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Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

TryingToGetHome

Full Member
Feb 2, 2011
31
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
21-03-2011
AOR Received.
21-04-2011
File Transfer...
05-05-2011
Med's Done....
19-07-2011
Interview........
Waived
Calgary-Bound said:
Were abouts are you from In Missouri if you dont mind me asking?Im from the St.Louis area,St.Charles to be exact.
No way!! I lived in Central West End in St. Louis!! I met my husband on vacation and we now live in Airdrie, right north of Calgary.
 

Stumpedmom

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2010
541
14
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22/03/2011 Receivd CPC-M
AOR Received.
16/06/2011
File Transfer...
06/05/2011 Received in Buffalo, 06/2011 to Los Angeles
Med's Done....
12/10/2010
Interview........
waived...obviously cuz we got the PPR
Passport Req..
16/8/2011
VISA ISSUED...
24/8/2011 in our hands 8/29/2011
LANDED..........
3/9/2011
Just an FYI to those dealing with Ontario Drive Test and the MTO....Best of luck because their stories are about as consistent as the people who work for CIC...we have gotten so many different answers from so many different people....its so crazy...

I actually made the comment to hubs in the MTO office that I didn't know which was worse for misinformation and inconsistent information the MTO, Drive Test (its now private so no government official MP or MPP can help) or CIC...the lady there was NOT happy and did not see the humour that hubs and I found in it....we still have yet to register his car. We had to get an Ontario Driver's license in order to get insurance on the car, and the driver's abstract that we had from the Arizona DMV was "not acceptable" as we paid for and printed it from the DMV website...then after getting paperwork notorized, and sent back to Arizona, we got his license, and then we get told because his mom cosigned the loan which is now clear, and her name is on the title, we now have to have her do a notarized letter down there, with specific wording, stating that she is giving him the car as a gift....grrrrrrrrrrrrr honestly, I think that all government officials are trained how to escalate situations, and not take blame for their own misinformation...
 

Bargeld

Hero Member
Sep 17, 2011
338
53
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
30-05-2011
AOR Received.
14-07-2011
File Transfer...
05-07-2011
Passport Req..
06-10-2011
VISA ISSUED...
20-10-2011
LANDED..........
20-10-2011
Stumpedmom said:
Just an FYI to those dealing with Ontario Drive Test and the MTO....Best of luck because their stories are about as consistent as the people who work for CIC...we have gotten so many different answers from so many different people....its so crazy...

I actually made the comment to hubs in the MTO office that I didn't know which was worse for misinformation and inconsistent information the MTO, Drive Test (its now private so no government official MP or MPP can help) or CIC...the lady there was NOT happy and did not see the humour that hubs and I found in it....we still have yet to register his car. We had to get an Ontario Driver's license in order to get insurance on the car, and the driver's abstract that we had from the Arizona DMV was "not acceptable" as we paid for and printed it from the DMV website...then after getting paperwork notorized, and sent back to Arizona, we got his license, and then we get told because his mom cosigned the loan which is now clear, and her name is on the title, we now have to have her do a notarized letter down there, with specific wording, stating that she is giving him the car as a gift....grrrrrrrrrrrrr honestly, I think that all government officials are trained how to escalate situations, and not take blame for their own misinformation...
That sucks. I guess what I'll do tomorrow then is call them again a few times, take some names down, and make sure I'm getting some consistent story so when I go there I can give them crap in return if they want to give me any.
 

Stumpedmom

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2010
541
14
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22/03/2011 Receivd CPC-M
AOR Received.
16/06/2011
File Transfer...
06/05/2011 Received in Buffalo, 06/2011 to Los Angeles
Med's Done....
12/10/2010
Interview........
waived...obviously cuz we got the PPR
Passport Req..
16/8/2011
VISA ISSUED...
24/8/2011 in our hands 8/29/2011
LANDED..........
3/9/2011
Bargeld said:
That sucks. I guess what I'll do tomorrow then is call them again a few times, take some names down, and make sure I'm getting some consistent story so when I go there I can give them crap in return if they want to give me any.
Best of Luck with that...we had dates, times and names...but no good....I ended up dealing with the regional manager for Drive Test....

