I am a July 31st applicant - no news yet!
I was actually able to get through to CIC this morning, and was told (by the VERY nice woman) the same old story
"We are currently working on applications received up to July 24th. Call back in 2-3 weeks if you have not received anything, as you are still in the normal processing time"
She was very very nice, but did not provide me with exactly what I wanted to hear! lol
I try very hard to NOT compare myself with sponsors/PA's from other countries.. because yes, each situation is different
For me personally, the AOR is such an important step because its like them saying - yes we received your application, everything looks good, you get approved as the sponsor, and we are going to progress to the next step.
For us people who have not yet received AOR , we are still in constant fear of something being wrong with our app/ it being returned/lost, etc. after all these months of waiting
Hoping that we all get some news within the next 2 weeks!