Digital signatures: why IMM 5532 or IMM 1344 comes back "missing signature"

1. What does IRCC say?

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Important: To digitally sign the form, you must first complete the form and then select "print to PDF". This will create a new version of the form that can be digitally signed.

Guide 5289, sponsor your spouse ↗

The live IRCC PDF is a locked, validating form. Signing that file, or typing your name into the signature box, doesn't produce a signature IRCC's system reads. Printing to PDF flattens it into an ordinary document that can carry a digital signature or a scanned handwritten one.

2. The sequence that works

1. Fill the form in Adobe Reader and validate it (the barcode page appears).
2. File, then Print, then choose "Save as PDF" or "Microsoft Print to PDF" as the printer. Save the new file.
3. Open the new file and sign: a digital ID in Adobe, or print, sign by hand, and scan.
4. Upload the signed, flattened file.

IMM 1344 is signed by the sponsor, the principal applicant and any co-signer. IMM 5532 has four signatures: the sponsor signs in Part A and Part C, and the applicant signs in Part B and Part C.

3. Common variants of the same mistake

• Signing on a phone PDF app that saves an annotation, not a signature.
• Signing one copy and uploading another.
• Signing before validating, so the barcode and the signature are on different versions.
• One of the four IMM 5532 signatures left empty.

4. On the form

This applies to the two forms the sponsor and applicant sign, IMM 1344 and IMM 5532, and to IMM 5476 if you use a representative. OpenVisa gives you the two forms filled; print to PDF and sign them the same way.