Please share your experience about Criminal Rehabilitation application in 2017

[Copingwithlife]

Thanks for the reply.
I requested for CSIS in May of this year and was told no records were found. Here is the response:

CSIS has communicated that based on the information provided for XXxxxx, CSIS could not locate any record. This happens when CSIS is not involved or the application has not yet been transferred to CSIS.

I think I would have to request for GCMS notes again and the CBSA. By the way, what's the difference between the CBSA and CSIS?

CBSA= Border Agency
CSIS= National Security Agency

CSIS is at the forefront of Canada's national security system. Our role is to investigate activities suspected of constituting threats to the security of Canada and to report on these to the Government of Canada.

 

[yondibeom]

Hey, sorry to hear about your delays! That really sucks; I can't believe you've been waiting that long
When our CR was passed on October 13, 2020, our security check was completed within 3 days. Now we are waiting for them to decide whether to extend the expiry of our medical (expired August 2020) or ask us for a new one, and then waiting for the PPR after that.

Are you stuck in the security screening portion of the process? From what I've heard, depending on where you've lived in the past sometimes the security screening can take far longer than for others. As well, if you have any background serving in the military or in a government position, it can also cause complications and increase the security screening time.

Have you already tried ordering notes not just from IRCC, but also from CBSA and CSIS? If you haven't, all you have to do is go through the ATIP request portal like you do for GCMS notes, and then instead of picking IRCC, pick CBSA or CSIS (you'll have to do each of those note requests separately of course). CBSA and CSIS notes should hopefully give you insight on what is going on with the security screening portion of your application. We got our responses from both of those organizations within a month (they're less backlogged than IRCC) so hopefully it would give you some explanations soon.

Where was the visa office that processed your CR application?

 

[StellaArtois]

Thanks for the reply.
I requested for CSIS in May of this year and was told no records were found. Here is the response:

CSIS has communicated that based on the information provided for XXxxxx, CSIS could not locate any record. This happens when CSIS is not involved or the application has not yet been transferred to CSIS.

I think I would have to request for GCMS notes again and the CBSA. By the way, what's the difference between the CBSA and CSIS?

As far as I know, if that was the response that you got from CSIS, it means that the security portion of your application processing has not started yet. That means that your application is not at the security screening stage yet. What is your timeline so far? What is did the "Assessments" on page 2 of your GCMS notes say when you last got them?

Also CBSA is Canadian Border Services Agency, which is responsible for border crossings. CSIS is the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which is basically the Canadian equivalent of the CIA. CSIS generally deals with threats like terrorism, espionage, etc. and are involved in only the security screening portion of your applicaition, not the background check.

Here is detailed information of what the security screening portion entails: https://www.canada.ca/en/security-intelligence-service/services/security-screening-for-immigration-and-citizenship-applications.html

 

[StellaArtois]

Where was the visa office that processed your CR application?

Buffalo, New York Visa Office (detailed timeline is in my signature) Also our CR is part of a PR application.

We just got PPR today! PA's medical has been expired since August 1, 2020; seems like they're extending it instead of asking him for a new one thankfully.

 

[Ferguson27]

Hi all,
Finally founding some experiences about TRP and CR. Here’s our story : My husband (from Belgium) got refusal of PR back in 2017 because of a DUI. We then moved to his country. In June 2020 we were more than ready to go back to Canada with our kids. We send a TRP application along with a Work permit. He was admissible to CR in October 2020 but I really wanted to move forward with the application.
Paris consulate got the package June 6th 2020. We received an email on August 24th stating that they will be able to finalize our CR application. (But we sent just a TRP application ?!) And that they have every documents needed for the moment.
a few days after we got back by the mail myhusband passeport. Nothing in it.

since the complete silence. I send a few emails to both IRCC and Paris consulat to see where the application is, delays. We told them that we needed to get back to Canada before November 2020 because of his work and that we got a house to pay.
What are you thoughts about my application ? Do you think that their last email is positive ? How many weeks, months do you think I need to wait ?
Thank you so much
Good luck to everyone

 

[Ramanpreet bhullar]

Hi everyone,

I applied for PR in January 2019, and applied CR for my spouse in November, 2019. On 22 October,2020, my huband and my daughter were asked to do remedicals as their previous medicals expired in January, 2020.
Is it a positive sign?
thanks

 

[Ferguson27]

Hi everyone, so my husband CR got approved November 9th by IRCC Paris. So happy that they approved his rehabilitation when we just asked for a TRP last June.
Now what’s next ? When we sent the TRP application we sent an open work permit with it.
we also send an ETA on October 24th but it’s still in process.
How long do we have to wait to go back to Canada ? We booked flight ticket for December 22

 

[kkhopeful]

Hi folks, just wanted to give an update here for anyone keeping track of how long CR is taking these days. My husband's CR was approved today after 16 months of processing at the consulate in NYC! It's a huge relief for us and I can't wait for him to be able to meet my Canadian friends and family. It took much, much longer than we expected, likely because of Covid slowdowns but who knows. Honestly we had kind of given up that it would ever be approved (he had previously had a TRP denied). So for those still waiting - good luck, and don't give up. <3

 

[seppen fridge]

Just got the email acknowledging receipt. Thank heavens it's progress.

Keep on waiting and doing it right to the best of your abilities, folks.

I got my CR approval this morning from the NYC consulate! I updated myimmitracker too.

Good luck and perhaps I'll run into you up there at some point in time, once this pandemic subsides.

 

[yondibeom]

Keep on waiting and doing it right to the best of your abilities, folks.

I got my CR approval this morning from the NYC consulate! I updated myimmitracker too.

Good luck and perhaps I'll run into you up there at some point in time, once this pandemic subsides.

