Completing Form IMM 0008 – Generic Application Form for Canada

Step 14: Completing Form IMM 0008 – Generic Application Form for Canada

This is one of the principal applicant’s key forms. The principal applicant (parent or grandparent) is responsible for the information given here and should review it carefully – even if using a representative – to make sure it is all accurate and up to date. There are several sections with a lot of information required.

The IMM 0008 form has to:

• Be downloaded to your computer
• Be filled out electronically (filled out on your computer)
• Be validated (after filling it out you have to click on the Validate button at the top or bottom of the page)
• Have the 2D Bar Code pages properly printed (which only happens after you validate the form and thus only happens when you fill out the form electronically).

If your application form does not have the Barcode pages, or if they are not machine-readable (in other words if your printer does not work well and the image is blurred or otherwise unclear) your application will be returned to you.

 

Filling out the IMM 0008 form

Please note that there are several sections and as with many IMM forms each section has several questions that start again in each new section at question 1.

Question 1: from the drop-down menu choose Family

Question 2: from the drop-down menu choose Parents/Grandparents

Question 3: Fill in the total number of family members whether they are coming with the principal to Canada or not. Please remember that IRCC defines family members as:

• Spouse or Common-law partner
• Your dependants (dependent children)
• Your dependants’ dependants (dependent children of your dependent children).

Question 4: Language preference will often be important for parents or grandparents whose command of English may not be sufficient for understanding an interviewer for example. You have 3 choices to make as to language preference:

• Language of correspondence
• Language for the interview (You must be functionally fluent in English or French if you select them. Otherwise, you should choose your native language)
• Interpreter requested (if your language for the interview is NEITHER English nor French, click Yes).

Question 5: Select the province/territory and city/town where the principal applicant will be living in Canada. This will generally be the same city/town where the Sponsor is living, but not necessarily.

Question 6: Only answer this question if you are planning to live in Quebec.

 

Next comes the Personal Information on the Principal Applicant

Question 1: Make sure your name is written identically to how it appears in your passport.

Question 3: If this is the Principal Applicant’s first application for IRCC, then leave Question 3 (UCI) blank seeing you won’t have one.

Question 5: Either give your height in:

• Centimetres OR
• Feet and Inches.

Question 7: If you do not know your full birth date then enter “01” in any of YYYY (year), MM (month), or DD (day) for which you are uncertain or do not know.

Question 8: Your place of birth should be as shown in your passport.

Question 11: If you have previously been in Canada, enter the date when you last entered Canada (it should be stamped in your passport).

Question 13: Choose your current marital status from the following list:

• Annulled Marriage: your marriage was legally declared invalid or declared invalid by the Catholic Church.
• Common-law: you have lived continuously with your partner for at least 1 year. (You have NOT officially married in a civil or religious wedding with registration and a certificate.)
• Divorced: you have separated and legally ended your marriage.
• Legally separated: still officially married but not living with spouse.
• Married: you have been married to your spouse in a legally binding ceremony.
• Single: you have never been married and are not in a common-law relationship.
• Widowed: your spouse has died and you have not remarried nor entered into a common-law relationship.

 Question 14: If you ticked “Yes”, provide the following for previous spouses or previous common-law partners:

• Family name
• Given names
• Type of relationship
• Dates of relationship
• Date of birth.

 

Remember that if you include an email address, all correspondence will be sent electronically to that email address. Otherwise, it will be sent to your mailing address that you fill in the first part of this section.

 

Next comes the Passport and National Identity Document Sections

Question 2: Write your passport number exactly as it appears in your passport – but taking care not to put any spaces between the numbers and/or letters.

Question 6: Indicate Yes or No if you are using a passport issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a personal identification number.

Question 7: Indicate Yes or No if you are using a National Israeli Passport.

If you also hold a National Identity Document, fill in that information in the section just below the Passport Section as shown above. Make sure your document number in Question 2 is correct.

 

Education/Occupation Detail and Language Details for the IMM 0008

Question 1: List the highest level of degree you have earned.

Question 2: Give the total number of years of formal education you have had.

Question 3: Enter your current occupation.

Question 4: Give your intended occupation when you live in Canada.

For the Language Details section make sure to answer:

Question 1: Your native tongue.

Question 2: Whether you can communicate in English or French.

Question 3: The language you are most comfortable speaking.

 

Adding Dependants

You have essentially the same questions with the same sections outlined above for the principal applicant that now must be answered by you (the principal applicant) on behalf of any dependants you may have.

For each new dependant, click on the Add Dependant button at the bottom of the page as shown below:

To remove a dependant, click on the Remove Dependant button at the start of the Dependants section as shown below:

Finally, did you notice another button in our second-to-last image above?

It’s the Validate button. When you finish your form, click that button and any missing or mistaken fields (boxes) on your online form will be outlined in red. Make sure you complete each one correctly to ensure your form is complete (in other words, validated).

The last part is the consent (Yes or No) to allow IRCC to use your educational and occupational details to help them to better hire workers. Finally, the principal applicant has to sign and date the application form.

And at the end of the form is the validate button again.

The Validate button should be clicked after you’ve carefully reviewed all the information on the form and are confident it is truthful and accurate and any missing or mistaken fields should be filled out correctly.

This will generate the barcode pages which you will then print and place on top of this form. So, you should have a well-functioning printer ready to go before you take this final step in completing form IMM 0008.

Finally, sign and date the form after you have printed it. Remember, place the barcode page at the TOP of the form.

 

Completing the IMM 0008DEP Form (if applicable)

This form is only completed if you find you have more than 5 dependants meaning you have additional dependants you haven’t listed in form IMM 0008. Remember, you have to validate form IMM 0008 so once that’s done, if the principal applicant then realizes they have to add other dependants they can use this form. It asks the same questions as form IMM 0008 does as regards dependants.

Here’s an image of the first part of the form:

You have exactly the same sections as IMM 0008’s regarding dependants:

• Personal Details – with 17 questions
• Passport – with 5 questions
• National Identity Document – with 5 questions
• Education/Occupation Detail – with 4 questions
• Language Detail – with 2 questions
• Consent and Declaration of Applicant

The form should be filled out by the principal applicant and the consent question – as with form IMM 008 is whether you consent to IRCC sharing your educational/occupational details with prospective employers in Canada to help them to hire workers.