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Landing Appointment Refused on No Grounds at 200 Catherines St. Ottawa,On

Dorothea1

Member
May 25, 2013
19
0
Hi Can somebody please tell me what is going on?
I am a Canadian citizen who met my husband in Germany where I was teaching English four years ago. We married in Germany and then last year I decided that I wanted to return to Canada so that I could complete my degree. My husband agreed to come with me, and so I sponsored him through the family class. We received the approval in principal, his open work permit, and my approval of sponsorship on December 12th 2012. Then in March 2013 his medical/security checks were cleared. He received a letter of invitation to 200 Catherines Street in Ottawa.Ontario to have his landing day appointment processed. When there we were asked to pay the landing fee of $490.00 however we had the receipt of online payment with us, which the agent would not accept.The CIC agent then commented that if we would overpay the overpayment balance would be reimbursed. I shook my head No. She was then able to locate a scanned copy and we were asked to sit down. We waited another ten minutes and then were called up to their counter again and asked to provide ID. My husband's ID was fine, but my G1 Drivers License still had our old address because I changed the address on line. I did have my SIN Card and passport though. The agents asked us to go home and retrieve a utility bill. Since we pay our bills online we only had a welcome letter from Bell, but I brought about eight other documents showing that I resided at that address. When we drove back to the office they again refused these documents. We were then directed to go to Ottawa City Hall and retrieve proof that I had changed my address online. This we received and again brought it back to the office. This was again refused even though it clearly stated from the manager that I had changed my address online for both my health card and drivers license. They did not process my husband's landing appointment and left us with the statement "We will be sending you a letter." When questioned what their names were they refused to give them and they also refused to say when we would receive this letter. My husband and I were absolutely devastated :eek: since this whole process had been extremely draining for us both. We left the office and immediately went to our local Federal MP, where we presented all the aforementioned documents. We mailed correspondence to Vegreville, AB, we emailed Diane Finlay, who transferred our email to Jason Kenney. We notified the RCMP with regards to the unusual request for money initially at the CIC office, when we had already paid the landing fee, and finally we notified an immigration lawyer, who stated that she had never heard of this before. We phoned the CIC call center number to make a formal complaint. On May 22nd, 2013 an investigator called me to firstly apologize and then to confirm that we would be getting a second landing day appointment. When I called them back at the end of the week for the update, I was told that the Supervisors of the call center are directing the supervisors of 200 Catherines Street to schedule a second landing date appointment for my husband, however they are not getting through to 200 Catherines Street. It looks like I will now have to pay an immigration lawyer to enforce the scheduling of a second landing appointment, since the 200 Catherines street office is not complying witheir own procedures. I am so utterly frustrated that I even emailed the Ottawa Citizen and PM Harper himself. How can something like this possibly ever happen in Canada ? :mad:
 

CanadianJeepGuy

Champion Member
Jun 24, 2012
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
Category........
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N/A
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-05-2012; "In Process" 26-04-2013
Doc's Request.
docs and pics resent 04-09-2012
AOR Received.
16-08-2012 (Unofficial. Received email missing docs)
File Transfer...
09-10-2012
Med's Request
April 14th 2013
Med's Done....
Dec 2011; re-med May 06 2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
May 06 2013
VISA ISSUED...
May 27 2013
LANDED..........
June 15th 2013
Wow.
That has got to be the biggest example of abuse of power I have ever heard of. I would lean heavily again on my MP to make this happen even if they have to go down to the landing address themselves.

What is happening to our country?
 

Dorothea1

Member
May 25, 2013
19
0
Hi,

Thanks for your input. The most ridiculous thing is I have secret clearance with the Canadian Government and work at a Federal Government site myself. I was married four years ago. My husband and I are both well presented and we wore suits on the landing day appointment, because in Germany one shows respect towards Government appointments. We both kept our cool however and will continue to press. I have an appointment with the lawyer on Monday and will have her/him send a legal letter to them and then wait to see what happens. It is a shame though that you cannot get any justice unless you have a lawyer. Just today my husband was saying if you are planning to come to Canada then you must budget into your expenses the expense of having a lawyer on retainer; otherwise you are an open target.
 

