+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445
marcyb25 said:
Call them at exactly 9:00 am

According to which time zone?
 
Sophia_N said:
Is it just me or is it virtually impossible to get through to CIC? Everything about this process makes me want to write strongly worded letters.

If I don't want to wait, I call at 7:58am EST, right before they open at 8am, and go slowly thru the prompts, and make sure I enter the last prompt right as it turns to 8am (EST). lol

Otherwise, the other way to get thru, even when it keeps saying that it's busy and cuts you off, is to call back repeatedly without a break until you get in. Sounds strange, but you will normally get in before you hit your 10th attempt. If you only try every few minutes, it is harder to get in. But if you call back repeatedly as soon as you hang up when you didn't get in, you have a higher chance of grabbing that open spot as soon as another call disconnects. I usually get in that way after about 3-5 attempts.
 
ACS said:
If I don't want to wait, I call at 7:58am EST, right before they open at 8am, and go slowly thru the prompts, and make sure I enter the last prompt right as it turns to 8am (EST). lol

Otherwise, the other way to get thru, even when it keeps saying that it's busy and cuts you off, is to call back repeatedly without a break until you get in. Sounds strange, but you will normally get in before you hit your 10th attempt. If you only try every few minutes, it is harder to get in. But if you call back repeatedly as soon as you hang up when you didn't get in, you have a higher chance of grabbing that open spot as soon as another call disconnects. I usually get in that way after about 3-5 attempts.

I've heard a rumour that for any federal-level call centre, asking for a French service assistant speeds things up. All of the French-speaking agents are just about guaranteed to be bilingual, so once you actually got someone switching to English wouldn't be a problem. That said, I have never done this, and can't swear it works. Perhaps someone would want to try?
 
ACS said:
If I don't want to wait, I call at 7:58am EST, right before they open at 8am, and go slowly thru the prompts, and make sure I enter the last prompt right as it turns to 8am (EST). lol

Otherwise, the other way to get thru, even when it keeps saying that it's busy and cuts you off, is to call back repeatedly without a break until you get in. Sounds strange, but you will normally get in before you hit your 10th attempt. If you only try every few minutes, it is harder to get in. But if you call back repeatedly as soon as you hang up when you didn't get in, you have a higher chance of grabbing that open spot as soon as another call disconnects. I usually get in that way after about 3-5 attempts.

Thank you for the tip, I will definitely call them next time I will be awake before 5am...
 
PixieDuster said:
I've heard a rumour that for any federal-level call centre, asking for a French service assistant speeds things up. All of the French-speaking agents are just about guaranteed to be bilingual, so once you actually got someone switching to English wouldn't be a problem. That said, I have never done this, and can't swear it works. Perhaps someone would want to try?

It works for me. I can actually speak English and French so the last few times I called I thought about getting through a French agent. It's usually 30min+ wait for English and under 10mins for French. I guess you can always get put through a French agent and then talk to them in English.
 
Does CIC ever just plain not bother giving you an AOR?

I see lots of people here getting AOR's relatively quickly, and I have absolutely nothing after 9 months.
 
GustavesF said:
Does CIC ever just plain not bother giving you an AOR?

I see lots of people here getting AOR's relatively quickly, and I have absolutely nothing after 9 months.

Unfortunately, some never receive AOR.
 
MissRepresentation said:
It works for me. I can actually speak English and French so the last few times I called I thought about getting through a French agent. It's usually 30min+ wait for English and under 10mins for French. I guess you can always get put through a French agent and then talk to them in English.

lucky you.
I speak French and trust me, I usually wait almost 30 min for the French agents.
 
novembre2013 said:
lucky you.
I speak French and trust me, I usually wait almost 30 min for the French agents.

Which number are you using? I call Foreign Affairs and then follow the prompts to CIC. It's usually much faster than using the number given on their website.
 
Hey guys i got a question do u guys know if its true that if u don't have any status in canada u no longer qualify for inland sponsorship at least thats what it says on the cic website i really trying to find out for a friend. I posted this question in the 2013 thread and no one seems to care enough to respond. Thanks
 
folks-g said:
Hey guys i got a question do u guys know if its true that if u don't have any status in canada u no longer qualify for inland sponsorship at least thats what it says on the cic website i really trying to find out for a friend. I posted this question in the 2013 thread and no one seems to care enough to respond. Thanks
I think it's just that we don't have a solid answer.

They have updated the website to appear this way, but there has been no official release or change of process.
 
I love their old phone system better where you could hit 0 near the endvof the menu and get placed in the queue with less than 10 min wait time...but...they fixed it :(

ACS said:
If I don't want to wait, I call at 7:58am EST, right before they open at 8am, and go slowly thru the prompts, and make sure I enter the last prompt right as it turns to 8am (EST). lol

Otherwise, the other way to get thru, even when it keeps saying that it's busy and cuts you off, is to call back repeatedly without a break until you get in. Sounds strange, but you will normally get in before you hit your 10th attempt. If you only try every few minutes, it is harder to get in. But if you call back repeatedly as soon as you hang up when you didn't get in, you have a higher chance of grabbing that open spot as soon as another call disconnects. I usually get in that way after about 3-5 attempts.
 
I asked CIC that question yesterday among others
I really called because someone got their forms back for no apparent reason...so I called to ask if it was a good idea to proactively send new forms, agent said I could if I wanted to and gave me another address to mail it to.

I asked what happens if they return the forms and applicant visa expired while they were processing. Agent said while they have the forms my hubby is on implied status, if the package is returned then he looses that implied status and would need to reinstate before reapplying. In some instances they will allow a timeframe to give you time to resend package but not always.

I was a bit more worried after that call and prayed that they wouldnt start clearing their backlog by claiming package incomplete...
folks-g said:
Hey guys i got a question do u guys know if its true that if u don't have any status in canada u no longer qualify for inland sponsorship at least thats what it says on the cic website i really trying to find out for a friend. I posted this question in the 2013 thread and no one seems to care enough to respond. Thanks
 
cic website now tells updated as of Nov 14 when check application status. I am still not able to login to the system.
AOR recieved in August, Inland filed in May 2014.
Can anyone else on similar timeline login to check status?
 
I am of the same time frame and CIC told me eCAS would not be accessible until they start processing our application...mine doesnt work

vik999 said:
cic website now tells updated as of Nov 14 when check application status. I am still not able to login to the system.
AOR recieved in August, Inland filed in May 2014.
Can anyone else on similar timeline login to check status?