September 2022 Intake, Lets connect!

[parrots]

Thank you for your message! During the afternoon, my wife's passport request arrived so tomorrow we are sending them to VFS to see how long they take. I have no idea because I have not received any reference of any other applicant in Chile so we'll see... will keep the posts to let everybody know how things went.

Congratulations to you and your wife on your approval!!! This is great news! I've been following your posts here and almost cried when learnt about you getting an approval. Good luck to you, guys! Are you still deferring to January intake?

If you don't mind me asking, as you mentioned earlier that your first application was refused, what was the reason of refusal and how did you address it and overcame it on your second application?

I applied for SP with my husband applying for OWP via SDS from China (we're foreign residents in China).
Our timeline:
Applications submitted: 8 May
Biometrics given both: 12 May
Biometrics updated (for me): 12 May
Medical updated (for me): 29 June
My husband's application has not have any updates as of now. His biometrics still reads "we have not received your biometrics", but his status was changed on June 8 from "your action is required" to "submitted" and his biometric information is present in his applicant information box.

 

[Geet7]

Congratulations to you and your wife on your approval!!! This is great news! I've been following your posts here and almost cried when learnt about you getting an approval. Good luck to you, guys! Are you still deferring to January intake?

If you don't mind me asking, as you mentioned earlier that your first application was refused, what was the reason of refusal and how did you address it and overcame it on your second application?

I applied for SP with my husband applying for OWP via SDS from China (we're foreign residents in China).
Our timeline:
Applications submitted: 8 May
Biometrics given both: 12 May
Biometrics updated (for me): 12 May
Medical updated (for me): 29 June
My husband's application has not have any updates as of now. His biometrics still reads "we have not received your biometrics", but his status was changed on June 8 from "your action is required" to "submitted" and his biometric information is present in his applicant information box.

Thank you!!! Honestly, We didn't expect to receive an approval considering we had been waiting for 20 weeks for a decision. Today we submitted our passports and everything went smoothly but until we receive back the stamped passports and our final approval letter from IRCC, we are not declaring it a victory. In fact, we were so desperate that my wife applied and was accepted to a European university so now, we have to decide what to do.

As for your questions, here are my comments:

• Our first refusal had two motives: that we would not leave Canada at the end of our stay and that we did not have enough funds to cover our stay.
• We requested the GCMS notes and the VO's explanation for the refusal was filled with mistakes. It said the we had been living in our country of residence since 2019 and we actually have almost 10 years living here. Also, it said that the study program was available locally for a fraction of the cost, which is also false, and it mentioned absolutely nothing about the money. It also said that my wife had not been working for the past year, when in fact she left her job only a couple of months before submitting our application. The hole explanation was no longer than 4 sentences.
• We considered filing a judicial review because of the mistakes but at the end, we decided to send a new application addressing the refusal reasons.
• Because we are expats living here, we have no properties to our name and we have no family, we knew the "ties to your country of residence" was a challenge.
• We started our second application by addressing all the mistakes we found in the GCMS notes as clearly and direct as possible. Then, we submitted new evidence like documents of companies we each have created here. We also submitted letters from our employers, mine actually said that they would consider hiring me back once we return. Finally, we increased our funds (first we had applied with something like CAD 37.000. The second time, something around CAD 50.000). We also clearly declared the funds should be no issue since we were considerably above the threshold established by IRCC. Lastly, we submitted evidence of two ready to execute loans to my name in excess of CAD 40.000 (I don´t know if they were considered at all by the VO).
• We also decided to send evidence of a contract leasing our car to a third party for the duration of our stay in Canada.
• As in the first application, we provided evidence of being permanent residents and also of being in the process of getting citizenship of our country of residence.

We had several challenges, like the fact that my wife had a previous bachelor and she was going for a college degree in a completely different field. Also, she is above 25 years old. But the main one was to provide evidence of ties to our country of residence. Luckily, it seems everything is moving forward.

Sorry for my answer being so long.... hope you find something useful in there! Good luck!!!

 

[n@bz]

Thank you for your message! During the afternoon, my wife's passport request arrived so tomorrow we are sending them to VFS to see how long they take. I have no idea because I have not received any reference of any other applicant in Chile so we'll see... will keep the posts to let everybody know how things went.

congrats.. a long wait came to an end.. i hav almost similar case like u.. was waiting for sp+sowp since sep 2021.. yestrday sp got approved.. awaiting a decision for sowp

 

[desperator7788]

Thank you!!! Honestly, We didn't expect to receive an approval considering we had been waiting for 20 weeks for a decision. Today we submitted our passports and everything went smoothly but until we receive back the stamped passports and our final approval letter from IRCC, we are not declaring it a victory. In fact, we were so desperate that my wife applied and was accepted to a European university so now, we have to decide what to do.

