April 2011 Applicants share their views here

[uccemebug]

Gcms notes question......

if you ask for your gcms notes before any decision has been made and if you are under regular processing times, will this delay my application processing.
that's what I understood from online, that it can delay processing times.
also... Where do I order these? I am not living in canada but with my spouse in the US waiting for his application to be processed but its been 1 year 2 days ago and no news.....

Ordering your gcms notes does not slow down your application to my knowledge. It certainly didn't seem to in my case.

You can find the information you want here: http://immipedia.ca/Main_Page

 

[uccemebug]

Visa issued and Passport received: May 16, 2012.
Case completed in 13 months.

GOOD LUCK Everyone

Congratulations, PC!

 

[navron]

Hello everybody,
I was jusk looking for some answers to my queries. My wife applied for my

immigration under Spouse Category from Montreal last September. I m currently

residing in Bangladesh. For better understanding of my situation I am posting m

timeline as below:

Application received on November 16, 2011.

Medical results have been received.

Application to sponsor received on November 16, 2011.

Federal Requirements accepted on Jan 19th, 2012

Quebec Selection Certificate Granted on 28th May, 2012 and File forwarded to

Singapore office.

My queries are as follows:
a. Would I need to attend for an interview, and if where?..Dhaka or Singapore?
b. How long does it take for singapore office to process and send me a letter or

any form of communication?
c. Once my file is received in singapore how long does it take for the entire

process generally?

Your assistance and feedback would be highly

 

[atethepaint]

Sorry for going off-topic. I just wanted to update everyone on a successful visa experience.

It took my wife 8 months to get her visa, from April to November. In December I flew to Moscow and celebrated my third Russian New Year with her, and then in January we flew to Toronto. Immigration was exceptionally friendly, made jokes and welcomed her warmly to Canada. Then we went through customs and, because she didn't have anything except a bunch of suitcases filled with clothes, they waved us right through.

At Pearson International she tried her first Molson Canadian, didn't like it, and had a tea instead. We visited my family and friends in southern Ontario for a few days, and she was completely jet-lagged and incredibly moody. She burst into tears a couple of times, not because she missed home so much as because everything was too stressful, foreign and unfamiliar to her. Needless to say she didn't like southern Ontario in the winter.

Then we got on a comfortable Air Canada flight to Victoria, BC (our permanent place of settlement) and her spirits lifted as we flew over the prairies and the Rockies and landed on the Pacific coast. Even in January Victoria is filled with flowers and birds and seals and deer, and she fell in love with the place. Our first morning here I took her to the Ogden Point breakwall and a giant wave crashed over and soaked her. She loved it, and said it was a warm welcome from the ocean!

The BC government offers free English classes for newcomers as well as workshops to network and find work, so she's been going to those daily. She's met a group of Russian and FSU emigres her age and loves our clean and well-organized bus systems. Scotiabank offers a great newcomers package, with a free chequing account and Visa credit card. The Service Canada centre got her a SIN card with little pain. She has her health card and a library card and is looking at upgrading her skills at University.

She's fallen in love with Chinese and Mexican food, although she still doesn't like pub food too much (although British fish and chips is becoming a favourite). For Russian cooking she's substituted buttermilk for kefir and finds that the parsley isn't as strong flavoured here, so just uses more. Her biggest beef is that she can't find the same type of cucumbers as she can get in Russia. It also took her a long time to find a good black, loose-leaf tea but she's settled on the tins of Twinnings loose-leaf, which she quite enjoys. Also, she fell in love with Tim Hortons hot chocolate and honey cruelers. To top it all off, she's fallen in love with the DIY shows on the Women's Network and Home and Garden TV. Finally, she saw her first massed bagpipe and drum parade and absolutely loved the sheer power and pageantry of it!

Another problem she's having is the change in the chemicals found in water (mainly that in BC there are none) are wreaking havoc with her hair, and she hasn't found a shampoo yet that she likes. Cucumbers and shampoo, however, seem to be her only complaints thus far so I would say that after 6 months her move to Canada is a resounding success!

Her transition to life here as been successful so far. We've bought a car, got a beautiful flat near the ocean, and she's growing millions of pretty flowers. I recently mentioned what she thought of living in Russia and she shouted "No!" before I even finished the sentence! Skype keeps her connected to her family back home, and we're planning a visit with my next vacation.

All in all, the 10 months we spent apart waiting for her visa seems like a distant memory now. I know how tough it can be when you're apart, waiting for what seems like forever, but I can tell you from personal experience that once it is over Canada will truly welcome your new life together. Hang in during that tough wait because when it's all over and you're together in Canada you will feel like it was all just a bad dream.

