Hong Kong timeline

[FranFran]

Hi there

I guess I have a piece of good news from Hong Kong visa office. My time line is:

Application received: Jul 25 2011
Letter from visa office asking for new set of photos: Aug 12 2011 (photos were not accepted as I wrote my name at the back )
Photos sent again: Aug 16 2011
Letter from visa office saying no interview is required and asking for the certificate of good conduct from HK police: Aug 22 2011
Applied for the certificate from the HK police: Aug 26 2011

HK Police said if I have no criminal record, the certificate will be sent to the visa office within a month. If everything is fine, the visa office expects to finalize my application and issue me a visa.

I am so anxious and keep on checking my mail box everyday. The visa office processes my application way faster than I expected (I know the average processing time for 80% of cases take 19 months). I hope that I can get the visa soon so that I can quit my job and join my husband!

Bless me

 

[swervetech69]

Fran Fran thats great things worked out fast for you. My wife is Taiwanese and now all Taiwan applications go through HK. Do HK residents need a visa to simplyvisit Canada because as of 6 months ago taiwanese dont. Maybe this is why your rc was processed so fast? Any idea of where the 19 month processing time comes from? do some mainlanders get processed through HK. Im a Canadian citizen and have lived in Taiwan for 6 years. I will come to Canada first and apply for my wife. When i hear 19 months to process i freak out, I wonder how i can get the same result as you.

 

[yogini]

hello Fran Fran, any good news yet?

 

[GOGOGO]

Not sure if FranFran will see this (her last active date was in Nov 2011). From her past post she has got the passport request on 10 Oct 2011.

 

[mobeyk]

Fran Fran thats great things worked out fast for you. My wife is Taiwanese and now all Taiwan applications go through HK. Do HK residents need a visa to simplyvisit Canada because as of 6 months ago taiwanese dont. Maybe this is why your rc was processed so fast? Any idea of where the 19 month processing time comes from? do some mainlanders get processed through HK. Im a Canadian citizen and have lived in Taiwan for 6 years. I will come to Canada first and apply for my wife. When I hear 19 months to process i freak out, I wonder how i can get the same result as you.

Yes, Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi and Hainan are processed through Hong Kong.
I am just finishing our application. Anybody has a feel if our case would be a problem? We learned each other knowing online October 2010, visited China Jan. 2011 ( 7 weeks ), married June 2011 ( I stayed 4 weeks ), 3rd visit Jan 2012 ( will be 2 months when I leave ). We have tons of chat records and emails, letters, tonns of pictures, name and contacts of many friends here in China ( about 25 people ), unfortunately my family has a farm and has been too busy for a visit, but they are in touch through video chat. My wife got a temporary visa application denied shortly after our marriage. :-[ Reasoning was no travel experience outside China, not satisfactory income. My wife has a apartment and family here, I support her. I think in reality she was denied as we just had married and Canada immigration is very careful in regards to fake marriages and sets high requirements. :'(
We will send out our application Mid to end March 2012 and are ready to endure 19 months if needed. Who else wants to share their HK Application story?

 

[Fencesitter]

I, too, will be applying through the HK office. The 19 months is actually a good thing in my case, because I need more time to save money for a down payment on a house. It would be nice to leave sooner, but at the same time I know my wife will miss her family a lot, and since we just had our first baby, I want my wife's family to have as much time with our son before we go. The thing is, I have a feeling that our application will be processed in about 8-10 months, so this concerns me because if we are not ready to go (i.e. we want to save more money first), this puts us in a bit of a pickle. Others on this forum have said we could fly to Canada, land, complete some more paperwork, then turn around and fly back to China. The only problem with that is our son - we don't want to drag him all the way across the world and back again (does he need to go in this scenario? - he's already a Canadian citizen)??

It would be nice if CIC tried to make the visa dates a bit more open. For example, instead of attaching the entry date to the medical, allow applicants to choose a date. CIC could set limits of 2 years, thus giving applicants and their families more time to prepare.

We have two small dogs we will be taking with us, so this is also concerning because not all carriers and flights allow dogs (even in the heated cargo hold).

I must say this has been a major learning experience...and although it's been stressful at times, I am the better for it.

Cheers,
FS

 

[kangzizhe]

CIC received my application on Sep 29, 2011, and started processing on Dec 1, 2011. My sponsorship has been approved on the same day, and then send to HongKong Visa Office. I haven't heard anything since that. I really hope my wife can get the aprove letter from HK visa office within a month or two.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!! keep updating

 

[steaky]

We have two small dogs we will be taking with us, so this is also concerning because not all carriers and flights allow dogs (even in the heated cargo hold).

For HK, your choices of direct flights to Canada is limited - Air Canada or Cathay Pacific. Both carriers allows dogs in the cargo compartment. No worries as long as you have a suitable crate and you book early in advance. However, CX doesn't allow short nose dogs aboard.

 

[Marty11]

Hi Everybody,

I was watching this forum for quite sometime now, and tons of very good information here, from which I got inspired and fuelled my patience. Thank you so much guys.

