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[Steph C]

Its specific to those couples who have no children and have been in a relationship less than a year. I'm not opposed to it at all. In fact I would raise it to 5 years.

Nice signature Jeep Guy! Maybe we should all put our favourite jokes to lighten the mood

I don't see how the new rules would stop people from applying. I think either Summer is a busy season for applicants, or people take awhile to find us

 

[rie_n]

That was the usual trend. Getting PPR first then ECAS will go "in-process".
Last week, some members surprisingly got "in-process" without getting a PPR.

I believe it is still possible to get requested for additional docs. However, if there are no major docs that they need, like just AOM, NBI, and passport photo, it will just come with your PPR and you submit them together.

Hopefully it will go smoothly from there

Yes, hopefully everything will go smooth!
Thank you so much for your advice

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Nice signature Jeep Guy! Maybe we should all put our favourite jokes to lighten the mood

I don't see how the new rules would stop people from applying. I think either Summer is a busy season for applicants, or people take awhile to find us

Thanks for noticing. This process can drive anyone to drink.

I wonder what the applicant volume was for november to april 2011-2012? That would be good to see if maybe there has been a decline.

 

[Luckyman]

How is it possible that extending the medicals add time to the process? By extending the medicals then they can just proceed to complete the application.

Its my understanding that the officers makes that determination to extend them. Do they have to get that approved from higher up the chain of command?
My issue is simply based on cost. The basic cost should be the same for everyone. Documents that have expired due to their inability to meet the volume should be automatically extended unless the originals are questionable. By not extending the medicals they are asking us to pay for their incompetence. Having to pay more to get your visa processed faster is extortion.

It's my understanding that extending the medical isn't simply changing the date...
I believe that in order to extend, they need to first get a panel physician to re-assess the results and authorize the extension. That being said, I don't know if the re-assessment was to be made by original doctor, or by head office...but either way I can see how it could take a while, especially for a new system.

Also, I think that Canada's strict policy on TB might heavily sway CEM to require a re-medical, as exposure can easily take place throughout the course of the year....who knows maybe they had an issue with someone getting through.

But having said that....they should revise the guide for the Philippines to not require medical at time of application submission, and just ask for one when required.

Cheers!

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

It's my understanding that extending the medical isn't simply changing the date...
I believe that in order to extend, they need to first get a panel physician to re-assess the results and authorize the extension. That being said, I don't know if the re-assessment was to be made by original doctor, or by head office...but either way I can see how it could take a while, especially for a new system.

Also, I think that Canada's strict policy on TB might heavily sway CEM to require a re-medical, as exposure can easily take place throughout the course of the year....who knows maybe they had an issue with someone getting through.

But having said that....they should revise the guide for the Philippines to not require medical at time of application submission, and just ask for one when required.

Cheers!

Ridiculous process if extending it means going back to the panel unless there is no cost to me for it.

An applicant could have aquired TB 2 weeks after they submitted their application and if processed before the expiry of their primary medical would land full of TB. They could just as easily accept the medical and request TB be tested for prior to a visa being issued.

You are absolutely correct that medicals should not be submitted at the beginning. With a 12 month processing time they have already expired before they get through stage 1.

 

[Steph C]

Ridiculous process if extending it means going back to the panel unless there is no cost to me for it.

An applicant could have aquired TB 2 weeks after they submitted their application and if processed before the expiry of their primary medical would land full of TB. They could just as easily accept the medical and request TB be tested for prior to a visa being issued.

You are absolutely correct that medicals should not be submitted at the beginning. With a 12 month processing time they have already expired before they get through stage 1.

You don't want to pay any more money but you want fast processing. IMO, at the moment paying for a whole new medical makes faster processing for us. I'm fine with that. A long term solution - they should request medical after sponsor approval.

 

[WoodyKatie]

Yeah I agree with you. I just found it odd that the spread sheet dropped off at the point, probably reading to much into it... maybe hoping too much that everyone's apps will get resolved quicker.