 

[mchaabaa]

Hey Guys

I am new to this forum and have a few questions if anyone is in the same situation as me maybe they can help.
1) My ecas says that they received my application in July 8/2011 so my application has almost been 1 yr in processing, however my wifes medicals have expired in April and she has not received anything to redo her medical. Is there something I can do about this?

2) My application has been transferred from Syria to Amman, would this typically delay the normal processing times of 14 months. I am noticing that most applications are being processed 14+ months is this true?

3) I have tried to get in contact with the Visa Office in amman and I am always unsuccessful, I have been waiting 12 months and no answers or anything is there something I can do about this, possibly hire a lawyer to get some answers

 

[uccemebug]

Sorry for going off-topic. I just wanted to update everyone on a successful visa experience.

All in all, the 10 months we spent apart waiting for her visa seems like a distant memory now. I know how tough it can be when you're apart, waiting for what seems like forever, but I can tell you from personal experience that once it is over Canada will truly welcome your new life together. Hang in during that tough wait because when it's all over and you're together in Canada you will feel like it was all just a bad dream.

Great to hear of your success, atethepaint. We're settling in as well. In our case my wife was already living in country but our wait was one of out-of-pocket health expenses, no income, and no opportunity to study etc. She gave birth on May 1 and we've made several contacts with other Japanese living in the city and are looking ahead to when she can start to work in Toronto.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with my many questions over the past 18 months!

 

[geethareddy]

I originally posted this on Buffalo thread but I thought of sharing it here as well

**THIS IS LONG POST**

Hello all,

It's been a while since I have been wanting to share my interview experience and landing afterwards (yes finally landing!), a bit of background, I was an International Student in the US, we filed our application in April of 2011, I received a letter on August advising a personal interview was required to assess our application, previously I held a Canada multiple visitor's visa from 2008 until 2010 and then I renewed it and they gave me another 5 months from the end of 2010 until May of 2011 which was when my US student visa was about to expire, this allowed me to visit my wife almost every month while I finished College. Since January I have been working as an IT consultant for a company in the US (I also had a work permit through OPT benefit of my student status in the US), by the time I received the letter advising an interview was required, my visitor visa to Canada was expired and I was awaiting the last extension of my work permit, against all odds I went to request another multiple visitor's visa which to my surprise they issued until 2013 (when my passport will expires), I say to my surprise because the last time I renewed it they gave me only 5 months, I have to mention also that I have visited Canada over a dozen of times and always respected the times I was allowed to stay.

So I left to Canada almost at the end of August, crossing the border was not a big issue, I told them I was going to see my wife, I showed them statements from the bank showing I had enough savings to cover my staying, initially I had planned to stay for 1 month, but me and my wife decided to wait until knowing the date of the interview (our first letter said that we were placed in an interview queue), by the time I had already requested the first set of GCMS notes as you should do in case you are schedule for an interview.

Of the things we were able to see, basically they had problems believing the timeline of our relationship (we did married pretty fast, we had a small civil ceremony where her family attended but not mine since they all are in my country of birth). Also for whatever reason they said that in the application I submitted to renew my TRV on December 2010, I did not mention I was married, which was odd since I had no reason not to mention I was married at the time (I'll go into that later), they also mentioned me and wife had different religious backgrounds (I was raised Catholic she was raised as Jehovah's witness, at the time we met, got married and presently neither of us practice a religion), also they mentioned that we did not have any records of us trying to combine our affairs (bank accounts, etc.)

Times goes by until December 2011 when I received a letter at my US address confirming our interview was schedule at the embassy in Buffalo on April 25, 2012, so from the date of the first letter advising an interview was required until the actual interview date it's a whole 8 months, I saw people on this forum getting the whole application completed in less than that time. Because the interview was going to be held in Buffalo and me being from a non-exempt visa country for both Canada and the US, I had to request a US visitor visa while in here, I had to mention I did have a visitor visa valid until 2015 but unfortunately I had my passport stolen in an unrelated event in New York, before that I requested an extension to stay in Canada since the 6 months limit was going to expire on February 2012, I requested an extension until April 25 (the day of the interview) which I should've extended longer than that period to play it safe, so anyone reading this that have an interview scheduled and request an extension to stay past the initial 6 months, extend it beyond the interview date in case for whatever reason after the interview you have to go back to Canada without a PR visa.