CanadianJeepGuy

Champion Member
Jun 24, 2012
2,666
99
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
NOC Code......
N/A
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-05-2012; "In Process" 26-04-2013
Doc's Request.
docs and pics resent 04-09-2012
AOR Received.
16-08-2012 (Unofficial. Received email missing docs)
File Transfer...
09-10-2012
Med's Request
April 14th 2013
Med's Done....
Dec 2011; re-med May 06 2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
May 06 2013
VISA ISSUED...
May 27 2013
LANDED..........
June 15th 2013
Dorothea1 said:
Hi,

Thanks for your input. The most ridiculous thing is I have secret clearance with the Canadian Government and work at a Federal Government site myself. I was married four years ago. My husband and I are both well presented and we wore suits on the landing day appointment, because in Germany one shows respect towards Government appointments. We both kept our cool however and will continue to press. I have an appointment with the lawyer on Monday and will have her/him send a legal letter to them and then wait to see what happens. It is a shame though that you cannot get any justice unless you have a lawyer. Just today my husband was saying if you are planning to come to Canada then you must budget into your expenses the expense of having a lawyer on retainer; otherwise you are an open target.
Well you aren't in Germany now so feel free to show respect where it is warranted. I would not have retained a lawyer at this point myself but if it helps to expedite this then I guess it is worth it.

Every one of us has been extorted in some fashion or another and there is no accountability at their end.
 

CanadianJeepGuy

Champion Member
Jun 24, 2012
2,666
99
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
NOC Code......
N/A
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-05-2012; "In Process" 26-04-2013
Doc's Request.
docs and pics resent 04-09-2012
AOR Received.
16-08-2012 (Unofficial. Received email missing docs)
File Transfer...
09-10-2012
Med's Request
April 14th 2013
Med's Done....
Dec 2011; re-med May 06 2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
May 06 2013
VISA ISSUED...
May 27 2013
LANDED..........
June 15th 2013
Dorothea1 said:
How can we change this, as Canadian citizens we have our rights.
We vote out a Conservative majority government that does not care about providing services to people.
 

niana.j

Hero Member
May 16, 2013
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you have as much rights as the conservatives will allow. get used to it. this is the new Canada.

Dorothea1 said:
How can we change this, as Canadian citizens we have our rights.
 

CanadianJeepGuy

Champion Member
Jun 24, 2012
2,666
99
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
NOC Code......
N/A
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-05-2012; "In Process" 26-04-2013
Doc's Request.
docs and pics resent 04-09-2012
AOR Received.
16-08-2012 (Unofficial. Received email missing docs)
File Transfer...
09-10-2012
Med's Request
April 14th 2013
Med's Done....
Dec 2011; re-med May 06 2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
May 06 2013
VISA ISSUED...
May 27 2013
LANDED..........
June 15th 2013
niana.j said:
you have as much rights as the conservatives will allow. get used to it. this is the new Canada.
True.
 

wowsers

Hero Member
Feb 6, 2013
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Dear Dorothea1, I have read your posts with sympathy and dismay, but urge you to think again about the course you say you intend to take. I am sure that in your work as a government employee you come across some awkward unhelpful bloody-minded colleagues but I am also sure that the majority of your co-workers are pleasant reasonable people. CIC cannot be all that different from other government institutions and I suspect that you have simply come across some awkward individuals and are now tarring everyone else with the same brush. If I may mix the metaphors you are thinking of throwing away the baby with the bath water. Dont do it! You will only create problems for yourself.
 

niana.j

Hero Member
May 16, 2013
406
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What do you mean you do not want to be a citizen of Canada? Do you hold dual citizenship or more precisely did you hold citizenship from another country before acquiring Canadian citizenship?

