Los Angeles Visa Office Applicants Check in here! :)

[parker24]

I received my GCMS notes on Friday afternoon. Basically they said they hadn't done anything on my application (as of a month ago, of course.) The only thing I saw that was odd is they said "Passport photos do not have biodata on the back". I went back and re-read the US specific rules and they don't ask you to put bio data on the back.

Everything else just said "not started". It listed both Ottawa (primary office) and LA (secondary office) on the application.

For example, illuminating entries like:

APPLICATION 2
Field Name: Primary Office
Action: Updated
Old Value: CPC Mississauga
New Value: CPP Ottawa
Updated Date 2012106121
Updated By AH00565
Office CPP Ottawa

or

APPLICATION 10
Field Name: Medical
Action: Updated
Old Value:
New Value: Not Started
Updated Date 2012106119
Updated By CC5473
Office: CPC Mississauga

So there's a lot of "data" but minimal information (basically, it says that nothing has happened as of the date they ran the GCMS report.)

The date on the GCMS report was 9 August 2012, although I received it on 7 September 2012.

It's possible they were just making a note of it or something. And.. a whole MONTH to get the notes? Sheesh. I hope LA hurries the heck up! I'm getting anxious

 

[computergeek]

And.. a whole MONTH to get the notes?

That's how ATIP requests work: ask today, get tomorrow's results in ~30 days.

I suspect they do this because they don't want you finding out something from your ATIP request ahead of hearing of it from the visa office directly.

 

[sariss]

My husband's FBI clearance expired a week before our application was received. We knew this was going to happen so we had ordered another clearance that we were going to send once it got transferred - well we managed to LOSE it somehow. He got fingerprints taken a few weeks ago so we are hoping to get the clearance again.
My question - will they send the entire application back if we do not get these to them in time?

 

[computergeek]

My question - will they send the entire application back if we do not get these to them in time?

Not likely. They probably won't notice until it's under review, at which point they would just ask you for a new PCC.

I'm a bit surprised at this point that Canada even asks for US PCCs, given the level of information sharing between the respective law enforcement agencies. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't disappear at some point since CSIS is going to just look us up in the FBI database directly anyway.

 

[happylaw]

Has anyone heard anything? I am seeing people from April going it "process". What is taking so long?!!

 

[computergeek]

I am seeing people from April going it "process". What is taking so long?!!

They're using a non-Markov process for queue servicing.

That's a computer geeky (or math geeky) way of saying that there seems to be no logical reason for the order in which they are processing applications.

I still wonder if some of this is an indicator of how unreliable e-cas is - maybe your application IS in process but nobody bothered to update e-cas (at least I know mine isn't in process, because I've seen the GCMS notes from early August. Next month I'll see where it was this month. )

 

[simb]

Has anyone heard anything? I am seeing people from April going it "process". What is taking so long?!!

happy to see some movement from Ottawa
but in which order Ottawa is going ? i guess the same way Mississauga did with aor....
that was too much stressful. seeing april getting aor while I waiting for it.
and I guess Ottawa is doing the same now

 

[scottandlisag]

happy to see some movement from Ottawa
but in which order Ottawa is going ? i guess the same way Mississauga did with aor....
that was too much stressful. seeing april getting aor while I waiting for it.
and I guess Ottawa is doing the same now

I hear ya!!! :

 

[pixieprincess]

I hope someone gets some good news soon! I requested the notes on my application last week so hopefully I will hear something good for once. I keep seeing articles about immigration revoking lots of permanent residence status but never any good news like "OMG immigration actually starting getting crap done!"
Am I the only one that finds it even more depressing when I see people who applied this year saying that its a long wait...ive been waiting since may 2011, anyone else that applied last year still waiting?

 

[AW2011]

I hope someone gets some good news soon! I requested the notes on my application last week so hopefully I will hear something good for once. I keep seeing articles about immigration revoking lots of permanent residence status but never any good news like "OMG immigration actually starting getting crap done!"
Am I the only one that finds it even more depressing when I see people who applied this year saying that its a long wait...ive been waiting since may 2011, anyone else that applied last year still waiting?

I am sorry for what you have to go through. We filed early June, 2011 if that makes you feel better. It is absurd that our government is treating us like criminals trying to destroy our families. They wouldn't even give my spouse the visa to visit me during this painful wait. Even criminals get the family visitation right. Oh, Canada :-[

 

[pixieprincess]

I am sorry for what you have to go through. We filed early June, 2011 if that makes you feel better. It is absurd that our government is treating us like criminals trying to destroy our families. They wouldn't even give my spouse the visa to visit me during this painful wait. Even criminals get the family visitation right. Oh, Canada :-[

I'm sorry that you have had to deal with the same problems. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I do agree that it's absurd, there is just no accountability. They can do whatever they want and there isn't really anything we can do but endure the stress and heartache that it causes.

 

[backcountry]

I am sorry for what you have to go through. We filed early June, 2011 if that makes you feel better. It is absurd that our government is treating us like criminals trying to destroy our families. They wouldn't even give my spouse the visa to visit me during this painful wait. Even criminals get the family visitation right. Oh, Canada :-[

Did you guys apply inland or outland? Must be outland as you said your spouse wasn't even able to get a visa, so he/she must still be in their country of origin. Just trying to figure out why it would be so long if it was outland, to make sense of this process, if that's even possible.

 

[AW2011]

Did you guys apply inland or outland? Must be outland as you said your spouse wasn't even able to get a visa, so he/she must still be in their country of origin. Just trying to figure out why it would be so long if it was outland, to make sense of this process, if that's even possible.

We filed outland. US F1 visa Spouse living cross the border. I am going down once or a couple of times a week, feeling more like American than Canadian right now.

 

[computergeek]

I just had the pleasure of speaking with a CIC officer in Seattle (on a different temporary application) and the officer advised me that she'd spoken with the officer in Ottawa who is handling our application and the officer said it was being forwarded to LA. She said I should hear from LA in the next couple of weeks. Of course, like anything oral, it's worth less than the paper on which it's written, but it's at least positive feedback. First time I've ever spoken to anyone from CIC and the officer was quite nice. I'm sure I babbled on a bit (this is an intensely stressful process) but the officer was kind and listened to me.

;D

 

[parker24]

I just had the pleasure of speaking with a CIC officer in Seattle (on a different temporary application) and the officer advised me that she'd spoken with the officer in Ottawa who is handling our application and the officer said it was being forwarded to LA. She said I should hear from LA in the next couple of weeks. Of course, like anything oral, it's worth less than the paper on which it's written, but it's at least positive feedback. First time I've ever spoken to anyone from CIC and the officer was quite nice. I'm sure I babbled on a bit (this is an intensely stressful process) but the officer was kind and listened to me.

;D

Whoo hoo! Hopefully that means that things will start rolling soon!!!