Processing time changed

[2calgary]

yeah but for the pakistani applicants the applications are being processed in london and now if we select pakistan it shows 28 months and if UK it shows 14 month. now what should we go for? pakistan or UK?

Check webiste frequently , i heared from someone that Family class applications from Pakistan will be back to CHC-ISB.......not confirmed but heared

 

[mikeymyke]

I did not think about the aspect that the relations between Canada and certain countries and their response time to requests by CIC. I suppose that could have some impact on the processing time. But, we still see examples of very fast processing times like Mike (5.5 months, Vietnamese PA) and wonder if that holds any merit when the bulk of Vietnamese applicants wait extended periods of time even without interviews. There would have to be another reasoning behind this as I don't think the Vietnamese Government picks and chooses which files to respond to faster or not. The physical size of a particular application would also, obviously, cause some difference in time, however, it's not rocket science to look at proof of relationship and ascertain that a relationship appears to be genuine. I would imagine that step could realistically be completed within an hour if there is no suspicions of fraudulent documentation etc.

Even 2 years before I applied for my wife, the fastest applications from Vietnam would take about 6 months according to what forum users were posting. These were very strong applications, even stronger than mine, such as a couple being married for 5+ years, having a kid already, etc. I wouldn't say my relationship profile was near the very top in terms of strength, but my wife and I spent a great deal of time preparing the application, sent in 400+ pics, thousands of pages of chats, photocopies of all envelopes addressed to each other with letters and gifts, photos of each of us spending time with my parents as well as her parents, receipts of honeymoon and the trips we had, etc. I think this helped us greatly to speed up the processing time, as my wife has no security, criminal, or medical issues. She's never attempted to enter Canada via a study permit/visitor visa, etc. Never overstayed in other countries. I brought my entire family from Canada to attend the wedding in Vietnam. Honestly, I have to say it was extremely stressful putting together that PR application. I don't know how the Singapore VO picks and chooses files, but I truly believe that a strong PR application that's straightforward helps them to make their decision a lot quicker to approve the visa.

Another thing to note was when my wife and I started a relationship, that was when I started to look at the sponsorship process. The reason I did this was I'm at a point in my life where I really hoped to find a lifetime partner, and I didn't want to date someone that I didn't see having some sort of future with, and I knew if my relationship with my wife was successful that I would like to marry her. Although I wasn't knowledgable about sponsorship at the time we were dating, I knew that it wasn't as simple as just signing a few forms. After reading about what red flags Singapore VO was looking for, what relationship proofs are needed, etc, I came in extremely prepared when it was time to apply for sponsorship. Even before then, I made sure I did everything that was "expected", such as having a traditional wedding, taking pics with both sets of parents, not rushing to marriage, etc.

I do notice that quite a lot of people don't know what to expect for sponsorship after marriage, and they only begin to realize the "red flags" become a problem after the fact, and can't really change it, because you can't go back to change the past. Like for example, maybe if a couple realized early on that a short courtship before marriage was a red flag, that they'd maybe would date for a while longer before marriage to strengthen their application.

 

[ImABule]

Even 2 years before I applied for my wife, the fastest applications from Vietnam would take about 6 months according to what forum users were posting. These were very strong applications, even stronger than mine, such as a couple being married for 5+ years, having a kid already, etc. I wouldn't say my relationship profile was near the very top in terms of strength, but my wife and I spent a great deal of time preparing the application, sent in 400+ pics, thousands of pages of chats, photocopies of all envelopes addressed to each other with letters and gifts, photos of each of us spending time with my parents as well as her parents, receipts of honeymoon and the trips we had, etc. I think this helped us greatly to speed up the processing time, as my wife has no security, criminal, or medical issues. She's never attempted to enter Canada via a study permit/visitor visa, etc. Never overstayed in other countries. I brought my entire family from Canada to attend the wedding in Vietnam. Honestly, I have to say it was extremely stressful putting together that PR application. I don't know how the Singapore VO picks and chooses files, but I truly believe that a strong PR application that's straightforward helps them to make their decision a lot quicker to approve the visa.

Another thing to note was when my wife and I started a relationship, that was when I started to look at the sponsorship process. The reason I did this was I'm at a point in my life where I really hoped to find a lifetime partner, and I didn't want to date someone that I didn't see having some sort of future with, and I knew if my relationship with my wife was successful that I would like to marry her. Although I wasn't knowledgable about sponsorship at the time we were dating, I knew that it wasn't as simple as just signing a few forms. After reading about what red flags Singapore VO was looking for, what relationship proofs are needed, etc, I came in extremely prepared when it was time to apply for sponsorship. Even before then, I made sure I did everything that was "expected", such as having a traditional wedding, taking pics with both sets of parents, not rushing to marriage, etc.

I do notice that quite a lot of people don't know what to expect for sponsorship after marriage, and they only begin to realize the "red flags" become a problem after the fact, and can't really change it, because you can't go back to change the past. Like for example, maybe if a couple realized early on that a short courtship before marriage was a red flag, that they'd maybe would date for a while longer before marriage to strengthen their application.

We knew our red flags and we attacked them head on to explain and hopefully relieve concerns of the VO. We included pretty much the same proofs along with others such as my online cra account showing her as my wife, joint credit card statement, and a bunch of letters of support. Our entire application was 11lbs. and we sent more to SVO after I came back from vacationing in Bali with my wife.

 

[nmclean]

true, us citizens get through quickly. ottawa also processes applications from other countries, so it is assumed that is what accounts for the substantial difference. also, it doesn't separate the time for those who require interviews and those who dont. those us citizens who are required to interview do take closer to 12-15 months.

