Havana, Cuba

[Ferengi]

I also called Immigration today. It seemed to be a bit of a surprise to her.
1. I asked - where is he supposed to pick up the visa? She said Mexico. I said, he needs a visa for Mexico. She asked if he could go to Dominican Republic. I said he needs a visa.
2. She asked if he could send a pre-paid stamped envelope to send his passport to Mexico. I explained that this was not possible and that once he used DHL to mail me something to Canada and it took over a month.
3. She asked if he could drop his passport off to a VAC. There are no VACs in Cuba.

She was honestly unsure of how he could pick up a visa.

I also called my MPs office. She is going to call Immigration to get answers.

We have received a pre-arrival services email and are very close - like 1-2 weeks away. I am beyond annoyed at this. I am beyond annoyed that we did not receive an email telling us about this and what we could expect.

 

[Katz23]

I also called Immigration today. It seemed to be a bit of a surprise to her.
1. I asked - where is he supposed to pick up the visa? She said Mexico. I said, he needs a visa for Mexico. She asked if he could go to Dominican Republic. I said he needs a visa.
2. She asked if he could send a pre-paid stamped envelope to send his passport to Mexico. I explained that this was not possible and that once he used DHL to mail me something to Canada and it took over a month.
3. She asked if he could drop his passport off to a VAC. There are no VACs in Cuba.

She was honestly unsure of how he could pick up a visa.

I also called my MPs office. She is going to call Immigration to get answers.

We have received a pre-arrival services email and are very close - like 1-2 weeks away. I am beyond annoyed at this. I am beyond annoyed that we did not receive an email telling us about this and what we could expect.

all the files are sent to mexico from Havana but I believe they could still pick up the Visa in Havana thats what it says in the statement so what it basically happens now is that you have to wait till Mexico opens ur file and sends you visa pick up instructions. since you already have pre arrival it will just be Visa pick up no interview needed
When did you apply?

 

[Ferengi]

I took a look at the website shared on the last page.
It says that services included are:
Services still available
The Embassy of Canada to Cuba will continue to accept all Canadian passport, proof of citizenship (citizenship certificate) and permanent resident travel document applications.

You can continue to apply for permanent residence under economic and family class programs by following existing application instructions.



Maybe family class programs are still completed from Havana???

 

[Ferengi]

When did you apply?[/QUOTE]


We are in a special situation. We applied in January 2016, were denied, went through the appeal process and won in November. We provided new police certificate, additional family members and Schedule A - they asked for history going back to 1997. The medicals have been received and we are literally waiting for him to pick up the visa. It has been a process.

 

[Osmel86]

When I called Immigration today, I felt very relieved to find out that our file was still in Mississauga (my husband and stepson are doing medicals on Friday) and I believe if they think a file is straightforward they do as much as they can from Canada. When I asked about biometrics, they said it was NOT retroactive - and since we applied in October they probably won't be asked for them. When I asked about a possible interview, they mentioned that they may do a "mass interview" schedule - which is where they rent a couple of hotel rooms and just blitz through everyone in 1-2 days. We'll see. But I agree - going to Mexico for biometrics would be stupid, expensive and probably not even feasible.

Thanks for sharing this. I pray God they find a way which is more flexible for all of us who are in this process and don't have any fault about what's going on. Good Luck to all of us...

 

[Osmel86]

I also called Immigration today. It seemed to be a bit of a surprise to her.
1. I asked - where is he supposed to pick up the visa? She said Mexico. I said, he needs a visa for Mexico. She asked if he could go to Dominican Republic. I said he needs a visa.
2. She asked if he could send a pre-paid stamped envelope to send his passport to Mexico. I explained that this was not possible and that once he used DHL to mail me something to Canada and it took over a month.
3. She asked if he could drop his passport off to a VAC. There are no VACs in Cuba.

She was honestly unsure of how he could pick up a visa.

I also called my MPs office. She is going to call Immigration to get answers.

We have received a pre-arrival services email and are very close - like 1-2 weeks away. I am beyond annoyed at this. I am beyond annoyed that we did not receive an email telling us about this and what we could expect.

I hope they let people pick up their visa here in Havana. When did you apply? When did you get your pre-arrival services letter? It doesn't make sense they ask us to go to Mexico for a visa pick up when we would need a Mexican Visa. It's all a mess and without any information at all...not even by email.

 

[laleona]

My husband and 19 year old stepson are at the hospital in Havana, now, for their medicals, and have been told that all medicals are cancelled. This, after buying my son's leave for 2 days from his military service (under the table) and travelling from another province. They are now saying that all medicals will take place outside the country. We are shattered. No warning whatsoever.

 

[Kiva667]

Yes, it’s an unfortunate situation with the embassy now closed to visa applications in Havana. Our application for my wife is now in Mississauga - I was approved as a sponsor in March - and they received our medical checks last week. So we just have to wait until they sort out how to proceed and hope that the visa office in DF (shorthand for Mexico City) responds in a timely manner and that we don’t have to go thru the hassle of the computer generated cita that the Mexican embassy now uses in Havana.

And it does appear that visas can still be picked up in Havana, according to the IRCC announcement.

 

[stephtigger]

Where do IRCC state visas will be able to be still picked up in Havana. That is the big question now. we understand that files are going to be processed in Mexico, but where will the visa pick
Up be? we pray still in Havana and official answers soon.

 

[laleona]

Yes, it’s an unfortunate situation with the embassy now closed to visa applications in Havana. Our application for my wife is now in Mississauga - I was approved as a sponsor in March - and they received our medical checks last week. So we just have to wait until they sort out how to proceed and hope that the visa office in DF (shorthand for Mexico City) responds in a timely manner and that we don’t have to go thru the hassle of the computer generated cita that the Mexican embassy now uses in Havana.

And it does appear that visas can still be picked up in Havana, according to the IRCC announcement.

Wow! You must have received a medical request so quickly after the SA! We got ours in mid-April and I got the SA in January.

 

[laleona]

Our application is still in Mississauga as well. Which I think is a good thing, given the circumstances.

 

[Kiva667]

Wow! You must have received a medical request so quickly after the SA! We got ours in mid-April and I got the SA in January.

Yeah it was blindingly fast between SA and medical check request - 11 days. Best of all we had the check done in Lima, Peru (where we happened to be) for half the price they were charging in Havana and results were delivered to Canada in 3 days electronically. Receipt immediately acknowledged, too!

 

[Slamee]

My husband and 19 year old stepson are at the hospital in Havana, now, for their medicals, and have been told that all medicals are cancelled. This, after buying my son's leave for 2 days from his military service (under the table) and travelling from another province. They are now saying that all medicals will take place outside the country. We are shattered. No warning whatsoever.

Oh my god. So many question. Had you already paid? Are you going to get your money back? When did you apply - do you need biometrics done a well? What do you think you're going to do now that they need to leave the country for Bio and Medicals?

We got our bio request ONE DAY before the VAC closed. We are absolutely devastated....

 

[Slamee]

Our application is still in Mississauga as well. Which I think is a good thing, given the circumstances.

I don't understand - how was your Cuban spouse in Peru with you?

 

[Kiva667]

I don't understand - how was your Cuban spouse in Peru with you?

Easy - she has a one-year visa for Peru with multiple entries. This was our second visit there (since we live together in Cuba it’s nice to get out and about from time to time ...)