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[Hwseyl]

Well remember when election time rolls around. Nothing can be worse than this. Green party! Marihuana party! Tea party! Actually, next year, I am voting Liberal, just because they have the highest chance beating the Harper government.... and nothing can be worse than this

I have been out of canada for so long it's hard for me to think about voting but you can bet your ...that I'll become a lot more involved when we are 'allowed' to move back. This is almost criminal for the government to hold people's passports for this long without even a timeline or guarantee that there will be a visa coming. Again, that would have been the breaker for us. My husband would not be able to do his job without his passport.

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

By the way, is your medical expired too?

Oh yes, medical is expired. Money paid, unnecessary x-ray done.... at this point they will probably have us redo it. I went to the MP's office, I sent in messages by alll available means saying "now would be the time because the medical is just about to expire..." but nothing, only ignorance, that is what we get from our government.

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

This is almost criminal for the government to hold people's passports for this long without even a timeline or guarantee that there will be a visa coming.

It's not almost criminal. It is criminal. Except they get away with this, because they are on foreign land and it is hard to apply the Canadian laws if the crime inflicted transpires in the Philippines - against a citizen of the Philippines. They treat people like cattle. They even send back passports without advising you that they did so and without providing you with a tracking number. So your passport just shows up one day... who knows when.

Now imagine if the envelope with your passport happens to get lost and does not get delivered to you. You have no idea that they shipped it, so you keep waiting. Finally, after the 15 months (at a point when they allow you to ask questions) you find out that your passport has been shipped to you months ago.... Now try to get a new one and a new visa into it... when they simply don't communicate with you. Ridiculous. Shameful.

We actually tried to get the passport back as we needed to go for a wedding to Europe - and I took my Filipina wife there once already last year - but imagine, we even went to the Canadian Embassy in Manila in person - THEY WOULD NOT LET US IN AND WOULD NOT ENTERTAIN OUR REQUEST. This was after we tried every other communication channel imaginable to ask to "borrow" the passport from the Canadian Embassy. If we accept that it is OK for the Canadian Embassy to not let my wife to come to Canada, well, then it is absolutely NOT OK for their actions to stop my wife from being able to travel anywhere else in the world.

 

[Gumper]

It's not almost criminal. It is criminal. Except they get away with this, because they are on foreign land and it is hard to apply the Canadian laws if the crime inflicted transpires in the Philippines - against a citizen of the Philippines. They treat people like cattle. They even send back passports without advising you that they did so and without providing you with a tracking number. So your passport just shows up one day... who knows when.

Now imagine if the envelope with your passport happens to get lost and does not get delivered to you. You have no idea that they shipped it, so you keep waiting. Finally, after the 15 months (at a point when they allow you to ask questions) you find out that your passport has been shipped to you months ago.... Now try to get a new one and a new visa into it... when they simply don't communicate with you. Ridiculous. Shameful.

We actually tried to get the passport back as we needed to go for a wedding to Europe - and I took my Filipina wife there once already last year - but imagine, we even went to the Canadian Embassy in Manila in person - THEY WOULD NOT LET US IN AND WOULD NOT ENTERTAIN OUR REQUEST. This was after we tried every other communication channel imaginable to ask to "borrow" the passport from the Canadian Embassy. If we accept that it is OK for the Canadian Embassy to not let my wife to come to Canada, well, it is absolutely not OK for their actions to stop my wife from being able to travel anywhere else in the world.

Well said GLA. Highly presumptuous of these people to assume all Filipinos are unable to travel and therefore they can hold onto the passports as long as they wish. Ridiculous. I was actually wondering myself should we wish to get my wife's out how we could do it. Thanks to you I know the answer now & it is not encouraging. Did you ask via the CIC Hot Line in Canada at all, if they could do something ... like say fly a pigeon into Fortress CEM and have them return it that way?!

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

Well said GLA. Highly presumptuous of these people to assume all Filipinos are unable to travel and therefore they can hold onto the passports as long as they wish. Ridiculous. I was actually wondering myself should we wish to get my wife's out how we could do it. Thanks to you I know the answer now & it is not encouraging. Did you ask via the CIC Hot Line in Canada at all, if they could do something ... like say fly a pigeon into Fortress CEM and have them return it that way?!

We e-mailed to the embassy (no answer), we called the embassy (can't get a live person), we called the 1-888-242-2100 (they said to contact the embassy), I went to the MP's office (they said to contact the embassy...) we went to the embassy in person (they would not let us in or would not entertain our request). Pigeon? That one I did not try yet LOL. Anyway, I manged to get some direct contact information to Manila through submitting an ATIP request. Mind you, I had to wrestle the ATIP bureaucrats every inch of the way... I will be sending out some to-the-point emails to some people that are not used to receive e-mails from clients. Because we are going on the 14th of October to the Embassy and we want an appointment to get that passport out of there. The next day (on the 15th) we have an appointment to get the EU visa... so it's crunch time.

 

[Hwseyl]

We e-mailed to the embassy (no answer), we called the embassy (can't get a live person), we called the 1-888-242-2100 (they said to contact the embassy), I went to the MP's office (they said to contact the embassy...) we went to the embassy in person (they would not let us in or would not entertain our request). Pigeon? That one I did not try yet LOL. Anyway, I manged to get some direct contact information to Manila through submitting an ATIP request. Mind you, I had to wrestle the ATIP bureaucrats every inch of the way... I will be sending out some to-the-point emails to some people that are not used to receive e-mails from clients. Because we are going on the 14th of October to the Embassy and we want an appointment to get that passport out of there. The next day (on the 15th) we have an appointment to get the EU visa... so it's crunch time.

What's ATIP?

