Spousal sponsorship

[cempjwi]

No Staples?

I read from the other thread not to use staples?

So everything will be loose?

How do I attach pictures? Tape them?

Thanks

We used clips to keep the forms together, passport photos in a small envelope, and pictures with descriptions written on sticky notes stuck on the back of the photos were put in small envelope as well... you have to be 'artistic' not to mess up those requirements.

 

[RIUGirl]

Hola,

I am not sure if anyone has been through this same situation but, if you can provide any happy thoughts or suggestions on how to get our file "in process," that would be great! (I hope I am posting in the correct area! Sorry if I am not)

Our file was received in Ottawa on March 14, 2012. Right after this, I sent a letter to CIC cancelling our lawyer on our file. I sent the mailing address that we wanted our documents to go to. Three months later, CIC sent a document to our lawyer (who we thought we cancelled) requesting my husband's medical. We went to Guadalajara on July 6, 2012 and sent the medical back to Ottawa. At this time, we thought we were on the "right track" and just kept waiting for further instructions. I moved to Mazatlan to be with my husband while we wait for this process to complete.

4.5 months went by, and I felt that something was not right. Every time we checked his CAS online it said "application recieved" and they still had the lawyer as the contact person. After talking to some friends who also sponsored their spouse from Mexico, I immediately felt that we had missed a step. I did not know if I was even approved to be his sponsor and 8 months had gone by. After 3 days of e-mailing, crying and calling, I finally spoke to the director of CPC-Ottawa Pilot. First, she said we were missing his medical, then, she found it. All of a sudden, I could hear shock and surprise in her voice....I think she knew that the document should have been sent over 4 months ago. Within 2 days of my call, we finally received an e-mail approving me to be his sponsor and to say that our file is being sent to Mexico City.

At this point, we feel so dissapointed and upset that we encountered this 4 month set back. Did they forget to send it? Or, is this really the process?? It took 8 months for me to learn that I am approved to be his sponsor. Is this normal??? Currently, we are waiting to receive a letter from Mexico asking for his federal record checks. I check everyday and hope that our file is now "in process" but it still says "application received."

Truthfully, how many more months are we looking at now to complete this process? 4, 5, 6? Please, I feel devastated and so angry that we are now behind in our already long process. Maybe this is normal? But, I think not. I know 3 couples who went through Mex City and it took 8 to 10 months for them to be in Canada. My husband and I are entering into 9 months and are waiting for the second stage to start.

Please, share your thoughts and advice....I am really having a hard time accepting this delay right now and would appreciate someone to tell us how long this second stage takes.

Thanks for taking the time to read our story!

 

[frege]

Hola,

I am not sure if anyone has been through this same situation but, if you can provide any happy thoughts or suggestions on how to get our file "in process," that would be great! (I hope I am posting in the correct area! Sorry if I am not)

Our file was received in Ottawa on March 14, 2012. Right after this, I sent a letter to CIC cancelling our lawyer on our file. I sent the mailing address that we wanted our documents to go to. Three months later, CIC sent a document to our lawyer (who we thought we cancelled) requesting my husband's medical. We went to Guadalajara on July 6, 2012 and sent the medical back to Ottawa. At this time, we thought we were on the "right track" and just kept waiting for further instructions. I moved to Mazatlan to be with my husband while we wait for this process to complete.

4.5 months went by, and I felt that something was not right. Every time we checked his CAS online it said "application recieved" and they still had the lawyer as the contact person. After talking to some friends who also sponsored their spouse from Mexico, I immediately felt that we had missed a step. I did not know if I was even approved to be his sponsor and 8 months had gone by. After 3 days of e-mailing, crying and calling, I finally spoke to the director of CPC-Ottawa Pilot. First, she said we were missing his medical, then, she found it. All of a sudden, I could hear shock and surprise in her voice....I think she knew that the document should have been sent over 4 months ago. Within 2 days of my call, we finally received an e-mail approving me to be his sponsor and to say that our file is being sent to Mexico City.

At this point, we feel so dissapointed and upset that we encountered this 4 month set back. Did they forget to send it? Or, is this really the process?? It took 8 months for me to learn that I am approved to be his sponsor. Is this normal??? Currently, we are waiting to receive a letter from Mexico asking for his federal record checks. I check everyday and hope that our file is now "in process" but it still says "application received."

Truthfully, how many more months are we looking at now to complete this process? 4, 5, 6? Please, I feel devastated and so angry that we are now behind in our already long process. Maybe this is normal? But, I think not. I know 3 couples who went through Mex City and it took 8 to 10 months for them to be in Canada. My husband and I are entering into 9 months and are waiting for the second stage to start.

Please, share your thoughts and advice....I am really having a hard time accepting this delay right now and would appreciate someone to tell us how long this second stage takes.

Thanks for taking the time to read our story!

