My wife got her Uncle to call (he used to work for Immigration Canada) the CIC Call Centre. Unless we give him permission to act on our behalf (see below) they can't provide much information. What they did say was that they are working on applications received before October 16 and that we will "eventually" receive an acknowledgment letter that they have receive / are working on the application........surprise surprise
I am going to hold out for two weeks and if I don't hear anything by then I will have to get my wife's Uncle involved. Below is the Power of Attorney information if you need someone from within Canada to act on your behalf:
If you want to authorize someone to act on your behalf, you must send the Use of a Representative (IMM 5476) form or a Power of Attorney. The authorized person will be able to:
Contact us on your behalf,
Get information on the status of your application, and
Update your information.
A representative can be paid or not. If your representative is paid, they must be:
An immigration consultant who is a member in good standing of the Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC),
A lawyer who is a member of a Canadian law society or a legal trainee under his supervision, or
A notary of the Chambres des notaires du Québec or a legal trainee under his supervision.
If your representative is not paid, they can be a:
Friend,
Family member,
Person in a religious or non-governmental organization,
Etc.
You may have one representative only. If you appoint an additional representative, the previous representative will no longer be authorized to conduct business on your behalf and receive information on your file. To authorize a representative, you must send the IMM 5476 form or the Power of Attorney with your application.
If your application was already submitted, use the email form and upload the IMM 5476 or Power of Attorney.
Please allow 5 to 10 business days for the authorization to be added in your file.