So I received a visitor record (different from a visitor visa) valid until April 25, on February I submitted an application for a US visitor visa, went to a personal interview at the US embassy in Ottawa, I knew a lot of people on visitor status in Canada have been refused, even temporary workers and students, however I have had records of previously visiting the US and my last status in the US was as a student. The day of the interview everything went well and the interviewer officer basically acknowledged that I had a valid US visitor visa before and that if I still had that passport I had stolen, I wouldn't be there to request a new visa, so I was issued a US visitor visa for 10 years (1 less thing to worry).

During this time me and wife rented a beautiful house outside Montreal finally started to settle and tried to have a normal life, we opened a joint bank account, put the hydro bill under both names and basically just waited the date of the interview.

We decided to drove from Montreal to Buffalo a day before the interview, it took us a little over 8 hours, when we arrived to the US border, the officials were very friendly, however the officer noted that my visitor record was set to expire the next day (the 25) and that there were no guarantees that I was going to be approved hence in the event of having to go back to Canada after the interview without a PR visa, there were no guarantees Canada will let me in, he went to speak to his supervisor and came back saying he will let me in, he stamped my passport and wrote "valid until: April 25" so they allowed me to be in the US for only 1 day!

Anyways at least I was allowed to attend the interview, we drove to downtown Buffalo, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency which is at a walkable distance (less than 1 mile) from the Embassy.

Interview day: The interview was scheduled at 10:30 AM, so we checked out before from the hotel, put our bags in the car and walked to the embassy, I really can't say I was nervous, my wife was a little bit but we were both confident everything was going to be fine because after all, we had nothing to hide, so we arrived at the embassy, we asked the security guard and for what I was able to see they had a list in advance of who is supposed to attend that day, to our surprise seems we were not in the list, he made a phone call and after that he gave us an ID badge to access the premises in the 30th floor, we arrived and to our surprise it was totally empty not one single person waiting, I checked in with the clerk in the first window who told me to take a seat and wait. During all that time no one showed up and though I couldn't see what was happening behind the office it didn't look as busy as you would've think taking in consideration the amount of work Buffalo seems to have. We waited around 45 minutes until I was called, only me not my wife, the lady was very polite at the beginning of the interview, explained me that the interview was divided in 3 parts, the first was about my life, my background, the second about my relationship with my wife and the third was that she will make a decision that day, depending on the answers I provided.

So we started discussing my life, my family, the family I have in Canada, etc., she was surprised to hear I have almost a perfect English language skills, which I found odd since I went to College in the US, anyways, as we moved to described our relationship she started to be tougher and tougher, she asked me about how my wife's family was ok to marry me, etc., she wanted to know how we did communicated, travels I made, she made, she told me that a concern for her was that I left to Canada soon after my student visa expired appears to be to look for status in Canada, however I told her that was not the case because I had an employment authorization allowing to stay in the US until February of 2012 (I had to show the EAD card I was issued by US Immigration). The interview lasted around 1 hour 20 minutes, I showed her the leased me and my wife signed for the house, the bank statements with both names, hydro bills, my passport with stamps of all visits, also I prepared a photo a timeline photo album using Publisher, from the date we met until the day of the interview, it showed for example my wife attended my commencement ceremony last May, my father travel also from my country of birth and it was the first time they both met, so it shows photos with him and with extended family I have in the US, it showed photos also of the house and with her family as well, I think the album was well done. As I stated above she indeed asked about the visitor's visa application I made on December 2010, saying I did not mention I was married, but since I am a very detail oriented person I always kept copies of all applications I made in the past, I printed a copy of the application I submitted on December 2010, first the main application and in the additional family information, both showed I did mentioned I was married, the name of my wife and the address she was living at the time, she did not say anything else after that, at the end she told me she was "reasonable convinced our relationship was genuine", BTW my wife was never called to the interviewer both, it was all me, and I think it was due to the fact that the lady did not speak French (my wife only speaks French), that is only an assumption I'm making, after that she started to review everything was completed (police records, payments, etc.) I had a more recent RCMP police record I requested since I have been in Canada for more than 6 months, she asked me to hand it over since it was more recent than the one they had on file, then mentioned that medical records were not present due to a change in their systems back in March, so told me to come back after 1 PM since she will request the records from the Ottawa office.

We went to have lunch at a local restaurant and went back as instructed at 1 PM, another clerk was there and requested my passport, she asked me if by any chance I had passport photos (which I did not because I was not asked to take any) so they used the photos I originally submitted with the application, waited like 30 mins. and then the lady came with my passport, PR visa stamped and COPR too, the PR visa was valid for 1 year from that date (valid until April 2013), so me and my wife just hugged and thanked this was finally over.