And then I lost my job, and we are waiting for the notarized letter from Arizona....blah...just a bit more adding to the stress...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 

jbruce

Member
Dec 20, 2010
11
0
Category........
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
26-07-2011
File Transfer...
17-10-2011
Med's Done....
01-03-2011
Spreadsheet Link; Added to Spreadsheet

Hi, Can someone please give me the link to the most up to date spreadsheet?

Also, here is my information

Application Received July 26, 2011
Forwarded to Buffalo October 17, 2011

It says Application Received and Medical Results received.

Thanks!
 

ahassa5

Full Member
Feb 10, 2011
27
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-02-2011
Landed today.

Got to the Consulate at about 9:00 AM, wife got her COPR around 10:45. Had lunch, went shopping, filled out forms B4 and B4A, crossed at Queenston bridge around 5:15, went inside and were out of there by 5:35.


Good luck to everyone waiting!
 

mjh49783aa

Hero Member
Sep 22, 2011
285
2
Ontario, Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, USA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
12-05-2011
Nomination.....
Sponsor approved: 13-06-2011
AOR Received.
03-11-2011
File Transfer...
28-06-2011
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
04-01-2012
VISA ISSUED...
COPR received 13-01-2012
LANDED..........
15-01-2012
Congratulations!

ahassa5 said:
Landed today.

Got to the Consulate at about 9:00 AM, wife got her COPR around 10:45. Had lunch, went shopping, filled out forms B4 and B4A, crossed at Queenston bridge around 5:15, went inside and were out of there by 5:35.


Good luck to everyone waiting!
 

Bargeld

Hero Member
Sep 17, 2011
338
53
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
30-05-2011
AOR Received.
14-07-2011
File Transfer...
05-07-2011
Passport Req..
06-10-2011
VISA ISSUED...
20-10-2011
LANDED..........
20-10-2011
ahassa5 said:
Landed today.

Got to the Consulate at about 9:00 AM, wife got her COPR around 10:45. Had lunch, went shopping, filled out forms B4 and B4A, crossed at Queenston bridge around 5:15, went inside and were out of there by 5:35.


Good luck to everyone waiting!
Congrats!
 

doctorkb

Hero Member
Feb 6, 2011
470
17
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY, USA
NOC Code......
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/usa-flag-89.gif">
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
03-JAN-2011
Doc's Request.
12-SEP-2011 / e-mailed 20-SEP-2011
AOR Received.
29-APR-2011
File Transfer...
03-FEB-2011 / In Process 16-AUG-2011
Med's Done....
29-SEP-2010
Interview........
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-random-smileys-838.gif"> (waived, get it?)
Passport Req..
24-OCT-2011
VISA ISSUED...
11-NOV-2011
LANDED..........
07-DEC-2011
I wanted to post quickly in response to a lot of the discussion around timing.

I've seen a lot of variation with this -- sometimes as few as two weeks from sponsorship approval to PPR, right up to longer times like ours (sponsorship approval Feb 3, file created in Buffalo Apr 29, was NOT TOUCHED until Jul 17 (and even then, only barely), then actually examined Aug 16). I get these dates straight from the GCMS notes.

Yes, we did have a doc request that was processed quickly (about a month from request until PPR) and I'm sure if we hadn't had that doc request, we would have received PPR around the same time (Sep 9).

Basically, our file sat in Buffalo collecting dust for about 2.5 months, was opened long enough to make the computer record, closed, sat again collecting dust for 3.5 months, opened long enough to see that there was still a bit of time left before medicals expired, then closed for another month. Throughout the last half of August, it was examined several times, including having the interview waived. The doc request was initiated on Aug 30, mailed on Sep 9, rec'd on Sep 12.

The receipt of the documents was noted on our file on Oct 5.

So, simply, if they had all the documents required, they would have only spent about two weeks of actively looking at the file. We went to "in process" on Aug 19... so it would have been about 2 weeks from IP to PPR (if we leave out the doc req). That doesn't change the fact that we didn't see IP on e-Cas until about 7 months after Buffalo received the file.

According to the trackitt.com tracker, we were actually two days SHORTER than average, from beginning to end. While the locally maintained spreadsheet is great, I would encourage everyone to put their cases into this tracker as well: trackitt.com/canada-immigration-trackers/family-class -- it's a little easier to navigate and you get a comment thread just for your case... and you have a longer history (back to at least 2009) to draw on for averages.
 

