Our Singapore timeline Vietnamese wife

[dangerJones]

Yesterday afternoon, we finally got the call we were waiting for! Ms. Uyen at the IOM office in Ho Chi Minh City called my wife to confirm that her immigration application has been approved, and asking her to submit her passport. Because our medical results are set to expire on April 14th, she asked us to send the following items to their office by Friday morning for what my wife described as an "urgent" PPR:

1) 4 photos;
2) Passport;
3) Original medical report or receipt of payment for medical results (to show the date issued and prove urgency);
4) My address in Canada;
5) 35 USD fee.

My wife, who follows the Vietnamese-language forums for immigration to Canada, says this seems to be fairly common when medical results are set to expire. We've gathered up all the items and she's sending them off to the Fedex office right away. Her brother will submit them at the office tomorrow and check to make sure that everything's there. If all goes well, we should be set to leave on April 6th. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone here with such short notice, but after a long consultation with the whole family, we agreed that we have to seize the chance that's been given to us. In the next two weeks, we'll be scrambling to tie up as many loose ends as possible in the race towards the finish. Looks like I'll have to add one more person to my return ticket to Canada

 

[Oct0711]

Congratulations! I am so happy for you that everything works out the way you expected it. I am sure your wife has been mentally prepared for this moment, but to do it in such a short period of time will not be easy. It must be an emotional time for everyone involved. Thank you for giving us the list of items required with the PPR, just in case we get a similar last minute decision from VO. By the way, I find it interesting that Singapore VO utilizes the service of IOM instead of the Canadian Consulate in communicating their decision. Is it the normal procedure?

 

[dangerJones]

Congratulations! I am so happy for you that everything works out the way you expected it. I am sure your wife has been mentally prepared for this moment, but to do it in such a short period of time will not be easy. It must be an emotional time for everyone involved. Thank you for giving us the list of items required with the PPR, just in case we get a similar last minute decision from VO. By the way, I find it interesting that Singapore VO utilizes the service of IOM instead of the Canadian Consulate in communicating their decision. Is it the normal procedure?

Thanks Yes, emotions are running high here but we're doing our best to stay focused. Like I said, my wife told me that most people who are in a situation like ours seem to go through the same process. She also said that most of the people posting on the Vietnamese boards talk about having spoken to Ms. Uyen. She told me a while ago about the IOM, too. We've been by their HCMC office before; it's not too far from the Consulate, between the Post Office and Reunification Palace. Anyway, If you look at their website, (http://www.iom.int.vn/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=226) they say that "on behalf of the Consulate General of Canada, application centre staff handle general visa application enquiries, review visa applications and supporting documentation for completeness, receive visa application, supporting documentation and visa processing fees, distribute visa application-related forms, provide data-entry duties and return visa application related mail. Both centres provide forms and information sheets, and other important information related to applying for Canadian temporary residency." So it's pretty legit. I guess it's a way for Singapore and the Consulate to avoid handling all the follow-ups directly. I can't help but wonder if the extra layers of communication between the two organizations add a lot of overhead to the Singapore processing timeline...

So to give you a bit of a better idea of the process as it was described to us, Ms. Uyen said that as soon as we submit the materials to their office, (which just happened this afternoon) they'll forward it all over to Singapore, where they should go through it and prepare the visa. She said that since the medicals are set to expire soon, SG will treat ours as an urgent case, and have the visa ready before the expiry date. My wife explained that it should come back one week before the medicals expire, so that's why I said the 6th. Once that's done, Singapore sends our passport back to the IOM office--by express post or courier, I guess--and we get to fly. Speaking of flying, Ms. Uyen recommended that we should start looking for airline tickets now, but that we shouldn't buy tickets until we get the visa, just in case. I'm currently in touch with my travel agent, who should be able to help us figure it out.

