February 2020 Spousal sponsorship Outland

[armoured]

Random story worth mentioning:
A good friend of mine married his wife in Lebanon in 2019 then went back to Canada and started the paperwork for spousal sponsorship. After AOR1, they applied for a TRV and it was granted for a year. They lived together until they asked her to go back to Lebanon and get her PR visa in March 2020. She went there in February, got the PR visa and you know the rest of the story. Border closure. PR visa expired. TRV expired. She had to contact MP's and IRCC countless times until FINALLY, in July, they asked for her passport again. They kept her passport in the embassy for 3 months and a half!!! They finally handed back her passport 2 days ago, and she arrived here this morning.

Something here doesn't make sense. Canada's border closure I don't think kept COPR holders with spouses in Canada out. (Perhaps there was for a short period, don't recall)

 

[SubnormalFever]

Something here doesn't make sense. Canada's border closure I don't think kept COPR holders with spouses in Canada out. (Perhaps there was for a short period, don't recall)

If you already had your PR card or if you were a Canadian citizen then and only then were you welcomed to enter Canada! COPR holders couldn't enter, then hers expired, and you know the rest of the story. They currently have prepared a huge case with two lawyers and are going to court with all the emails, phone calls and evidence they have...

 

[NK^2]

I cannot say with certainty but based on the behaviour of a couple visa offices, I believe one BIG obstacle is that IRCC is holding back passport requests and COPR issuances ... in countries where the VACs are not operating to issue them. (This is in addition to staffing issues at embassies/consulates).

In a few countries/regions where VACs started opening, even in reduced operations to just receive documents (passports for COPR), a fairly large number of PPRs followed not long after.

For USA and many visa waiver countries, not an issue or less of one as they don't require the passports to be sent and/or can just be done by post within north america.

As I understand the Indian VACs in particular have mostly been closed (with plans to reopen soon, or at least partly?)

Obviously this is just one of several bottlenecks but an important one; if they know the PPRs/COPRs will not be issued because procedures not in place to handle them, they will move to other tasks.

None of what they are doing makes sense. Headless chickens. New Delhi is processing, albeit backlog, which is much deserved for those folks. And someone from Ottawa who traveled on TRV was pleasantly surprised by getting their PR at the airport in Toronto last week.

 

[armoured]

If you already had your PR card or if you were a Canadian citizen then and only then were you welcomed to enter Canada! COPR holders couldn't enter, then hers expired, and you know the rest of the story. They currently have prepared a huge case with two lawyers and are going to court with all the emails, phone calls and evidence they have...

Again, something here doesn't make sense: it's definitely a fact that as of June 8 immediate family members with valid travel documents could enter - and that would include visa and COPR. So there was only a period of about six weeks where it was ambiguous about how immediate family members with valid travel docs could return.

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2020/06/changes-to-travel-restrictions-for-immediate-family-members-of-canadian-citizens-and-permanent-residents.html

In addition IRCC has frequently said that they will provide travel authorisation to COPR holders whose COPRs expired after March 18 (assuming they can enter ie. immediately family member).

So unless there was some very specific case of COPR expiring between March 18 and June 8 AND IRCC refusing to extend validity / provide travel authorisation, this doesn't hold together.

Obviously can't say without more details (perhaps they really are not providing travel authorisation for her to return?) but it sounds like there is something missing from this story.

 

[gd892]

is there anyone else on this webforum who had submitted there application in Feb 2020 but still has not even received an AOR??

 

[vinamra2402]

Guys just got a ghost update! Can anyone let me know how many days/hours did it take for pre arrival to come after the ghost update? File at Ottawa.

I got ghost update on 23rd oct waiting for decision made since then. Even my file is at Ottawa.
Application recd date is 17th feb.
I got Pre arrival on 6th oct.

 

[armoured]

I got ghost update on 23rd oct waiting for decision made since then. Even my file is at Ottawa.
Application recd date is 17th feb.
I got Pre arrival on 6th oct.

I'm making a bit of a guess here, but suspect they are waiting to get clarity on or figure out how to do the PPR/COPR in countries where VACs are still closed and/or waiting for/expecting the VACs to open.

For background: at one point in August/September Warsaw started accepting passports for COPRs directly at the Embassy delivered by courier (at least from some countries). That was clearly an interim measure and they switched to using VACs (as they opened).

