CIC agents always this useless?

[jeff198901]

Cic call centre agent told me that since I applied Outland that there is no timeline for my application to be completed. Are they always this dense?

Before this she told me I had a 12 month timeline.

Everything this women said completely contradicted her previous statements that she made 30 seconds prior...



This seems unacceptable for someone trying to gather info on something as important as immigration

 

[CaroM8]

I guess it depends who you get. The first time I called early in the process and got zero help; I found my answers on this forum.

I called them in November to get info on landing at a CIC office in Ottawa and the lady was super friendly and gave me all the info i needed (and it was correct, haha!)

But I think for the most part, getting accurate information from them is rare.

 

[Buletruck]

Are they always this dense?

Apparently....YES!

This seems unacceptable for someone trying to gather info on something as important as immigration

You can thank the likes of PSAC/CUPE/etc for that.....too much effort to rid the system of all the deadwood that floats around protected from real world requirements like, I dunno, job performance or customer service. Thank god(s) they work to uphold the rights of under achievers!

 

[jeff198901]

I guess it depends who you get. The first time I called early in the process and got zero help; I found my answers on this forum.

I called them in November to get info on landing at a CIC office in Ottawa and the lady was super friendly and gave me all the info i needed (and it was correct, haha!)

But I think for the most part, getting accurate information from them is rare.

It is 50/50 for me. Today the woman was very blunt and rude. She was giving me information on my application before she even knew my app number or UCI.

She also told me my wife didn’t apply Outland because she is visiting Canada.

 

[jeff198901]

Apparently....YES!



You can thank the likes of PSAC/CUPE/etc for that.....too much effort to rid the system of all the deadwood that floats around protected from real world requirements like, I dunno, job performance or customer service. Thank god(s) they work to uphold the rights of under achievers!

Today was my worst encounter yet. I really hope she doesn’t answer the phone for too many people today who wait 30 minutes to talk to someone. I almost felt like my IQ had dropped a few points when I hung up the phone

 

[JulianaAndrew]

Today was my worst encounter yet. I really hope she doesn’t answer the phone for too many people today who wait 30 minutes to talk to someone. I almost felt like my IQ had dropped a few points when I hung up the phone

I think generally speaking, they will try to give you general answers unless you ask specific things about your application. It does depend on who you get, although based on my own experience I'd say 1 out of 5 are basically useless. Some are really amazing, but you don't hear people complaining about that, nor making a lot of noise about it. It is true that there's no real timeline, because the 12 months is just a target, but they can take more than that depending on the specific case. It sounds like you two had a misunderstanding, or she failed to explain things better.

 

[Buletruck]

I really hope she doesn’t answer the phone for too many people today who wait 30 minutes to talk to someone.

I think your expectation that she actually answer the phone is far beyond the requirements of her position. Pretty sure her job description is limited to: Consuming vital oxygen, food and space that others could make use of in a more productive manner.

 

[jeff198901]

I think generally speaking, they will try to give you general answers unless you ask specific things about your application. It does depend on who you get, although based on my own experience I'd say 1 out of 5 are basically useless. Some are really amazing, but you don't hear people complaining about that, nor making a lot of noise about it. It is true that there's no real timeline, because the 12 months is just a target, but they can take more than that depending on the specific case. It sounds like you two had a misunderstanding, or she failed to explain things better.

I think the simple fact that my wife applied Outland from inside Canada caused her brain to over heat

 

[jeff198901]

I think generally speaking, they will try to give you general answers unless you ask specific things about your application. It does depend on who you get, although based on my own experience I'd say 1 out of 5 are basically useless. Some are really amazing, but you don't hear people complaining about that, nor making a lot of noise about it. It is true that there's no real timeline, because the 12 months is just a target, but they can take more than that depending on the specific case. It sounds like you two had a misunderstanding, or she failed to explain things better.

And she was hardly willing to help. We had to more or less beg her to even look into our application. She even told us “please don’t call us again”. We only call once a month

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

Cic call centre agent told me that since I applied Outland that there is no timeline for my application to be completed. Are they always this dense?

Before this she told me I had a 12 month timeline.

Everything this women said completely contradicted her previous statements that she made 30 seconds prior...



This seems unacceptable for someone trying to gather info on something as important as immigration

I dont think i have ever had a useful conversation with a CIC call centre agent.

One time many years ago they actually gave me advice that would have led to me committing a crime/being deported if i had followed it.

But if they were useful i would never have found this forum....every cloud has a silver living and all that!

 

[majesty]

I think your expectation that she actually answer the phone is far beyond the requirements of her position. Pretty sure her job description is limited to: Consuming vital oxygen, food and space that others could make use of in a more productive manner.

Can I just say that you pretty much hit the nail with the hammer about most people who work for IRCC. I believe that when they got hired, the job description they were subsequently given probably went something like this: be a useless lump.

The ones that actually do anything probably didn't read the job description.

Sorry ... can you tell that I have been in this system for too long and feeling a little bitter??

11 months of processing does this to a person!

 

[JulianaAndrew]

Can I just say that you pretty much hit the nail with the hammer about most people who work for IRCC. I believe that when they got hired, the job description they were subsequently given probably went something like this: be a useless lump.

The ones that actually do anything probably didn't read the job description.

Sorry ... can you tell that I have been in this system for too long and feeling a little bitter??

11 months of processing does this to a person!