Also, for the sake of sharing experience, I should mention what Ms. Uyen told us the first time she called: that if, for some reason, we were unable to leave the country before the medical results expired, we should let her know, upon which she would notify Singapore, who would then issue us a letter asking us to renew our medicals. We didn't get a lot of details about that, but I figure it's the same re-medical letter that many others have described here. She also said she couldn't guarantee when the letter would arrive. Knowing what that means, of course, we chose to seize the chance, so that we could be together earlier and not have to wait. It means we have to cancel a lot of the plans we made in Vietnam for this summer, but we're already starting to put things in order now and I think it should end up OK. So in short, it's really like the IOM is a go-between: they're giving us the chance to decide what we want to do before Singapore puts the gears of the machine in motion again. It's nice (thank God a thousand times!) to have the choice.

 

[Oct0711]

Hi dangerJones, thank you for your post. Given the fact that every minute of your time now is so precious, I truly appreciate your sharing of the experience. Regarding the role of IOM, I knew they offer assistance in immigration related issues, as my family used their service when we emigrated to Canada over 20 years ago. In fact, I still have the ID tag + their logo, that I wore when landed! What I didn't realize is that Singapore, via the Consulate, would use IOM service to conduct communication with applicants, which as you suggested, may add another layer of delay to processing time. In any case, as long as we get the message we need to hear, it doesn't matter who deliver it! Sorry to hear that you have to cancel your summer plans to travel in VN, but I am sure there are plenty of things you can do with your wife this summer once she is here. You'll get to celebrate Easter in Canada. Before I forget, I would love to have the link to the Vietnamese language forum that your wife has been consulting. I don't read vietnamese that well, but I am sure my wife would appreciate it. Thanks again.

 

[dangerJones]

Before I forget, I would love to have the link to the Vietnamese language forum that your wife has been consulting. I don't read vietnamese that well, but I am sure my wife would appreciate it. Thanks again.

No problem! Here's the link to the forum she's been reading. It's a sub-sub-forum of a more general website, but it's fairly well-frequented, and there's an archive of posts from the past few years.

http://www.webtretho.com/forum/f677/

 

[stevent]

Congrats to dangerJones!
My file was transferred to Singapore VO just one month after yours but I've heard nothing from them . No status change on eCAS either. I called my MP's office and his rep told me it was too early to request an inquiry to my case because he told me (which I already knew from the CIC website) that it would take 22 months for 80% of the applications to be processed by Singapore VO. He promised to help me anyway and will call me back next week. I'll wait and see.
Just to confirm, your wife did not have to go through an interview, correct? Also, your wife did not have to redo her police clearance certificate?
Thanks.

 

[stevent]

By the way, Ms. Uyen is pretty good. She gave us good instructions and advice. I talked to her on the phone when I called in for general information as my wife and I went to IOM for her med exam in HCMC last time. The IOM is located on Pasteur st., within walking distance from the Metropolitan building which houses the Canadian Consulate Office.
Cheers!

 

[dangerJones]

Congrats to dangerJones!

Thanks ;D

My file was transferred to Singapore VO just one month after yours but I've heard nothing from them . No status change on eCAS either. I called my MP's office and his rep told me it was too early to request an inquiry to my case because he told me (which I already knew from the CIC website) that it would take 22 months for 80% of the applications to be processed by Singapore VO. He promised to help me anyway and will call me back next week. I'll wait and see.
Just to confirm, your wife did not have to go through an interview, correct? Also, your wife did not have to redo her police clearance certificate?
Thanks.

That's right-- no interview, thank goodness. No re-done police certificate, either. Here's the timeline of everything that's happened for us. Interactions with CIC or IOM in bold.