Are you a German Canadian? If yes then shame on you! At the smallest obstacle you give up on Canada! Trust me i have lived on many continents as a child and i must say Canada has been the most accommodating country of all. We are just going through a bad phase where a few bad apples have been set as the example and as a result thousands others are suffering.

If your sole citizenship is Canadian then seriously you have issues! if you think Germany is the model of multiculturalism and openness in this world then you seriously have issues! Reconsider!

Dorothea1 said:
I have decided that I don't care what they do anymore. If a Government office can be as corrupt as this one, I do not want to be a citizen of Canada. If the CIC do not correct their mistake I will revoke my Canadian citizenship and my husband and I will simply leave. I will demand all the money back that I have paid into the sponsorship application process or obtain it back some other way. I do not think that I will be wasting another dime on this issue. I will not be paying any lawyers, and well all the financial commitments that we have made in Canada because we were told by CIC that we had a positive PR status decision Canada will just have to be left with...because I am soooo sick of the entire situation..my husband comes before a country..... :p
 

niana.j

Hero Member
May 16, 2013
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Dude you are too nice! She is going to give up her great Canadian citizenship for a German one! LMFAO! Germany has had serious issues in the past..where a certain individual named hitler gives osama bin laden a run for his money! what a joke!

wowsers said:
Dear Dorothea1, I have read your posts with sympathy and dismay, but urge you to think again about the course you say you intend to take. I am sure that in your work as a government employee you come across some awkward unhelpful bloody-minded colleagues but I am also sure that the majority of your co-workers are pleasant reasonable people. CIC cannot be all that different from other government institutions and I suspect that you have simply come across some awkward individuals and are now tarring everyone else with the same brush. If I may mix the metaphors you are thinking of throwing away the baby with the bath water. Dont do it! You will only create problems for yourself.
 