Mexico as a VO is overflowing with work. Recently there was a change, (this year) so from then on the people from Ecuador, I believe, that were being processed in Colombia, are being processed in Mexico now, and will keep being processed there. Obviously most people who work for IRCC are not useless, and you are, along with other members, overreacting and speaking out of frustration. The process is really slow, yes, but saying they're useless is a different manner. Do you happen to know how many cases they're handling at the time and how many people they have to work on them? Actually, one of the things they say when they post one of those jobs at the embassies is that people must be able to work with an overwhelming workload. If you've seen the job descriptions, you would know that they require a bunch of things, not being a useless lump is not one of them. It really comes down to just how much the government invests in these things. I am frustrated as well, just like anyone, but I wouldn't blame the people who are actually working on our cases, not without knowing a lot more than what I do now.
It is worth to add that there's still plenty of things to improve, and the system is far from being perfect.

 

[Buletruck]

Obviously most people who work for IRCC are not useless

I agree. I think those working behind the scenes do a great job, but based on personal experience and general comments and “quoted” comments from call center staff, they certainly seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with call center staff. Wrong answers, bad advice, clueless on the most basic immigration information, It may be a result of poor training, but I know that personally, if I’m ill equipped to do my job, I go out of my way to improve my skills on my own accord. Something about having a little self respect and integrity. Oh, and I hate looking and sounding stupid!

 

[JulianaAndrew]

I agree. I think those working behind the scenes do a great job, but based on personal experience and general comments and “quoted” comments from call center staff, they certainly seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with call center staff. Wrong answers, bad advice, clueless on the most basic immigration information, It may be a result of poor training, but I know that personally, if I’m ill equipped to do my job, I go out of my way to improve my skills on my own accord. Something about having a little self respect and integrity. Oh, and I hate looking and sounding stupid!

I do agree the people from the call center are usually not very good at it. However, I wonder what's their actual purpose there, or what kind of training they have. Maybe they're there just to give a sense of customer service. It is clear that they're not there to give immigration advice to people. I don't really know why they're there, but I think they are there really just to give people a fake sense of customer service, and tell people about their application just a little bit.

 

[majesty]

Mexico as a VO is overflowing with work. Recently there was a change, (this year) so from then on the people from Ecuador, I believe, that were being processed in Colombia, are being processed in Mexico now, and will keep being processed there. Obviously most people who work for IRCC are not useless, and you are, along with other members, overreacting and speaking out of frustration. The process is really slow, yes, but saying they're useless is a different manner. Do you happen to know how many cases they're handling at the time and how many people they have to work on them? Actually, one of the things they say when they post one of those jobs at the embassies is that people must be able to work with an overwhelming workload. If you've seen the job descriptions, you would know that they require a bunch of things, not being a useless lump is not one of them. It really comes down to just how much the government invests in these things. I am frustrated as well, just like anyone, but I wouldn't blame the people who are actually working on our cases, not without knowing a lot more than what I do now.
It is worth to add that there's still plenty of things to improve, and the system is far from being perfect.

Only poking fun at some of those call centre agents ... whom I know are not the most astute people sometimes. I did say sorry ... but I am still somewhat bitter. I believe we got a bit screwed in our processing ... won't go into the details again as I have already ranted and raved about some of the things that happened with our application which I believe could have been handled "better/more efficiently". I realize that the inefficiencies with how cases are handled here won't change overnight as this is a large bureaucratic institution. Realistically speaking, I believe if they had some standardization in how they process cases across the board with the various visa offices, it would alleviate some of the frustrations with people going through this process. It may not shorten processing times as I understand that they keep consolidating visa offices. I find it somewhat mind-boggling that some people get processed in 6 months whereas others have to wait now they are saying 14 months to get processed. I know that some cases are deemed less complicated. What I don't understand is that in cases like ours .... yes we have some red flags like a large age difference between my partner and I and maybe they want to know why we waited a longer period of time to apply ... which is why they put us in a queue to be interviewed. He has not other security risks ... no criminal record, only lived in Chile and Canada, so I don't think this is the hold-up. However, why should they make us wait 10 months before putting us in that queue whereas others, where they were concerned about the genuineness of their relationship, were put into queue after 5 or 6 months ... that to me is not fair even though there is an explanation that they keep consolidating services at VO's like Mexico .... they should not be doing this to people .... why should some people at some VO's not have to face this problem? Go and consolidate other VO's ... Mexico was already processing applicants from 22 countries ... other VO's just process applicants from a few countries (I'm not saying that other VO's are not stressed, but it seems that processing applicants from 22 different countries is getting to be too ridiculous). We all pay the same fees and deserve the same considerations in the process regardless of which VO we are processed in.

My other rant is that IRCC is not taking care of people who are already in the country who are paying taxes and contributing to Canadian society and the economy. I have been paying taxes in this country for over 20 years and worked most of my adult life and me and a lot of people here are all paying for refugee claimants and other immigrants who come here and use government services. I don't have a problem with that ... this is the premise behind social welfare, which though costly, provides basic standards of living for the majority of people. However, why is it that the government doesn't pay more attention to helping those of us here who have been doing this as citizens and PR's when it is our turn to seek assistance in bringing our family members here??!!! i.e. divert some more money to make some improvements to the system in a more timely manner so that they can reunite family members of Canadians with legal status, who are paying to run the IRCC.