Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[jayde]

I just checked my status online and this is what it said.
We received your application to sponsor My hubby's name on September 28, 2011.

We started processing your application on October 19, 2011.

Does this mean they've ACTUALLY started processing it or they put it on a big pile to be processed? If they started it does anyone know how long it will take?

Thanks Mel

This means they have started processing the sponsor application to determine if you are eligible to sponsor your husband. According to the CIC website, it is taking approximately 70 days to process the sponsor application (from the day they receive it Sep 28).

Once approved they will forward the application to Buffalo for them to work on the permanent residency application.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

Why do I have the feeling my application process Is turning into one of the horror stories with all the problems.

 

[tulamoon]

Quick question I'm getting the passport and visa pictures together tonight to UPS tomorrow to LA for my husbands visa... I'm a little unclear, do you write anything on the back of the pictures like name height eye colour birthday? There's space in the letter to write it which you're supposed to include, but they mention it in the section about pictures so I'm unsure.


Also just a side note it's kind of a pain how many visa photos you have to get.. I mean, what was the point in sending pictures with the initial application if you just have to send more with the passport request.

 

[Mel_R]

This means they have started processing the sponsor application to determine if you are eligible to sponsor your husband. According to the CIC website, it is taking approximately 70 days to process the sponsor application (from the day they receive it Sep 28).

Once approved they will forward the application to Buffalo for them to work on the permanent residency application.

I was already approved to sponsor my husband on Sept 19th they sent my application to Buffalo and then when I check it today I got the message that said

We received your application to sponsor My hubby's name on September 28, 2011.

We started processing your application on October 19, 2011.

 

[amaranth]

This, unfortunately, is what Canadians' tax dollars are paying for. I personally would like to see everyone who works at the Call Centre retrained, because my humble opinion is that you could get better advice on one of these forums than you can from people who represent the Canadian government vis a vis immigration.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way most call centres work these days, whether it be government or retail or whatever! :

And wow....sorry to hear you are getting hate mail. That's just uncalled for because you haven't had anything offensive to say....well not offensive to anyone who's not CIC anyway, and I know how we all love to harp on CIC.

Haha, I've seen others say much worse things about the CIC, both on this forum and elsewhere. I would hope they have better things to do than get offended by those of us who need to vent occasionally!
(Like say, oh, I dunno... maybe process applications or find "missing" docs? ;D )

 

[TryingToGetHome]

I might have experienced a hold-up because we didn't know to pay the RPRF ASAP - we just paid it last week. It seems like most people who were on the same time table as me are now ahead. So, if you didn't pay it already, I recommend doing that and mailing the receipt to both Mississauga and Buffalo.

I second this sentiment. I, too, filed in March. Almost everyone else from March has been approved it seems. But, I didn't pay the RPRF up front, so when my file was opened everything was approved then the fee requested. Now my file is on hold while the fee gets processed. I have a bring forward date in late November.

 

[TryingToGetHome]

We got PPR last week and our son who is canadian citizen and american citizen is going to be with me when i'm landing in Canada. CIC knows our son is with me now in the States. Should i send his passport too with mine to Buffalo...or it is not necessary?

My son was born in the US, in Missouri. We brought him over the border at 5 weeks old by car with only a birth certificate showing he was born in Missouri. My husband was with us and had his Canadian passport, showing that my son was Canadian through him. So they don't need his passport. You don't even need a passport for him unless you fly over the border. He's Canadian, they don't care about him crossing the border, it's you that needs all the extra documentation!

 

[mevisbleek]

Hi everyone,
I am about submitting my application but I am facing a little difficulty. My sponsor does not have his option C printout because he has not filed his tax. Is there any other document that could be presented in place of an Option C printout?


PLEASE HELP........

 

[scylla]

Hi everyone,
I am about submitting my application but I am facing a little difficulty. My sponsor does not have his option C printout because he has not filed his tax. Is there any other document that could be presented in place of an Option C printout?


PLEASE HELP........

You could try submitting 2-3 years of T4s instead.

 

[Stumpedmom]

So here's my update:

The hubs and I had a talk this weekend and decided that, even if I haven't gotten my PPR yet, I'm going to move in with him officially on December 9th. I guess this is called "dual intent" (which I need to research!)?

Hopefully we'll get the PPR sooner than that, since everything else seems to be done and the RPRF receipts are in the mail or already received, but we agreed we are tired of waiting and it's a good time for me to make the transition. It's a good time for me to leave my job, and we have a solid 6 weeks to get my stuff slowly transferred across the border. And winter is coming.... dun dun dunnnn....

I'll keep my apartment to the end of the month, so I'll have the same U.S. address until January 1, 2012, but I guess after that I'll have to list my parents' address as my U.S. address?

I also wondered how this will affect my official "landing" when my visa fiiiiiinally arrives.

Any advice I can get about finishing out my wait in Canada would be reeeally helpful! It just feels so good to know there's an end in sight, even if it's not the full satisfaction of official PR status, it'll be soooo nice to get to live with him after 5 years of wanting to but not being able to. Siiiiigh.

