1-130A: Estimating past employment dates? (Applying via Montreal)

[Courtney86 29]

How important is it to be exact in the 5 years of past employment on the 1-130A? I've searched and any threads I've found about this have either been regarding different forms/not CR-1, very outdated, or just people hoping it's ok with no confirmation from others bar one that said it won't be a big deal. 

 

My wife has worked many different jobs as a contractor and does not have clear records. Obviously getting as close as you can is best. That being said:

1) Can you leave the day off and just do month/year?

2) If you must put the day is there any rhyme or reason to what date to put (the 1st vs the end of the month vs the middle)

3) If she is off by a few months (because she really can't remember and there's no way to confirm) does this generally ever become an issue? Do they even check?

 

The threads I have seen for other forms/visas just recommend estimating and then keeping a copy of the dates you wrote so you for the interview so you can be sure to match whatever they ask. Is this the only time it comes up? 

 

Thanks!

[pushbrk 12,092]

5 hours ago, Courtney86 said:

How important is it to be exact in the 5 years of past employment on the 1-130A? I've searched and any threads I've found about this have either been regarding different forms/not CR-1, very outdated, or just people hoping it's ok with no confirmation from others bar one that said it won't be a big deal. 

 

My wife has worked many different jobs as a contractor and does not have clear records. Obviously getting as close as you can is best. That being said:

1) Can you leave the day off and just do month/year?

2) If you must put the day is there any rhyme or reason to what date to put (the 1st vs the end of the month vs the middle)

3) If she is off by a few months (because she really can't remember and there's no way to confirm) does this generally ever become an issue? Do they even check?

 

The threads I have seen for other forms/visas just recommend estimating and then keeping a copy of the dates you wrote so you for the interview so you can be sure to match whatever they ask. Is this the only time it comes up? 

 

Thanks!

First, you do the best you can to estimate the dates and that's fine.  However, if she was working as an independent contractor, not an employee, you would not list each company she did work for.  You would show her as self employed during any time she was not an actual "employee".

[Courtney86 29]

4 hours ago, pushbrk said:

First, you do the best you can to estimate the dates and that's fine.  However, if she was working as an independent contractor, not an employee, you would not list each company she did work for.  You would show her as self employed during any time she was not an actual "employee".

Ah right, good catch, I was wondering about that. New questions then:

 

1) If she taught for several different yoga studios (as a contractor) and did some other contractor jobs, like landscaping, and this spanned a couple years does that mean she could just write 'Self employed' in the 'name of employer' field, and with a date range like Sept. 2012- present?

 

She doesn't need to separate out all the different jobs? i.e. Can she just write "yoga teacher/ landscaper" on the position field with a 5 year date range?

 

Or that is only the case if the work was the same: i.e. several jobs can be lumped together in one date range under self employed/yoga teacher (regardless of how many studios she was at) and then a separate entry for self employed/landscaping.

 

2) What does she put for the employer address? If it would be her home address, and she moved more than once during the date range, should she just write her current address?

 

3) Yoga studios in Canada switched this year from hiring as contractors to hiring as employees. If she worked for studio ABC from 2012-2016 as a contractor, and in 2017 as an employee, how should this be documented? The first 4 years as written above, and then a new entry for 2017? That seems to be technically correct. 

 

4) Will it look weird/bad/strange to have ' self employed ' for so long? Do they actually verify past employment at all? As said above, her records of contract work are not very clear.

 

That being said she had a salaried full time job until June 2015, and got another full time job Nov. 2015, so aside from those few months the self employment was almost always on the side/ in addition to other actual employee work. 

 

Thank you so much for the help! 

[Courtney86 29]

p.s. Can you confirm if you can leave the day off the date range (and just use month/year) or should you estimate a date and fill it out fully? I've read both on here...

[pushbrk 12,092]

5 hours ago, Courtney86 said:

Ah right, good catch, I was wondering about that. New questions then:

 

1) If she taught for several different yoga studios (as a contractor) and did some other contractor jobs, like landscaping, and this spanned a couple years does that mean she could just write 'Self employed' in the 'name of employer' field, and with a date range like Sept. 2012- present?

 

She doesn't need to separate out all the different jobs? i.e. Can she just write "yoga teacher/ landscaper" on the position field with a 5 year date range?

 

Or that is only the case if the work was the same: i.e. several jobs can be lumped together in one date range under self employed/yoga teacher (regardless of how many studios she was at) and then a separate entry for self employed/landscaping.

 

2) What does she put for the employer address? If it would be her home address, and she moved more than once during the date range, should she just write her current address?

 

3) Yoga studios in Canada switched this year from hiring as contractors to hiring as employees. If she worked for studio ABC from 2012-2016 as a contractor, and in 2017 as an employee, how should this be documented? The first 4 years as written above, and then a new entry for 2017? That seems to be technically correct. 

 

4) Will it look weird/bad/strange to have ' self employed ' for so long? Do they actually verify past employment at all? As said above, her records of contract work are not very clear.

 

That being said she had a salaried full time job until June 2015, and got another full time job Nov. 2015, so aside from those few months the self employment was almost always on the side/ in addition to other actual employee work. 

 

Thank you so much for the help! 

I would separate the occupations, even if the dates overlap.  If estimating dates, just put the 1st.  They'll get it.  I've been self employed for at least ten years.  What's strange about it.  Just answer the questions actually asked.  Overlapping of dates is fine.