I am so sad to see how many of us are waiting. BGC's that hold everything up....not only does it cost money and take several months to get, but one would think an FBI Clearance would be over half of the BGC needed. I read an article yesterday about how Refugees and Asylum seekers are taking up a lot of time and are jumping the line so to speak to process everything with such a large influx, it takes 4 months approximately to process them. I love everyone and certainly those fleeing their countries to find a better and safer home....I am not for them jumping the line and getting into Canada with jobs and health insurance and support, while those of us that also have families and lives, that paid a great deal of money, stress and deal with depression wait , months and months and months on end with zero updates. We can't plan our futures. It's very discouraging. In our case, we fell through the cracks, as CIC had given us wrong information, and after that was not available for months as far as any progress or contact. Found out last week, that I could in fact have been employed for 2 years....2 years second income we could have had. We could have been living somewhere that wasn't 500 square feet, we could have purchased a car and not taken city transit everywhere and walk everywhere with grocery bags. My husband wouldn't have been so stressed out because he has paid for everything. I could have traveled to see my family, children and grandchild, and my dying mother. This was all lost to us. We have to say it is what it is...because CIC can't even process paying, legitimate immigrants in a timely manner. Families live apart for years, children grow up without parents. It's so very sad. I cry on a daily basis. I don't even know what a "normal" life feels like. I'm sad for all of this in the same boat. NO ONE should have to be treated like this, and to think it's now "faster and easier" than it was before. There is definitely a flaw in the system. Apparently many MP's offices are flooded with issues on the Phoenix Pay System, quote "even more so than immigration issues", I think that is where all of the CIC employees went to work, as they are absent from our applications/files. I wish you all good luck and as it is what it is, we still have to stay strong, as strong as we can, and tell ourselves at some point this will all be over and we can in fact start enjoying a "normal" life.