@jeanoappleseed@vivaldi.net I sponsored my wife's immigration to Canada. For the first two hours or so, my sister-in-law, wife, and I tried doing it on our own. After figuratively beating our heads against the wall a few hundred times, we hired a lawyer. As I recall, the final submission was over fifty pages long. We had to come up with as many pictures as we possibly could, a list of all the visits she and I had made back and forth, all gifts given, references, the more the better, she had to get a few background checks and fingerprinting, I as sponsor was completely responsible for her financially for three years, and there's lots of stuff I probably forgot. That was for a spousal sponsorship, and the total cost to me was around $10,000. I've often said, if needed, I would sponsor her again in a heartbeat, but there is no way on earth I'd do it for anyone else.