Stumpedmom

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2010
541
14
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22/03/2011 Receivd CPC-M
AOR Received.
16/06/2011
File Transfer...
06/05/2011 Received in Buffalo, 06/2011 to Los Angeles
Med's Done....
12/10/2010
Interview........
waived...obviously cuz we got the PPR
Passport Req..
16/8/2011
VISA ISSUED...
24/8/2011 in our hands 8/29/2011
LANDED..........
3/9/2011
I agree doctorkb....I was one of the lucky ones, who was part of the first group through the gcms...I would love to order and still debating on ordering a copy of my file, just because of the information that came to light just before we got our 2nd PPR from Los Angeles....if what LA told our MP is true, we would have had our PPR about 96 days after CPC-M got our file....it would be interesting reading I think to see if what they told our MP is true.....
 

ddobro2

Champion Member
May 4, 2011
2,589
38
124
Montreal, QC Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
sounds like a stress free afternoon to me! Congrats :)
ahassa5 said:
Landed today.

Got to the Consulate at about 9:00 AM, wife got her COPR around 10:45. Had lunch, went shopping, filled out forms B4 and B4A, crossed at Queenston bridge around 5:15, went inside and were out of there by 5:35.


Good luck to everyone waiting!
 

doctorkb

Hero Member
Feb 6, 2011
470
17
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY, USA
NOC Code......
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/usa-flag-89.gif">
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
03-JAN-2011
Doc's Request.
12-SEP-2011 / e-mailed 20-SEP-2011
AOR Received.
29-APR-2011
File Transfer...
03-FEB-2011 / In Process 16-AUG-2011
Med's Done....
29-SEP-2010
Interview........
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-random-smileys-838.gif"> (waived, get it?)
Passport Req..
24-OCT-2011
VISA ISSUED...
11-NOV-2011
LANDED..........
07-DEC-2011
Stumpedmom said:
I agree doctorkb....I was one of the lucky ones, who was part of the first group through the gcms...I would love to order and still debating on ordering a copy of my file, just because of the information that came to light just before we got our 2nd PPR from Los Angeles....if what LA told our MP is true, we would have had our PPR about 96 days after CPC-M got our file....it would be interesting reading I think to see if what they told our MP is true.....
I say go for it -- the GCMS notes are kinda interesting... and you can even fax or e-mail the request in, so you don't even have to pay for the postage! :)

For the proof of presence in Canada, I'm sure a copy of your PR card (or the PR Visa) would be enough -- we used my wife's visitor record both times and there was no question about it. This way, it's FREE!
 

Stumpedmom

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2010
541
14
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22/03/2011 Receivd CPC-M
AOR Received.
16/06/2011
File Transfer...
06/05/2011 Received in Buffalo, 06/2011 to Los Angeles
Med's Done....
12/10/2010
Interview........
waived...obviously cuz we got the PPR
Passport Req..
16/8/2011
VISA ISSUED...
24/8/2011 in our hands 8/29/2011
LANDED..........
3/9/2011
I am Canadian....I sponsored my husband...lol...hmmmm thinking maybe I will.....
 

doctorkb

Hero Member
Feb 6, 2011
470
17
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY, USA
NOC Code......
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/usa-flag-89.gif">
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
03-JAN-2011
Doc's Request.
12-SEP-2011 / e-mailed 20-SEP-2011
AOR Received.
29-APR-2011
File Transfer...
03-FEB-2011 / In Process 16-AUG-2011
Med's Done....
29-SEP-2010
Interview........
<img src="http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-random-smileys-838.gif"> (waived, get it?)
Passport Req..
24-OCT-2011
VISA ISSUED...
11-NOV-2011
LANDED..........
07-DEC-2011
Stumpedmom said:
I am Canadian....I sponsored my husband...lol...hmmmm thinking maybe I will.....
Oh, then you definitely want your HUSBAND's notes -- and so you'll need proof of HIS presence in Canada. :)

My bad. :)
 

Stumpedmom

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2010
541
14
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22/03/2011 Receivd CPC-M
AOR Received.
16/06/2011
File Transfer...
06/05/2011 Received in Buffalo, 06/2011 to Los Angeles
Med's Done....
12/10/2010
Interview........
waived...obviously cuz we got the PPR
Passport Req..
16/8/2011
VISA ISSUED...
24/8/2011 in our hands 8/29/2011
LANDED..........
3/9/2011
DUH....I thought about that after I posted...its late, and my mind is kinda foggy...