ANYONE ELSE APPLYING FOR PR FROM KOREA?

[cjkoall]

My wife and I started the PR process back in 2012 (processing began on September 10) and since then, the immigration and visa office in the Seoul embassy had been shut down and everything has been transferred to Manila. We feel kind of helpless. Emails from the Manila embassy basically just say, "sit down, shut up and wait".

We're just wondering if there's anyone else out there going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing? Any advice, reassurances or words of encouragement?

We knew this wasn't going to be a cake-walk but not being able to get anything directly from the embassy is kind of nerve wracking.

 

[Rob_TO]

The people in this thread are all applying for Korean applicants through the Manila office now. http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sponsoring-my-korean-wife-for-permanent-residency-t137874.735.html

However I'm not sure if anyone had their file transferred as most are starting the process from Manila. I always thought they finished all the apps in Seoul before they closed that office down, then started in Manila fresh. Hope you get some good news soon.

 

[cjkoall]

The people in this thread are all applying for Korean applicants through the Manila office now. http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sponsoring-my-korean-wife-for-permanent-residency-t137874.735.html

However I'm not sure if anyone had their file transferred as most are starting the process from Manila. I always thought they finished all the apps in Seoul before they closed that office down, then started in Manila fresh. Hope you get some good news soon.

Thanks Rob!

Our application was definitely transferred to Manila. We didn't official word from the embassy in Seoul that it was going to happen (no email, phone call, nothing) but we've been communicating with the embassy in Manila and had to send my RCMP criminal record check there after it was delivered to the Seoul embassy. (Our application was filed on April 11, 2012).

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks Rob!

Our application was definitely transferred to Manila. We didn't official word from the embassy in Seoul that it was going to happen (no email, phone call, nothing) but we've been communicating with the embassy in Manila and had to send my RCMP criminal record check there after it was delivered to the Seoul embassy. (Our application was filed on April 11, 2012).

Ouch that sounds rough. Whenever files start in 1 office then get transferred midway through to another, there is a high chance an application is lost in the shuffle and ends up taking much longer.

Also i wasn't aware an RCMP check was required for outland applications, and thought CIC did this check internally. My partner certainly never did one.

Was your application straightforward, or where there lots of red flags or strange circumstances that would be apparent to cause longer processing? As you can see from my timeline, our common-law app went through the former Seoul office very quickly, even though we applied later than you. Though lots of this could be pure luck.

 

[cjkoall]

Ouch that sounds rough. Whenever files start in 1 office then get transferred midway through to another, there is a high chance an application is lost in the shuffle and ends up taking much longer.

Also i wasn't aware an RCMP check was required for outland applications, and thought CIC did this check internally. My partner certainly never did one.

Was your application straightforward, or where there lots of red flags or strange circumstances that would be apparent to cause longer processing? As you can see from my timeline, our common-law app went through the former Seoul office very quickly, even though we applied later than you. Though lots of this could be pure luck.

Yeah, they asked for the CRC as part of the additional required documents.

As far as I know, there haven't been any red flags or strange circumstances except that the embassy has been totally uncommunicative. If it weren't for my wife randomly checking the Seoul embassy website, we wouldn't even have known that the services were being shut down at the Seoul embassy and moved to Manila. There was no email to tell us, no phone call, no communication that Manila received anything and no correspondence to say that SA was done. Is there usually an email or something to say SA has been completed?

 

[Rob_TO]

Yeah, they asked for the CRC as part of the additional required documents.

As far as I know, there haven't been any red flags or strange circumstances except that the embassy has been totally uncommunicative. If it weren't for my wife randomly checking the Seoul embassy website, we wouldn't even have known that the services were being shut down at the Seoul embassy and moved to Manila. There was no email to tell us, no phone call, no communication that Manila received anything and no correspondence to say that SA was done. Is there usually an email or something to say SA has been completed?

I assume by SA you mean Sponsor Approval? This would be done by CPC-Mississauga, where you should have initially sent your entire application package. After around 30 days you should get sponsor approval via an email from CPC-M with attached letter, saying they've also sent your package off to the outland visa office for applicant processing. So in your case would have been Seoul at the time. We also got an email from the Seoul office a couple weeks after sponsor approval, saying they had received our app.

How did they request the RCMP police report, via email or regular email? It's very strange you wouldn't have gotten a sponsor approval email as this should be standard practice.

 

[cjkoall]

I assume by SA you mean Sponsor Approval? This would be done by CPC-Mississauga, where you should have initially sent your entire application package. After around 30 days you should get sponsor approval via an email from CPC-M with attached letter, saying they've also sent your package off to the outland visa office for applicant processing. So in your case would have been Seoul at the time. We also got an email from the Seoul office a couple weeks after sponsor approval, saying they had received our app.

How did they request the RCMP police report, via email or regular email? It's very strange you wouldn't have gotten a sponsor approval email as this should be standard practice.

Yeah, the only emails we have received were the Acknowledgement of Receipt and the request for additional documents (criminal record check for me, entry/exit records for my wife, etc) but we've written several times to the Manila embassy and have received mail back telling us that it's in a queue to have the criminal background checks verified. But no confirmation on sponsorship approval was ever received by either of us.

The RCMP CRC was done through regular mail which took almost 4 months. I went to the Seoul embassy, got the finger print form, got my prints done at the police station here and then sent the form to the RCMP in Ottawa. They mailed the results back to the Seoul embassy (after the immigration and visa service had already been closed down there), I went to the Seoul embassy and picked up the results and mailed them to Manila.

It's all been a very trying process.

 

[CanNZ]

Very strange case here, I feel for you buddy. Did you have to do the fingerprints or your spouse(I am assuming your spouse is Korean)? I recently go my SA by email after about 30 days processing time.

 

[cjkoall]

I had to get my fingerprints done for some reason. I haven't heard of any other sponsors needing to get their prints done.

 

[PatientCanuck]

Yeah, the only emails we have received were the Acknowledgement of Receipt and the request for additional documents (criminal record check for me, entry/exit records for my wife, etc) but we've written several times to the Manila embassy and have received mail back telling us that it's in a queue to have the criminal background checks verified. But no confirmation on sponsorship approval was ever received by either of us.

The RCMP CRC was done through regular mail which took almost 4 months. I went to the Seoul embassy, got the finger print form, got my prints done at the police station here and then sent the form to the RCMP in Ottawa. They mailed the results back to the Seoul embassy (after the immigration and visa service had already been closed down there), I went to the Seoul embassy and picked up the results and mailed them to Manila.

It's all been a very trying process.

I just saw your thread here, (i realize its a bit old), but i also orignally had mine sent to seoul and then forwarded to Manilla and also did not receive any info. I'm curious if since your last post if you have recieved your PR yet? I haven't received any official word from manilla or CIC since jan 2013, and only some indirect info from a local MP i contacted recently.

My docs were sent to Seoul in Jan 2013 just prior to it shutting down.