What gets an application returned as incomplete

1. What is the rule?

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We'll return applications with missing or incomplete information. Check the country-specific requirements to see if you need to submit any additional documents.

Guide 5289, sponsor your spouse ↗

The regulations set what an application must contain (IRPR s.10) and say that one that doesn't meet them is returned, not refused (s.12).

2. What are the usual causes?

In the threads where people post their return letters, the same items keep appearing:

1. A signature that doesn't count: IMM 5532 or IMM 1344 signed before "print to PDF", or a typed name in the box (why).
2. The wrong proof of marriage: a Record of Solemnization instead of the registered certificate (which one).
3. Fees: the sponsorship or processing fee not paid, or the receipt not uploaded. An unpaid RPRF doesn't get the package returned, and an unpaid biometrics fee delays it.
4. A missing document with no explanation: a police certificate without the letter of attempts (what to send), a translation by a non-certified translator without the translator's affidavit.
5. An expired or old form version: IRCC updates forms, and an old barcode page gets the package returned.
6. Country-specific documents not included, because the country list wasn't checked.

3. How do we know it's complete?

Work from the document checklist (IMM 5533 for spouses, IMM 5589 for common-law partners) line by line, tick each item as it's uploaded, and put a letter of explanation in the slot of anything you can't provide. Then check three cross-form facts: the class ticked on the checklist matches where the applicant lives on IMM 0008; the common-law start date on IMM 5532 is supported by your cohabitation documents; if you first met outside the applicant's country of residence, that meeting appears as a trip on IMM 5562 with the same dates.

4. What if it comes back?

The letter says what was missing. Fix exactly that, re-check the rest against the current form versions, and resubmit as a new package.

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Incomplete applications will not have a place in the processing queue. If you resubmit your application and we then confirm it is complete, we’ll process it based on the date that the resubmission is received.

Guide 5289, sponsor your spouse ↗

Status in Canada doesn't pause for a return; an inland applicant whose status depended on the application needs to look at the status clock first.

5. On the form

The checklist is the list the package is checked against, line by line. In OpenVisa each fact is entered once and used on every form that asks for it; the checklist, and the documents on it, are yours to complete.