Thread for Acrra Ghana applicants

[klemzo]

What is your timeline?
My app similar to yours... we are all waiting.
AvO has started reviewing feb 2017 applicants

If your wife gets approved you have to do medicals again. When did you apply initially?

Below is my timeline:

App Recieved 12-02-2017
AOR1 30-03-2017
Sponsorship Approval 28-04-2017
File Transfer to Accra 12-06-2017

I didn't get an AOR2 but apparently they have my application in queue last time I emailed them. My application and yours are pretty much similar.. please keep me up to date if you hear anything and I will do the same too.

 

[Ugoswife]

I wish there wa's a way for people who haven't submitted their applications to join this forum and read experiences before submitting theirs. Dealing with immigration generally is all about honesty. As soon as they doubt one thing about you, they begin to doubt everything. However, they aren't as strict with family sponsorships which is why we see them asking people to re-fill their schedule A form, sometimes it's a second chance to right your mistake esp if the visa officer is being sympathetic. A lot of people get away with making mistakes on that visa denial question and sometimes they advice other people here not to disclose the mistake but just pray. If you are lucky enough to get away with it, well good for you but if your application is still under review and you detect that mistake, CONTACT THEM BEFORE THEY CONTACT YOU! There is nothing wrong with being denied a visa. Last year, I applied for a study permit but not to AVO (Cyprus), I was denied and it was because I didn't have any idea how serious applications to CIC were, I didn't research it. I applied again after a weeks and was denied again. We weren't even married at the time but we were dating. A few months later, we got married in the US and it was a civil wedding, no one in aten dance just both of us although we got letters from our parents and siblings acknowledging the marriage and telling them we were doing a Nigerian wedding this December. These were so many red flags as I had seen from other people's application but we took our time to look for all the evidence we had of our relationship all the way back to 2012 when were both living in Nigeria (hubby immigrated in 2015) and I moved out of Nigeria as well so it was long distance. My husband wrote a cover letter explaining everything and mentioned that we wanted my to continue my studies in Canada because he was there that's why we applied then but I was unfortunately refused.
For Africans, our relationships are quite different from other people, a lot of times we don't have the kind of evidence they want to see esp if the relationship wasnt long distance, provide what you have and explain it. Don't listen to lawyers and agents that want to help you fabricate evidence, you'll end up in real trouble. I though I wold be called in for an interview but I wasn't. Although we sent them our wedding pics in September this year.
If you are refused, depending on the reasons, reapplying might be a better option that appealing. I've gone to their thread and seen people waiting for up to 3 years to be rejected again.
Please let's be more careful with filling out government forms even after we immigrate. A little mistake can cost you too much.

 

[iyawoSparks]

@iyawoSparks . Longtime. Hope your well. Any news yet?

I'm very well, thank you. Hope you are too. No news yet. Last I heard from AVO was a couple of weeks ago with a generic response to an email I sent them "Dear Sir/Madam.... Your application is in queue for review... yada yada yada". From the look of things, they are on February 2017 applications now so that's a good thing. I just keep praying.

 

[bbccanada]

I wish there wa's a way for people who haven't submitted their applications to join this forum and read experiences before submitting theirs. Dealing with immigration generally is all about honesty. As soon as they doubt one thing about you, they begin to doubt everything. However, they aren't as strict with family sponsorships which is why we see them asking people to re-fill their schedule A form, sometimes it's a second chance to right your mistake esp if the visa officer is being sympathetic. A lot of people get away with making mistakes on that visa denial question and sometimes they advice other people here not to disclose the mistake but just pray. If you are lucky enough to get away with it, well good for you but if your application is still under review and you detect that mistake, CONTACT THEM BEFORE THEY CONTACT YOU! There is nothing wrong with being denied a visa. Last year, I applied for a study permit but not to AVO (Cyprus), I was denied and it was because I didn't have any idea how serious applications to CIC were, I didn't research it. I applied again after a weeks and was denied again. We weren't even married at the time but we were dating. A few months later, we got married in the US and it was a civil wedding, no one in aten dance just both of us although we got letters from our parents and siblings acknowledging the marriage and telling them we were doing a Nigerian wedding this December. These were so many red flags as I had seen from other people's application but we took our time to look for all the evidence we had of our relationship all the way back to 2012 when were both living in Nigeria (hubby immigrated in 2015) and I moved out of Nigeria as well so it was long distance. My husband wrote a cover letter explaining everything and mentioned that we wanted my to continue my studies in Canada because he was there that's why we applied then but I was unfortunately refused.
For Africans, our relationships are quite different from other people, a lot of times we don't have the kind of evidence they want to see esp if the relationship wasnt long distance, provide what you have and explain it. Don't listen to lawyers and agents that want to help you fabricate evidence, you'll end up in real trouble. I though I wold be called in for an interview but I wasn't. Although we sent them our wedding pics in September this year.
If you are refused, depending on the reasons, reapplying might be a better option that appealing. I've gone to their thread and seen people waiting for up to 3 years to be rejected again.
Please let's be more careful with filling out government forms even after we immigrate. A little mistake can cost you too much.

