Thanx for all the good wishes, MexicaTica!.
Apparently my local office is one of the busy ones here serving east Toronto. I even went there in person about a couple of weeks ago but the chap at the counter was not helpful at all, didn't even look at my letter all he said is "wait 3 to 5 months to receive your landing appointment letter"... Once you get this letter, the appointment is about a month later here in Scarborough. Meaning I guess I'm not going home for Xmas with my daughter for a visit this year....
I like to tell inlanders like yourself what's next, as I didn't know any of all this at all and no-one could tell me anything about the process until I found this forum almost a month ago looking for applicants like myself in the final stretch... I did find 2 applicants going through the same local office and learned of their timelines and experience, so the forum has been good to me and has made me keep my sanity... Interesting cases all of them are, but yours and I are very much alike regarding timeline and circumstances.
I didn't know you could apply for the OWP in the beginning with the sponsorship application, so my AIP letter stated I could apply for one if I wanted to and which I did. I applied online but apparently used the wrong form as it arrived a little over a month later rather than within the standard 20 day wait by mail.
Like my wife put it time ago: "we feed the system with all these fees and everybody is happy and employed in Canada...", meaning medical appointment ($250, apparently I got ripped off but at least I passed and this doctor's office called next day telling me everything was good), initial TRP $200, TRP extension (another $200), Visa application to Buffalo ($75), photos (lost count how much with all these different photos), fingerprinting place (another $200 I believe, good business there for them with me), translation of documens (and certification too), $200, my personal favorite: Canada Post (very good business as I have sent several packages registered mail, of course), Staples (another fav 4 of mine as you need copies on top of copies and more copies)... landing fee $490 (that's the clincher, and more photos needed of course), not to mention the original immigration sponsorhsip fees of $75 plus $475 plus $150 for the OWP... feed, feed, feed to everybody, it's amazing all the feeding I've done, it's like a chicken coop... But not that I'm whining, I'm just trying to put it in an amusing tone since I very well know that's the price to pay (plus the emotional endurance of this tough long process for nationalities like ours) in order to be with my loved ones in this country my wife and I chose to live in and raise our daughter and soon-to-be-born son, and with that OWP, you can cover some of these costs, I suppose.