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

What's ATIP?

Access to Information and Privacy - there is such an "act" which provides certain rights to citizens of Canada for the release of certain information. You can make an online request here - it costs $5
https://atip-aiprp.apps.gc.ca/atip/privacyTerms.do

 

[Hwseyl]

Access to Information and Privacy - there is such an "act" which provides certain rights to citizens of Canada for the release of certain information. You can make an online request here - it costs $5
https://atip-aiprp.apps.gc.ca/atip/privacyTerms.do

Thank you. I wish you all the luck. Let us know what happens.

 

[SAMANTALA]

We e-mailed to the embassy (no answer), we called the embassy (can't get a live person), we called the 1-888-242-2100 (they said to contact the embassy), I went to the MP's office (they said to contact the embassy...) we went to the embassy in person (they would not let us in or would not entertain our request). Pigeon? That one I did not try yet LOL. Anyway, I manged to get some direct contact information to Manila through submitting an ATIP request. Mind you, I had to wrestle the ATIP bureaucrats every inch of the way... I will be sending out some to-the-point emails to some people that are not used to receive e-mails from clients. Because we are going on the 14th of October to the Embassy and we want an appointment to get that passport out of there. The next day (on the 15th) we have an appointment to get the EU visa... so it's crunch time.

Pigeon! hahaha!!!

WOw! You tried everything to contact the embassy... My sponsor(husband) phoned the embassy but the operator told him if he know the person to talk to, so it's a useless phone call, we do not know who is the visa officer handling our application. I did tried to email the embassy, informing my medical expiration, all I received was an automatic reply saying;
Dear Sir/Madam,

We received your email regarding file number F000xxxxx on 29 May 2014. We note that the file was received on 21 November 2013.

If you have sent us this email to report important changes regarding your application, we will add this information to your file. This email serves as your confirmation of receipt for these documents. Please be assured that this information will be brought to the attention of the appropriate authority.

We note that this file is currently within processing standards. We do not respond to status enquiries if the application is within normal processing times.

Yes it's true, they will not let you in unless you have an appointment at the embassy (example a letter from them to pick up the passport visa). I think your MP is lazy! ??? Why he will say to you to contact the embassy? My husband went to the MP's office to ask help for our application, and they did sent an email to the embassy for inquiry and the embassy replied right away to the MP's inquiry email about the status of our application.

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

I think your MP is lazy! ??? Why he will say to you to contact the embassy? My husband went to the MP's office to ask help for our application, and they did sent an email to the embassy for inquiry and the embassy replied right away to the MP's inquiry email about the status of our application. [/color]

Lazy? Nah, just that he will not incriminate himself. See, I live in Ajax and my MP is the Honorable Chris Alexander, the CIC minister. So the rules in my MP's office are a bit different. First I thought it is a blessing, when my MP was assigned the ministerial portfolio. Now I know it is a curse. My MP's staff will simply not dig up information that shows that the CIC employees are not doing their jobs.

 

[Hwseyl]

Lazy? Nah, just that he will not incriminate himself. See, I live in Ajax and my MP is the Honorable Chris Alexander, the CIC minister. So the rules in my MP's office are a bit different. First I thought it is a blessing, when my MP was assigned the ministerial portfolio. Now I know it is a curse. My MP's staff will simply not dig up information that shows that the CIC employees are not doing their jobs.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I had to giggle a bit when I read who your MP is. Talk about bad luck!

 

[EBUENCONS]

Hi guys i just have a question if our application is already on background checking does it means its already on the last stage of processing?I already sent my passport last MAY 13 and we dont have any updates till now but our MP said that its already for background checking.does it means they are checking for the genuiness of me and my partner's relationship?or what king of checking they do? thank you for your reply guys.

 

[Hwseyl]

Hi guys i just have a question if our application is already on background checking does it means its already on the last stage of processing?I already sent my passport last MAY 13 and we dont have any updates till now but our MP said that its already for background checking.does it means they are checking for the genuiness of me and my partner's relationship?or what king of checking they do? thank you for your reply guys.

Isn't that funny. My MP (even though my ppr was June) said that my background check wasn't even started yet. This is the first time I've even heard of background checks other than the required documents we sent in. I asked them for clarification so if I hear exactly what that means I'll let you know. She said they will take months yet since it is an outside agency that checks. Sounds like a nuch of bs to me. Sent a pretty nasty letter last week.

 

[GabbieLovesAya]

Isn't that funny. My MP (even though my ppr was June) said that my background check wasn't even started yet. This is the first time I've even heard of background checks other than the required documents we sent in.

I just got my GCMS notes. From what I see, there is a hierarchy in the process; for example at one point somebody wrote into my file "not ready for B/CRIM", which I interpret as Background / Criminality check. Furthermore, in the summary area, it says "Security: Not Started, Criminality: Not Started" and guess what - Medical: Not Started. What this tells me, that they don't even bother doing these checks until they decide that otherwise the application is heading for approval. What a process - is this what I paid thousand bucks for???? My blood is boiling OMG, my wife's medical expired in April...

 

[Hwseyl]

I just got my GCMS notes. From what I see, there is a hierarchy in the process; for example at one point somebody wrote into my file "not ready for B/CRIM", which I interpret as Background / Criminality check. Furthermore, in the summary area, it says "Security: Not Started, Criminality: Not Started" and guess what - Medical: Not Started. What this tells me, that they don't even bother doing these checks until they decide that otherwise the application is heading for approval. What a process - is this what I paid thousand bucks for???? My blood is boiling OMG, my wife's medical expired in April...

Just curious, is your wife japanese? I wonder if there are different piles for phillipins, Japan and South Korea??