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[CanadianJeepGuy]

How is it cheaper to fly 2 people to Hong Kong for at least a week, pay for hotel and food, marriage ceremony and all the fixin's then paying for the divorce decree in the Philippines? I would think that getting married in Hong Kong would cost far more than $7000.

 

[Dan_from_Surrey]

Dan...just leave it...it's been answered in 2 other threads, in addition to yours.

At this point I believe fabanne12 is just looking for the answer she wants to hear.

Just trying to save you some time buddy!
Cheers!

I hear ya Luckyman, the last post was my last for this subject, I agree with you 100%

 

[doljan]

no we are planning to get married in Hong KOng as i have metioned earlier where divorce is recognized and honored, i have met someone here and their application is in process and in a PPR stage

go and see an immigration lawyer, they can give you legal advice advice on your issue.
as i see it, i agree with them, you are driving yourself for a heartbreak and stress in this application.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Here is the latest update to my email drive to get some justice:

I received an email today from the Unit Manager of Family Reunification Manila. They have extended my wife's medical but still require a chest x-ray and a visit to a panel physician. Not really the result I was looking for. He was apologetic for the delays but states that they will expedite the visa once they have her med results and confirmation of the paid RPRF. He also states that they have requested her passport but nowhere in the email my wife received did it include that. All it asked for was the remed.

Anyone interested in the email conversation can message me and I will copy/paste the exchange. Its rather lengthy.

I would advise that any and all emails sent to your MP and/or CEM also include the Minister's. It may show them you mean business.

 

[Steph C]

Here is the latest update to my email drive to get some justice:

I received an email today from the Unit Manager of Family Reunification Manila. They have extended my wife's medical but still require a chest x-ray and a visit to a panel physician. Not really the result I was looking for. He was apologetic for the delays but states that they will expedite the visa once they have her med results and confirmation of the paid RPRF. He also states that they have requested her passport but nowhere in the email my wife received did it include that. All it asked for was the remed.

Anyone interested in the email conversation can message me and I will copy/paste the exchange. Its rather lengthy.

I would advise that any and all emails sent to your MP and/or CEM also include the Minister's. It may show them you mean business.

Oh yes the old carbon copy the boss routine - that always gets results! Hey Jeep Guy, maybe if I email we can get some justice too After all we did apply before you

 

[Luckyman]

Honestly... Based on the the sporadic processing... We all deserve some justice!
And that means you should have gotten visa long time ago

Cheers!

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Oh yes the old carbon copy the boss routine - that always gets results! Hey Jeep Guy, maybe if I email we can get some justice too After all we did apply before you

I would recommend it to everyone who has heard nothing from their visa office past 6 months. Fook the posted processing time. Its arbitrary anyway. CIC's policy is to process applications within 6 months. That is a reasonable expectation. If they have internal structural issues that is not my problem.

You have to create a paper trail that clearly indicates your experience and your expectations. Here is the last email I sent that finally got the wheels moving:
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 12:52 PM
To: Toet, Lawrence - Riding 1; Minister@cic.gc.ca; manil-cs@international.gc.ca
Subject: RE: Medical extensions for sponsorship applicants




Thank you for your reply XXXXX.

Concerning the re-medical CIC requires these to be submitted at the beginning of the entire process. Seeing as they have increased the processing time to 1 year from receipt in Manila their policy automatically pushes the medicals to expiry. It is not my fault if CEM cannot process applications accordingly so why then do I have to pay for it? This application sat unopened for 6 months. Why? No one seems to be able to answer that. So not only is there no accountability for CIC losing some of my application there is also no accountability for their failure to meet their own prescribed timelines and on top it off I am expected to have to pay for it....again. This is not a very good customer service policy.

I would ask that you could specifically take this issue up with the Minister. Applicants who are instructed to redo medicals due to expiry should be reimbursed or have CEM cover that cost. CEM never requests partial remeds. You have to redo the whole thing. While I understand the importance of having medical knowledge of applicants there is no difference in the risk between someone with a clean medical history who's medicals have expired and someone who could have contracted an illness and issued a visa before their medicals have expired. This is an unnecessary additional financial burden.

It is not the job of CIC to turn me over and shake loose every penny it can get. That's Revenue Canada's job.

