect the changes made to this form. Situations could arise where several applicants might refer to various mission websites. However, it is unlikely that these mission websites will bear any impact. This is especially so because most mission websites link directly to the CIC main website. However, the authorities have taken note of certain aberrations. For example, there might be certain mission websites that have direct links to the older forms. Therefore, the authorities have contacted these mission websites for reviewing and amending their links to the forms, if applicable.

In addition, the authorities have directed all missions appropriately. They have asked the missions to review their websites and local documents carefully. The missions would need to check their websites and local documents. They would need to review any textual references to forms or procedures that might be outdated at present.

In case of any discrepancies, the officers would need to file requests for changes to the missions’ websites. They would need to make these requests directly to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s web team at [email protected]. In addition, the officers would need to mark a copy to the International Region / RIX at [email protected].

The CIC will continue to accept previous versions of sponsorship application forms. However, they would only accept these older versions until March 31, 2012.

The Various Details Concerning the New Forms

The new IMM 1344 will generate bar codes when applicants complete and validate their form electronically. This is the process currently followed by the IMM 0008 general application for permanent residence form as well.

Applicants would now need to access the new Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM 1344) electronically. In addition, the sponsors can also save a partially completed application form.

The process followed is similar to the Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) as well. The system facilitates data entry into the Global Case Management System (GCMS). It does so by incorporating barcodes. When applicants complete their form electronically, the system generates these barcodes automatically.

The barcodes will only appear on the IMM 1344 application form, once the applicants complete and validate all the required information correctly. To validate the information provided on the form, the applicants would need to press the “Validate” button on the form. This button appears at the top and the bottom of the application form.

Typically, the system will print the barcodes on the last page of the form. These bar codes will contain all the data entered by the applicant. Therefore, officers can scan these bar codes for uploading the information directly into the Global Case Management System (GCMS).

The system will keep prompting the applicants as they progress through the new IMM 1344 form. This will ensure that applicants have the necessary assistance they might require for completing the new form accurately. This feature will be very handy when assisting offices to input the data. This is especially so given that the Global Case Management System (GCMS) collects an increased amount of data at present.

The CIC is also continuing to examine ways by which it could facilitate the data entry process further. They are doing so to ensure that the information requested from clients will continue to remain available for case processing. Their aim is to negate the need for entering the information requested from the clients manually into the system.

Officers would need to continue reviewing all the application forms they receive. They would need to check these forms for completion as well for accuracy. Upon completion of the processing of the form, the offices would need to continue to retain the entire completed application form.

Officers would also need to encourage applicants to complete the new forms electronically. They must also gently persuade the applicants not to complete the new forms by hand. Therefore, they must convince the applicants not to submit the old application forms.

The officers would also need to encourage the applicants to read the instruction guide carefully. In fact, officers would need to refer to the instruction guide too. This instruction guide contains further details regarding the completion of the new application forms.

Officers would need to note that they could access the IMM 1344 electronically. This is similar to the IMM 0008 application form.

In certain situations, officers might need to look up various Global Case Management System (GCMS) specific instructions. For this, they would need to refer to the Global Case Management System (GCMS) training manual. 

The authorities would provide additional communication products regarding this new application form to the CIC Call Centre. In addition, they would make this information available on WebCART too.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)