Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[adetia9]

Janamay -- be sure to register for Alberta Health. You can do this with a visitor record/passport stamp, even without residency.
When you are nearing your expiration, apply for your extension, and as long as you have applied for it before your current one expires, you have "impled" status while you wait for a decision. I've not had any trouble getting extensions, and then having my healthcare continue as well.

 

[Francis123]

Visa in the mail on Friday! It took 10 business days to process and be overnighted back. I will be landing on May 18th! Can't wait for this to be finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dhd]

Janamay -- be sure to register for Alberta Health. You can do this with a visitor record/passport stamp, even without residency.
When you are nearing your expiration, apply for your extension, and as long as you have applied for it before your current one expires, you have "impled" status while you wait for a decision. I've not had any trouble getting extensions, and then having my healthcare continue as well.

So - judging from this, it sounds like in Alberta and B.C. you are able to apply for healthcare before you actually land?

I suppose I can just call the RAMQ to find out (their website isn't helpful on this topic...) but does anyone know what the policy is in Quebec? My wife has her CSQ...

 

[melyn2223]

@dhd I am a Quebec applicant. I believe you have to have land first and then apply for healthcare.

 

[QCSunshine]

Yes, but I think you can call or go by the RAMQ the day you land to register and begin the 3 months waiting process. It is best to get that started as soon as possible, is what I was told when I last inquired with the RAMQ.

 

[avon]

Hi everyone, this is a wonderful blog. I submitted my application 12/1/10 which was the day it was received in Missassauga, sent onto Buffalo 1/5/11. I have been in process since 3/2/11. I applied family class as my wife and child moved there, and I am waiting like most people here. I have a couple of questions. First, the letter or AOR that is to be received by me the applicant is that a certified letter or regular mail. I went away to see some relatives, and their was a letter that come by without enough postage, and that required my signature but didn't make it to the post office in time. The second question is do you have to get this AOR before getting the request for passports. I also think that this AOR letter is different than the one my wife said that acknowledged receipt and said that your application is good and to be sent onward to buffalo. Thanks everyone in advance....

 

[sparkle]

Hello avon,

AOR is basically the Acknowledgement of Receipt of your file in Buffalo. Looking at your timeline, you should have an "email" from Buffalo by now, at the email address you listed on your forms stating that your application has been received by Buffalo. After this, usually they update the sponsor's e-cas saying "File Received" or "InProcess" under the Permanent Residence Application column. At this time, you probably would be able to login with the receipt number of your payment and your own details to open your file details as well.
Once your Initial Assessment is complete, they send you a letter in mail, that lets you know if they require any other documents, or any interview is required at this moment etc, and send you barcode stickers for your file in case you need to send them any supporting documents.
You can look at this thread for december applicants and get a much better idea -

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-december-2010-applicants-t58916.0.html#new

And also, you can look at this spreadsheet -

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?authkey=CLSRv0c&pli=1&hl=en&key=tSwhpbL3i0FEVj1Fw4efAcg&hl=en&authkey=CLSRv0c#gid=0

I am not sure if the letter that comes in mail is certified or regular mail.. hopefully someone who has already received it can give you a much better idea...

 

[quakingaspen]

Buffalo doesn't have to send you an AOR, but they generally do. The communications I have received from Buffalo or Mississauga has come through regular mail with no signature required. Or by e-mail. The AOR could be easy to miss, though. It generally comes to the applicant by e-mail, and sometimes gets shuffled into the Junk Mail box by your filters. Mine came from re-BFALO.IM-REG-ARCH @ international.gc.ca
with a topic that has my file number and name in it... so it looks sketchy and is quite easily mistaken for garbage on first glance. The letter your wife got sounds like the Sponsorship approval letter, which is different than the AOR.

You mention that you have been "In Process" since the start of March. I'm guessing that information came from eCAS? I think that if you're In Process you're in good shape, even without the AOR. Looking at the other timelines going through Buffalo recently, you should be pretty close to done with the process.

 

[valy79]

Both my AOR and IA came by regular mail (no signature required).

 

[avon]

Thanks @sparkle, @quackingaspen and @valy.

So this is what I gather from reading the blog entries. December people may have slight delays as computer system put up has not been putting in the aor as a number of december people have not received theirs. Buffalo seems to take longer than china, india, phillipines, england.

As for initial assessment, it varies based on application, and cic. You can go straight to ppr.

Thanks for info re: mail, but this seems variable as well, except that it comes through regular mail, and email as well and may not always receive it.

When I look at the spreadsheet, I think it looks like we should be getting our ppr, the missassauga times haven't changed, but it looks like buffalo times have changed slightly. As my application says received 12/1/10, and processing 3/2/11, I think that is slightly longer than the november group am I wrong? Thanks for everyone's support, just missing my year old son, and trying to figure out when I will see him next. Thanks again

 

[avon]

Yes, I found out this information through ecas which besides my wife's initial letter is the only contact I have had.

 

[Rinnerz]

As always, CIC is impossible to predict. I do believe that December is taking a little longer to get through than November did.

And I would try not to go by any estimates based on others' processing times, anyway. There are still people from October with straightforward cases (no additional documents requested, etc) who haven't heard anything in months. And ndbella from September is still waiting as far as I know. It's easy to look at the wave of November PPRs and think that's great to go by, while forgetting all the others before them.

It's done when it's done.

 

[quakingaspen]

I was just speaking of best case situations, and only the ones that are close to that applicable timeline. My aim was to spread a little hope. I realize, of course, that there are many situations out there and many factors - and that every application is different. I believe that everyone else realizes this as well.

I don't think any of us forget that some applications take considerably longer than the "best case", and for no discernible reason.

I'm sorry if that was offensive to anyone. I think of those who have a long wait quite often, and always hope for the best for them.

 

[amethystfaire]

If you haven't heard anything in a while, and you have access to eCas, they're most likely just slowly working through the backlog. We applied in August and only just now got an INITIAL assessment in the mail 5 days ago. Granted, they lost our CSQ for 4 months and never told us (moving to Quebec) until we enquired if they had everything. So just be patient and ask if there are any missing documents via e-mail. I'm not at all impressed with Buffalo, but they plod along at their own pace. Wish they were more consistent with how they did things... and lost less. And actually contacted you...

If you're really concerned and it's been 4-6+ months since you received your AOR and haven't heard anything further, apply for CAIPS notes and prod Buffalo a bit.

 

[Rinnerz]

If you're really concerned and it's been 4-6+ months since you received your AOR and haven't heard anything further, apply for CAIPS notes and prod Buffalo a bit.

I've both emailed and applied for CAIPS notes already. My post wasn't about my own concern about my own case; it was about getting people's hopes up too high by referring to merely the best case scenarios (and there've luckily been many of those lately).

Just before I applied, Buffalo was working with almost lightning speed on most cases. Some were getting through before they even hit the 100 day mark. My point was really... that I've found it's a lot better on your sanity if you not compare your timeline to others', and/or try not to use theirs as estimates. It only leads to more frustration.