The key oddity: it seemed no-one (or very few) in the various regional country offices knew in advance that the VACs were going to open and when - I mean they clearly knew it was being looked at but literally staff (some anyway) did not know even the day before the VACs were opening. And so they took some interim measures, which I suspect weren't easy to get cleared.

Obviously with covid it's not just up to the managers (local health rules etc). And also obviously there are additional organisational issues with changing things frequently, so they'd prefer to just come up with one approach that they can use for a while - but that doesn't mean they actually know key bits of info, like when the VACs are opening.

 

[SubnormalFever]

Again, something here doesn't make sense: it's definitely a fact that as of June 8 immediate family members with valid travel documents could enter - and that would include visa and COPR. So there was only a period of about six weeks where it was ambiguous about how immediate family members with valid travel docs could return.

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2020/06/changes-to-travel-restrictions-for-immediate-family-members-of-canadian-citizens-and-permanent-residents.html

In addition IRCC has frequently said that they will provide travel authorisation to COPR holders whose COPRs expired after March 18 (assuming they can enter ie. immediately family member).

So unless there was some very specific case of COPR expiring between March 18 and June 8 AND IRCC refusing to extend validity / provide travel authorisation, this doesn't hold together.

Obviously can't say without more details (perhaps they really are not providing travel authorisation for her to return?) but it sounds like there is something missing from this story.

I never said she got her COPR after March 18th. She got it beginning of March, had already expired in June when that announcement was made. It's as if you're trying to find something wrong in the story just to point it out haha. Nonetheless, that's why IRCC took a decision and announced what you just talked about, and even talked about expired COPR's, and created a web form inquiry specifically for it. My friends had filled it with my help, a month and a half of silence, until they asked for the passport. They kept the passport at the embassy for 3 months and a half, and during that time they kept calling my friend's wife from the embassy asking her "what's wrong? What do you need? Ohhhh I see. We will take a look at that." She has 7 phone calls recorded with people from the embassy calling her and asking her to repeat her story and her request. Finally got it 3 days ago.

 

[armoured]

Finally got it 3 days ago.

If she got it what is she going to court for?

 

[DiiDii]

I never said she got her COPR after March 18th. She got it beginning of March, had already expired in June when that announcement was made. It's as if you're trying to find something wrong in the story just to point it out haha. Nonetheless, that's why IRCC took a decision and announced what you just talked about, and even talked about expired COPR's, and created a web form inquiry specifically for it. My friends had filled it with my help, a month and a half of silence, until they asked for the passport. They kept the passport at the embassy for 3 months and a half, and during that time they kept calling my friend's wife from the embassy asking her "what's wrong? What do you need? Ohhhh I see. We will take a look at that." She has 7 phone calls recorded with people from the embassy calling her and asking her to repeat her story and her request. Finally got it 3 days ago.

I understand your story. It's sad the way they're actually dealing with things versus what they put out in the media.

 

[DiiDii]

If she got it what is she going to court for?

I'm thinking for the treatment or mistreatment of the individual situation. However it will most likely be dismissed with the magic word. CVD-19

 

[SubnormalFever]

If she got it what is she going to court for?

Playing with people's lives and her being separated from her spouse, after living with him for almost a year, for absolutely no reason. Etc. Etc.
Something is wrong and messed up with the way they dealt with her file, and people are opening up and sharing their ordeals. Her case is actually a joint case with another couple having passed something similar.

 

[armoured]

Playing with people's lives and her being separated from her spouse, after living with him for almost a year, for absolutely no reason. Etc. Etc.
Something is wrong and messed up with the way they dealt with her file, and people are opening up and sharing their ordeals. Her case is actually a joint case with another couple having passed something similar.

Well, good luck.

But I hope she's not paying the lawyers up-front, will just be throwing money away.

 

[pgali]

I got ghost update on 23rd oct waiting for decision made since then. Even my file is at Ottawa.
Application recd date is 17th feb.
I got Pre arrival on 6th oct.

Hi,

How many ghost updates did you receive ?

Thanks.

 

[Phalos]

Guys just got a ghost update! Can anyone let me know how many days/hours did it take for pre arrival to come after the ghost update? File at Ottawa.

You want pre arrival 10 days after aor2?