From my signature you can see my timeline. Basically like so many others on this forum my status is in 'Limbo'. I know 2 friends (husband & wife) who applied in Dec 2021 (not on this forum) and I was shocked and disappointed to learn that they completed their Oath ceremony yesterday. How can this be? What happened to first come first serve? I applied almost 3 months before them.
Anyway what do you think of getting an immigration lawyer to write a letter stating that even though processing time now is 26 months, when I applied in Oct 2021 it was 12 months. Do you think my application will be sped up in processing if immigration gets the letter from the Immigration Lawyer? Is there anything else I can do?
Thanks for all who answer
(Fed up, frustrated, & disappointed in the system)
"I know 2 friends (husband & wife) who applied in Dec 2021 (not on this forum) and I was shocked and disappointed to learn that they completed their Oath ceremony yesterday."
How do your friends feel about you being disappointed they have become Canadian citizens? Perhaps they are former friends now?
It's not a race, by the way. No need or call to resent someone else, friend or stranger, getting to take the oath and become a citizen. Frankly, I'd think that "
congratulations" would be the favourable response.
"How can this be? What happened to first come first serve? I applied almost 3 months before them."
First-in, first-served, applies to particular queues. How long a particular application takes to be processed at any particular step can vary, and vary considerably. There is a new queue at each step in the process.
EXAMPLE:
Applications are opened and screened for completeness in the order that they arrive. But then some applications will take longer to proceed through the completeness screening step. This can depend, for example, on what information may need to be cross-checked and verified to see that the application meets the requirements to be put "in process." So applications will take different amounts of time for this step to be completed and the application to be referred to the next step. Moreover there are multiple steps in this, the processing done at the CPC-Sydney offices, so how long it takes for particular applications to finally be referred to a local office can vary considerably.
When the application is actually referred to the local office that determines that applications place in the queue for local office processing. Does not matter what date the application arrived at CPC-Sydney; the application is in queue based on the date it is referred to the local office. So, even at this early stage of processing, some applications will be arriving at the local office later than applications filed after them. The latter are now, at the local office, ahead in the queue and the first-in, first-served applies based on the order in which the applications have arrived at the local office.
So, as applications proceed from one step to another, there is the potential for this or that application to end up behind others in the next queue, arriving at the next step later than some applications that were previously behind them in the queue. There are multiple steps and potentially various paths in processing in the local office, so there is the potential again for this or that application to take longer in any given step which can add up and put some applications well behind, in the processing timeline, than others.
"Anyway what do you think of getting an immigration lawyer to write a letter stating that even though processing time now is 26 months, when I applied in Oct 2021 it was 12 months. Do you think my application will be sped up in processing if immigration gets the letter from the Immigration Lawyer? Is there anything else I can do?"
It is hard to say, in the individual case, how much can be gained by various means of prodding IRCC, ranging from webform and call centre inquiries to contacting the applicant's MP, from making an ATIP request for information such as GCMS records up to paying many hundreds of dollars (perhaps into the thousands) to have a lawyer make a mandamus demand to process the application (a prerequisite to filing an action in the Federal Court seeking a Writ of Mandamus ordering IRCC to process the application). There are numerous topics here about efforts to spur accelerated processing, both in regards to individual applications, and in regards to activism to push IRCC to improve its processing timeline overall.
The published timelines are no more than general descriptions of how long it has taken to process most applications in the past. They are not binding. They are not enforceable. They do not really say much at all about how long it will take a particular individual application. In particular, the fact that the published timeline was 12 months when you applied means nothing . . . especially in the wake of Covid.
For more insight into when it is time to proactively engage in efforts to prod processing, probably a good idea to follow reports about processing timelines accessible through this forum, and peruse the experiences reported here. But, again, it is hard to say, in the individual case, how much can be gained by various means of prodding IRCC.
