Slimteddy and all Members,
I can understand and feel your frustration with waiting that is endless. But like all human beings we all have our faults, inadequacies, mistakes, innocence, ignorance of other people's situations, and sometimes naivety.
CIC agents aren't "all over the place". Believe it or not they know exactly what they plan to tell each caller. Here are the common ones;
a- "Your application has been forwarded for further review."
b- "It will take another 16 weeks to process."
c- "Just continue waiting until month X or Y, and if you don't hear from us during that time, you can call back again."
d- "A note has been put on your application to remind the respective department about the delay."
e- "We received your $100 fee on date XYZ not the day you paid it."
d- Or any other irrelevant stuff they concoct and tell you.
All the above are a polite way of saying; "back-off" or "other immigration programs are more important."
I can bet you that almost every caller who has called or will call about PGWP has received or will receive one or more of such responses.
As applicants you all need to interpret the verbal language that is hidden behind what they say or what they mean. Don't you ask yourselves why they tell each caller the same things over and over again? They know that they messed up the online system when the new $100 fee rolled out (Feb 21, 2015). They won't admit it though because that would be a liability admission on their part.
Secondly, paying your extra OWP holders fee of $100 through CSE has absolutely nothing to do with speeding up the process. If it was, then most applicants (and not just May 15th applicants) would have got their PGWP already. Paying the OWP holder fee is entirely every applicant's responsibility. The CSE site has various functions and the ability to upload any document that contributes to someone's application is one of them.
Therefore, when you feel like you are being played on the phone like Pingpong ball, use other means such as some helpful MPs, employer, lawyer, and going public. Going public has shaken things up. The more of you complain publicly, the better the service you receive.
Have you guys ever thought about the processing time and how it increases?
Guess what? The trick is to buy themselves time such that even when you complain on the phone, they will say, "your application is still within processing time." Its like taking a penalty kick. As soon as you are about to kick the ball, the goalkeeper moves the goalposts to a different position. The reason why some people receive updates on the weekend is because some CIC employees actually work on the weekend. I discovered this recently. So one would think that maybe things would go a little faster (unless of course those who work weekends don't process applications).
I can understand that CIC is quite busy with so many immigration programs. But why online applications can't be processed quickly and swiftly with all documentation presented to them on a silver plate by applicants is beyond me (not entirely though!!!). I hope that the CIC application processing teams/departments have not been on a strike for a long time.
Something smells fishy there!
What do you guys think?
Cheers!