Congratulations!!! Could you share the visa office and your timeline? congrats again!!

 

[seppen fridge]

Congratulations!!! Could you share the visa office and your timeline? congrats again!!

I would be happy to.

The offense occurred in the winter of 2014, and I was on probation until May 1st, 2015. I sent application to NYC consulate on May 1st. In July I got an email acknowledging receipt of my application in the middle of May (this disparity was confusing, but COVID-19...). I did not work with an attorney however I did have access to another individual who went through the TRP process. I could ask detailed questions about exactly what's needed, what sort of letters of reference are helpful, and even how to assemble the package.

I got my approval this morning.

My advice:

• it's helpful if you can speak with a previous applicant to better understand the checklist.
• Organize your packet as best you can. I put the checklist on top, and put a numbered table of contents right below
• For each item in the checklist, I took the number from my table of contents and put a post-it note with that number on it on the first page of the item. It appeared like a binder and the person reviewing could easily reference the documents (every little bit helps)
• Be honest, and be complete. If you went to college in a different state than you were residing, go ahead and get a state police clearance/criminal history from that state. List your dorm room addresses. Give them complete information so there are no gaps, any gaps could be deemed suspicious in my opinion.
• Check your checklist multiple times and make sure all documents are signed in the right place and have notarizations when needed
• Do not send incomplete paperwork. It took me forever to find one last item that I felt necessary. I started on this process as early as I could, the last piece of paperwork I thought was needed, I managed to pick up in person the day the world came to a halt (March 12th). Fortune favors the prepared, I suppose.
• Did you check your checklist multiple times?
• Track your application package. This was kind of harrowing in May when it was unclear if the IRCC in NYC was even open. The relief I felt in July when I got confirmation of receipt was quite a thing

Good luck, and be patient.

 

[StellaArtois]

(Figured out it's IRCC to ask for notes on CR application)

I don't think many people here submitted CR together with PR, but we just got the pre-arrival letter for our application today (October 9th, 2020), so even though we have not officially received notice that our CR application was approved, I think it must have been approved, or they would not have given pre-arrival letter if they still thought he was criminally inadmissible...

We just requested notes on the CR application last night, so when we get them, I can provide a detailed timeline for that portion of our application for this thread.

Hope everyone gets to have some progress on their applications soon too!!

Long post ahead, but I have some general observations based on cases in this thread and our own. I hope this post will be helpful for others putting in CR and PR applications with regards to expectations about processing order/times (relative to other applicants). The timeline for CR applications that are submitted with a PR application seems to be very different from people who applied for CR alone.

Our CR was submitted in the same application package as our PR application (literally the same envelope). However, our two sets of GCMS notes from our PR and CR case reflected the following:
-our PR application was considered received and started on May 24, 2019
-both our PR and CR application have been at the New York VO since October 9, 2019
-however, the IRCC did NOT even consider the CR application "received" until October 1, 2020

Our CR timeline is as follows:
1 Oct 2020 - CR application "received" (according to GCMS notes)
8 Oct 2020 - digital file made for our CR application (information entered, etc.)
8 Oct 2020 - AOR (previous to this, we did not have a file number for our CR application and could not even inquire about it)
(interestingly, we received pre-arrival letter for our PR application on October 9 2020)
13 Oct 2020 - CR "approved" (according to GCMS notes)
14 Oct 2020 - Request for additional fee payment (we originally paid $200 for criminality; IRCC requested additional $800 for serious criminality)
17 Oct 2020 - Additional fee payment receipt submitted
27 Oct 2020 - Received letter stating CR application is approved

The detailed intermeshed timeline of both our CR and PR application is in my signature in case anyone is curious. In summary though, it only took them 4 business days starting from when they truly opened/started looking at the CR application until they approved it, even for our extremely long and complicated application (compared to most).

As a general observation, there were a number of other CR applications in this thread that were submitted many months after our application was already at NY VO, but were approved months earlier than us.
As such, I speculate that it is possible CR applications submitted alone are prioritized and processed first before those submitted together with a PR application.
I would also speculate that the sheer size of our application (it was over 200 pages total for both CR and PR having to deal with 4 criminal charges, plus 2 being "assault" related needing a lot of proof of rehabilitation) was intimidating enough that the officers basically put off looking at it for as long as possible and preferred to open and process the shorter, simpler applications first. If they have a quota where they must complete processing x number of cases per month, it would make sense that they'd go straight to the short ones in order to meet their quota and skip over the more time consuming ones.
Therefore, I speculate that applications are NOT processed in the order they are received (which they claim to do but I sincerely doubt based on what was in our CR GCMS notes compared to the timelines of other cases in this thread). Rather, I speculate that simpler and shorter applications skip to the front of the line since it helps them meet their quota.

All in all, we received approval about 17 months after the submission of both our CR and PR application together. I'll try to still be available on this forum to answer any questions for anyone else who has questions about this process. It's a long and arduous one, but well worth it. All the best to everyone still waiting in this tough time. Keep holding on!

 

[yondibeom]

For me, it has been 19 months now. (Applied PR+CR together) seem like Manila office does not work at all especially for CR.

 

[StellaArtois]

For me, it has been 19 months now. (Applied PR+CR together) seem like Manila office does not work at all especially for CR.

For me, it has been 19 months now. (Applied PR+CR together) seem like Manila office does not work at all especially for CR.

That sucks a lot, sorry to hear that I think the Manila office was closed for many months because of the pandemic right? That probably has made it even more delayed... hope you guys can get answers soon, that's really tough.

 

[Katie_Kate]

Hello everybody, I have a question please, in case a spouse is inadmissible because of a criminal record of her husband ( visitor visa refusal because of this ) if they divoce, do you think she will still be considered inadmissible ? I am not able to find an answer . Thanks a lot