angelwhitchik said:
Question one
I sent in my application from with in canada around the second of Aug. How long until I hear anything from them or First stage approval?
Question two
With my appication I didn't have any wedding photos because they didnt turn out. Im not even kidding, they were taken with a disposable camera and they were all dark. my mom had some on a camera phone but she cant send them and she cant upload them to her computer because the usb port on her phone is broken. Will this cause an issue? We are a genuine couple. We have emails from the past year or so we have other pictures of me and him just not wedding photos I didnt know if I should send them or not because I would have to print them off my computer.
Question three
If because there was no wedding photos will they just deny us or will they inteview us?
OK, first, just realized you asked about how long it might be before you hear something and nobody responded to that. Normally you will not hear anything from CPC-Vegreville until you reach first stage approval, which is 4-5 months after you submit your application. If your file gets transferred to your local office before first stage approval (which will happen if there are questions about the application and documentation/evidence provided, or if you do not have proper temporary status in Canada) you will get notification from CPC-V that the file was transferred - and then you'll have to wait for contact from the local office. As I said before, each local office has their own timeline depending on how many aps are in the queue ahead of yours, so it depends on the office. Usually, if your file goes to a local office, you can phone the Call Centre and they can tell you what the timeline is for that specific office.
Now, in your reply above you said you "didn't really have anything to send in" - but earlier you said that you had emails and some photos showing you and your husband together . . . but it's not clear whether you submitted those with the application. If you didn't - expect an interview. If you want to try to avoid an interview, which will result in delays in your processing, you need to send AS MUCH documentation and evidence of your genuine relationship as you can put together. You should have detailed, in the application forms, the development of your relationship and provided
copies of photos, airline ticket stubs or receipts from travel to visit each other, phone records, emails, cards, receipts for gifts, etc., to back up that information. You could also include copies of receipts for your wedding dress, suit/tux rented by your husband, wedding rings, flowers, wedding invitation, congratulatory emails or cards, etc. You have to understand that what CIC is looking for is evidence that this is not just a relationship that was entered into by one or both of you just to obtain status for you in Canada. Granted, not many US citizens actually marry Canadians just so they can move to Canada, but there are many people from other countries who do exactly that - and everyone's relationship gets weighed on the same scale. In other words, an IO is not just going to say, "Oh, well, this one's from the States so I can assume this is a genuine relationship" in the absence of evidence proving that.
I still believe that the fact that you have no wedding photos won't "hurt" you IF you have provided enough other evidence to document your relationship and substantiate your claim that this is a marriage about love and not gaining permanent status in Canada, but it was risky to submit an application where you not only didn't include wedding photos (you could even have "re-created" some of your wedding photos by simply dressing in your wedding outfits again and going to some nice location and taking some shots), but (it sounds like) you also didn't include other photos you have of yourselves together because you'd have to had print them off your computer?? There's no problem with that - shoot, all of our pics over a 3 year relationship, and our wedding photos, were taken with a digital camera - and I just printed them out in black and white on regular 8.5" x 11" printer paper!
If you ask me - I'd say the absence of wedding photos alone wouldn't wreck your application, but it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back if you haven't submitted anything else either. You need to put some effort into pulling together some strong documentation of your relationship - including any and all photos you can get your hands on - and submit
copies of all of it to CPC-V as soon as possible. Be sure you accompany the documentation with enough identification that they can match the additional information with the original file - and keep your own set of everything you submit in case they don't match things up in time to save your file from transfer or refusal. If you receive a request from them to submit more evidence or documentation, send copies
again . . . don't just assume they will put it all together because you already sent stuff in.
I hope this all works out okay for you in the end.
... But it is important!! If you cannot do this, take the phone to someone who can, download them and print them off to include in your application.