Hi RIUGirl,

What a shocking story!

Don't read too much into the fact that your e-CAS still says "application received." There are a lot of people on the forum who have had that right up until they get a CoPR in the mail. E-Cas isn't updated systematically.

I think the only way your process will be accelerated is if the people at CPC Ottawa have informed the Mexico City office that there was a delay that was CIC's fault. I hope the program manager did this.

Here are a couple of suggestions: First, calling the CIC call centre. If you explain your case, maybe they will find out if this information has been passed on to Mexico City, and do something about it if it hasn't. (There are some people on the forum who have figured out how to call from outside Canada using some trick to make it seem to the system that they're calling from inside Canada. Unfortunately, I don't have any more details on this.) Second, getting your GCMS notes. It takes a month, but you'll see what information has been entered into the system. They may even indicate that Mexico City is already working on your file.

One question: Did the letter say to send the medical to Ottawa or to Mexico City?

 

[freshman]

We used clips to keep the forms together, passport photos in a small envelope, and pictures with descriptions written on sticky notes stuck on the back of the photos were put in small envelope as well... you have to be 'artistic' not to mess up those requirements.

cempjwi thank you for your reply!

 

[freshman]

Paperclips, tape, glue - whatever works.

The easiest solution for pictures is to print them, use a three-hole punch on them, and then add them in with the rest of your papers into a three-ring binder. The binder eliminates the need for staples, paper clips, and anything else that may annoy CIC, and will also make it very easy for the case officer to flip through your documents without losing anything.

tuyen it's a very good idea. thank you!

 

[freshman]

For an inland application, you are allowed to be in Canada without status. As long as you have applied for a status document (visitor, student or work) and you have no other issues preventing it, they will issue you a status document and then you are in status in Canada. So you should include the application for status with the PR application.

After AIP (first stage approval) you would qualify for a study permit. Note that you will be asked to pay non-resident tuition rates. Once you are a PR you can qualify for the resident tuition rates.

Health Care is provincially managed, so the answer depends upon the province. Based upon what others have said, Ontario offers coverage after AIP has been received. Other provinces will vary in this regard. For example, most other provinces will extend health benefits to you as long as you are living with your spouse. The rules for common-law partners does vary, however (Alberta only extends coverage after five years of cohabitation, not one). This is related to the way they extend coverage to "dependents". So in many provinces if the Canadian Citizen/PR is eligible for provincial care, so are her or his dependents. BC, AB, SK, NS and PEI all use the same basic language here and say "dependents living with an eligible resident are eligible for coverage". What seems to vary most by province for eligibility is how you prove you are "living" with your spouse, which is why AIP is important in Ontario, for example. In addition, it sometimes requires persistence because you might be told "no" by one person but "yes" by someone else. So you need to be aware of the rules for the province and be able to explain why you believe you are eligible - and challenge them to explain why not if refused.

computergeek - thank you for answering my question in details. I just wanna double check this. From what you wrote, it sounds like I don't need to fill out an extra application (like study permit) in order to be granted permission to study when I got AIP. Correct? thanks

 

[Finxter]

is it necessary to make a relationship essay?

 

[frozenyogurt]

is it necessary to make a relationship essay?

Hi, I guess that's protocol. In my case, I made 3 pages essay of our 10-year relationship as bf/gf. Turned out fine.
Best of luck!

 

[tink23]

Hola,

I am not sure if anyone has been through this same situation but, if you can provide any happy thoughts or suggestions on how to get our file "in process," that would be great! (I hope I am posting in the correct area! Sorry if I am not)

Our file was received in Ottawa on March 14, 2012. Right after this, I sent a letter to CIC cancelling our lawyer on our file. I sent the mailing address that we wanted our documents to go to. Three months later, CIC sent a document to our lawyer (who we thought we cancelled) requesting my husband's medical. We went to Guadalajara on July 6, 2012 and sent the medical back to Ottawa. At this time, we thought we were on the "right track" and just kept waiting for further instructions. I moved to Mazatlan to be with my husband while we wait for this process to complete.

4.5 months went by, and I felt that something was not right. Every time we checked his CAS online it said "application recieved" and they still had the lawyer as the contact person. After talking to some friends who also sponsored their spouse from Mexico, I immediately felt that we had missed a step. I did not know if I was even approved to be his sponsor and 8 months had gone by. After 3 days of e-mailing, crying and calling, I finally spoke to the director of CPC-Ottawa Pilot. First, she said we were missing his medical, then, she found it. All of a sudden, I could hear shock and surprise in her voice....I think she knew that the document should have been sent over 4 months ago. Within 2 days of my call, we finally received an e-mail approving me to be his sponsor and to say that our file is being sent to Mexico City.

