>>>>>>>>>APRIL 2020 AoR Discussion<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[ee.cec1981]

You have a RR for your employment reference letter.

Understanding “Review Required”

A lot of applicants see “review required” in their GCMS notes for eligibility. There are many theories floating around with regard to what “review required” means and if it is alarming.

Before I venture into explaining the significance, it is important to understand that each application goes through the following stages as per the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the regulations (Canadian Immigration Law):

R10 – Completeness Check
Criminality
Medicals
A11.2 – eligibility
Security

Out of the above, the most important stage is eligibility. This is also the most time-consuming stage because your documents have to be verified, evaluated and assessed to ascertain that you meet the eligibility criteria for the program you have applied (FSW / CEC / FTW). To stream line this process and make it easier for an immigration officer (decision making authority), all applications are first evaluated by case analysts or program assistants. They review the documents and summarize it in the GCMS. If they have any concerns with any document or want the immigration officer to carefully look into a specific document, they will flag it as “review required.” It is the content of the note that is important here. If the review required is for a specific document, while the summary of the note says that an applicant has met the eligibility, or “ready to finalize” it simply means that while the applicant has met the eligibility criteria, but the specific document needs a careful examination form the officer before promoting (eligibility pass) by the officer.

However, if there are concerns, they will be clearly mentioned in the note. If there is nothing specific and still you have a RR, then it merely indicates that the CPA or analyst is requesting the officer to review the documents once before finalising it.

The specific reasons would be that the job duties do not match, or the employment cannot be verified, or the number of years of work experience claimed cannot be verified. This is where an application can land in muddy waters. But the final decision rests on the immigration officer. He may override the decision of the analyst / assistant or go with the analysis of the analyst / assistant.

If you answered yes to a statutory question, about a prior visa refusal etc, you will have RR. This only indicates to verify if you have criminality or inadmissibility issues based on the refusal.

Even in cases where the analyst / assistant is of the opinion that the applicant has met the eligibility, and there is no “review required,” the officer can replace it with his own opinion. Though rare, but it does happen. This is why the eligibility is only passed when an officer conclusively marks the eligibility as passed.

Finally, there is “review required” for PoF. This is the most common in many applications. This is because, the financial and banking practices of each country are different. Eg. Fixed deposits are know as Certificate of Deposit (CD) in the US. Similarly, treasury bonds, mutual funds, stocks, and many other investment vehicles are there. If your PoF anything other than a bank deposit, it is more likely that it will be marked as “review required.” Also, IRCC does not go by day to day fluctuations in FOREX. Instead, the Canadian federal government issued a quarterly conversion rate for all FOREX vis-a-via CAD. If your PoF is in a foreign currency, then you may have “review required” for the officer to make a determination.

Just because you have “review required” does not mean that you hit the panic mode. Instead, read the context in which it is there. If there is a concern regarding a document, you can send a replacement document via CSE. The most common reasons for RR are:

1. Work reference letter without job duties
2. Work reference letters missing all the details requested by IRCC
3. If you submitted a letter from a colleague because you were unable to get one from your employer, but did not have a LoE on file, this too will lead to RR.
4. Not sufficient work experience in the primary NOC.
5. Inability to verify your employment as your employer details are missing.
6. Answering yes to statutory question.

There are just some of the scenarios.

Hope this helps.

@legalfalcon

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Based on my GCMS notes, is RR is concerning for me and is there a way I can send any supporting document.

Please advise.

 

[ee.cec1981]

This is the main takeaway from the notes

Review Required for Duties on employment letter compared to NOC Website

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Based on my GCMS notes, is RR is concerning for me and is there a way I can send any supporting document.

Please advise.

 

[caipsnotes]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Based on my GCMS notes, is RR is concerning for me and is there a way I can send any supporting document.

Please advise.

Receiving an RR is fairly common, IRCC will will request information if they need it but if you have reason to believe that there is an issue you can certainly address it.

 

[Generosuboy]

Hi @legalfalcon

Hope you are doing great! I have a quick question for you. Here is my situation:

• AOR - April 15
• Medical Passed
• BIO passed on Oct 23
• Eligibility - Recommended Pass
• Criminality - In progress since June 8
• Security - No started

According to the recent notes (1 month old) my profile has been untouched since June 14.

What would be your recommendation in this case? Thank you!

 

[caipsnotes]

Hi @legalfalcon

Hope you are doing great! I have a quick question for you. Here is my situation:

• AOR - April 15
• Medical Passed
• BIO passed on Oct 23
• Eligibility - Recommended Pass
• Criminality - In progress since June 8
• Security - No started

According to the recent notes (1 month old) my profile has been untouched since June 14.

What would be your recommendation in this case? Thank you!

The key here is that you have Eligibility - Recommended Pass, an officer needs to review your file and move it to the next stage. It's just a matter of time; as an applicant one can not expedite the process.

 

[cck1986]

If security has not started then most likely Eligibility has not been conclusively passed by an officer.

