Hi all,
Just thought I would update for those further behind on the process. Finally managed to speak to an agent today who confirmed that I was in review required. Unfortunately he couldn’t tell me what for or when this happened.
In short, he said that the only way to find out was by ordering the GCMS notes, as niether they or the guys who answer the CSEs have access to this info (what he said). He agreed that raising a CSE to find out the reason for the delay is pointless and he doesn’t know why IRCC say to do this.
In short he said if you are In RR status then the majority take longer than 6 months. If you have been waiting longer than six months and your background check hasn’t started on your portal, then you are probably in RR.
RR is basically where the jr analyst who first looked at the file couldn’t determine whether something met the criteria. Therefore it is put in the queue for review by a senior analyst who makes a decision. Sometimes this is simple (Eg POF query) and the senior analyst passes it quickly, which is why a bunch of people pass at 6-7 months. Sometimes it is not so easy (I.e NOC not quite matching with duties on employment reference, or difficulty verifying that a former employer exists or existed). This requires additional research and may take many months. They won’t reject the case until they have completed the investigation. He seemed to suggest that not having an ADR was positive, as all the info was present, and it is just waiting for sign off by a senior. Not sure if I believe this last bit.
The queue for review by the sr analyst can take a few months which is what pushes it over the 6 month timeline.
He assured me that work on background and security doesn’t start until eligibility is passed. However, if you have a clean criminal history and come from one of the 5 eyes countries, criminality and security can be done in a couple of days.
All in all this wasn’t great news for us in our situation, but there we go. Moral of the story, if eligibility hasn’t changed to passed by 4 months, order your GCMS notes! Ours are due by Tuesday next week, which will be nearly 7 months.