I think there s no dropped off, it s just that other applicants are not yet aware of these forums and spreadsheets by this time.. I am October applicant. When the time Ive discovered this site, Ive already submitted my application and we are only 10 in the October spreadsheet.. But as months go by, we ended up tripled. ;D... How much more when all applicants will join the spreadsheet..

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

You don't want to pay any more money but you want fast processing. IMO, at the moment paying for a whole new medical makes faster processing for us. I'm fine with that. A long term solution - they should request medical after sponsor approval.

I'm not even prepared to pay the application fees. As a citizen I should be able to marry who I please. Let PR's pay since this who thing is geared for them anyway.

Since the application process is actually a user fee than I will pay once for everything requested after that either the government extends the expiry or they pay for the updated one or they reimburse me for it.

Any medical that shows no history of illness should be extended.

 

[Steph C]

Any medical that shows no history of illness should be extended.

TB is a growing threat. I don't want to be exposed to it.. Canada has worked hard to nearly eradicate it. Remember the day when TB sanatoriums were full of people? There were people who spent years in those. Of couse now we have antibiotics which help : 66% of all reported TB cases in Canada (2010) were from foreign born individuals (and 21% in Aboriginal populations mostly up north) I think they should re-examine people for it after a year, for sure.

 

[scos]

There doesn't seem to be a drop off that I can see. I am still getting people from as early as June of last year getting added (a short time ago had another 2011 get added). People only get added as they supply information. I have found that Manila VO people don't always add their info to the monthly sheets which is the first place I look for data to add. Eventually they provide it as they post to the Manila threads. In time those sparse months will get more populated.

 

[GoonerClank]

I think there s no dropped off, it s just that other applicants are not yet aware of these forums and spreadsheets by this time.. I am October applicant. When the time Ive discovered this site, Ive already submitted my application and we are only 10 in the October spreadsheet.. But as months go by, we ended up tripled. ;D... How much more when all applicants will join the spreadsheet..

Thanks Katie. This was helpful.

 

[scos]

I notice the April update of processing times is still not out. Do you suppose after crowing about a 40% reduction in backlog the numbers have increased? My guess is they won't release them until they can show either a slight reduction in times, or at least no change.

 

[GoonerClank]

There doesn't seem to be a drop off that I can see. I am still getting people from as early as June of last year getting added (a short time ago had another 2011 get added). People only get added as they supply information. I have found that Manila VO people don't always add their info to the monthly sheets which is the first place I look for data to add. Eventually they provide it as they post to the Manila threads. In time those sparse months will get more populated.

Thanks Scos. For my wife's app I only added it to the Manila spreadsheet. I found doing the monthly one is not much of a point because after the SA the time at each VO is different.

 

[chelseaviel]

When I was going through everybody's old posts to help Scos update the spreadsheet, I found some interesting posts about medical extensions. Around the time that CIC made the new rule about medical extensions, it seems like CEM was trying to follow those rules. However, they found it to be even longer to extend it then to get a whole new one. Somebody posted an excerpt from their GCMS notes where it said they were trying to extend the medical.. and finally a few months later CEM just asked for a re medical. It wasted a bunch of months on their application time because it was the last thing standing in the way of their visa. I think CEM found out pretty quickly that the medical extension route would not work for them.

It seems that CEM is really inconsistent with their policies

 

[chelseaviel]

How is it possible that extending the medicals add time to the process? By extending the medicals then they can just proceed to complete the application.

Its my understanding that the officers makes that determination to extend them. Do they have to get that approved from higher up the chain of command?
My issue is simply based on cost. The basic cost should be the same for everyone. Documents that have expired due to their inability to meet the volume should be automatically extended unless the originals are questionable. By not extending the medicals they are asking us to pay for their incompetence. Having to pay more to get your visa processed faster is extortion.

I totally agree with you cjg. I knew an applicant who was called by CEM that his visa is ready for pick up and the officer called him again to tell him that they just found out that his medical has expired already thus he needs to redo it and his visa was put on hold til he submits his new medical. it's just so frustrating.