As for your questions, here are my comments:

• Our first refusal had two motives: that we would not leave Canada at the end of our stay and that we did not have enough funds to cover our stay.
• We requested the GCMS notes and the VO's explanation for the refusal was filled with mistakes. It said the we had been living in our country of residence since 2019 and we actually have almost 10 years living here. Also, it said that the study program was available locally for a fraction of the cost, which is also false, and it mentioned absolutely nothing about the money. It also said that my wife had not been working for the past year, when in fact she left her job only a couple of months before submitting our application. The hole explanation was no longer than 4 sentences.
• We considered filing a judicial review because of the mistakes but at the end, we decided to send a new application addressing the refusal reasons.
• Because we are expats living here, we have no properties to our name and we have no family, we knew the "ties to your country of residence" was a challenge.
• We started our second application by addressing all the mistakes we found in the GCMS notes as clearly and direct as possible. Then, we submitted new evidence like documents of companies we each have created here. We also submitted letters from our employers, mine actually said that they would consider hiring me back once we return. Finally, we increased our funds (first we had applied with something like CAD 37.000. The second time, something around CAD 50.000). We also clearly declared the funds should be no issue since we were considerably above the threshold established by IRCC. Lastly, we submitted evidence of two ready to execute loans to my name in excess of CAD 40.000 (I don´t know if they were considered at all by the VO).
• We also decided to send evidence of a contract leasing our car to a third party for the duration of our stay in Canada.
• As in the first application, we provided evidence of being permanent residents and also of being in the process of getting citizenship of our country of residence.

We had several challenges, like the fact that my wife had a previous bachelor and she was going for a college degree in a completely different field. Also, she is above 25 years old. But the main one was to provide evidence of ties to our country of residence. Luckily, it seems everything is moving forward.

Sorry for my answer being so long.... hope you find something useful in there! Good luck!!!

finally bro, congrats!

 

[parrots]

Thank you!!! Honestly, We didn't expect to receive an approval considering we had been waiting for 20 weeks for a decision. Today we submitted our passports and everything went smoothly but until we receive back the stamped passports and our final approval letter from IRCC, we are not declaring it a victory. In fact, we were so desperate that my wife applied and was accepted to a European university so now, we have to decide what to do.

As for your questions, here are my comments:

• Our first refusal had two motives: that we would not leave Canada at the end of our stay and that we did not have enough funds to cover our stay.
• We requested the GCMS notes and the VO's explanation for the refusal was filled with mistakes. It said the we had been living in our country of residence since 2019 and we actually have almost 10 years living here. Also, it said that the study program was available locally for a fraction of the cost, which is also false, and it mentioned absolutely nothing about the money. It also said that my wife had not been working for the past year, when in fact she left her job only a couple of months before submitting our application. The hole explanation was no longer than 4 sentences.
• We considered filing a judicial review because of the mistakes but at the end, we decided to send a new application addressing the refusal reasons.
• Because we are expats living here, we have no properties to our name and we have no family, we knew the "ties to your country of residence" was a challenge.
• We started our second application by addressing all the mistakes we found in the GCMS notes as clearly and direct as possible. Then, we submitted new evidence like documents of companies we each have created here. We also submitted letters from our employers, mine actually said that they would consider hiring me back once we return. Finally, we increased our funds (first we had applied with something like CAD 37.000. The second time, something around CAD 50.000). We also clearly declared the funds should be no issue since we were considerably above the threshold established by IRCC. Lastly, we submitted evidence of two ready to execute loans to my name in excess of CAD 40.000 (I don´t know if they were considered at all by the VO).
• We also decided to send evidence of a contract leasing our car to a third party for the duration of our stay in Canada.
• As in the first application, we provided evidence of being permanent residents and also of being in the process of getting citizenship of our country of residence.

We had several challenges, like the fact that my wife had a previous bachelor and she was going for a college degree in a completely different field. Also, she is above 25 years old. But the main one was to provide evidence of ties to our country of residence. Luckily, it seems everything is moving forward.

Sorry for my answer being so long.... hope you find something useful in there! Good luck!!!

Oh, wow! Thank you so much for your answer! It really is beyond my expectations - not only every line of it is enormously helpful, but this is easily the best answer I've seen across numerous threads on this forum. I feel that not just my husband and me, but a lot of people would benefit from your reply, so thank you for that.

