Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

[MissDominica]

Thanks MissDominica

You are from a country that needs a visa. Do you think they treat those countries differently and make it a longer period of processing? Some people seem to be getting it done in 9 months total.

The first part of the processing time does not depend at all upon where you are from, it's supposedly 70 days (right now) for everyone who sends in an application. The second part of your processing depends totally on how fast the visa office for your country is. I would not say that they purposely process visas slower in offices for countries that require a visa to visit. It really depends on how many staff your VO has, how many countries each VO handles, etc. My VO handles MANY countries within the caribbean and does not seem to be well-staffed, so I know that I have to wait long for this reason. I think it TENDS to be that countries that need visas to visit have longer wait times but not because they are discriminating but simply because there is more work involved. For eg. if you country cannot readily visit Canada without a visa, that office may not be as familiar with the processes of dealing with Canadian immigration from your particular country, etc. If your country does not need a visa, it would indicate that the country has fairly good ties/communication with Canada and, therefore, the visa office is familiar with the practices of "getting things done faster" with that country. So I think the faster offices are due to staff, number of countries they process, and their ties/communication to Canada. The slower offices tend to have less staff, more countries to process, and maybe don't send as many people to Canada on a regular basis (due to the fact that there are strict visitor regulations, etc). I would like to think they don't slow us down for our PR because we need a visa to visit - but I"m still thinking "positively" about the process

 

[Nigea]

Thanks

My fiancee is from St. Vincent, and, as you have heard they now need as visa. He came to Canada before they imposed that regulation and will be applying for an extension. POS should therefore know the regulations for Canada and St. Vincent well.

 

[Zouk Princesse]

Thanks MissDominica

You are from a country that needs a visa. Do you think they treat those countries differently and make it a longer period of processing? Some people seem to be getting it done in 9 months total.

I'd say yes and no. They likely won't single out your file for delayed processing or anything like that, however, visa exempt countries retain that status because Canada deems their citizens as low threat. CIC performs background checks on all PR applicants and it is known that there are varying levels of depth in these background checks. It makes sense that background/security checks for citizens of visa exempt countries would in most cases be more superficial than for those of non-visa exempt countries, and the more in depth the background checks, the more time they take. So short answer - yes, it could take a bit longer altogether, but only because of a longer security check.

Having said that, the time difference is not huge. Ours took 8 months total (from application to PPR), 6 months at POS. The reason we're delayed at this last stage is because my husband's medical certificate expired and the extension pushed everything back. The most important thing you can do to minimize your processing time is to ensure that your application is clear and complete to avoid any delays due to the VO having to request additional docs. Then...it's all up to them.

 

[Zouk Princesse]

Hello,

so hubby landed, and everything was fine at Toronto airport, basically took 25min to get everything done. We got sin # and health card done yesterday, so now he can go and look for a job.

As he says: " the feeling to be here, permanently, not having to leave before 6 months, is incredible". He cant believe he has the same right as me (except voting) now

If anybody is doubting to apply outland vs inland, I guess it is a personal choice. You all know the other person personally (the one who has to wait), so your decision should come easy. My marriage and my black man sanity would have been put to test very hard if we had apply inland. Having
At some point we were regretting to have apply outland but not anymore. For us, having him sit in the house waiting almost a year for the work permit was too much.
We had a small courtship (as written in the caips/gms note) but everything we wrote in our application was supported by pictures, receipts, phone bills. When we received beginning of august the request for the photocopy of his passport, I knew we were good and the end was close. When they requested that, we were inside of 6 months receiving our file by CIC. He landed inside of 7 months processing.

* Hubby from Barbados (if you want to update the spreadsheet)

Have a good weekend,

Hey Natley, CONGRATS!!! I take it you guys got things sorted out since you mentioned he wasn't ready to leave right away. Thanks for sharing your landing story, really happy to hear things went so smoothly! Might I ask around what time he landed in Tdot? My husband will have to arrive via Toronto and then transfer to his next flight, and I just want to make sure he has enough time to clear immigration. I've been traveling on Nexus for years, so I truly have no concept of immigration line up times anymore lol. Most flights we've seen have allowed about 2 hrs in transit and are late evening, 9-10ish. I'm hoping that's not a super busy time!

 

[Zouk Princesse]

One step closer! Ecas was updated to "Decision Made" today

Let's hope that passport is on its way back this week

 

[smokijoe]

Congratulations Natley & Zouk.

 

[MissDominica]

One step closer! Ecas was updated to "Decision Made" today

Let's hope that passport is on its way back this week

WAHOO!!!!

 

[cdguyana]

Goodmorning everyone!

As I mentioned before my husband has an interview at the Embassy on Oct 4th. I will be flying down to be with him. Do you think for any reason they will interview me separate if they know I am there with him? Just curious as then I can be better prepared. Wondering if anyone has experienced that before. I think the fact that I am there supporting him will show a lot to the IO interviewing.
Also, curious as to the turnaround time with the request for the PP? I would assume a month or two?
We are trying to anticipate if we will be together for the Christmas holidays but it's just so hard t know.