Landing: After doing some souvenir shopping in downtown we head up to the border, landing was pretty simple, I told the officer I was coming to land, he advised to go to the office inside, I gave my passport, a few questions were asked, since we entered through Ontario, we were not asked to show my CSQ, we waited like 45 minutes, signed COPR and a few other forms, the lady stamped my passport and that was it, we head to our car drove 8 hours back to Montreal and just like that our journey was finished, it took 1 year and 10 days since the application was received in Mississauga, sometimes I think if it would've been the same as doing it inland, I already received my SIN card, applied to Quebec health insurance and I was lucky enough to have a job waiting for me here since the company I was working in the US have offices in Montreal, so Interview, PR visa and Landing were all done the same day and I respected the one day US allowed me to stay!

For people awaiting interview, I know we all want to know the questions that they might ask, all cases are different, request a copy of your GCMS notes, that way you can see what are their concerns (I requested 3 sets of GCMS notes, always did it via email and never had problems getting them on time) organize your proof in sections so it's easy for you to find it when asked, and above everything else be honest, there is no reason to be nervous when you are telling the truth.

I wish the best to all waiting, I know it is difficult because I have lived it, and above else have faith in that superior being, if anyone would like to know more details of our experience feel free to ask, thanks to all for their best wishes support and expertise, specially to ddobr2, Eddy070 and GOGOGO.

Sorry if this was REALLY LONG, have a good day all!

Congrats, finally u made it. You didn't mention anything about interview in FRENCH, didn't they ask you any questions in FRENCH?

 

[enna00]

wow has anyone else had good news from this group

 

[emcanada]

I finally got mine approved two weeks ago at the Buenos Aires consulate
After more than a year of waiting, they started processing my case on May 28, 2012. I had to redo my medicals and photos, and finally on July 19th they requested my passport.
Since I'm in Canada already, (with my other passport), I asked my father to submit my passport, which was ready for pickup last Monday.
Fedex should deliver my passport in the next few hours

Seems like I don't need to leave the country and can call the 888 number, schedule an appt and go (not sure where yet) get my PR.

 

[enna00]

TODAY Just received good new hubby was approved hell will be flying in next month!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[emcanada]

Small update..

Fedex delivered the passport last Thursday morning, I called the 888 number and after about 30 mins of trying an agent answered and said that it's easier to go to Niagara than wait and schedule an appointment to go to the visa office close to Toronto.

So I took the car and we both went to Niagara, walked the Rainbow bridge (paid $0.50) and got into the US.
Since I was a US resident, there was some delay on the US side, but after that we walked back to Canada and voila! 5 minutes later I had my papers with me.
PR card should be delivered in about 4-6 weeks

On Friday I went and applied for my SIN card.

End of story

 

[hope2012]

I am not the one requested for the interview. It will be my wife. The assessment they made was joke, there is nothing in there that even suggested they read through our 30 pages detailing our relationship. They just read the first page of the application and just listed of the points and that was it. No further effort was made to read through our stuff. If you go back a few pages (pg. 62) I have typed out what they wrote. There is no excuse for that type of laziness, unprofessionalism, and racism in this field.

Hi Dragoon,

I agree with you on your comment on the professional behaviour of those workers in Singapore. I wish we had a watchdog agency to keep them work to deserve our tax money.

How long did it take them to make an assessment on your files and requested your wife for an interview? Does that mean you have to wait for two more years to have your case done?

 

[Dragoon]

Hi Dragoon,

I agree with you on your comment on the professional behaviour of those workers in Singapore. I wish we had a watchdog agency to keep them work to deserve our tax money.

How long did it take them to make an assessment on your files and requested your wife for an interview? Does that mean you have to wait for two more years to have your case done?

They received the file on May 13 and the assessment date was on November 11. So, it took them 6 months to do it which falls in line with "trying" to reunite family within 6 months. I sent an e-mail asking for an update on November 12 actually, and the date on the interview letter was November 12 as well. Yes, once they send that letter it is "up to" 2 more years and you cannot do *censored word* about it. These VO have too much power. There needs to be a hard deadline for immigration to get the paper work done.

I am hoping that 80% of cases done within 24 months, or whatever it is now, is true. That would mean they have to have the interview date before May 13, 2013 since that would be 2 years.

 

[esr]

Hi guys i have some query regarding spouse sponsorship. It takes how many months usually before they can get visa thanks