I had always prayed towards this day when I will be able to share my testimony. Please bear with me for my long post.
Timeline
AOR: August 16, 2019
MEP: Expired and then renewed
Biometrics: September 20, 2019
PPR: May 12, 2021
My journey started on August 16, 2019, when I submitted my application for permanent residency via the express entry scheme under the federal skilled worker category. My husband was a dependant. As a Graduate Assistant (NOC 4012), I submitted letters from my supervisors (teaching) and my principal investigator (PI to attest to my experience as a research assistant). I also turned in my pay stubs (for 2 years!) and a letter from the payroll department stating my employment title, annual salary, and date of employment.
We knew it could be a waiting game due to the pace IRCC works with, but we never knew it would be a roller coaster ride. After 7 months of waiting, in March 2020, we received a procedural fairness letter. The letter was just a spousal questionnaire and so I wasn't bothered. However, when I called the call center, I was told that the document sent to me was more than just the questionnaire. The officer was asking me to address the assumptions that: my work experience was not believed as genuine, my marriage was also not believed as genuine (since I live in the US and my husband lives in the UK. This is not a sponsorship application so I submitted only our court wedding certificate when the application was turned in.) and finally, they were not sure of my legal status in the US . Even after a new PFL was sent, I still could not access the information I was told by the call center agent. It was still the questionnaire request that I kept seeing. All this happened shortly before the lockdown. I was shattered, exhausted, and did not want to go forward. With support from my husband and family, I took a few days off, cleared my head, and then responded to the PFL. We never waited to receive the full details of the PFL (and we never did receive it), we decided to work with what we were told by the call center agent.
For my work experience as a graduate and teaching assistant, I resubmitted all the letters I had previously turned in: letters from my supervisors (teaching) and research supervisor, a letter from the payroll department, all my pay stubs for 2 years. In addition, I submitted my evaluation report (usually given at the end of the semester by the students) and a copy of the manual I use for teaching. I also wrote a letter in support of this claim.
For our marriage, we resubmitted our court wedding certificates. We also submitted pictures from our dating days, court wedding in the US, traditional and white wedding in our home country, our WhatsApp messages from our dating days, Skype conversations, and emails. We also submitted letters: from my father, the bride's maid (who is my closest friend), my husband's groom's man, my colleague at work who I introduced to my husband, and my landlady who I also introduced to my husband when he first visited. These letters were attesting to the genuineness of our relationship and our journey so far as a couple. My husband and I both submitted individual letters detailing our journey from when we first met to the present day. We also submitted social media posts my husband creates yearly on our wedding anniversary and plant tickets detailing the travels we make back and forth between the UK and the US. Finally, we included documents for our joint property and joint bank account.
For my status in the US, we submitted my visa and other immigration documents (I-94 included). We also submitted plane tickets for the journeys I have made in and out of the US.
These documents were too large for the placeholder created for us in our application., we decided to upload the most important documents for the 3 issues we were trying to address and then we emailed CPC OTTAWA the rest of the documents. We also submitted all the documents by raising several web forms.
We never expected to hear back from IRCC very soon since the world was going into lockdown, however, 1 week later, we were told to resubmit the response about my immigration status in the US since they could not open the file. We did this immediately and then in the evening, we saw that our account was updated from 'document under review' to 'not applicable'.
At this point, the lockdown officially began and we took our minds off since we couldn't even get through to the call center. Surprisingly, 2 weeks later, we received an update. We called and were made to know that the eligibility was passed and the security just started. One week after, we received another update. This time the customer service agent told us we cleared all stages but a final decision was not yet made. We were thrilled, grateful, and happy,
I had to renew my passport since it was exactly 6 months valid. Once I got my passport renewed 3 months later, I updated IRCC with a copy. Now the wait was just beginning. We made it a point of duty to call at least once a week. The update was always the same 'all stages are passed, we are just waiting for a final decision''. We were told on another occasion that since my husband resides in the UK which is currently under travel restriction, our application cannot be finalized. By this time, my husband was already done with his Ph.D. program and so we applied for a dependant visa to the US. It was successfully renewed (all thanks to God). He arrived in the US two weeks ago. We updated his address with IRCC and just yesterday, we were told to submit our passport so we could receive our Confirmation of Permanent Residence.
A journey of 21 months finally came to an end in joy. I praise God.
I also thank this wonderful community for all the tips, ideas, and indirect mental support.