Sincerely,

CJG

P.S. I had also inquired as to how one can lodge a formal complaint concerning the service from both CIC and an individual agent. Emails sent to both the Minister and CEM have gone unanswered.

Cheers

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

On a lighter note I received my first piece of lettermail addressed to both my wife and I. Very cool to see. I sent her a pic of it. . It was info concerning my pension. So if CEM is looking for additional docs to support the validity of our relationship that would be a good one.

 

[Luckyman]

That's bad a$$ CJG...

And despite my previous comments on "fear" for un-wanted lengthening purely due to VO spite....I commend you!

Having said that, I'm seriously thinking about starting to send emails quoting the CIC website stating applications are processed on arrival....when we know that is clearly not the case!

At this point ALL....Apr-Aug applications should be either done or pending additional docs/requirements.

Considering that travel + Hotel + expenses + remed has costed us over $700 CAD.....it turns out to be Waaaaaay more than the medical itself....and....and...and.....the sporadic processing times PISS ME OFF!

At the very least, I hope your email has lit a spark for the rest of us to also get speedy processing when the remedicals are received by CEM.

Cheers! and Thank you!!

 

[Steph C]

That's bad a$$ CJG...

And despite my previous comments on "fear" for un-wanted lengthening purely due to VO spite....I commend you!

Having said that, I'm seriously thinking about starting to send emails quoting the CIC website stating applications are processed on arrival....when we know that is clearly not the case!

At this point ALL....Apr-Aug applications should be either done or pending additional docs/requirements.

Considering that travel + Hotel + expenses + remed has costed us over $700 CAD.....it turns out to be Waaaaaay more than the medical itself....and....and...and.....the sporadic processing times PISS ME OFF!

At the very least, I hope your email has lit a spark for the rest of us to also get speedy processing when the remedicals are received by CEM.

Cheers! and Thank you!!

That was some good work! Our remeds cost us a fortune too. It incurred about $600 considering the travel costs of his kids and the photos and meals and everything. At tax time, I don't have $600 to waste! You're right, that is revenue canada's job.

Considering that I think the only thing standing in the way of our visa is them receiving our medicals - I was wondering if contacting my MP at this point (since it is after the year mark) would help expedite the end of the process. What do you think?

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

That's bad a$$ CJG...

And despite my previous comments on "fear" for un-wanted lengthening purely due to VO spite....I commend you!

Having said that, I'm seriously thinking about starting to send emails quoting the CIC website stating applications are processed on arrival....when we know that is clearly not the case!

At this point ALL....Apr-Aug applications should be either done or pending additional docs/requirements.

Considering that travel + Hotel + expenses + remed has costed us over $700 CAD.....it turns out to be Waaaaaay more than the medical itself....and....and...and.....the processing times PISS ME OFF!

At the very least, I hope your email has lit a spark for the rest of us to also get speedy processing when the remedicals are received by CEM.

Cheers! and Thank you!!

Squeaky wheel gets the grease Lucky.

I would say that if you want to get into the email war then you have to be committed to it. Email all parties concerned so no one can claim they weren't informed. If they see that the Minister's office is getting copies as well as your MP they can't feed you too much bullshite. The paper trail offers some form of protection against any malicious behaviour from the VO.

Again. You are the paying customer. You are not cattle. It is not unreasonable to expect equal treatment when needing government services. In fact your Charter Rights grant you that. You have followed their rules and policies but that has done more harm then good.

 

[Luckyman]

I'm contemplating the same thing......

But I think maybe...just maybe....CJG's emails may have sparked a fire for everyone

(Mind you, that's in an ideal world where rules are honored, and people actually give a sh1t!)

 

[Steph C]

I'm contemplating the same thing......

But I think maybe...just maybe....CJG's emails may have sparked a fire for everyone

(Mind you, that's in an ideal world where rules are honored, and people actually give a sh1t!)

Maybe we should make a column on the spreadsheet for the sponsor's birth nationality.. imagine if we can prove discrimination towards born Canadians!

hehe.. that will start a fire here until I get back from work

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Look. I'm an activist. I was raised with the belief that this is a free democracy and the government is elected by the people to serve their interests. I am only asking the government and their agencies to meet that requirement. Otherwise we have no business calling ourselves a democracy.

