Have not received refund after 4 months - advice please

[nick360]

Hi there,

I applied for inland sponsorship at the beginning of this year, I cancelled it and went the outland route after realizing it was easier and faster (I paid for this as well). I withdrew my application before receiving any confirmation that processing had begun and my sponsor received a letter confirming that the $1040 would be refunded to the credit card used within 8 weeks, it has now been more than 16 weeks and I have sent two web requests with only standard replies saying my application is not outside the expected time period so to expect zero response.

This is incredibly frustrating as the CIC is difficult to get a hold of, I can't find an appropriate phone number and now i'm not really sure what my next step should be? Should I send snail mail? $1040 is a lot of money to me and I would really like it back.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thank you,

 

[nick360]

Oh and i'm outside of Canada at the moment so cannot try the call centre as apparently it is only available from within Canada.

 

[profiler]

Try a Case Specific Enquiry.

 

[nick360]

Try a Case Specific Enquiry.

Thank you for the response.

I have done this twice already, and no luck. They keep telling my my application is within the required time period and are refusing to respond (Clearly they are looking at my current application and not the withdrawn one I am actually asking about).

 

[profiler]

Thank you for the response.

I have done this twice already, and no luck. They keep telling my my application is within the required time period and are refusing to respond (Clearly they are looking at my current application and not the withdrawn one I am actually asking about).

Is it the same application number???

 

[nick360]

Is it the same application number???

No, and in my second case specific inquiry I made double sure they knew this because I was nervous they would withdraw my current application by accident because they clearly did not read my request the first time around. But still no luck.

 

[profiler]

If I needed to call a Canadian number, I would try to find a calling proxy that would route my call through Canada, or a flynumber (http://flynumber.com) SIP that I could use on a computer / smartphone. I think you need to contact them, and if you are not getting anywhere with the CSE, it might be worth the couple bucks to do that.

Alternatively, you can try reaching the MP from the riding you lived in (or plan to return to) to try to get help...

Also, put in an ATIP request for your sponsorship application's GCMS case notes so you can prove the money is still being held in escrow.

EDIT: There was a series of posts quite some time ago about it. Try this: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/how-to-reach-cic-call-centre-toll-free-number-from-outside-canada-t24877.0.html;msg421501#msg421501

 

[nick360]

In case anyone is interested at all I am still waiting for my refund that I was supposed to receive in August 2016. I have spoken to CIC officials by phone approximately 4 times and have emailed approximately 10 times. I am sure they are sick of me by now and they keep saying they will ask the appropriate office to expedite the refund process but I cannot speak to the office in charge myself and the people I talk with can only send through requests.

This whole system is ridiculous and I am not sure what to do. I have now been waiting over 6 months for a refund that I have been consistently been asking for. I am not quite sure what the next steps are. Any suggestions? It is $1040 so not something I am willing to let go of.