spousal PR app stuck (outland). options?

[stevelo]

So, our app is still stuck... since the beginning of March when the officer demanded additional proof of my intent to return to Canada as a sponsor (we were staying in the US at the time), I've provided tons of evidence of going back to Canada, quit my job and did go back to Canada as I said (and getting my wife past the border was a stressful exercise in itself) and submitted proof of our trip. Still no response.

What should I do now? We have just placed an order for GCMS/CAIPS notes. Seoul office average process time is 9 months and we're past 11 months now..

We are also wondering if it is possible to submit a second app while we are waiting on the first app (which seems to be stuck, solely at the mercy of some officer's whim). I am guessing no but it doesn't hurt to ask; in any case if anyone knows of things we can do to speed up the process or address the situation where an officer just sits on your app, please respond!

The good thing is at least we made it back to Canada safely together and she got her visitor stamp.

 

[achkorea]

Hi STEVELO, I wouldn't send another application if I were you. We applied from Seoul and are now in Canada, we left after the 9 month processing time. Now, here comes the surprising part--E-cas changed about a week and a half ago to say that it had just started being processed on May 3rd. That's 11 months after they received it. Next, an email came and they requested he re-do his medical and criminal background check. Keep in mind this all happened 2 months after the process was supposed to have been completed. My guess is that they have received a HUGE number of applications suddenly and the average processing time has increased, many people will apply from the quickest visa office nearby it seems. I imagine the number of staff they have at their disposal is also relative to the number of applications they expect to receive. Keep in mind that the 9 month average processing time was for 2011. When we decided to leave Korea, the avg. processing time was something like 6 months, when we began the process it was 7 months. Now it's 9 months. Truthfully, I think it's probably around 11-12 months or more now.
My advice is to just be patient and stay positive. Every time they request something, it gets set back a while. Waiting is not fun and when we actually sent in our application, it was the beginning of April 2011. I don't believe anything is done on whim, it's simply done much longer than we'd all like.
All the best, good luck, and I hope we all have this process completed with positive results.

 

[waikiki]

@achkorea

hello, may I ask you if it was a problem for your spouse to enter Canada since the app is still in process? Did they ask you about it at the border? Did they see it in the computer? Or did you tell anything to the border officer? THanks, I´m asking because we will be going to Canada soon and I don´t know if the PR will be through by then.

 

[stevelo]

@achkorea,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It sucks to wait, and I am sorry to say that I am glad we are not the only ones waiting! In our case, the Seoul office received our app around the same time but ECAS still only displays "Received" and not "in-processing". We did receive a letter in early February stating our app was approved in principle but asking for additional information. The officer wasn't entirely satisfied with our information (we botched it thanks to our consultant's bad advice) and had to re-send info in March; since then we haven't seen/heard from them.

Did you guys receive any request for additional info, or other kinds of correspondence from Seoul office thus far?


@waikiki,

When we crossed, the officer didn't even bother looking at the computer. But be very careful that you have evidence that you are only visiting. In our case, I was moving back but my wife was visiting, has a ticket to go back to her home country, and the officer still grilled us a lot (also don't move your stuff on the same trip). It was hard but we got through. Others on this forum reported no problems (what I read were mostly ppl from US or European countries... left wondering if ethnicity/country of origin leads to certain biases)

 

[waikiki]

Thanks sstevelo, but if the officer didn´t check in the computer about your wife´s PR process, how did he know that you were moving? Did you tell him? And also, are they checking how many bags you have?

 

[achkorea]

@stevelo We had one request for an extra medical document, it was done and sent within 24 hrs and that was in Aug. 2011, I believe.
@waikiki There was no problem with my partner entering Canada, all that was needed was to show the documentation that we had received (application #, receipt etc.). My partner and I had to travel separately, and apparently the immigration officials were not all that friendly and asked many questions, but we're here together in Canada now and waiting somewhat patiently.

 

[waikiki]

I hope everything goes smooth for us as well. Good luck for you and your wife.

 

[waikiki]

one more question toboth of you: When did you inform your VO that your partners are with you in Canada? Before or after arriving in Canada? And did your mailing address change to a canadian one? And did your partners give up their residential address in Korea?

 

[stevelo]

We've updated the VO with our current Canadian address and new details throughout the process. We've had no response from the VO though so I can't tell you what is the right thing to do in this case. We did apply to get GCMS notes as soon as we got back to Canada which I would recommend you doing as well; if nothing else you will know at least what the VO is doing.

 

[achkorea]

I contacted the VO about a month before we left. They changed the address on e-cas and we have received confirmation that they know we are here.