It is incredible how similar our cases are. We are also expats living in China for more than 10 years, with no ownership of properties or cars (because it's impossible for foreigners in China to own a property), with no option of getting a Chinese citizenship (because again - simply impossible for foreigners even on the basis of marriage to a local), our families living in different countries. We are also older than 25, both having university BA degrees and me applying for my second BA degree in a different field. So, we have faced exactly the same challenges as you guys to prove our "ties to our country of residence", justification of the second BA degree and complicated finances in a foreign country for us already.

Up until your reply we felt like we were the only couple in the whole world with such a particular set of challenges! It is so comforting to know that we are not the only ones and that there are some people in exact same boat with us! You've inspired us to an extent that if we get a refusal, we'll re-apply (because our original idea was that one refusal is that's all there is to it). So, additional thank you for that!

Today is exactly 10 weeks since we submitted our biometrics (with medical upfront). The SDS in China is supposed to take 3 week, but oh well, it all goes according to plan this year for everyone, huh? At this point, I feel the same way of going to the embassy myself (if only it was possible with China's zero-Covid policy), but since you've tried that one, we'll just wait. To be fair, we have received a reply on our Web form that my husband's application will be updated "shortly". We all know what "shortly" means this year, don't we all?

Anyway, thanks again a lot! I personally don't think you should give up your permits after such an incredible story of fighting and waiting for them. It seems like it is easier to go to Europe these days than to Canada, so it is worth treasuring the Canadian permits once you get them!

 

[Geet7]

congrats.. a long wait came to an end.. i hav almost similar case like u.. was waiting for sp+sowp since sep 2021.. yestrday sp got approved.. awaiting a decision for sowp

Congrats!!!! Can't believe you were waiting since last year to receive a decision... it's unbelievable how long can IRCC take to review applications. I know they must be swamped but people's lives are basically on hold. Luckily, at least you received a decision!

What you received was the passport request only for yourself and not for your spouse, is that correct?

 

[n@bz]

Congrats!!!! Can't believe you were waiting since last year to receive a decision... it's unbelievable how long can IRCC take to review applications. I know they must be swamped but people's lives are basically on hold. Luckily, at least you received a decision!

What you received was the passport request only for yourself and not for your spouse, is that correct?

Don’t know why our application was stuck. May be this is the right time for us.
Got ppr for both. First for primary applicant and the next day for dependent.

 

[Geet7]

Oh, wow! Thank you so much for your answer! It really is beyond my expectations - not only every line of it is enormously helpful, but this is easily the best answer I've seen across numerous threads on this forum. I feel that not just my husband and me, but a lot of people would benefit from your reply, so thank you for that.

It is incredible how similar our cases are. We are also expats living in China for more than 10 years, with no ownership of properties or cars (because it's impossible for foreigners in China to own a property), with no option of getting a Chinese citizenship (because again - simply impossible for foreigners even on the basis of marriage to a local), our families living in different countries. We are also older than 25, both having university BA degrees and me applying for my second BA degree in a different field. So, we have faced exactly the same challenges as you guys to prove our "ties to our country of residence", justification of the second BA degree and complicated finances in a foreign country for us already.

Up until your reply we felt like we were the only couple in the whole world with such a particular set of challenges! It is so comforting to know that we are not the only ones and that there are some people in exact same boat with us! You've inspired us to an extent that if we get a refusal, we'll re-apply (because our original idea was that one refusal is that's all there is to it). So, additional thank you for that!

Today is exactly 10 weeks since we submitted our biometrics (with medical upfront). The SDS in China is supposed to take 3 week, but oh well, it all goes according to plan this year for everyone, huh? At this point, I feel the same way of going to the embassy myself (if only it was possible with China's zero-Covid policy), but since you've tried that one, we'll just wait. To be fair, we have received a reply on our Web form that my husband's application will be updated "shortly". We all know what "shortly" means this year, don't we all?

Anyway, thanks again a lot! I personally don't think you should give up your permits after such an incredible story of fighting and waiting for them. It seems like it is easier to go to Europe these days than to Canada, so it is worth treasuring the Canadian permits once you get them!

Well, hope everything works out for you! If by any chance you need any help in the future, send me a DM and I would gladly try my best to help you!

One thing that I would advice is to start thinking about a worst case scenario. In my experience, I was completely sure we would receive a positive decision on our first application. When we received the refusal, we took some weeks to decide what to do next. Then, we reapplied almost 10 months later. If we had prepared for a potential second application or a potential different country of study earlier, we would have saved a lot of time. So what I´m trying to say is, if you can make to most of the time while your application is being processed, do it. Maybe try to improve your profile, your travel history or something...

