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bonacker said:
Hi Everyone,

We are waifs and strays, who fell thru the cracks somewhere between L.A. and Ottawa. . . . .

But we just got a mysteriously worded and informal-ish passport request from CPP-Ottawa.

This is what happened to us:

• Application for my son submitted June 2012
• Forwarded to L.A. August 2012
• Notified it was in L.A. September 2012
• . . . .then zero communication from anyone for eight months. . .
• Request for electronic case files, by us, May 2013
• Surprise formal email letter from Ottawa, last week, saying they'd asked for our passport and "Request for Medical" back in FEBRUARY --! -- and that we needed to comply by June 30th, or we'd basically get bounced back to square one
• Exchange of emails with Ottawa this week
• Cryptic email request from Ottawa: "Send your passport" and "medical extension days only a few days" (??)
• When asked for specific instructions, we are told, this morning: "Scan and email it."

So I just emailed the scanned PHOTO PAGE, only (along with their formally worded email from last week) to them just now.

Fingers crossed.

It also sounds like the extension was or will be granted for just a few days so be ready to buy a ticket for your son if he is not in Canada already as his visa/copr may be granted valid for a short period of time.
 
Hi Everyone!

I am in need of your expert advice...I am in Canada as a visitor right now (my Canadian husband is sponsoring me) and, while I have no issues going over the border back and forth, my husband is "flagged" every time he crosses into the US (we were married in the states). Today he was hassled and almost missed his flight. Does anyone know how to help remove this "flag" so he doesn't have to go through this every time? Does anyone else experience this?

My main question being - will this go on forever :'( Or will it get better once I have my PR?

Thank you!
 
ALLY06 said:
Hi Everyone!

I am in need of your expert advice...I am in Canada as a visitor right now (my Canadian husband is sponsoring me) and, while I have no issues going over the border back and forth, my husband is "flagged" every time he crosses into the US (we were married in the states). Today he was hassled and almost missed his flight. Does anyone know how to help remove this "flag" so he doesn't have to go through this every time? Does anyone else experience this?

My main question being - will this go on forever :'( Or will it get better once I have my PR?

Thank you!

Did they ever tell him or you what the flag was? I would find out what it is and then you can figure out how to get it "off" so to speak.
 
ALLY06 said:
Hi Everyone!

I am in need of your expert advice...I am in Canada as a visitor right now (my Canadian husband is sponsoring me) and, while I have no issues going over the border back and forth, my husband is "flagged" every time he crosses into the US (we were married in the states). Today he was hassled and almost missed his flight. Does anyone know how to help remove this "flag" so he doesn't have to go through this every time? Does anyone else experience this?

My main question being - will this go on forever :'( Or will it get better once I have my PR?

Thank you!

What sort of hassling? If his name matches a name on a watch list, I'm not sure there's much you can do other than arrive early for border crossings. It's the US giving you trouble, right?
 
ALLY06 said:
Hi Everyone!

I am in need of your expert advice...I am in Canada as a visitor right now (my Canadian husband is sponsoring me) and, while I have no issues going over the border back and forth, my husband is "flagged" every time he crosses into the US (we were married in the states). Today he was hassled and almost missed his flight. Does anyone know how to help remove this "flag" so he doesn't have to go through this every time? Does anyone else experience this?

My main question being - will this go on forever :'( Or will it get better once I have my PR?

Thank you!

Most likely his name (or a similar name) is on some watch list. Not necessarily him, but the name itself. I knew someone in a similar situation because he had a name that was on a watch list. He finally got fed up and contacted US immigration and had an interview to clear it up.
 
So there's a good chance that we haven't been seeing much movement here because of the Foreign Case Workers going on strike...
 
Oh ma god. Please let that not be true..... My heart will explode if the following quote is true:

“The ramifications on the immigration side, I think you can probably guess. It’s going to mean a massive backlog and huge reduction in the pace and volume of the processing of visas and permanent resident applications in these locations.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/06/foreign-service-workers-target-harpers-european-trip-with-walkout-in-ottawa-key-missions-abroad/

What does this meaaaan for family class sponsorship cases apart from their families???
 
It means, unless the government comes to an agreement with these workers, our applications are going to be processed a lot slower, if at all. :'(
 
I'm praying for everyone that this will not be the case with regards to your applications!! My file was part of the backlog as a result of the Buffalo VO closing and it was a very hard time for me so I can understand how others feel. I will be praying and sending positive thoughts for everyone for quick processing for ALL :)
 
muffy1 said:
I'm praying for everyone that this will not be the case with regards to your applications!! My file was part of the backlog as a result of the Buffalo VO closing and it was a very hard time for me so I can understand how others feel. I will be praying and sending positive thoughts for everyone for quick processing for ALL :)

Anyone know whether CPP-Ottawa is striking, or is it just the foreign posts?
 
IvanP said:
Anyone know whether CPP-Ottawa is striking, or is it just the foreign posts?

It IS indeed effecting Ottawa...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/06/06/ottawa-dfait-walkout-job-protest.html
 
Well, some must be working because my daughter and I received our PPR today! Woot! :D Here's hoping I broke the Ottawa silence for others....
 
Yellowrose said:
Well, some must be working because my daughter and I received our PPR today! Woot! :D Here's hoping I broke the Ottawa silence for others....

Cool! CONGRATS..
 
Yellowrose said:
Well, some must be working because my daughter and I received our PPR today! Woot! :D Here's hoping I broke the Ottawa silence for others....


Still "application received" here... but glad that they haven't completely shut down Ottawa.

In principle I support the efforts to get equal pay for foreign service workers, but I really hope that it doesn't slow our applications down much. You would think that the substantial sums of money we pay for our applications would be enough to pay these people adequately - and process the applications relatively quickly!
 
My MP's office finally woke up and responded that they have made an inquiry about my case, and said I should hear back from them Monday or Tuesday.

I can't help but note that having our MP respond feels like progress, even if it doesn't bring us any closer to my family obtaining their COPRs.

Meanwhile, hopefully Ottawa can keep plugging away at our applications during the strike...