@Ugoswife, Thank you for your poste and I hope you will continue to stay here with other senior members to help avoid some deadly mistakes we are making on our application especially the new applicanst about the submit. First of all, I was going to post but I was worried that some members would think I am blaming someone but that is not the case here. As you know some members say goodbye to this forum as soon as they get their visas but we are still here to encourage and also share the pain together with those in a very difficult situation. IF anyone can ready my last few post you would see that I was very critical and advising everyone to be 200% sure that a document is genuine before submitting to the AVO because I was using the mistake i made in the past to educate future applicants as well as those about to submit document to be very careful. Honestly speaking, if you look at the refusal we have had for the past few weeks in this forum that lead to misrepresentation it could have been prevented with being patient as well as solving one concern with the AVO before moving to the next step but unfortunately we actually ignored the first concern and move to the next step which I think is a deadly mistake. For example, in "HisAma's" situation when the AVO had concern about the document presented to them regarding her husband's bank account, she was given 30 days to address their concern which she should have done it but she ignored the chance given to her to clear the air with the AVO and start a new spousal application thinking that the previous application was visitors visa and doesn't apply to spousal application which I think was a terrible mistake. In contrast, when my first application was refused due to some concern about my wife's school certificate she obtained when she made a name change I immediately investigated the case instead of arguing with them then it turns out they were absolutely right the serial number on her old cert doesn't much the one on the new one issue to her so I quickly acted and I was able to prove them that my wife was a victim hence I was told the damage has already been done so we have to reapply. Even though, I was given the opportunity to reapply but I decided to wait for few visits to gather more evidence before applying and I took 2 years for that and today my patient has finally been paid off. So, all in all, we have to be patient because taking 2 years to make things right is better than to rush to get 5 years ban for misrepresentation which could have been prevented. Finally, Ugoswife made a point that the spousal application has a 90% chance of success than the visitors visa hence I advice that once your application is in process don't complicate things with visitors visa which require more documents which eventually lead to mess we are now experiencing. Before I end up, I would like us to pray for those having a difficult time at the moment to have strength to be able to overcome those obstacles. Thank you all for reading my lengthy post

 

[Ugoswife]

@bbccanada you are absolutely right. It''s heartbreaking to see families being separated sometimes permanently just because of honest mistakes. I'll do my best to visit here regularly to give what advice I can to new applicants and hopefully we can help prevent some of these errors.

 

[Lagos babe]

I remember a few weeks back, I advised someone who had issues with this form and had a PPR to send an explanation asap to AVO, Because he refused to disclose a visa denial, which was evident on his passport.
I got a lot of backlash, with someone telling me she was an expert at immigration issues, and he had no reason to explain to them, since he had a PPR. Sadly, she was so sure, she was right, thankfully he guy had sent his stuff to AVO.
I reiterate my opinion, AVO is tired of hearing"it skipped my mind, or I forgot". I have dealt with AVO a lot, they used to be lenient, but so-called lawyers/agents/advisers spoilt things, so now, they are strict.
It is an OFFENSE to not disclose previous denials. If you have been denied, please go back to refusal notes, and check the reasons, before you start spousal application. If it has anything to do with false documents/misrepresentation, please tackle it First, before going through the spousal sponsorship route.
Lastly, beware of people you get advise from, if you have doubts, please raise a CSE, don't be caught in the middle.

