When you first apply to Mississauga, you will receive in the mail/email an AOR-Acknowledgment of Receipt saying they have received your file and are currently working on to see if you the sponsor are eligible to sponsor your spouse. This AOR will have your Client Id (sponsor) and File number (applicant/spouse) so you can log into ECAS to check your status. There will be nothing on your spouses side as this gets filled in after it gets to Kingston but it should say we have received yoru application for sponsorship on such and such date. When they make a decision on your file, they will send you another letter saying whether you ahve been approved to sponsor or not and your ECAS should change to decision made. From there, it gets sent to the Kingston Visa office which takes approximately 2 weeks. When it gets to Kingston, it will go in line for initital review in which at this time here is what they do:
Canadian Immigration will conduct an initial review of your documents (paper-screening). All documents submitted to support the application will be reviewed at this time. Chickie: i think this is the point of the emails that say your application is in initial reviewUpon the conclusion of the paper screening of the application the immigration officer will make one of the following decisions: a. Waiver/Interview Queue
The immigration officer may render a decision that, upon review of the application and supporting documents, the applicant is not required to attend a Personal Selection Interview.
If a Personal Selection Interview is required, the application will be placed in queue to await an interview date. Your interview will NOT be scheduled at this time. The exact date of interview will be provided by the processing post later and this process could take several months after the paper screening section is completed.
b. An Interview Waiver
A notice will be issued. To continue and finalize the processing, the applicant will be required to pass both the Medical and Security requirements.
Within the correspondence of the Interview Waiver the immigration officer may also request that further documentation be submitted. The submission of police certificates and evidence of funds are normally requested at this time.
c. Refusal of the application
Upon the initial review of the application, the immigration officer may decide that the documents submitted do not establish the level of qualifications required by Canadian Immigration. An example of this would be if the applicant failed to submit any documents to support the information provided on the application form.
I think at this point in time is when they will send the next generic email saying that you are in queue for a review (while they do background checks etc...
Immigration Medical Clearance
All Applicants as well as all dependents (accompanying or not) will be required to pass the medical requirement. The medical examination requirement is mandatory and serves the following purposes: - to protect the health of Canadians;
- to protect the safety of Canadians;
- to reduce and prevent excessive demand on Canada's health and social services
The medical report is valid for one year from the date of completion.
DMP's are medical officers certified by the Canadian Immigration Authorities to oversee the exams. The DMP's do not make the final decision regarding an applicant's admissibility into Canada. Only Canadian Immigration has the right to make this decision.
Immigration Security Clearance
Each applicant over the age of 18 is required to pass the security requirement. All applicants must prove that they are not a threat to the safety of Canadian society. Applicants provide this information through police clearances which the applicant must obtain directly and by passing the background clearances which the immigration authorities obtain on behalf of the applicant.
Selection Decision/Visa Issuance
The last stage of the application is the issuance of the Permanent Resident Visa.
Passport request: Once the Immigration authorities are ready to issue the visa, applicants will be required to submit their original passport for visa stamping. Original passports must be submitted for the principal applicant as well as each accompanying family member. For security reasons, the visa is now lasered directly into the passport. Each passport will need to be valid for at least 12 months and have a minimum of 2 pages per visa
Validity: Each Permanent Resident visa is valid for 1 year from the date of the medical exam or until the expiration of the passport. The validity of the PR visa from the date of medical exam refers to the first exam completed (either principal applicant or dependent). The principal applicant and each accompanying dependent must make their official landing in Canada before the PR visa expires. Failure to land before the expiration of your visa will void the visa and will then result in the necessity of a new application. The validity date of the visa CANNOT be extended.
