Hi everyone, just wanted to share my timeline and story.. Hoping this will help some people
april 2014 applicant
Application filed: April 9th
Application received: April 13th
File transfer to MNL: June 2014
Application processing: August 4th
Status change to In Process: August 4th
PPR + additional docs request: August 4th
August 7th - got a call from CEM asking to send my passport right away coz my medical will expire September 2014
- wasnt able to because I was in Canada on vacation.
(If I sent everything right away I wouldnt be in the Philippines right now... Still waiting)
Passport sent: August 25th
Passport received: August 27th
Re-medical request: October 4th
Police clearance( from the country I worked in for 3.6 years) request: October 2014
After They requested for my police clearance i didn't hear from them for 4 months.
Email about COA: February 2015
During those 4 months, I sent them 2 emails asking about my passport because I had travel plans but they never answered back.
My husband got fed up so he emailed them (march2015) asking for my passport back because it's been 7 months. He wanted me back to Canada and wait beside him.
Then finally CEm answered and returned my passport.
A day later, they emailed again asking for a different police certificate.
My husband and I tried for more than a week to obtain the certificate but the embassy (of the country where I worked for) was not cooperating. Bottomline, we tried everything to get the specific certificate they wanted but it was impossible.
Fearing that it might affect the result of our application, we decided to email them about our dilemma and asked for their help.
TO OUR SURPRISE CEM Waived the police certificate and asked for my passport back (2 weeks after they returned it)
PPR 2nd time: April 2015
3 days later, I got an email telling me my visa is ready to be issued!
VISA ISSUED: April 13th 2015!
First of all, if my husband didn't ask for my passport back.. The canadian embassy would take even longer to inform us about the wrong police certificate.
I believe, my husband's email put our application back in motion.
I waited for more than a year to get my visa issued.
I waited 8 months for my passport... and is still waiting for it to be returned.
So my advice: stay positive, stay busy and be patient.
Don't read forums too much.
Cherish the time you have left to be with your family and friends.
Lastly, thank you to those people who shared their story on this forum. You guys were a big help. Especially this one person who shared about asking for his passport back etc. You gave me the courage to do it and because of it, I was able to bring the Officer's attention back to my application.
Best of luck everyone!