Dorothea1

Member
May 25, 2013
19
0
Thank you everybody for your good and honest opinions. I am so very tired and frustrated with this situation, my eyes are so sore with the amount of crying that I have been doing the last week, and I really do not know where to turn. Yes, in answer to the one comment, my colleagues are wonderful and I have made some very loyal, hard working friends in my department. I have been working so hard all year (42 hours at work and FT studies at Ottawa University), as has my husband. We have both pushed ourselves beyond what most people would say would be possible. Due to the fact that we were unsure about the positive PR decision (until recently) we did not buy a car. This meant that my husband would travel by two buses in the middle of the -30 degree Ottawa Winter to pick me up at my work. After working 12 hours I then had to travel another two hours home by bus i the early AM. On Sundays we had to wait for 2 extra hours at Tim Hortons before the first bus would even arrive. When my work week was complete, then my days off consisted of Ottawa U FT classes where I have an A GPA. This gruelling schedule will commence again this September at Ottawa U. My husband has an employment offer that is dependant on the PR card and he so very much wants to assist me in establishing a secure financial future for ourselves. In answer to some of the other comments...I was born in Canada and since I was a little girl was always proud of my country. I sang "Oh Canada" with a vengeance each morning at Elementary School. I also put my entire heart into my studies, placed 98 per centile in the University Placement exams on a national level , designed our Secondary School crest, and just generally tried my best all the time. If you could only meet my husband you would see what a good, caring individual he is. He had a very good life in Germany and I encourage you to visit Germany one day ...especially where my husband is from...the Bavarian Alps....and you will see that it has a lot of similarities to the majesty of Canada's mountains. When I applied for my German Government police clearance to work as a teacher, the application was submitted, the clerk received it in a professional manner and the document was sent to me in just over one week. Germany has a lot of good points and the atrocities that Hitler performed are not representative of the German people. In fact Hitler was part Jew and part Austrian.My husband and I love each other and want to be together for always. He respects my ardent wish to finish my degree in Canada. German is not my first language and I would struggle if I had to undertake a degree in this language. My husband loves me s much that he said to me today..."it is not fair that you have the ability to obtain a degree, yet something was always thrown in your path as an obstacle....my highest priority is that you achieve your degree, and I am beside you every step of the way." This meant so much to me. Today we drove to the US to spend our free Sunday hours with each other having a fun outing. Upon entering the US the American border officers were so nice to my husband. he explained that this was his first time in America and they gave him a renewable visa and attached it to his passport that allows him unlimited entries/exits to and from the US. They then said "Welcome to the US". I was absolutely amazed. No one at 200 Catherines Street said "Welcome to Canada" when we went for our landing appointment on May 21st. We had a nice brunch in the US and on our return to Canada we went to see the immigration officials (at our request) and asked them what is going on with the situation. They were also very nice and extremely professional. The one man took my husband's immigration paperwork, checked the computer and said that he could do the landing for him right there and then, but my husband did not have the legal sized confirmation of permanent residence status with his photos attached, which is what 200 Catherines Street job is to do. The immigration officer said to us that as soon as we get this form from CIC then we can come back to the border and they can land my husband into Canada. I should also add that on the Ontario provincial health information letter, it reads under the title Citizenship/Immigration Status: Applicant To Remain As P.R......so on the Government system my husband is listed as having a positive PR status. I have a free 30 minute consultation with a very experienced immigration lawyer in Ottawa tomorrow..in fact she has even a doctoral degree completed in this speciality. She has already heard about my case last week and called me back to schedule the appointment. I was very concerned about how much this would all cost but their office prides itself in giving back to the community by creating pro bono opportunities. I have been in a high state of anxiety all week about the situation that took place at 200 Catherines St....you can maybe empthasize and imagine how long one waits and prays to finally have a positive PR decision. One maybe buys the new Canadian spouse a gift to act as a moment of the day, or at the very least one prepares a special meal or celebration for him or her. I had all this planned for my husband, but had to disinvite the guests because of the very strange behaviour of the staff at 200 Catherines street. I said what I said about the Canadian citizenship because if my husband and I cannot be together in Canada,then we will go to any country , where we can be together. After four years of marriage we love each other so much that this is the foundation for our future. I feel so embarrassed and sad that my husband did not receive a more welcome reception at 200 Catherines Street from representatives of the country of my birth and citizenship....Canada. I hope that I have some better news to tell you by next week.
 

parker24

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Nov 26, 2011
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My heart breaks for you :( I hope you get this all figured out.

Personally, I have been toying with the idea of possibly moving to France and renouncing my own citizenship. After so much BS from Dalton and Harper, I'm at my breaking point.
 

CanadianJeepGuy

Champion Member
Jun 24, 2012
2,666
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
NOC Code......
N/A
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-05-2012; "In Process" 26-04-2013
Doc's Request.
docs and pics resent 04-09-2012
AOR Received.
16-08-2012 (Unofficial. Received email missing docs)
File Transfer...
09-10-2012
Med's Request
April 14th 2013
Med's Done....
Dec 2011; re-med May 06 2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
May 06 2013
VISA ISSUED...
May 27 2013
LANDED..........
June 15th 2013
parker24 said:
My heart breaks for you :( I hope you get this all figured out.

Personally, I have been toying with the idea of possibly moving to France and renouncing my own citizenship. After so much BS from Dalton and Harper, I'm at my breaking point.
I would be honoured to drive you to the airport.
 

parker24

VIP Member
Nov 26, 2011
3,324
72
124
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY --> Los Angeles, CA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
File Transfer...
05-06-2012
Med's Done....
16-11-2011
Passport Req..
16-11-2012
LANDED..........
04-01-2013
CanadianJeepGuy said:
I would be honoured to drive you to the airport.
I don't doubt it. Thankfully you are in another province and nowhere near Ottawa or Toronto :)