 

[bbccanada]

@bbccanada you are absolutely right. It''s heartbreaking to see families being separated sometimes permanently just because of honest mistakes. I'll do my best to visit here regularly to give what advice I can to new applicants and hopefully we can help prevent some of these errors.

Thanks Ugoswife, I am glad you will be here with other members because if you go through a pain and you see your own brother or sister going through that same pain 3 times more than what you have gone through is heartbreaking.

 

[bbccanada]

I remember a few weeks back, I advised someone who had issues with this form and had a PPR to send an explanation asap to AVO, Because he refused to disclose a visa denial, which was evident on his passport.
I got a lot of backlash, with someone telling me she was an expert at immigration issues, and he had no reason to explain to them, since he had a PPR. Sadly, she was so sure, she was right, thankfully he guy had sent his stuff to AVO.
I reiterate my opinion, AVO is tired of hearing"it skipped my mind, or I forgot". I have dealt with AVO a lot, they used to be lenient, but so-called lawyers/agents/advisers spoilt things, so now, they are strict.
It is an OFFENSE to not disclose previous denials. If you have been denied, please go back to refusal notes, and check the reasons, before you start spousal application. If it has anything to do with false documents/misrepresentation, please tackle it First, before going through the spousal sponsorship route.
Lastly, beware of people you get advise from, if you have doubts, please raise a CSE, don't be caught in the middle.

@Lagos babe, even in my second application all I did was printed the first refusal letter and I attached a note explaining the reason I took some time to reapply instead of doing so immediately after the first refusal. Like Ugoswife and other members said, this forum is a great tool to learn so much because what we share here is real and directly from AVO not like some so call a lawyer or immigration consultant sitting somewhere predicting something very wrong for easy money.

 

[Miraclejj]

I absolutely agree with couple members comments here. When you prepare your applications, don't rush, and be 1000% honest. You have to understand your prior visit visa denial will have very little or even Zero impact on your spousal application, so don't lie to CIC. Before you submit your application, double check, or even triple check your application. The most important thing you have to understand is that the language established in the Canada's Immigration Law regarding mispresentation is that they rarely recognize the arguments of an honest mistake. To the eyes of CIC, you signed the forms and you should be responsible for all the information to be 100% accurate, That's all.
If you go read the appeal cases they published publicly, you will see that I made an honest mistake or my lawyer made the mistake and such arguments most time won't be accepted.

 

[Cutie101]

I concur with @bbccanada and @Ugoswife you guys have been a great support system.

I think the lesson here is to also not blame some of these Lawyers and Consultants after all information about client personal details are provided from the CLIENTS...
and also CLIENTS are to check every single declaration made on each document and its accuracy prior to signing on the dotted line.
These lawyers and consultants can only submit what the client has provided so I will not blame them so much. Some clients and some legal consultants may hide certain things from each other however end of the day who suffers THE CLIENT.
With the 2 refusals that has happened recently has been heart breaking and set precedents we are here on the forum to help one and another not to lay out blame games.

 

[bbccanada]

I concur with @bbccanada and @Ugoswife you guys have been a great support system.

I think the lesson here is to also not blame some of these Lawyers and Consultants after all information about client personal details are provided from the CLIENTS...
and also CLIENTS are to check every single declaration made on each document and its accuracy prior to signing on the dotted line.
These lawyers and consultants can only submit what the client has provided so I will not blame them so much. Some clients and some legal consultants may hide certain things from each other however end of the day who suffers THE CLIENT.
With the 2 refusals that has happened recently has been heart breaking and set precedents we are here on the forum to help one and another not to lay out blame games.

ery

@cutie, I also salute your contribution in this forum and I hope you too will stay here to continue helping. I notice that you respond to every single post so thank you for your help.

 

[Sandyyyy]

Hello all, pls any 2015 applicant still waiting?

 

[me2605]

Hello all, pls any 2015 applicant still waiting?

Please send Accra a mail as they are even done with 2016 apps.

 

[Milaby]

ery

@cutie, I also salute your contribution in this forum and I hope you too will stay here to continue helping. I notice that you respond to every single post so thank you for your help.

Yes she is really informative. You, @Ugoswife and others too am actually quiet here, just come and read through and i get all the info i need and also learn more. I really hope you guys will stick around

 

[Wapsis]

Good day guys... please I want to know if I'd need to send my renewed passport alone or to send it with the old one.