February Applicants Join here!!!

[raatri]

I have been following the parents sponsorship thread as more info alcan be found and people are updating more frequently

 

[mameelynn]

I know it has taken me a few days to be willing to spend a lot of time on the computer after dealing with all the paperwork! I thought I would let you all know a bit about us! I'm Canadian and my husband is American and we (us and our three kids) are living in the US and will be heading up to Canada once we get his PR. The whole application took a lot longer to get all ready than I thought it would between the 3 month wait for the FBI report and then a computer crash that took all of our stored info . We had hoped to be in the December crew or the January one but we are just glad to be in the February group! Our package got there right on the last day for the FBI report so I'm hoping that it is all good. I was wondering if there is any info we should have gotten or are waiting for from CIC to see that it was received? or do we not hear back until the sponsor is approved? I'm wondering if we should re-send for the FBI report or not just to be safe but I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't have to!

 

[Irishladyloo]

I was wondering if there is any info we should have gotten or are waiting for from CIC to see that it was received? or do we not hear back until the sponsor is approved? I'm wondering if we should re-send for the FBI report or not just to be safe but I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't have to!

This depends on which office you applied through. For example, I know people applying through London, UK do not receive AOR (acknowledgement of receipt) but those applying through Buffalo do. Certainly the first we heard of anything was when we were approved for sponsorship. We were then able to use our file number to check ecas online for the status of our application and monitor it from there. Funnily enough, though we received no update with regard to our application from CIC, once we were able to log onto ecas we were able to see when they had received the file, when they had transferred it to London, etc. At that point the information was useless but there you go!

 

[canadiangirl78]

Yeah it's definitely a quiet thread, I do wonder if more people might show up.

I'm guessing things might pick up when the first sponsor approvals trickle through.

When is that estimated to be? End of March?

 

[Irishladyloo]

When is that estimated to be? End of March?

The January spreadsheet indicates that sponsor ship approval is currently taking between 40 and 50 days.

Check it out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmxynnoT1qeadGJZWUlfekZUbm9YTVJuVzNFejU3eGc#gid=0

 

[canadiangirl78]

I know it has taken me a few days to be willing to spend a lot of time on the computer after dealing with all the paperwork! I thought I would let you all know a bit about us! I'm Canadian and my husband is American and we (us and our three kids) are living in the US and will be heading up to Canada once we get his PR. The whole application took a lot longer to get all ready than I thought it would between the 3 month wait for the FBI report and then a computer crash that took all of our stored info . We had hoped to be in the December crew or the January one but we are just glad to be in the February group! Our package got there right on the last day for the FBI report so I'm hoping that it is all good. I was wondering if there is any info we should have gotten or are waiting for from CIC to see that it was received? or do we not hear back until the sponsor is approved? I'm wondering if we should re-send for the FBI report or not just to be safe but I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't have to!

3 month FBI wait and a computer crash, no wonder you wanted to stay away from the computer! I am glad you survived it. I bet it was a huge relief to get it all mailed off. You can check your application status online otherwise you should get mail or email when you are approved to sponsor. I thought the FBI clearance was good for 6 months?

 

[canadiangirl78]

The January spreadsheet indicates that sponsor ship approval is currently taking between 40 and 50 days.

Check it out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmxynnoT1qeadGJZWUlfekZUbm9YTVJuVzNFejU3eGc#gid=0

Oh cool, thanks!

 

[canadiangirl78]

How are people getting their AOR and sponsor approval? Email or snail mail?

 

[mameelynn]

3 month FBI wait and a computer crash, no wonder you wanted to stay away from the computer! I am glad you survived it. I bet it was a huge relief to get it all mailed off. You can check your application status online otherwise you should get mail or email when you are approved to sponsor. I thought the FBI clearance was good for 6 months?

nope they say it has to be no more than 3 months.... and of course that is from the check not when you get it : our date was Nov. 27 but we didn't get it in the mail until Dec.18. We are going thought Buffalo but I haven't seen anything yet from anyone other than UPS saying it was signed for on delivery. Now I'm not quite sure to do with all my "free time" (I do have three under 5 so not so much free time) but all the time I was using for finding pics and papers and re-typing all of our birthdays... maybe I will finally get on top of all of my housework that had gone by the wayside during the big push for paperwork

 

[Irishladyloo]

How are people getting their AOR and sponsor approval? Email or snail mail?

Some people get theirs via post, others via email. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it (perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this one!). Seems to vary greatly, even within the same visa offices. We got our sponsor approval via email. No AOR for us, though.

 

[Deficient]

Would be cool for everyone to add a little background about their life/application to keep the thread moving along, something to read while we wait!

I'm British and my husband is Canadian, we've been married for about 8 months but been romancing for about two years. We've lived apart all this time and I'm hoping if this visa process goes smoothly, I will be over there in September.

I'll be moving to Quebec so there's the added layer of paperwork to go through with the province after the sponsor approval stage, but I hear they turn those applications around quickly, in about three weeks or so.

I too was amazed at how long it takes to pull together the application. I started mid-December and didn't get it submitted until late February! I did have the added hassle of renewing my UK passport in the middle of all of that, which I realise I could have done later and just updated CIC when it was done but I figured I'd just do it beforehand and submit everything together.

My medical brought to light a possible health issue, very likely non-serious, and the DMP says that the London VO may or may not request further information about it. Meantime I'm getting it checked out for my own peace of mind and I'm hoping London will let it fly. I did always have that feeling of dread that the medical would find something that I didn't know about. Hopefully I'm well and hopefully my visa process doesn't get interrupted too badly, if at all.

 

[sdfr0024]

I also applied in February.

I had no idea about the new IMM1344. I wish they'd make these changes more prominent as it's easy to miss something like that if you've already completed the form and have no reason to look at the detailed guidance for that form again. And putting that notice far down at the bottom of the page is a bit hopeless of them. Thankfully my application arrived there before the end of February (27th Feb) so I'm hoping they will process it with the old form.

All of this is stressful and time-consuming enough without them moving the goalposts every five minutes, but if they're going to do so, you'd think they'd make it a bit more obvious.

/whine

How do you guys know if your application has arrived before Feb 27th? I mean to ask, did CIC contact you?

 

[canadiangirl78]

Would be cool for everyone to add a little background about their life/application to keep the thread moving along, something to read while we wait!

I'm British and my husband is Canadian, we've been married for about 8 months but been romancing for about two years. We've lived apart all this time and I'm hoping if this visa process goes smoothly, I will be over there in September.

I'll be moving to Quebec so there's the added layer of paperwork to go through with the province after the sponsor approval stage, but I hear they turn those applications around quickly, in about three weeks or so.

I too was amazed at how long it takes to pull together the application. I started mid-December and didn't get it submitted until late February! I did have the added hassle of renewing my UK passport in the middle of all of that, which I realise I could have done later and just updated CIC when it was done but I figured I'd just do it beforehand and submit everything together.

My medical brought to light a possible health issue, very likely non-serious, and the DMP says that the London VO may or may not request further information about it. Meantime I'm getting it checked out for my own peace of mind and I'm hoping London will let it fly. I did always have that feeling of dread that the medical would find something that I didn't know about. Hopefully I'm well and hopefully my visa process doesn't get interrupted too badly, if at all.

I enjoyed reading your story. I will have to post one later. I am sorry about the health issue, hope it's nothing.

 

[Deficient]

How do you guys know if your application has arrived before Feb 27th? I mean to ask, did CIC contact you?

I only know they received it on that day because I tracked the package. I don't think they contact applicants that early in the process usually.

 

[canadiangirl78]

They haven't updated processing times - isn't it supposed to be today?