I would advise that everyone past 6 months at their respective VO's contact their MP's and cc the Minister's office. That will propel your concerns into the VO showing that you mean business. It also creates a paper trail that informs the Minister's office that all is not well in the Kingdom. Without movement favourable to you it is just as easy to start to include the editors of Canada's media giants. We all know that the media to this government is like sunlight to vampires.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

I forgot to include that there is power in numbers. If they only receive my concerns/complaints they will believe that I am all there is.

Here was the reply I sent today:

To XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX And All Interested Parties,

Please be aware of my appreciation for you extending the medical though there is still the additional cost of having to redo it even in part. My wife has scheduled her medical appointment for this week.

To clear up any unknowns as to the particulars of my case here are the facts:

I sent in a complete application package as required by CIC which was received by them May 10th 2012. Processing times then were 8 months. After exceeding the stage 1 processing time my MP made inquiries on my behalf in August 2012. I was then informed at that time that the application I sent to Mississauga was redirected, for some reason unknown to me, to Ottawa and was now missing 2 sponsorship documents and my wife's passport photos. Those documents were resubmitted to CIC-Ottawa at the end of September 2012 and my sponsorship was then approved by October 10th 2012.

From that date my wife's application sat unopened for 6 months until I started to make inquiries through the office of MP XXXXXXXXXXX and started sending emails. Be advised that any email inquiries to CEM have gone unanswered until this day.

In December of 2012 I made several calls to the CIC call centre in regards to the expiry of my wife's medicals and was told outright not to do anything as agents can extend the medicals up to a year. No other conditions were expressed to me at that time. Additionally the current government has decided to close Visa Offices and have those applications are now processed in Manila. In January we saw the processing times go from 8 months to 11 months then to 12 months so even if my wife had her medical done in May of 2012 they would have expired before her application was finalized. CIC had 7 months to process this application before the medicals expired. Considering our case had no previous marriages and no children 7 months should have been more than enough time.

There is no need for medicals to be required prior to their arrival in Manila and requesting them at stage one already adds additional costs that others do not have to pay. This is a completely unfair policy. Remeds requested due to expiry should be covered by CIC whether as a refund to the customer or paid directly to the medical panel.

I have requested my GCMS as of 2 weeks ago and have not received any reply. As to the payment of the RPRF I again followed the required procedure as set out by CIC. I paid in full, online and faxed a copy of the receipt (receipt #RXXXXXXXXX) to the fax number listed. This was done on April 16th 2013. I again made a call to the CIC Call Centre where I was informed that it can take up to 6 weeks for the CEM to be notified of the payment. I then sent an email to CEM notifying them of the payment. I received nothing from them other than the auto-reply. What kind of system is this? CEM gives me 30 days to pay it and CIC Financial can't confirm it for a month and a half?
Again here is the receipt number: RXXXXXXXX. Please contact whomever you need to internally to confirm payment. I am not sending anymore faxes and emails since they don't seem to end up anywhere.

My wife has not received any email requesting her passport only one requesting a remed:

"UCI: XXXXXXXX
Application No.: XXXXXXXXX
Quote these numbers when corresponding with our office.

This is an automated message. Please DO NOT RESPOND to this message.



Dear Mrs. CJG,



Please find information concerning your application in the attached document. If you are unable to view the attached document or did not receive a document, please advise us by forwarding this e-mail to https://dmp-portal.cic.gc.ca/cicemail/intro-eng.aspx?mission=manila



Embassy of Canada
Visa Section
PO Box 2168, Makati Central PO
Makati City 1200
Philippines"

The attachment included with this email only had instructions to do the medical.

As I am sure CEM does it's best to reply to all inquiries I have never had any other than this one and this one was prompted through the involvement of my MP.

In conclusion I would like to state that this whole process has been the worst experience I have ever had dealing with government. I do not get this service for free because I am a 7th generation, voting Canadian. I pay for it and in paying for it I have an expectation as a customer that my application will receive the same attention as all the others; that all the information I require will be complete and that the government is working toward reducing processing times instead of increasing them at my expense. Over the course of this last year I have seen many applications received months after mine get processed well before my wife's application had even been opened. Inquiries go unanswered and E-cas is useless as a real-time informative tool. I am still waiting for a reply to my email inquiry as to how I lodge a formal complaint regarding the service as well as the conduct of an agent.


Sincerely,

CJG