In our second application, the moment we submitted it we started researching other potential countries of study. My wife applied and was accepted to a university in a Nordic country and now we have that plan B in case something goes wrong.

We will now continue to wait for our stamped passports and will update once we hear something!

 

[parrots]

Well, hope everything works out for you! If by any chance you need any help in the future, send me a DM and I would gladly try my best to help you!

One thing that I would advice is to start thinking about a worst case scenario. In my experience, I was completely sure we would receive a positive decision on our first application. When we received the refusal, we took some weeks to decide what to do next. Then, we reapplied almost 10 months later. If we had prepared for a potential second application or a potential different country of study earlier, we would have saved a lot of time. So what I´m trying to say is, if you can make to most of the time while your application is being processed, do it. Maybe try to improve your profile, your travel history or something...

In our second application, the moment we submitted it we started researching other potential countries of study. My wife applied and was accepted to a university in a Nordic country and now we have that plan B in case something goes wrong.

We will now continue to wait for our stamped passports and will update once we hear something!

Thank you so much for your encouragement and your offer to help! It is, honestly, priceless.

I agree, it is definitely wise not to put all eggs in one basket and be ready with a back-up plan even if just in case. We are awaiting the decision, dreading the refusal, but trying to keep our sanity by focusing on other options in an event this one does not work out. It is, obviously, hard to live by the "what if" scenario, especially when we have to think about three at a time: what if we go, what if we re-apply, what if we get refused twice. Since there is no defined timeframe of processing time, we can't plan any of these actions properly. I have already deferred my studies to Winter intake and we are also thinking about other possible countries, though it would have to be for Fall 2023.

We are so much looking forward to hearing great news from you! Good luck with your next step! And I'll be posting our update as well

 

[claramcarvalho]

Dear fellows, my visa was approved today!

TIMELINE
Clara (SP) + Bernardo (OWP) + 2 filhos (SP + VST)
Montréal/QC - Analytics, Big Data and BI (Trebas Institute)
Medicals Upfront: 22/04/2022
CAQ: 01/04/2022
CAQ daughter: 07/04/2022
CAQ approved: 09/05/2022
Online Application: 11/05/2022
Biometrics: 16/05/2022
CAQ daughter approved: 19/05/2022
Review of Eligibility: somewhere around 22/06/2022
Approved: 22/07/2022

 

[preciousugwala]

Hi all, I received correspondence letter today but no PPR or denial, does it usually take this long for the decision to be made after correspondence letter and if it’s delayed does that mean denial? Hopefully not . Anyone experiencing this as well?

 

[Geet7]

Just to update... On July 23 we received our passports stamped. However, IRCC did not take into consideration that my wife had deferred from September to the January intake, so the visa was issued according to the September intake timeline. Instead of contacting IRCC to request a they fix this (given they took almost 22 weeks to process our application), we are going to request a SP extension once in Canada. Hope everything works out well...

 

[parrots]

Just to update... On August 23 we received our passports stamped. However, IRCC did not take into consideration that my wife had deferred from September to the January intake, so the visa was issued according to the September intake timeline. Instead of contacting IRCC to request a they fix this (given they took almost 22 weeks to process our application), we are going to request a SP extension once in Canada. Hope everything works out well...

Congratulations guys! Such an incredible journey with so many hurdles along the way, but it's a breath of fresh air for you finally!

Yes, the IRCC probably issues visas without taking into consideration their own delays, the rest is sort of our problems deferring or going through the application process all over again, doesn't seem to matter a lot to them.

Did you mean August 2, August 3 or maybe July 23, by the way? Oh, wait, now I can see it in your signature! 23 July.

Beautiful! Good luck to you guys!

 

[Geet7]

Congratulations guys! Such an incredible journey with so many hurdles along the way, but it's a breath of fresh air for you finally!

Yes, the IRCC probably issues visas without taking into consideration their own delays, the rest is sort of our problems deferring or going through the application process all over again, doesn't seem to matter a lot to them.

Did you mean August 2, August 3 or maybe July 23, by the way? Oh, wait, now I can see it in your signature! 23 July.

Beautiful! Good luck to you guys!

Hahaha! Ups... I corrected the information because it said "August 23" when it should've said "July 23".

Thank you! Hope you have news soon! Keep us posted!!!! Crossing my fingers for your application!!!

 

[parrots]

Hahaha! Ups... I corrected the information because it said "August 23" when it should've said "July 23".

Thank you! Hope you have news soon! Keep us posted!!!! Crossing my fingers for your application!!!

Thank you so so much, you can't imagine, which actually you really can! Thank you so much!