Thanks for sharing.
I don't know how serious it is or how much it will delay things, but you will be asked to submit your Police Certificates with the Schedule A form, and given a deadline for both. I was told it is okay to submit the PC itself after the deadline (mine didn't arrive until much later), but it's best to submit your Schedule A as soon as possible, along with evidence that you have applied for the PC (i.e., a copy of your application and/or receipt for the tracked package, etc.).
Well I can't give you any legal advice (and I am not using a lawyer myself), but I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean about being 90% ready to go. As far as I know, almost two months before CIC contacts you with your application number is normal (the advisor I talked to said my AOR, which came in about 6 weeks, was pretty fast). Have you linked your application with your online account? If so, you should have a letter from CIC telling you what to do next (schedule A and pcc). I don't see why you would have to wait for your lawyer to do any of that, but I haven't worked with a lawyer so I don't know how that all works. Anybody else?
Since I haven't worked with a lawyer I guess I can't say for sure, maybe your lawyer is taking care of all that. But as far as I understand it you should be able to link it yourself - it is your personal account. If you want someone (like your lawyer) to represent you and have access to it, you have to give them that access (maybe you did this in the paper application?) but you should still be able to at least access everything yourself online.
I had the same thing - I called the cic and was told to submit evidence that you have applied for the PCC (receipt from the post office, copy of the application, etc.) by the due date along with the schedule A form, and when the PCC arrives, submit it via the IRCC webform.
Probably a very long time from now, June (and maybe even May) applicants are still waiting. Just make 100% sure you've sent everything you need to send, maybe call CIC once to confirm that there is nothing wrong. After that, keep yourself busy and maybe check forum/google sheets once a week to see if people that applied around the same time as you. Otherwise stop checking your application. It's the only way to avoid freaking out. Nothing will change for months and months.
Not really, usually only the lawyer will have the access on GCkey account, because the lawyer is your legal representative and will setup GCkey account on your behave, so that is only the lawyer has the access to that account. But as sponsor and applicant, once you have your case number and UCI, you can always utilize ECAS to check the process of your case, although the information on ECAS will not as detailed as GCkey account.
Thanks for clarifying! I didn't know that's how it worked when you use a lawyer.
