About the 12 months in processing, nothing magically happens to speed up your application. When we hit 12 months for our app, I sent an email to my MP and they told me that they don't do anything extra. They send an email to the office for MP's only and get an update on the status of your application. We usually get info within a week of them sending out the email. I also called the IRCC help line and they told me they can't do anything (some agents might be more helpful than others in checking your status), but the one I talked to said you can send a message through the IRCC webform to your specific visa office and they should get back to you about the status of your app. Once again, they can do nothing to speed up processing even if you have gone past 12 months. We are January 25, 2017 applicants and we are still not done ... only waiting for next month when my partner has his interview.