At this point, we feel so dissapointed and upset that we encountered this 4 month set back. Did they forget to send it? Or, is this really the process?? It took 8 months for me to learn that I am approved to be his sponsor. Is this normal??? Currently, we are waiting to receive a letter from Mexico asking for his federal record checks. I check everyday and hope that our file is now "in process" but it still says "application received."

Truthfully, how many more months are we looking at now to complete this process? 4, 5, 6? Please, I feel devastated and so angry that we are now behind in our already long process. Maybe this is normal? But, I think not. I know 3 couples who went through Mex City and it took 8 to 10 months for them to be in Canada. My husband and I are entering into 9 months and are waiting for the second stage to start.

Please, share your thoughts and advice....I am really having a hard time accepting this delay right now and would appreciate someone to tell us how long this second stage takes.

Thanks for taking the time to read our story!

RiuGirl,

That is not normal at all. If your husband doesn't have any failed refugee claims or needs an ARC to enter back into Canada, then it seems Mexico City is pretty quick, around 6 months before receiving PPR. If he does have a failed refugee or anything like that then it takes a bit longer, but 8 months to be approved to sponsor is just absolutely ridiculous! Have you tried posted in the Mexico City thread? There are lots of people who are going through and have gone through Mexico City that might be able to give you some more helpful suggestions for you to get a push on your file, since that 8 month wait was completely their fault and had nothing to do with you.

Is your lawyer still today listed as the Representative? That should also be taken care of because if he is listed as your Representative but you don't want him to be and are no longer paying him, he could still have access to your files and that's not good too just because who knows what he could do.

Good luck. What an unfortunate situation and I really hope CIC can help to rectify the situation they have put you and your husband in.

 

[davek1979]

is it necessary to make a relationship essay?

I did a 5 page essay of our relationship at the request of the lawyer. Then for some of the longer answers on the forms we were able to write please see essay.

 

[computergeek]

computergeek - thank you for answering my question in details. I just wanna double check this. From what you wrote, it sounds like I don't need to fill out an extra application (like study permit) in order to be granted permission to study when I got AIP. Correct? thanks

AIP does not grant you status in Canada. A study permit, work permit, or visitor record grant you status in Canada. You can wait until after AIP to apply for these things, but then you are subject to the additional queue delay for those applications. If you include your study/work/visitor application with your PR application the CIC officer will review it at the same time and assuming there are no issues, grant it. That means you can get your study permit, work permit or visitor record several months sooner.

 

[lizel]

Hi sainyo

Bago member lang ako dito lagi ako nag babasa ng mga post dito..
ask ko lang ilang months talaga ang waiting ng SPOUSAL VISA na andito sa pinas?
kakapadala ko palang kasi sa hubby ko ng requirements namin and kaka change status palang niya ipapasa palang niya..
yung iba namin friends 3-4 months nakuha na sana ganun din kami pag ka file. salamat!

 

[lizel]

Hi, I guess that's protocol. In my case, I made 3 pages essay of our 10-year relationship as bf/gf. Turned out fine.
Best of luck!

Hi congrats! nakaka lakas kayo ng loob pag nakikita ko post niyo may visa na kayo. minsan kasi naiinip nako mag antay..

 

[tuyen]

Truthfully, how many more months are we looking at now to complete this process? 4, 5, 6? Please, I feel devastated and so angry that we are now behind in our already long process. Maybe this is normal? But, I think not. I know 3 couples who went through Mex City and it took 8 to 10 months for them to be in Canada. My husband and I are entering into 9 months and are waiting for the second stage to start.

Please, share your thoughts and advice....I am really having a hard time accepting this delay right now and would appreciate someone to tell us how long this second stage takes.

Thanks for taking the time to read our story!

That's a really unfortunate run of bad luck. Your approval for Stage 1 (sponsor) should've been done in approximately one month. The current processing timeline according to CIC is 37 days. If you had a lawyer, he should've told you about that because it's common knowledge, and then you would've known something wasn't right if you didn't get your first-stage approval after 2 months. If he never informed you of that, then he's truly an idiot and shouldn't be practicing immigration law.

Then for Stage 2 approval (for your husband), Mexico City should've been able to wrap it up within 10-12 months. Right now the processing time is listed as 13 months.

Hopefully when somebody passed the file on to Mexico City, they attached a note of urgency to it which could (should) help speed things up a little bit.

 

[disfrust]

I'm not sure why others haven't responded. Maybe it's because you didn't really phrase your question clearly enough, or didn't provide enough details. Maybe it would help if you avoided acronyms like "bfd" and "DMO", and actually spelled out what you were asking.

I can't speak on the exact reasons why others haven't responded, but as for me, I make it a rule not to respond to people who can't take an extra two seconds to properly spell out their words.

"dis" is not a word in the English language unless you're referring to ancient Roman mythology. Neither is "n".

Thank you tuyen for taking out the time to write the above.