Finally!!

[rgvinson777]

Hello to all. I haven't been visiting for a while due to the fact that my application for PR was taking so long that I was just getting fed up. I haven't had anything good to say about this process so I thought it best to just not say anything. Well, I just received the request for my passport and the invitation to pick up my visa and land in Canada.

Am I thankful for the experience? I'm trying to be. I am glad that I can now offer perhaps a little bit of helpful advice concerning the length of the process overall.

Provide police check certificates for every state that you have lived in. (Even though they do not seem to require them to be submitted with your application.)

If you have a court conviction of any kind, be sure to send the court records showing that your case is properly closed with fines paid with your initial application.

Be sure to document everything you can for the purpose of convincing immigration that your relationship with you wife or common law partner is genuine. Get letters of reference. Receipts. Photos. Anything and everything.

If I had known in advance, I would have supplied these things and the process might have been cut down by as much as 5 or 6 months.

Best wishes to all and thanks for all of the help (PMM & others) and encouragement.

RGV

 

[Leon]

Congratulations on your visa!

 

[RobsLuv]

Congratulations. So happy that things worked out for you and that this process is finally reaching a positive conclusion for you!

 

[himanshu_tokekar]

Hey i haone the same application to immigrate to canada, my wife has applied for me. i wanted to ask how much time did ur case took ?

 

[GK]

Congratulations!

 

[Gotchaa]

Congratulations to you and your wife! Wish you all the best.

 

[habib890]

Congratualation

 

[shanene]

Congrats RGV!

Can u share with us where you or your spouse is from- what office you were processed at and your timeline from start to finish?

thank you

and good luck with your new life in Canada!

 

[rgvinson777]

Thank you for all the congratulations. I am happy to share everything I can. Here goes.

I am an American immigrating from the United States.

Applied for PR 2-11-08
Sponsorship approved 3-05-08
Acknowlegement of Receipt at Buffalo 3-20-08
File forwarded to Seattle 4-10-08
Requested additional Documents 6-28-08
Sent Requested Documents 7-28-08
Passport Requested 10-18-08
Picked up Visa at the Seattle Consulate 10-21-08
Landed 10-23-2008

The letter I received requesting my passport gave explicit instructions for mailing it in and for picking it up in person.
I submitted my passport in the morning and returned in the afternoon to pick up my passport. They gave me my visa
and returned all of the personal items that i submitted with my application.

The landing went very smoothly. I answered a few questions about my application, signed on the line and we were on
our way within 20 minutes. Everything is smooth and quick after your application is approved. Hang in there

Best wishes to all!!

This is rgvinson signing off.

 

[frolic]

If I had known in advance, I would have supplied these things and the process might have been cut down by as much as 5 or 6 months.

So by your own timeline it took 7 months for the processing in Buffalo which would be right in line with what they put on the website for 70% of the cases and you think you can cut down the processing by 5 or 6 months? Why do I get the impression that many people have unrealistic ideas about how long these things take?

 

[rgvinson777]

I think its because everyone (Including me) is hoping for the 30% category and I have seen many people get their visas in 90 to 140 days.

 

[frolic]

Yes we all hope that of course. But just looking at the timelines of the quick ones may be comparing apples to oranges as you saw.

Interesting that the additional documents they asked for seemed to include police checks for every state? Did I missunderstand that? So someone that has never moved would have to get less documents than someone that has lived all over the U.S.

 

[mk1988]

I am a US citizen and currently live in Vancouver with my boyfriend. We're going to be getting married soon and I'm going to be applying for PR while in Canada. So when we apply for sponsorship and PR, you suggest to send photos and/or documents proving our relationship? I think this is a good idea, just would like to make sure the items will be returned.
Thanks!

 

[rgvinson777]

Of course. there are no guarantees about getting supporting documents back. Although I did.

Immigration did not request my state police certificates. I supplied them with my first application. I'm just suggesting that everything you can get should be sent to immigration upon your first application. If you have any type of criminal record, (which includes traffic tickets and contempt of court by failure to appear) be sure you get the records of the case prior to sending in your application because they are going to require proof that the case is closed.

My wife and I were married just one month and 10 days before our application date. The application asks if we were planning to have a formal ceremony at a later date. We were, so we gave them the date. They didnt do any work on our file until that date. Just after the formal ceremony, I emailed the consulate asking them about my case. Two days later I received a letter asking for proof about the formal ceremony. It became obvious to me that they had been waiting for our formal wedding to proceed with our case.

Take whatever lesson from that. To me the lesson is that once the consulate has to request more documents from an applicant, the process will most likely be delayed by several months.

 

[banton]

Congrats on your successful application. Patience pays I see...Your story is inspirational and sheds alot of light on the process.
Did you use a lawyer to apply for PR?
As far as the the police reports are concerned, do speeding tickets apply? How about points on the licence?