April 14, 2011: Meds done.
June 7, 2011: Application received at CPC-M.
June 2011: 1st contact with local MP to seek help: CPC-M claimed they couldn't find part of our submission. (we sent two boxes, one with documents and the other with photos. never send two boxes, ever!) MP asked us to wait, and eventually CPC-M did figure things out.
July 25, 2011: AOR received from CPC-M.
August 1, 2011: Leave for Trip #5 to Vietnam.
August 8, 2011: Sponsorship approved at CPC-M; application sent to Singapore.
September 10, 2011: Return to Canada from Trip #5 to Vietnam.
October 2011: Nothing.
November 22, 2011: 2nd contact with local MP to seek help: Inquired about application status. Said they would get on it. No follow-up.
December 2011: Nothing.
January 2012: Nothing.
February 3, 2012: 3rd contact with local MP to seek help: Inquired again about application status. They followed up immediately this time and informed us that our application was in progress and was considered genuine. Also noticed my wife's address had disappeared from eCAS, for what it's worth.
February 5, 2012: "In Process" start date. eCAS not yet updated.
February 18, 2012: eCAS updated to "In Process" with medical results received.
February 22, 2012: Leave for Trip #6 to Vietnam.
March 20, 2012: Wife receives call from IOM in HCMC, informing her our application is approved and requesting passport and supporting items.
March 23, 2012: Passport and supporting items submitted to IOM HCMC.
April? 2012: Visa received!
April 6?, 2012: Landing in Canada!
April 14, 2012: Meds expire, lol.

Total time spent in the system: 10 months
Total time spent in Singapore: ~8 months
Time between transfer to Singapore and "In Process" eCAS update: 6 months, 10 days

Regarding your call to your MP's office, the best they can do at this point is check the notes on your file. That's what my MP did on Feb. 3rd, which is how I first found out that our file was in process and that our marriage was considered genuine. Funny how the "In Process" date was two days after that, too. If they don't call you back when they said, feel free to follow up again to remind them, as they often have a backlog of hundreds of immigration cases to look after.

 

[stevent]

Hi dangerJones,
Thank you very much for spending the time to reply with such a long message. Your timeline details surely give me an idea what to expect and where I am in the process. I really appreciate it.
All the best and have a safe trip home!

 

[dangerJones]

Hi dangerJones,
Thank you very much for spending the time to reply with such a long message. Your timeline details surely give me an idea what to expect and where I am in the process. I really appreciate it.
All the best and have a safe trip home!

Heh, no problem at all. Actually, I am still working remotely for my employer in Canada throughout this whole time, so I still end up having a fair bit of time in front of the computer. Also, it's my pleasure to record all of this stuff if it can help others understand and become more comfortable with the process. I know it really helped me to read what others had gone through.

Just another update: today my wife's eCAS status was updated to "Decision Made". No details upon clicking through, but her address has been updated to "Ottawa, Ontario, Canada" . I figure this means the visa and COPR have been given--hopefully we should get a call to pick it up by the beginning of next week. That's what you call flying by the seat of your pants!

 

[dangerJones]

We got a call from the IOM office today to tell us that my wife's visa will be ready for pickup in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow, and not a day too soon! We've been waiting for a reply before buying air tickets, and time is running out. At the IOM's suggestion, instead of the 6th, we've bought tickets to fly on the 9th, and are now awaiting the e-ticket confirmation via my wife's travel agent. If all goes well, we should arrive in Canada on the morning of the 10th, and get home to Ottawa in the afternoon. We'll have a nice 4-hour stopover in Toronto just in case we need it for landing. Now comes the mad dash to pack and tie up all the rest of those loose ends before we have to say goodbye to the family here in Vietnam.

 

[Hello121]

Congratulations Danger!

 

[jnathan]

Hello

why an Interview? oh no !

 

[dangerJones]

Congratulations Danger!

Thanks We went to meet Ms. Uyen today and picked up my wife's passport, complete with visa. We got confirmations for our tickets too, and we'll be flying late at night on the 9th to arrive in Canada on the 10th. Hooray!

 

[jnathan]

dangerJones,

Congrats ! Which Airlines do you ride from Vietnam towards Canada? Which city are you gonna land in?