Hoping to find anyone in a similar situation who has been stuck in the security part of the background check for over a year. My file was passed to CBSA by CSIS 14 months ago and I am still waiting. "security in process with CBSA" Have nowhere to turn.
Anyone stuck in Spousal PR security check over 1 year (not criminality but security background check) Please join here
- Thread starter Liveinthepresent
- Start date
The Mexicans office Is slow in general but due to minimal ties to Cuba by all our partners it is very hard to do security checks. Were you ever part of the army, police, certain sensitive government jobs, ever been in trouble in Cuba, ever been part of an organized political group, etc. All these things will also slow down the process.
Mandatory 2 year military. clean police record, no gov't jobs. I'm aware Mexico is slow but I've seen them processing file in 8-10 months lately. Background check has been with CBSA and I think file has been transferred to Vancouver office although can't find that VO as one that processes files (or anything about it for that matter). Can't figure out why so slow to do this check and we would like to get our lives started. It looks like most people who go into such a long background check are in it for 2-3 years or have to do a writ of mandamus. Trying to get an idea of some timelines for this. Mental health deteriorating with this long wait.
The fact that you are from Cuba and military service is likely the main culprits for long background process.
I'm 100% sure of this. I'm hoping to find some others in same situation. It's draining with no end in sight. I can't even get my GCMS notes to see if they've done anything on the file.
I wish there was some recourse. I am preparing for the fact that I'll probably have to file for a Writ of Mandamus, although IRCC seems to drag their feet on these too.
Between the backlogs due to covid and typical extra processing time for Cuba your current processing times are not that abnormal.
Bonjour,
Je suis dans la même situation exactement. Toutes les étapes sont terminées pour moi, mais je n'ai pas l'autorisation d'aller passer l'EMI parce que les vérifications de "sécurité" sont en cours avec L'AFSC depuis presque un an. Moi j'ai reçu mes notes au dossier de l'agent, dont j'avais demandé, je n'ai rien lu comme doute, sauf c'est noté "sécurité en cours" et tout le reste est correct. J'étais dans l'armée aussi pendant un certain temps, mais je n'y suis plus. Vous n'êtes pas seul. Ma femme ne sait plus à quel saint se vouer et moi non plus. Nous ne faisons qu'attendre et notre demande est en cours depuis 35 mois déjà. Une vraie galère et la santé mentale est en train de prendre un coup.
N.B Si quelqu'un a une solution ou une idée il est prié de le partager
Je suis dans la même situation exactement. Toutes les étapes sont terminées pour moi, mais je n'ai pas l'autorisation d'aller passer l'EMI parce que les vérifications de "sécurité" sont en cours avec L'AFSC depuis presque un an. Moi j'ai reçu mes notes au dossier de l'agent, dont j'avais demandé, je n'ai rien lu comme doute, sauf c'est noté "sécurité en cours" et tout le reste est correct. J'étais dans l'armée aussi pendant un certain temps, mais je n'y suis plus. Vous n'êtes pas seul. Ma femme ne sait plus à quel saint se vouer et moi non plus. Nous ne faisons qu'attendre et notre demande est en cours depuis 35 mois déjà. Une vraie galère et la santé mentale est en train de prendre un coup.
N.B Si quelqu'un a une solution ou une idée il est prié de le partager
In February 2018 a petition was presented to the parliament https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1263, which has to do with files that get sent to the CBSA and get stuck for indefinite amount of time. IRCC claims to have "no control" when files go to partner agencies - so basically there is no accountability.
I have been looking at cases that have had judgements when a Writ of Mandamus has been filed (Mandamus, or a ‘Writ of Mandamus’ means “we command” in Latin. Simply put, it is a command issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or an administrative body (a government officer/ ministry, agency, or corporation) to do or refrain from doing a specific act which that body is obligated to do under law or refrain from doing. Mandamus is used as a remedy by applicants to compel IRCC to do a specific act. One of the most common cases where mandamus is used is to compel IRCC to make a decision on an application where there has been an unreasonable processing delay.) Most cases seeking mandamus for the processing delays of a permanent residency application pertain to delays due to security screening. The problem with that is because it has to do with security, most people lose in court because the judge can't force IRCC to make a decision when security hasn't been cleared
I totally understand the importance of a security screening and have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the length of time it takes - again, no accountability, and files sit with the IRCC for years. As per the petition that was put before the government, there should be time limit to conduct security screenings. Unfortunately this is not the case.
1st set of GCMS notes show file sent to CBSA and say:
7/29/21 - submitted for security check
11/16/21 update will be requested to partners regarding bkg checks
3/3/22 update requested
NOTE: It took 8 months to request an update
In May 2022 I ordered new GCMS notes and have yet to received them. One months ago I filed a complaint with the Office of the Information commissioner to get the GCMS notes and am still waiting
Given that you haven’t even reached a year then writ of mandamus is likely not an option for you. After 35 months it is.
As you can see it seems on other agencies that Canada is waiting to hear from. It’s tough but Canada requests information and then waits for other agencies to get back to them. They can’t send requests for updates continuously. They are managing lots of files so they would have circled back to your file eventually to ask for an update.
We are in month 19 of application, 14 of those in security check. When we applied timeline was 12 months processing. I know that IRCC has moved the goalpost to try to lessen the amount of Writs of Mandamus filed, but one has to prepare. There is some pre-exisiting duty is there not?