Info regarding the Canadian Visa Office in Santo Domingo

[Tejada Johnstone]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I would appreciate any and all info that anyone can share with us. I am sponsoring my husband who is Dominican through a spousal sponsorship for Canadian permanent resideny. The application was sent in at the end of August 2011. I have been approved as a sponsor and now the papers have been sent to the visa office in Santo Domingo in Feb. 2012. Does anyone know how long the processing time takes at this visa office. Thank you!

 

[KJG]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I would appreciate any and all info that anyone can share with us. I am sponsoring my husband who is Dominican through a spousal sponsorship for Canadian permanent resideny. The application was sent in at the end of August 2011. I have been approved as a sponsor and now the papers have been sent to the visa office in Santo Domingo in Feb. 2012. Does anyone know how long the processing time takes at this visa office. Thank you!

CIC has the current wait times listed at 14 months......that is usually the longest time however.

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

good luck with your application, my fiance and I are getting married this November and we will putting in the PR application right after the wedding. I saw that the wait time is 14 months too but I was told by my immigration consultant who is helping us prepare our documentation that the 14 months would be the longest in most cases. Let's hope that is the case.

Could you please keep posting to keep me informed. Also have you been contacted for an interview yet?

any particulars would be very helpful thank you

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

i hope you don't mind I have a few questions to ask you about your application. What was your experience with your husband getting his medical and criminal checks completed in the DR? did he go to the approved doctor in Santo Domingo? We called there and they said it cost 180 american dollars and he can go any day 7 am to 12 noon and he just has to wait in line. Did they give him the medical report or do they send it direct to CIC. If so did you have to have it translated into English? What about the criminal check?

Also how long have you been in the relationship with your husband. Do you for see any problems with them questioning the relationship, I am reading so much about having to document everything .. which I have been doing, OMG the file is getting huge, with phone bills, travel receipts , facebook chats, emails, cards, support letters, pictures, etc...

I have been with my fiance now for 5 months and it will be 9 months in November. We tried 2 visitors visa applications but both times they turned him down for financial saying he did not make enough money in the DR and they did not believe his ties were strong enough to the DR that he would return to the DR after visiting Canada. We requested the CAIPS notes and the detailed notes said the same thing.

We pretty much decided with the help of the immigration consultant that I hired there was no point in applying for the visitor visa again b/c they would just keep saying no for financial. So we knew the only way our relationship would move forward was through marriage. THis is not why we are getting married we love each other and want to be together but they pretty much give you no choice. It's pretty hard when the only way we could see each other is for me to keep travelling there every few months so we made a decision to make the relationship official and get married this November.

I am so worried they will turn us down again b/c they seem to try and find anything they can to make it difficult and to question the validity of relationships. Although , understandably it's their job to protect the country and those trying to get here by tricking their partners into marriage.

Do you have any thoughts of this at all and any experience you can share on what you have done to this point that might be helpful for us would be so appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I would appreciate any and all info that anyone can share with us. I am sponsoring my husband who is Dominican through a spousal sponsorship for Canadian permanent resideny. The application was sent in at the end of August 2011. I have been approved as a sponsor and now the papers have been sent to the visa office in Santo Domingo in Feb. 2012. Does anyone know how long the processing time takes at this visa office. Thank you!

Hi - you can see more detailed statistics in my post at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/case-processing-speed-at-visa-offices-step-2-q1-2012-t111426.0.html.

Of the cases Santo Domingo completed from April 1 2011 to March 31 2012, 20% of cases were completed in 7 months, 30 % in 8 mo., 50 % in 9 mo., 70 % in 11 mo., & 80% in 13 mo.

 

[Tejada Johnstone]

Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for your responses. Let me see if i'm able to help out at all. My husband and I have been married now for over 3 years and together for 7 or 8. I was living there with him but now we have a daughter and I couldn't imagine raising her there.

We hired an immigration lawyer a well, who was not very helpful unfortunately. I ended up doing almost everything myself and he just sent the file into the CIC.
I'm sure you know that the first step is to be approved as a sponsor...that took about 6 months because the first time the said our application was incomplete and requested more info. So make sure you include absolutly everything on the check list and have all original signatures...no photo copies or scans. VERY IMPORTANT!

Since Feb. our file has been in Santo Domingo and my husband has not yet been contacted for an interview...so I can't give you much info regarding step two just yet.

That is correct about the medical. The applicant must go to Santo Domingo between those hours and wait in line. The earlier they arrive the better. Be sure to say it's for CANDA and not the USA....the Canada line is significantly shorter
It's expensive but considering that he is the only "recognized" doctor in the DR I think we should be thankful he's not charging alot more! hahah He will send the results directly to CIC. Don't worry if they say it's sent to Trinidad and Tobago....aparantly that's where the medicals go for Canada. I checked to be sure.
We did the medical right away before we sent in the application, that way it was all included. Be sure to include the receipt and there is another form from the Doctor that will have his picture on it. That must be included as well.

I hope that helped! Don't hesitate to write if you have any other questions.

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

thank you so much for this info this was great, so when you say he will get a form from the doctor that will have his picture on it does the doctor take a picture of him? or does he have to take a picture with him?

I know he has to get 8 passport size photo's done that we need to submit too.

Where does your husband live, my fiance is in La Romana

 

[Tejada Johnstone]

Hi,

Have more than 8 photos done just incase... He will need to take 2 or 3 photos with him when he goes for his medical as well as his passport and the the completed form. My husband and I were living in Santiago. It's amazing how long the process takes. I'm planning to go down again with my daughter shortly.

Take care.

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

thanks very much! we will do this in terms of the photos very helpful as it does not say anywhere that he needs to bring photos with him. I am on my August 11th! it is a long process that is for sure. I will be interested to know when and if he gets called for an interview, should be soon I am guessing based on the processing times. Please don't forget to post I would love to hear your experience. Our immigration consultant has actually been great and he said most likely they will call us for interviews him in Santo Domingo and me in Toronto just because they can and that's what they DO! regardless of how much stuff you submit. For us we are told it will be because of our age difference although I understand it is not grounds to refuse it is grounds to question the validity.

 

[tink23]

ILOVETHEDR and Tejada Johnstone,

I'm sending u both an inbox message regarding a great group full of other spouses of Dominicans.... it's very helpful and has lots of people on it experienced with the Santo Domingo office.

 

[tink23]

I'm going to jump in there again.... There are 5 IMMIGRATION SIZED photos needed for the medical and 8 IMMIGRATION SIZE needed for the application, so a total of 13 immigration sized photos. Immigration size is different than passport sized, so make sure u check the sizing to be 100% certain.
Stand over them and watch b/c when we got photos before, even though we said Canada they guy was doing it to american standards so I had to make him do it again. The photo specifications are in Part 3 of the immigration package (Caribbean).

 

[Liz1986]

Hi everyone!
Iam from DR but iam doing and inland application. I know it takes longer but i prefered to wait here in Canada with my husband than in DR.
Hope good luck to all of you!!

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

great info again thank you so much! I am so happy to have found this site and I will add the group on facebook!

 

[ILOVETHEDR]

how do you reply to the private message I am trying to see the reply button to reply to you Tejada but there isn't one?

 

[tink23]

how do you reply to the private message I am trying to see the reply button to reply to you Tejada but there isn't one?

great info again thank you so much! I am so happy to have found this site and I will add the group on facebook!

No problem! The group is great!

I'm not sure if it's me you're trying to reply to... maybe u can because u only have 4 posts?? If it is me you're trying to reply to in the inbox u can reply here if u wish.