@Bleuxu008: CAUTION! Much of what has been suggested above is rooted in misconception or misunderstanding, failing to recognize the difference between inquiries conducted by a local office (which is current status of your application) to obtain additional information relevant to assessing PR Residency Obligation compliance versus other types of review, such as PRC applications referred to the PRCC Sydney Client Service Unit (name of this unit may have been changed in last year or so) "for a second-level review."
Be aware that your PRC application has already been processed by PRCC Sydney and referred to the local office, and it clearly has been determined that there is a factual question as to RO compliance requiring additional information (See sources listed below, and specific references to sources in further explanation below.) The nature and extent of review for a referral to the local office, which is your case currently, is very different from that review conducted if the PRC application is referred to the PRCC Sydney Client Service Unit (we know very little about this review, since this is well behind the confidential-investigatory-methods non-public information curtain).
Main immediate things to be aware of (subject to my previous observations about seeing a lawyer if certain circumstances are in play for you):
There is NOTHING to be gained by withdrawing the application now
Follow the instructions in the IRCC communications, including timely submit the response to requests
There is little or NOTHING to be gained by making further inquiries to IRCC (no point making an ATIP application)
References to authoritative sources; the IRCC Operational Guidelines relevant to PR card application processing:
-- Operational Manual ENF 27 "Permanent resident card" (Section 8 in particular)
-- Operational Manual OP 10 "Permanent Residency Status Determination" (technically this does not directly apply to PRC applications, since this is about visa office processing PR Travel Document applications, but nonetheless provides information which illuminates important aspects of assessing PR RO compliance and related processing or practices)
-- Operational Manual ENF 23 "Loss of Permanent Residence Status" (for PR RO in particular, see Section 7)
-- Operational Bulletin 536 (modified) - December 19, 2016 (technically focused on PRC applicants perceived to be outside Canada, but is also very instructive in regards to the nature and types of review there are for PRC applications)
-- Operational Manual OP 10 "Permanent Residency Status Determination" (technically this does not directly apply to PRC applications, since this is about visa office processing PR Travel Document applications, but nonetheless provides information which illuminates important aspects of assessing PR RO compliance and related processing or practices)
-- Operational Manual ENF 23 "Loss of Permanent Residence Status" (for PR RO in particular, see Section 7)
-- Operational Bulletin 536 (modified) - December 19, 2016 (technically focused on PRC applicants perceived to be outside Canada, but is also very instructive in regards to the nature and types of review there are for PRC applications)
To see the above Operational Manuals and Bulletins, follow links from: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals.html
FOREMOST: AGAIN, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WITHDRAW THE APPLICATION; AND BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN TIMELY PROVIDING THE DOCUMENTS REQUESTED, AS BEST YOU CAN.Do you know how to cancel a current application and resubmit? Also, do you know any successful case (cancel and re-apply without going through the non-routine RO check)?
Thanks a lot for your help
I generally avoid stating what amounts to advice except to the extent noted in my signature. And the main thing I am advising is consistent with that: FOLLOW the INSTRUCTIONS, including those in the communication you have received from IRCC. BUT I am going a bit beyond that in also advising you to NOT withdraw the application. I will at least partially explain:
I do not have time to fully explain at the moment BUT A CAUTION is warranted.
I do not know why, but significant propositions in the posts by @sunnybh are, at best, NOT reliable information.
Most prominently, the suggestion to withdraw your PR card application. There is NOTHING to be gained by withdrawing your application now.
To withdraw PRC application or not (spoiler alert, again, there is NOTHING to be gained by withdrawing the PRC application):
Either there is something problematic in your PRC application or there is not.
If there is nothing problematic in the PRC application, if for example you have received the request for additional documents due to a QA review (randomly selected) or because a detail in your case triggered one of the triage criteria but does not actually invite significant concerns or suspicions, the request for additional documents does NOT necessarily mean there will be a lengthy delay in processing . . . more than a few forum participants here have reported getting their PRC within one to three months after submitting their response. In contrast, those who receive notice of SR but no request for additional documents tend to be among those reporting much longer timelines.
If there is something problematic in the PRC application, IRCC has already begun its review and withdrawing it now will NOT preclude IRCC from completing its review or investigating further. The notice at the bottom of the FAQ answer (linked by @sunnybh) for how to withdraw states that IRCC can "refuse a withdrawal request if the card has already been processed." This is a bit of an understatement, especially given other internal IRCC information which significantly restricts PRC application withdrawal, at least once processing has started. Your PRC application has already been processed by PRCC-Sydney. We know this because you have received a request additional documents, which happens following a referral from PRCC Sydney to the local office.
Contrary to
the source of the request for additional documents does NOT illuminate much, and to the extent this suggests it is possible an IRCC office in Sydney (there is NO CIC anymore, not for nearly THREE years now) is "just confirming PR RO" it is outright wrong. The office in Sydney that processes PRC applications is PRCC Sydney. It does NOT conduct a factual review to determine compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. PRCC Sydney does review the application for completeness and RO compliance, but the latter review is about ascertaining whether RO compliance can be determined "based on the information at hand" (OB 536) (I tend to describe this as a determination made on the face of the application, although it may involve not just reviewing the applicant's account of presence in Canada but also comparing travel history to the CBSA travel history).The simple answer to your question:
1. If you have received email from CIC Sydney, then your file is not transferred, and they are just confirming PR RO.
2. If you have received email from CIC local office, then most probably it has been referred to for SR.
If there is a factual question about PR RO compliance, or based "on enhanced triage criteria" (ENF 27 Section 8), PRCC Sydney will refer the file to the local office where the "application is assessed to determine whether additional information is required." (See OB-536 and discussions about OB-536 throughout this forum; also see somewhat cryptic reference which is probably, most likely, a reference to this in Section 8.5 "Referral of the application to a local IRCC office" in ENF 27 "Permanent resident card" which was essentially rewritten as of April last year. Again, these can be found by following links at this IRCC webpage: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals.html)
I do not have time to elaborate further now. There are some complicating variations in what is described as "COMPLEX" Phase II card processing, and there are other significant misstatements or misleading information in the posts above. I will make an effort to return and address the more important ones later. Most of what you need to know is provided in the communications from IRCC. Unless one of the problematic situations I reference in my earlier post applies, in which case you should see a lawyer, you should be fine simply following IRCC's instructions and appropriately responding to their requests.
It is too soon to consider making a request for urgent processing. If you have travel plans, you may need to accommodate the inconvenience of having to obtain a PR TD or alter your plans.
In particular, if IRCC will allow urgent processing at this stage, it is likely your PRC application will be finalized and the PRC issued relatively soon anyway, that is soon after receiving your response to the requests. That is, if IRCC is satisfied with your response there should be little or no further delay in sending the PRC application back to PRCC Sydney with a positive determination whereupon a new PRC should be promptly issued and mailed.
If, in contrast, the local office is not satisfied, at least not without further inquiry or, as I discussed in my previous posts, not without an in-person interview, it is almost certain urgent processing will NOT be allowed.