Hong Kong time line way shorter than expected

[swervetech69]

My wife just got her PR in just over 3 months, she applied out land through Hong Kong office but she is Taiwanese. I have a strong feeling the exaggerated waiting times are for the mainland Chinese that apply through HK and not Taiwanese or HK residents. All the Taiwanese spouses i know got their PR in a few months, not the 19 stated on the website. Dont worry about this wait too much unless your a mainland Chinese

 

[Fencesitter]

Actually, the timeline is no different for mainland applicants. What makes it faster is the application itself, that is, how complicated is it. If you have a straightforward case, the processing times out of HK are around 5 months. I know many mainland applicants who have received their visas in less than 5 months.

My wife is applying through HK, and I have a feeling she will get her visa very quickly. Our son just received his proof of citizenship cert, and we have applied for his passport. We spoke to the consul about our immigration case, and based on what we told her, she said that we will get the visa very fast...they separate out the "easy cases so they can clear them through faster than other, more complicated cases".

I have faith in CIC!

FS

 

[swervetech69]

I beg to differ, they may have to be politically correct and say there is no difference but there is. 99.9% of Taiwanese dont require interviews because they are visa exempt, mainland Chinese are not. Also i spoke personally to a former CIC worker in Taipei who told me the office moved to HK because Taiwanese pose almost no security risk and are therefore processed with HK Chinese, its the mainlanders from southern China who slow things down due to the higher % of faked marriages from that area, which is among the highest in the world. Thats from a senior CIC worker, not my opinion. anyways, it proves things can move much faster than posted times if you fall under the right category, dont require an interview ect, so good news for many people.

 

[Marty11]

My wife is from Guangzhou, 1 hour from HK, so she is from mainland China. I applied in Aug. 2011, and the file reached HK in Nov. 2011. In March 2012 she received e-mail for interview. So, definetely, for easier cases, the processing time is much faster. I read somewhere on the CIC site that 10% of cases are processed within 6 months in HK. Overall HK had an approval rate of 80% last year (CIC website).

 

[Fencesitter]

I don't see how Taiwanese are less of a security risk. I'd think CIC would consider everyone a security risk until proven otherwise.

Anyway, my wife, even though she is from the mainland, will get her visa very quickly because our case is solid and there is no way they will think our marriage is 'fake' with a little 5 month baby...who also has Canadian citizenship...no way...no chance...

FS

 

[canadianwoman]

Taiwanese people are less of a risk for having a fake marriage. Their per capita income, standard of living, and human development index score are all far higher than mainland China. There are few marriages of convenience from Taiwan (that the CIC knows about anyway). They can enter Canada as visitors without a visa, so presumably if they wanted to stay in Canada illegally, they would not need to bother with a fake marriage.
So applicants from Taiwan and Hong Kong average faster processing times than applicants from mainland China going through Hong Kong. However, there are plenty of mainland applicants who are also processed quickly, so yours most likely will be too. If you read the appeal cases from Hong Kong, you can see there are usually good reasons the applicants were rejected in the first place.

 

[Fencesitter]

Fair enough.

I would suspect that most fake marriages from mainland China are NOT between a white Canadian and a Chinese. Probably most are Chinese couples...

I think our case is easy and will be done quickly.

FS

 

[Marty11]

I would suspect that most fake marriages from mainland China are NOT between a white Canadian and a Chinese. Probably most are Chinese couples...

Hey, FS, be cautious what you are posting, you are near a fine line regarding racial comments.

I am sure you will have an easy and fast, successful case.

I hope the same for my wife.

 

[Fencesitter]

Nothing racist about that at all, though I understand some may interpret it that way.

How many white guys from Canada would fake a marriage and have a baby just to get a bit of money?? That's all I was pointing out...nothing racial about it...

FS

 

[Marty11]

FS, I know that and I understand you, but just think that not only us read these posts.

 

[Fencesitter]

True, but I still stand by my earlier assessment that CIC is more likely to scrutinize Chinese applicants and sponsors than they are white Canadian citizens. It's sad, really, that a few bad apples spoil the bunch, but I guess that's just life.

FS

 

[mobeyk]

ok, I am a white guy. My wife moved from northern China to Zhuhai for work and switched her Houku 2 years ago. All her family is in Taiyuan 3 hours away from Beijing. We have 800 pages of communication, my kids did make many drawings for my wife and we waited a bit to apply after our wedding knowing each other now 19 months and being married 10 months. Does it make our case more straight forward? Who knows. I think the amount of parent sponsorships that get super visa now have led to less volume, which may help to reduce the time. I know regions that are hotspots for fraud like Venezuela and Columbia or Cuba. I think all speculations do not help and we should just be hopeful. If its faster the better. if not we are mentally ready for 19 months, nothing will separate us, nothing. Dang, we even got them the original police certificate. Now that's commitment.
Luck to you all, just paid my fees and the application is in mail by Monday.

 

[cms418]

My wife just got her PR in just over 3 months, she applied out land through Hong Kong office but she is Taiwanese. I have a strong feeling the exaggerated waiting times are for the mainland Chinese that apply through HK and not Taiwanese or HK residents. All the Taiwanese spouses i know got their PR in a few months, not the 19 stated on the website. Dont worry about this wait too much unless your a mainland Chinese

Hey did your online file ever change from "Application Received"? mine hasn't and I am in a similar situation and timeline as you.

 

[bhdlaw]

I have a related, but somewhat, different query regarding processing times in China. My wife and I are living in Qingdao but her Hukou is Guangzhou. I know all applications are filtered through Mississauga CIC, but what determines where the file will subsequently be sent by Miississauga for processing, will they go by her actual address (Qingdao, which means it would go to Beijing) or will they go by the Hukou asnd send it to Hong Kong? Not looking for guess-work or speculation, I'd like to hear from someone who's actually had experience with this kind of situation. Thanks very much.

 

[Bluenoser]

I don't see how Taiwanese are less of a security risk. I'd think CIC would consider everyone a security risk until proven otherwise.

Anyway, my wife, even though she is from the mainland, will get her visa very quickly because our case is solid and there is no way they will think our marriage is 'fake' with a little 5 month baby...who also has Canadian citizenship...no way...no chance...

FS

Actually, there was a recent post on this forum of a couple who had a child together, but were still denied. It's not a slam dunk.