I WISH EVERYONE SUCCESS IN THIS JOURNEY!!!
Timeline
AOR: August 16, 2019
MEP: Expired and then renewed
Biometrics: September 20, 2019
PPR: May 12, 2021
My journey started on August 16, 2019, when I submitted my application for permanent residency via the express entry scheme under the federal skilled worker category. My husband was a dependant. As a Graduate Assistant (NOC 4012), I submitted letters from my supervisors (teaching) and my principal investigator (PI to attest to my experience as a research assistant). I also turned in my pay stubs (for 2 years!) and a letter from the payroll department stating my employment title, annual salary, and date of employment.
We knew it could be a waiting game due to the pace IRCC works with, but we never knew it would be a roller coaster ride. After 7 months of waiting, in March 2020, we received a procedural fairness letter. The letter was just a spousal questionnaire and so I wasn't bothered. However, when I called the call center, I was told that the document sent to me was more than just the questionnaire. The officer was asking me to address the assumptions that: my work experience was not believed as genuine, my marriage was also not believed as genuine (since I live in the US and my husband lives in the UK. This is not a sponsorship application so I submitted only our court wedding certificate when the application was turned in.) and finally, they were not sure of my legal status in the US . Even after a new PFL was sent, I still could not access the information I was told by the call center agent. It was still the questionnaire request that I kept seeing. All this happened shortly before the lockdown. I was shattered, exhausted, and did not want to go forward. With support from my husband and family, I took a few days off, cleared my head, and then responded to the PFL. We never waited to receive the full details of the PFL (and we never did receive it), we decided to work with what we were told by the call center agent.
For my work experience as a graduate and teaching assistant, I resubmitted all the letters I had previously turned in: letters from my supervisors (teaching) and research supervisor, a letter from the payroll department, all my pay stubs for 2 years. In addition, I submitted my evaluation report (usually given at the end of the semester by the students) and a copy of the manual I use for teaching. I also wrote a letter in support of this claim.
For our marriage, we resubmitted our court wedding certificates. We also submitted pictures from our dating days, court wedding in the US, traditional and white wedding in our home country, our WhatsApp messages from our dating days, Skype conversations, and emails. We also submitted letters: from my father, the bride's maid (who is my closest friend), my husband's groom's man, my colleague at work who I introduced to my husband, and my landlady who I also introduced to my husband when he first visited. These letters were attesting to the genuineness of our relationship and our journey so far as a couple. My husband and I both submitted individual letters detailing our journey from when we first met to the present day. We also submitted social media posts my husband creates yearly on our wedding anniversary and plant tickets detailing the travels we make back and forth between the UK and the US. Finally, we included documents for our joint property and joint bank account.
For my status in the US, we submitted my visa and other immigration documents (I-94 included). We also submitted plane tickets for the journeys I have made in and out of the US.
These documents were too large for the placeholder created for us in our application., we decided to upload the most important documents for the 3 issues we were trying to address and then we emailed CPC OTTAWA the rest of the documents. We also submitted all the documents by raising several web forms.
We never expected to hear back from IRCC very soon since the world was going into lockdown, however, 1 week later, we were told to resubmit the response about my immigration status in the US since they could not open the file. We did this immediately and then in the evening, we saw that our account was updated from 'document under review' to 'not applicable'.
At this point, the lockdown officially began and we took our minds off since we couldn't even get through to the call center. Surprisingly, 2 weeks later, we received an update. We called and were made to know that the eligibility was passed and the security just started. One week after, we received another update. This time the customer service agent told us we cleared all stages but a final decision was not yet made. We were thrilled, grateful, and happy,
I had to renew my passport since it was exactly 6 months valid. Once I got my passport renewed 3 months later, I updated IRCC with a copy. Now the wait was just beginning. We made it a point of duty to call at least once a week. The update was always the same 'all stages are passed, we are just waiting for a final decision''. We were told on another occasion that since my husband resides in the UK which is currently under travel restriction, our application cannot be finalized. By this time, my husband was already done with his Ph.D. program and so we applied for a dependant visa to the US. It was successfully renewed (all thanks to God). He arrived in the US two weeks ago. We updated his address with IRCC and just yesterday, we were told to submit our passport so we could receive our Confirmation of Permanent Residence.
A journey of 21 months finally came to an end in joy. I praise God.
I also thank this wonderful community for all the tips, ideas, and indirect mental support.
I WISH EVERYONE SUCCESS IN THIS JOURNEY!!!
