CAIPS is short for 'Computer Assisted Immigration Processing System', which is the name of the computer system used by Citizenship & Immigration Canada to process all visa applications in overseas offices, such as permanent resident, work permit and study visas.
When a immigration application arrives at the visa office, the immigration officers create a CAIPS file. It is the CAIPS file number that is printed on an Acknowledgement of Receipt ('AOR'). The CAIPS file number is normally the letter "B" followed by 9 digits, e.g. "B 123 456 789", although for a study permit, it will begin with an 'S' and for a visitor visa application it will begin with a 'V'.
CAIPS maintains all information relevant to your permanent residence immigration or visa application, including :-
notes and comments from all the visa officers that have reviewed your application
points computations relevant to your application
background checks consisting of security clearances and criminality checks
medical assessments
Workflow Management
The CAIPS computer system normally manages the 'workflow' in most visa officers through the 'bring forward' system. Each CAIPS file is allocated three pieces of information :-
a code to indicate the current location of the file
a code to indicate what will happen next to the file
a code to indicate when this action is scheduled to happen
Visa officers log into CAIPS on a daily basis and CAIPS provides a list of tasks that need to be completed.