Have a blessed week all and keep the faith.
CD

 

[MissDominica]

HOW has it ONLY been ONE month and ONE week since we sent our application off?! :'(

How am I gonna survive this process. I've been "keeping busy" and not thinking about the application everyday as much as I can, but when I finally DO think about it and check the time I've been waiting, I'm like "That's it!??!?!"

I'm not gonna make it nuh.

 

[Zouk Princesse]

Thanks all for the support

@cdguyana
I have read on some other threads that the spouse was either called into the interview or interviewed separately. It is not the norm, but is a possibility, so I'd suggest going prepared to be called just in case. If you are called, the key thing is that your answers are consistent, so make sure you both know your application inside n out.

@Miss Dca
You just have to really not think about it for a few months, otherwise you will lose your mind. Do you guys have any trips planned that you can focus on?

 

[NatLey]

Hey Natley, CONGRATS!!! I take it you guys got things sorted out since you mentioned he wasn't ready to leave right away. Thanks for sharing your landing story, really happy to hear things went so smoothly! Might I ask around what time he landed in Tdot? My husband will have to arrive via Toronto and then transfer to his next flight, and I just want to make sure he has enough time to clear immigration. I've been traveling on Nexus for years, so I truly have no concept of immigration line up times anymore lol. Most flights we've seen have allowed about 2 hrs in transit and are late evening, 9-10ish. I'm hoping that's not a super busy time!

I book the cheapest flight that day and it was the one leaving for Montreal at 11h45pm and getting in at 1am. I think he landed around 8h30-9pm in Toronto. I was scared too that the earlier flight was to short for the immigration process but its turn out that he could have jumped on the earlier flight if he hadnt give already his luggages. The new rules for security is you cannot bump on any other flight if your luggage wont be following you. So he should have ask at the correspondance counter to check if he could get on that flight but he only did it after the secuirty was pass.

 

[Admirable]

@cdguyana At my interview, hubby was there and he was not called in to be interviewed as well. I made it clear to my VO that he was here. MY VO asked me if I had any proof of where my husband worked since he is a gov't employee....a colleague of his. My response was no but my hubby is here. I did not have my husband's pay stubs, job letter etc. (It wasn't a necessity for the interview). His response was oh really. He was impressed and that was it. Next question.
Remember the aim of the interview is your VO getting to know you and attesting that your relationship/marriage is real. That's it!!!!!!

@MissDOminica Don't count the days.....You'll stress yourself out & it's just the beginning. Always remember one day waiting is another day closer to the end.

@Zouk Princesse My fingers are crossed.....****WOOOOHOOOOOOO****

Wishing everyone a blessed week.

 

[Zouk Princesse]

I book the cheapest flight that day and it was the one leaving for Montreal at 11h45pm and getting in at 1am. I think he landed around 8h30-9pm in Toronto. I was scared too that the earlier flight was to short for the immigration process but its turn out that he could have jumped on the earlier flight if he hadnt give already his luggages. The new rules for security is you cannot bump on any other flight if your luggage wont be following you. So he should have ask at the correspondance counter to check if he could get on that flight but he only did it after the secuirty was pass.

Ok, great. Thanks!

 

[MissDominica]

@ Miss Dca
You just have to really not think about it for a few months, otherwise you will lose your mind. Do you guys have any trips planned that you can focus on?

I'm actually back in DA visiting him right now (I only made it just over a month of being away before I came for a short visit - I'm a lost cause) But I know I have to go back soon for school. He is at school during the days so I only get to see him in the afternoons/evenings, so the entire day I'm thinking "I have to leave him soon. I want to be one of the early ones to hear about sponsor approval, etc" lol.

I am sooooo thankful that I am able to visit him and see him even in the evenings, but the fact that I have to leave in a couple days makes me wish the process would go even faster so that I could be with him always. And those days when I'm home all day while he's at school... CIC won't stay out of my head! lol.

I'm trying to think about other things though as you and Admirable suggest.. maybe I"ll go read a book.

PS: super excited about your "decision made" update. You must be over the moon!

 

[Zouk Princesse]

I'm actually back in DA visiting him right now (I only made it just over a month of being away before I came for a short visit - I'm a lost cause) But I know I have to go back soon for school. He is at school during the days so I only get to see him in the afternoons/evenings, so the entire day I'm thinking "I have to leave him soon. I want to be one of the early ones to hear about sponsor approval, etc" lol.

I am sooooo thankful that I am able to visit him and see him even in the evenings, but the fact that I have to leave in a couple days makes me wish the process would go even faster so that I could be with him always. And those days when I'm home all day while he's at school... CIC won't stay out of my head! lol.

I'm trying to think about other things though as you and Admirable suggest.. maybe I"ll go read a book.

PS: super excited about your "decision made" update. You must be over the moon!

Haha thanks. Now we're stalking the DHL site to see when they return it.

It's great that you get to spend some time together, helps to break up the waiting time. Just focus ahead, and take it one day at a time. Look forward to things you know you'll definitely be together for, like planned trips or future events. Forget about the immigration stuff for now