You can update your mailing address to the Canadian address. Remember when you come to cross the border you can not bring all your possessions, and you are only visiting. Don't use the word moving as that is not allowed until you have the visa.

ddbro another SNAFU that has happened in Buffalo....they didn't inform us that our file was transferred to Los Angeles even after getting 2 emails from us, and then LA issued our visa before both those said emails....hmmmmmm

 

[doctorkb]

You don't necessarily need to have a U.S. address when you do outland family class sponsorship. While inlanders are obviously living in Canada, not all outlanders are living abroad during their application. Some people, like me, were living in Canada before even filing the PR application. So you can simply change the address to your husband's address in Canada where I'm assuming you'll be living once you move. I wouldn't use the online system to update address. Just contact Buffalo directly. Buffalo may or may not ignore the email though, maybe someone else with experience could attest to that. You could also fax them - I think it's (716) 852-2477 - or mail them to inform them of the change. When you get the PPR email, you'd just send your passport, pics, etc. to the Fort Erie, Ontario address rather than to Buffalo. There is no real difference apart from that.

Couple of notes to add to this one.

1. I checked with my MP's office about mailing to Buffalo vs. mailing to Ft. Erie. Basically, the Ft. Erie address just means that it gets taken across in one big bag every so often. The advantage? it saves a couple of dollars in postage. Downside? it takes longer. We sent the passport via CanadaPost ExpressPost USA to Buffalo.

2. Having sent Buffalo a number of e-mails (including updated passport photocopies and the requested documents in Sept.) and seen our GCMS notes, I can say with some certainty that Buffalo's e-mail address is not, in any way, shape or form, connected with the processing department. There was NO record AT ALL of the e-mails. The requested documents were recorded ONLY once they had been forwarded by our MP's office by e-mail, then when they were received by snail mail.

My suggestion? Have USPS forward your mail from your old address to either the Canadian address you'll use, or a trusted friend or relative in the US. I wouldn't trust Buffalo to update ALL the places your address is.

 

[doctorkb]

Quick question I'm getting the passport and visa pictures together tonight to UPS tomorrow to LA for my husbands visa... I'm a little unclear, do you write anything on the back of the pictures like name height eye colour birthday? There's space in the letter to write it which you're supposed to include, but they mention it in the section about pictures so I'm unsure.

I don't know about LA, but Buffalo only needs the date stamped on them. They don't even ask for the name to be there, according to our PPR. The height & eye colour need to be included on any piece of paper for Buffalo.

Would my wife's PPR notification get delivered via email or snail mail? It has been in process since October 9th, 2011.

Could be either one. Ours came via e-mail.

 

[doctorkb]

I was already approved to sponsor my husband on Sept 19th they sent my application to Buffalo and then when I check it today I got the message that said

We received your application to sponsor My hubby's name on September 28, 2011.

We started processing your application on October 19, 2011.

Have you signed into e-cas? There was a glitch that started for us around the time they opened the file in Buffalo that added a second "case" into my (sponsor) login. Basically, it looked like the sponsorship side was being re-evaluated, but the dates lined up with events I knew happened with the actual application in Buffalo.

It sounds like the same sort of issue for you.

I am about submitting my application but I am facing a little difficulty. My sponsor does not have his option C printout because he has not filed his tax. Is there any other document that could be presented in place of an Option C printout?

Sure. Paystubs, T4's, etc. Of course, none of that REALLY matters. The only thing they REALLY care about is that your sponsor was not (and is not) in receipt of social assistance (i.e. welfare), nor has he declared bankruptcy.

I was behind in filing also -- I included a letter detailing this, along with my most recent year's of business income. The letter also said something to the effect "under penalty of perjury, I confirm that I have not been in receipt of social assistance, nor have I ever declared bankruptcy."

These are the two things that would show up on an Option C printout that they'd be looking for, since spousal applications are LICO-exempt.

 

[prophet3]

I was already approved to sponsor my husband on Sept 19th they sent my application to Buffalo and then when I check it today I got the message that said

We received your application to sponsor My hubby's name on September 28, 2011.

We started processing your application on October 19, 2011.

It means they are looking at your application if they are not lying to you.

 

[ddobro2]

Yes, they're full of SNAFUs over there at Buffalo. And we know what a SNAFU stands for, don't we? If not, then --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU Seriously though, CIC is worse than a fast food operation, which will at least try to get your order right the first time you complain. I bring this up because my husband went to Timmies the other day, and while there some woman whose bagel was unfortunately heated in a microwave (!!) and not a toaster started screaming, in part, "I am ready to die for this bagel!" Ha, she thinks *she's* got some annoying issues to deal with.... :

ddbro another SNAFU that has happened in Buffalo....they didn't inform us that our file was transferred to Los Angeles even after getting 2 emails from us, and then LA issued our visa before both those said emails....hmmmmmm