But supposedly, the new processing time information is sorted by country of residence, not visa office, so the fact that the Ottawa office processes other countries should NOT be a factor. This is telling us that 80% of US applicants are processed in 15 months or less, meaning 20% take at least that long. Are more than 20% of US citizens being called to interview? I doubt it, based on the information gathered here.

 

[Decoy24601]

But supposedly, the new processing time information is sorted by country of residence, not visa office, so the fact that the Ottawa office processes other countries should NOT be a factor. This is telling us that 80% of US applicants are processed in 15 months or less, meaning 20% take at least that long. Are more than 20% of US citizens being called to interview? I doubt it, based on the information gathered here.

I agree that the processing times are inaccurate, but there are many more applications processed that aren't on this forum or spreadsheets. There very well might be a lot more American applications who were somewhat clueless as to what proof to provide with the application and ended up being requested additional documents or called in for an interview. I know of someone who is American with no criminality issues who ended up being called in for an interview because they didn't properly fill out the application or send enough proof. If I hadn't joined this forum, I might have been one of them.

 

[setec-astronomy]

I agree that the processing times are inaccurate, but there are many more applications processed that aren't on this forum or spreadsheets. There very well might be a lot more American applications who were somewhat clueless as to what proof to provide with the application and ended up being requested additional documents or called in for an interview. I know of someone who is American with no criminality issues who ended up being called in for an interview because they didn't properly fill out the application or send enough proof. If I hadn't joined this forum, I might have been one of them.

For what it's worth, in sponsoring my American spouse, I included a lot of proof of financial interdependence, etc., but very little in the form of the kind of relationship proof that people here worry about the most. I included no pictures of us together. I did include proof that we had travelled together internationally in the form of old stamped passports, but no chat logs or E-Mails or IM logs, etc. It's worth remembering that "enough proof" is really, really subjective, and that while it's better to be safe than sorry, American applicants probably don't, realistically, need to worry as much about being perceived as being in a marriage of convenience, which is the default presumption to be overcome for spouses being sponsored in much of the rest of the world.

 

[Decoy24601]

For what it's worth, in sponsoring my American spouse, I included a lot of proof of financial interdependence, etc., but very little in the form of the kind of relationship proof that people here worry about the most. I included no pictures of us together. I did include proof that we had travelled together internationally in the form of old stamped passports, but no chat logs or E-Mails or IM logs, etc. It's worth remembering that "enough proof" is really, really subjective, and that while it's better to be safe than sorry, American applicants probably don't, realistically, need to worry as much about being perceived as being in a marriage of convenience, which is the default presumption to be overcome for spouses being sponsored in much of the rest of the world.

Yeah, I agree that the burden of proof for Americans is usually really low. I just meant that there's a possibility that more applicants from the US could have had issues than we are aware of on this forum. It seems like lately with how fast Ottawa is processing American applications that they're not scrutinizing them too much.

Edit: Also, congratulations on your super quick application. I'm jealous .

 

[skwan]

Just checked processing time for ours.....changed by a HUGE margin, what's up?????

It went from 22 months, to 17 months and now 26 months???
When we first applied (December 2015) it showed 22 months but two-three months ago it changed to 17 months.
I was curious when I saw this thread and now it shows 26 months!?!??!?!

What is up?

 

[Decoy24601]

Just checked processing time for ours.....changed by a HUGE margin, what's up?????

It went from 22 months, to 17 months and now 26 months???
When we first applied (December 2015) it showed 22 months but two-three months ago it changed to 17 months.
I was curious when I saw this thread and now it shows 26 months!?!??!?!

What is up?

Nothing. They only changed the way processing times are displayed. They haven't changed any actual processing times. The times shown on the website have always been very inaccurate.

 

[skwan]

Oh.....on average, we applied December 3, 2015. My wife is a Ugandan, what is the average time?
This is if everything goes well where we have given all documents and very detailed with all that we submit.

 

[nmclean]

I agree that the processing times are inaccurate, but there are many more applications processed that aren't on this forum or spreadsheets. There very well might be a lot more American applications who were somewhat clueless as to what proof to provide with the application and ended up being requested additional documents or called in for an interview. I know of someone who is American with no criminality issues who ended up being called in for an interview because they didn't properly fill out the application or send enough proof. If I hadn't joined this forum, I might have been one of them.

A large random portion should have roughly the same stats as overall. You could say the group that visits this forum isn't random enough, and I might agree with you if this site was more obscure... but this is literally the second or third Google result for Canadian immigration searches. There's no shortage of people from other countries reporting problems here, so I don't expect Americans would be any different (in fact, native English speakers are more likely to join here).

 

[ImABule]

A large random portion should have roughly the same stats as overall. You could say the group that visits this forum isn't random enough, and I might agree with you if this site was more obscure... but this is literally the second or third Google result for Canadian immigration searches. There's no shortage of people from other countries reporting problems here, so I don't expect Americans would be any different (in fact, native English speakers are more likely to join here).

Agreed.

Also, having the processing times listed by country as opposed to by VO or an overall timeline is the most accurate the processing times have been displayed in a very long time.

For example, Singapore VO was listen as 29 months. Then went to overall timeline of 17 months, and now it shows by country. My wife's country, Indonesia, as well as Laos, Timor Leste, Malaysia and Brunei all still read as 17 months while Thailand(29), Vietnam(24), Cambodia(26), and Bangladesh(24) have all been extended to longer wait times. Singapore itself was reduced to 13 months and I now understand that the four countries with extremely long processing times were what was influencing the 29 month wait time when it was VO specific.