Hi Guys,
This is to let you all know that I had my interview on the 7th of April and it went good
Myself and my spouse reached the embassy 15 mins before the interview time, completed security checks at the gate and were waiting in the reception area. I was surprised to see no one else there.
The interview officer (Canadian) arrived at the reception area and asked me if I had brought in any documents and to hand them over to him so that he can go through them before the interview. I had taken all the required docs in separate clear case files and labelled properly so it becomes easy for the officer to look for them.
After a few minutes he appeared again and I was asked to walk into the interview room (only myself). He greeted me. He asked me if my wife can speak English too. I don't remember all the questions being asked as the interview went quite fast and finished in less than 30 mins. The following were some of the questions that were asked.
Have you been to Canada?
Do you have relatives in Canada?
In which part of Canada?
What does the relative do?
What does the relatives spouse do ?
When did your relative come to Canada?
Do you know how they migrated?
Asked about my marriage. As I am married to a national from another country
Asked about how I met my spouse
How long have I been married?
Asked about my freelancing work and why I switched to freelancing from a full time job. I said it was because my company closed down.
Then he wanted to know the reason why my company closed down. Told him about the difficulties that the company was facing.
He asked me about my job, what I do. Software or hardware?. He said he is not a computer person and only knows how to operate a computer!.
Lastly he asked me why I wanted to migrate?. I told him Canada has good prospects for the type of job I do and a good forecast for IT jobs in the future.
All in all he was a very jovial, polite officer and spoke very clearly and casually most of the time, and occasionally making conversation about other topics in between. This made me feel at ease and I also responded to him in that manner. I didn't feel like I was in an immigration interview!.
Finally he typed something on his computer and told me that he will take the application further and that I will receive my MR by next week. Other standard background and security checks would be performed as well. All in all the process generally takes about 6 months but could be sooner, so to make my plans accordingly. I asked him If would be able to go before Winter and he said yes you might be able to. He also mentioned he personally didn't like winters and specially moving during winter.
He returned all my documents that I had given him before the interview and showed me two docs that he said he will keep. (Financial proof document and updated schedule A form) Although my spouse accompanied me as requested in the interview letter, she wasn't called in.
After two days of the interview I received MR email. Haven't received RPRF fee request and ECAS still shows only first line.
I hope this helps anyone who gets interview call as I know how the feeling could be. I felt this was just a routine interview call and fortunate or unfortunate I was picked up for it
. All the best!
Special thanks to Pipis Husband, SDS and others who helped with positive words and guidance.