However, I thought I should share my timeline, information and experience here.
I met my wife in November 2010, on line.
I went to HK in Jan. 2011 for 1 week, when we first met.
I went to China in July 2011, for 3 weeks, during which period we got married there.
I went to China in january 2012, to spend the Chinese New Year with her.
Will fly again to HK in June 2012 to be with her at her interview.

My wife lives in Guangzhou, which is 1 hour drive from HK.

- Medicals done when I was in China, after our marriage, at the end of July (20 ? or so)
- Submitted to CIC the Spusal Sponsorship on Aug.03, 2011.
- E-mail form CIC on Oct. 18, stating "You have met the requirements for eligibility as a sponsor. Accordingly, the Application for Permanent Residence for your relative(s) has been forwarded to a visa office abroad for further processing." I guess this meant that I have been approved as sponsor, although on e-cas does not say that.
- E-mail form V.O. HK on Nov.22 to my wife that her file is there for processing.
So, I thought 19 months waiting time started from there.
In January 2012, my wife's address dissapeared from e-cas.
-E-mail from HK V.O. on March 21, to my wife, scheduled for interview on June 20, 2012.

e-cas for my wife still shows: "Application received" and medicals received. For me, as sponsor, still shows "In Process".

The funny thing is that exactly in the week when she received the interview e-mail, I was planning to notarize an invitation letter to send her for a visitor visa to come here in July for 2 weeks. I know that in 99% of the cases, it is rejected, but I thought, hey...maybe we are the 1%....We were thinking meeting like every 6 months until summer of 2013 when she would come here, after the 19 months HK processing time. I intended to apply for a multiple visitor visa for her, for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in December, for Christmas. Then, after another 6 months, is summer of 2013, ...but with God's help, maybe we will be 1 year earlyer together...

 

[mobeyk]

Marty 11, amazing, our both cases are so similar. I met my wife October 2010 online. I visited her January 2011 for 7 weeks. We married June 2011 where I stayed for 4 weeks. We applied for TRV at that time which was denied ( Guess we did the 99% wall). I went back Jan 2012 after a hard 6 months apart. I spent 2 months in China with my wife. Now, I am about to send our application to Missisauga. So you are ahead as you applied right away after marriage which might have triggered the interview you applied quick. I hope we get no interview as our times together are longer than yours and we left more time between marriage and application. I will go back end of August for 3 weeks and plan to stay after Jan 2013 for 2 to 3 months in China. My wife lives in Zhuhai even closer to HK. We have 500 pages of chat records, phone bills, 500 + pictures, 400 pages of emails, a few letters.
It seems that by rolling the parents applications back to the Super visa has freed time at the Hong Kong office to go faster through spousal applications, which would be a really great news. Anybody else with recent applications and info?

 

[Marty11]

Yes, 6 months apart is very stressfull, but stil bearable. We talk every day at least one on the phone, and we see each other in the weekend. We used Yahoo Messenger Video cll, but then she started having problems with Yahoo, so she created an account for me on QQ (chinese version of Yahoo or Windows Live Messenger), se in thest 3-4 weeks we've been using QQ.
We have as well very many photos, I have created 2-3 Yahoo Messenger transcripts for every month since we started communicating, phone records from both myself and her, so in August I had like 3 cm of documentation sent to Mississauga.
Then when I returned back in January, I sent to HK v.o. another 1 inch thick envelope with more proof.
(plane tickets, photos, phone records, transcripts, etc...)
By the way, we went to Zhuhai as well, in January when I was there, she planned a two days trip to Zhuhai and Shenzhen, and a little ship tour of Macao. We intend to go to Macao when I go to HK in June for her interview.
And next week I want to request the CAIPS notes. This way I want to know their red flags (which I already suspect, but just want to be better prepared).

 

[mobeyk]

Great to find someone here that is going through the same as we do. We had our delay not on purpose. My wifes mom got right after our wedding a stroke and she had to spend 3 months in hospital with my wife tending her. We are 6 month behind. Good luck for now and specially with the Interview.

 

[mobeyk]

We used Yahoo Messenger Video cll, but then she started having problems with Yahoo, so she created an account for me on QQ (chinese version of Yahoo or Windows Live Messenger), se in thest 3-4 weeks we've been using QQ.

Yes, I use QQ international and we use it to send eachother larger files, beside that we use msn messenger for the bulk of the talking. We did not include the QQ print outs as it would add another 250 pages which is just overkill. Alltogether it is a printer paper carton full of material that is couriered.

 

[Marty11]

Yes, mobeyk, your case will be much stronger than mine. Unfortunately, due to my work nature, I can not leave work for such long periods of time, although I wish I could, to spend more time with her.

 

[Fencesitter]

Question: If the case is straight forward, no question about the relationship being genuine, a Canadian baby...do you guys think the visa will be issued a lot sooner than the average 19 months as stated on the CIC website???

We have a mountain of evidence: photos, e-mails, chats, hotel invoices, flight itineraries, boarding passes, train tickets, letters from friends and family, christmas and birthday cards, etc...

If I submit my application to CIC Missausaga in early April, would it be impossible to have the visa by the beginning of Feb 2013? This is our goal...is it wishful thinking??

Thanks,
FS