I don't think so ..my eligibility is passed by officer in Aug . I know this from GCMS.. Still my security has not startef based on call with IRCC agent. Biometrics completed last month

 

[Dean Wang]

I don't think so ..my eligibility is passed by officer in Aug . I know this from GCMS.. Still my security has not startef based on call with IRCC agent. Biometrics completed last month

Me 2

 

[Moien]

Me 2

Me 2

 

[caipsnotes]

I don't think so ..my eligibility is passed by officer in Aug . I know this from GCMS.. Still my security has not startef based on call with IRCC agent. Biometrics completed last month

That's good then, since Eligibility Review is the most important stage. Thereafter security will start and if it has not it could be due to administrative delays. Moreover IRCC is taking longer to process applications; below are the latest stats.

If your Eligibility is passed by an officer, most GCMS will have the following text

How long did it take to process an Express Entry application?

Table 35 displays the time, in months, that IRCC took to process 80% of applications under each program. In 2019, IRCC did not meet the processing standard of finalizing 80% of all applications sourced via Express Entry within six months. The processing time for Express Entry, overall, was eight months. As an alternative measure of processing times, 60% of applications finalized in the 12-month period ending on December 31, 2019, were completed within the six-month service standard.

Table 35: Processing Times for Express Entry applications finalized by year and immigration category, in months

Program	2017	2018	2019
Canadian Experience Class	4	5	7
Federal Skilled Worker	4	6	9
Provincial/Territorial Nominee	6	6	9
Federal Skilled Trades	6	7	12
All Programs	5	5	8

Source: CIC_EDW (MBR) as of January 3, 2020
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

• Processing times refer to the time in which 80% of applications were finalized by IRCC. The processing time is measured from the day a complete application is received until the time a final decision is made by an immigration officer.

 

[legalfalcon]

@legalfalcon

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Based on my GCMS notes, is RR is concerning for me and is there a way I can send any supporting document.

Please advise.

Many applicants see RR. However, it is in the what context the RR is, is important. In your case as pointed out, your employment reference letter.

Check your job duties, and compare it with the job duties of the NOC selected. The Jds should substantially (75% or more) match.

You can surely send a revised document via webform.

 

[legalfalcon]

Hi @legalfalcon

Hope you are doing great! I have a quick question for you. Here is my situation:

• AOR - April 15
• Medical Passed
• BIO passed on Oct 23
• Eligibility - Recommended Pass
• Criminality - In progress since June 8
• Security - No started

According to the recent notes (1 month old) my profile has been untouched since June 14.

What would be your recommendation in this case? Thank you!

Currently there have been rampant delays, mostly administrative. There is no way to expedite the process. So you will have to be patient.

However, see the notes in the last 3-5 pages for the eligibility.

If there are no concerns, and it is recommended passed, then you will just have ti wait it out. Once the officer reviews your eligibility and marks it passed, then processing from thereon in fairly quick.

Once eligibility is conclusively passed, your security will be initiated, which takes 2-5 weeks for most applicants.

What is your primary and secondary VO?

 

[Fair_Enough]

Additional Documents (receipt for an extra fee) changed back from N/A to "Review". Anyone has faced the same situation?

 

[Generosuboy]

Currently there have been rampant delays, mostly administrative. There is no way to expedite the process. So you will have to be patient.

However, see the notes in the last 3-5 pages for the eligibility.

If there are no concerns, and it is recommended passed, then you will just have ti wait it out. Once the officer reviews your eligibility and marks it passed, then processing from thereon in fairly quick.

Once eligibility is conclusively passed, your security will be initiated, which takes 2-5 weeks for most applicants.

What is your primary and secondary VO?

i appreciate your reply. Primary is Ottawa and Secondary - Centralized Intake Office

 

[nousername2020]

FSW Inland
ITA: 4th March
AOR: 6th April.
MEP : 23th June
BIL: 23th June
Additional Doc: RCMP cert
Ghost Update: 24th June
Additional doc uploaded : 7th July
Review of additional documents became: "not applicable" on 8th July
Summary Status changed from "Your action is required" to "Submitted": 24th July
OCT 20: GU(System Glitch)
NOV 16: Medical Expired (Status changed to you do not need medical)- medical expired as per gCMS notes on 14 nov
Nov 17 - Biometrics updated but not completed
Nov 19 - GCMS notes extracted on oct 27 - Same as in July

Status -Oct 27 -GCMS generated notes
Eligibility -Passed by case processing agent
Medical passed June 23
Security - Not started
Criminality - In progress
Info Shared - Complete

VO - CPC Ottawa & Secondary - Centralized Intake Office
No-one touched the file since July. I hope after biometrics updated, application should moved fast.

I hope that this help others who are also waiting.

 

[nousername2020]

i appreciate your reply. Primary is Ottawa and Secondary - Centralized Intake Office

Hi, My case is similar to yours. I think that nobody opened our files since July or June. Once they pick up then it might be fast. Did you give biometrics?