This bit of advice doesn't get repeated nearly as much as it should on these monthly threads that focus on the first step in the process.
I realize that 2 months is a long time to wait but people need to realize that depending on their VO and their luck, they are looking at 2-3 times (and even longer) of a wait for the second stage in the process.
And Mississauga is fairly competent, from what I've seen. Sure, they may forget to send the odd sponsorship approval letter every now and then but compared to what goes on at the VOs, they are fast and efficient (I know most of you don't want to hear that). The stories of the lost documents, requests for things already sent, wasted time, expired medicals due to wasted time that you have to go and redo, problems with fee recovery, problems with the left hand talking to the right hand, fighting tooth and nail with the VO, reading a stranger's notes that question your relationship, dealing with a possible interview - these are all things that happen during the 2nd stage, not the 1st.
The other difference is the step 1 processing times, as frustrated as everyone is with them, have two important qualities: they are universal and they are fairly accurate and specific. When your file makes it to its visa office, you all will start looking around and noticing that some of you will be finalized WELL before others. And the processing times for visa offices are nothing like they are for the Case Processing Centre. It may say 11 months for Buffalo, for example, but you don't know if you will be one of the fortunate who spends a quarter of that time or one of the unfortunate that is still waiting more than a year later.
People get so worked up anticipating these time updates, and moreover when they see x days they have it in their head that they will get that letter or that email exactly x days from the time they should have started counting and if that day comes and goes, they are crushed. The step 2 updates are quarterly, not weekly. They are nothing as specific as the updates that CPC-M published for step 1. You may go months wondering what, if anything, is happening with your file and whether your medical results made their way to where they should and Lord knows that nobody - I mean nobody- can sit refreshing their screen for months at a time.
You guys probably don't want to hear this stuff but it's the truth. And the only reason why I felt the need to post this was because I want people to not drive themselves crazy if they can help it. Another wise person on this forum said that this process is an endurance race, not a sprint. Missmini is completely right when she says that this is the easy step.
