ALL ABOUT GCMS - HOW TO ORDER, READ, & GENERAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED

[caipsnotes]

GCMS Global Case Management Software Training Materials​

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[AnnaJ4990]

A 11.2 refers to the eligibility, and when it says met, it means that your eligibility is met. Eligibility happens in 2 stages, so see who entered the note. To read on hoe the note will look like, see #4,004

A11.2

Section 11.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) includes a new authority that supports the Express Entry system.

Under section A11.2, an officer may not issue a visa to an applicant who did not or does not meet the Express Entry minimum entry criteria (MEC) or did not or does not possess the qualifications for which they received their CRS score at the time when

• the invitation to apply (ITA) was issued; or
• the e-APR was received by IRCC.

When reviewing an application, processing offices must determine if

• the applicant possesses the qualifications that they declared in their e-APR, as corroborated by the applicant’s supporting documentation; and
• when the applicant submits their e-APR, the information provided in their Express Entry profile has not materially changed to the degree that the applicant would not have been issued an ITA in that round of invitations.

Accordingly, officers should refuse an application under section A11.2 if it is determined that

• at the time of the ITA or e-APR, the applicant did not or does not meet the MEC, which includes the requirements of the program to which they were invited to apply; or
• the applicant’s recalculated CRS score has fallen below that of the lowest-ranked candidate invited to apply in that round of invitations.

See https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/express-entry/assessing-electronic-application-on-section-a11-2.html

Hello @legalfalcon thank you for all your replies thus far. You have been a great help!
I want to understand if my eligibility (A11.2) is placed as MET then why is the status of my eligibility is Review required? Is it possible for the analyst to place my eligibility as MET but still require the officer to review for example my client information or LOE?

 

[legalfalcon]

Hello @legalfalcon thank you for all your replies thus far. You have been a great help!
I want to understand if my eligibility (A11.2) is placed as MET then why is the status of my eligibility is Review required? Is it possible for the analyst to place my eligibility as MET but still require the officer to review for example my client information or LOE?

Irrespective of whether the analyst or the case processing agent puts the note as recommended passed / Met etc. the eligibility has to be evaluated by an officer who will make a conclusive determination on it and enter a note.

I had an old post on RR, re-posting it here.

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, there will be a review required for the eligibility, and there will be no text to the effect “ready to finalize” or pass. The note will specifically state 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.

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 or if you have answered yes to any statutory question. 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.

For stat questions, the officer will have to review if there are any concerns and the reasons or the prior visa refusal, was it in Canada of another country.

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 stat question

There are just some of the scenarios.

 

[legalfalcon]

I received my GCMS today.
Info sharing is in progress - 3/5 NRT but one says 'Complete - not reviewed' and another says 'Ready to be assessed'.
Can anyone advise on what the next step is in my application? Will these need to be reviewed before criminality and security start? Nothing has happened in my application since December when eligibility was passed.

What is the status of your eligibility?

As regards the info sharing, before your info sharing can be passed, the data which came in has to be reviewed, and NRT here indicates "no reportable trace" i.e. nothing concerning found.

Criminality and info sharing are separate processes. IF your biometrics are on file, then your criminality should be passed soon. For criminality to be passed, your fingerprints have to be processed through RCMP.

See https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/corporate-initiatives/biometrics/process-steps-2018.html

After your eligibility is passed, will your security be initiated. To read on security, see https://bit.ly/3apWglN

 

[LG1988]

Hello Everyone, I got my GCMS notes yesterday, I am a bit worried because my eligibility says "Review Required" However, in the Notes there is nothing mentioned about the reason for Review Required. Everything is verified and met, even the reference letter has been accepted but the recommendation is still "Review Required". Can anyone please read the screenshot of my notes and comment on it? I will highly appreciate it. Thank you.

I read the reply about "Review Required" posted recently but I am still concerned. Can anyone please read the details of my notes and comment on it. Should I be worried or is this normal?

GCMS SCREENSHOT

 

[legalfalcon]

Hello Everyone, I got my GCMS notes yesterday, I am a bit worried because my eligibility says "Review Required" However, in the Notes there is nothing mentioned about the reason for Review Required. Everything is verified and met, even the reference letter has been accepted but the recommendation is still "Review Required". Can anyone please read the screenshot of my notes and comment on it? I will highly appreciate it. Thank you.

I read the reply about "Review Required" posted recently but I am still concerned. Can anyone please read the details of my notes and comment on it. Should I be worried or is this normal?

