mbajouco said:
Thanks so much!!!!! really appreciate all that info... I think I've gotten the jist of it now.. were just waiting on the medicals and we should be good to submit the application...
can't wait!!! Thanks so much again!!!!
Glad I could help. =)
CryssyM said:
So, I am very new to this whole process and was wondering a couple things and i am sure i will have more posts after this one.
I am sponsoring my husband and we have two children, 3 years and 1 year.
My husband was deported feb 2010 and we finally got all our sponsorship papers sent out 2012 and i have been approved and now we are on step 2.
our application is in mexico but i have been trying to check the status and it is not working, I am also worried about the ARC and how or when to fill out the form. is it possible to send an arc form before they approve the application, where can you get an ARC?
Because we have children will our application be faster? will the application really take 13 months? how long does the ARC application take or is it the same?
Thank you for any help
Congratulations on completing step 1!
As for how long step 2 will take - you can thank OhCanadiana for this info - we only have previous years to go by, but it varies from person to person and ranges from about 5-13 months.
"Americas: 20% of cases completed within 5 months, 30% in 6 mo., 50% in 8 mo., 70% in 10 mo., 80% in 13 mo."
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/case-processing-speed-at-visa-offices-step-2-t102206.0.html;wap2=
Note that the percentages don't add up to 100 as is commonly misunderstood. They just tell you how many of the total applications are completed by a given time.
When you say you are trying to check the application status and it's not working, do you mean you can't log into the website or you can log in but aren't getting any useful info?
If you can't get in: I think there are actually TWO unique client identifiers - one for you and one for your spouse. Are you getting these mixed up somehow?
If you can get in: The service is notorious for not really offering the most meaningful status updates so don't hold your breath for up-to-the-minute info.
As for ARC, sadly I am pretty sure you have to wait until Citizenship and Immigration requests it through a visa application.
One last thing to think about... has your husband done his military service? You have to present either a precartilla or cartilla liberada in order to get the PGR police certificate. I mention this because several couples hadn't done the service and were totally horrified when they realized this AFTER the PGR was requested - you only have a certain number of days to get it and this can become an excruciating crunch if it surprises you.