GCMS SCREENSHOT

As per your note everything looks good, no concerns as such.


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, there will be a review required for the eligibility, and there will be no text to the effect “ready to finalize” or pass. The note will specifically state 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.

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.

There are just some of the scenarios.

 

[LG1988]

As per your note everything looks good, no concerns as such.

Thank you for the feedback. Hopefully it stays all positive....

 

[LizzyBennet]

Hello @legalfalcon @caipsnotes,
Thank you for your good work,
I just got my gcms note today, my eligibility is review required ready to RPRF.
"CEC work 0 year 11 months"
I have enough 52-week experience (with 52 weekly pay cheques), only because of covid I was laid off so there was a gap between. The date may be tricky to count, idk, my begining date, laid off date and leaving date are very radom, it felt into different parts of a month. Should I raised a webform sending them doccument of my 52 cheque deposits with the bank? Or what should I do at this point? Please give me some advice! Thank you very much!

 

[RajSingh12]

Hello Everyone,

I applied for GCMS notes on March 1 and my application got approved on 4th March. My question is i paid $5 dollars for it and now in think i could have requested it for free. Did i do something wrong? i am curently present in Canada.

 

[legalfalcon]

Hello Everyone,

I applied for GCMS notes on March 1 and my application got approved on 4th March. My question is i paid $5 dollars for it and now in think i could have requested it for free. Did i do something wrong? i am curently present in Canada.

If your application has already been approved, and you have submitted a request for GCMS notes, you can inform IRCC if you no longer wish to obtain them. Your request will be flagged as abandoned and closed.

You have two different Acts under which you can obtain your information. Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. Privacy Act allows you to obtain your personal info from any federal agency for free if you are in Canada, a PR or Citizen.

Access to Information Act too allows your to obtain info, including personal info or info of others, who may not be in Canada and you have to pay a fee of $5.

There is nothing right to wrong, just a selection of the law under which you wish to obtain you info.

 

[RajSingh12]

If your application has already been approved, and you have submitted a request for GCMS notes, you can inform IRCC if you no longer wish to obtain them. Your request will be flagged as abandoned and closed.

You have two different Acts under which you can obtain your information. Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. Privacy Act allows you to obtain your personal info from any federal agency for free if you are in Canada, a PR or Citizen.

Access to Information Act too allows your to obtain info, including personal info or info of others, who may not be in Canada and you have to pay a fee of $5.

There is nothing right to wrong, just a selection of the law under which you wish to obtain you info.

Thanks @legalfalcon . Can't thank you enough for your generous work. One last question, how do i contact IRCC, call or a webform for this purpose?

 

[legalfalcon]

Thanks @legalfalcon . Can't thank you enough for your generous work. One last question, how do i contact IRCC, call or a webform for this purpose?

You do not have to contact IRCC, you have to contact IRCC-ATIP, which is a separate division. You can contact them by email, the E-mail id will be available on the email you received after you filed your request.

 

[RajSingh12]

You do not have to contact IRCC, you have to contact IRCC-ATIP, which is a separate division. You can contact them by email, the E-mail id will be available on the email you received after you filed your request.

perfect.Yes,

You do not have to contact IRCC, you have to contact IRCC-ATIP, which is a separate division. You can contact them by email, the E-mail id will be available on the email you received after you filed your request.

Perfect. Yes, i have that email.

 

[caipsnotes]

Hello @caipsnotes,
Thank you for your good work,
I just got my gcms note today, my eligibility is review required ready to RPRF.
"CEC work 0 year 11 months"
I have enough 52-week experience (with 52 weekly pay cheques), only because of covid I was laid off so there was a gap between. The date may be tricky to count, idk, my begining date, laid off date and leaving date are very radom, it felt into different parts of a month. Should I raised a webform sending them doccument of my 52 cheque deposits with the bank? Or what should I do at this point? Please give me some advice! Thank you very much!

Yes do raise a web form and use the opportunity to proactively clarify things.

 

[caipsnotes]

from around the web - courtesy Steven Meurrens

Approaching Members of Parliament​

A frequent question that people ask is what role their Member of Parliament can play in assisting them.

Requests

In my opinion, the biggest role an MP can play is getting a timely status update. MPs typically can get an update in 48 hours, as opposed to 30 days for an Access to Information Act request or 14 days for a Case Specific Enquiry.

Letters

MPs can also write letters on files. As Justice Ahmed noted in Nagarasa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2018 FC 313, visa officers have to take these letters into consideration when assessing applications.