Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[TryingToGetHome]

Why don't you come out here to town and talk to the MP here. She never asked if I was from Airdrie or anything... and you practically lived here for a while anyway... I'll give you her info through Facebook.

Jayde, you're in Airdrie? Me TOO! I'm still waiting on my PPR - you talked to the MP here, and his office was helpful?? I was debating whether or not to contact him ... well, have my husband contact him since he's the Canadian. I don't have my info posted (can't figure out how to add a signature or info on the side) but I applied in March of this year...close to you.

Waiting anxiously since I have a baby on the way and would like to be a PR before s/he comes!!

 

[ddobro2]

No way to know for sure what has been done with your file by looking at e-cas. The medical assessment seems to be the first thing they work on. The fact e-cas just updated you on them being received doesn't necessarily mean they were just received.

we send in the family class application on June 2nd and buffalo office got the application on July 27th... when I log in to my account it says application received and then when I click and go inside it said application received on July 27th and next line says medical result have been received.. what is this mean? Application received status haven't changed to in progress, is that mean they haven't start working on the file yet? this online status is very confusing.

 

[Bargeld]

Ironically I just got movement on the file -- I still check it just for fun.

"We started processing your application on October 4, 2011.

Medical results have been received.".

Wonder if it'll catch up any time soon.

 

[amaranth]

So.

I got 2 ecas tracker emails at 4:02am...

First was "medical results received" (this would be 28th time the tracker has told me this since September 22!)
Second was "We started processing your application on September 20"

Hopefully the In Process update mean they finally figured out that YES, I did indeed pay the RPRF fee with all the other fees!
(I know ecas is obnoxiously useless most of the time, but a girl can hope, right?)

 

[Stumpedmom]

LOL, we got a "Medicals Received" update last night on e-cas too... funny thing is that the passport request was sent on Oct 6, and we sent his passport away yesterday lol. What a backwards system.

I got 6 e-cas tracker updates earlier this week, stating that a decision has been made, that we will receive a letter soon. Well the letter NEVER arrived, other than the email, and it updated to decision made way back in August...hmmmmmm

 

[ddobro2]

Don't you have the email trigger an alarm or something? Cuz this e-cas stuff is like having a baby in your case.....it wakes you up at 4 o'clock in the morning and doesn't tell you anything important.

So.

I got 2 ecas tracker emails at 4:02am...

First was "medical results received" (this would be 28th time the tracker has told me this since September 22!)
Second was "We started processing your application on September 20"

Hopefully the In Process update mean they finally figured out that YES, I did indeed pay the RPRF fee with all the other fees!
(I know ecas is obnoxiously useless most of the time, but a girl can hope, right?)

 

[amaranth]

Don't you have the email trigger an alarm or something? Cuz this e-cas stuff is like having a baby in your case.....it wakes you up at 4 o'clock in the morning and doesn't tell you anything important.

I have that gmail account tied to my phone, so when I get an email, I get the same notification alert as I would if I got a new text message. I usually mute everything at night, but totally forgot last night.

I'd really like to know why my ecas always seems to update at such weird hours though!

 

[jayde]

Jayde, you're in Airdrie? Me TOO! I'm still waiting on my PPR - you talked to the MP here, and his office was helpful?? I was debating whether or not to contact him ... well, have my husband contact him since he's the Canadian. I don't have my info posted (can't figure out how to add a signature or info on the side) but I applied in March of this year...close to you.

Waiting anxiously since I have a baby on the way and would like to be a PR before s/he comes!!

Yes, ask to talk to Meghan, she's the one that deals with the immigration stuff and she's great!

You know that you are eligible for Alberta Health Care right? So you wouldn't have to worry about hospital bills when your little one is born. Send me a message if you need help... I'd be glad to lend a hand!

I hope you hear soon!

 

[shelleydalyce]

Congrats on the PPR's!

Next week or the following week my wife and I are driving to Buffalo to hand over passport and hopefully land on the same day.

Until then, getting together laundry list of stuff to import. I hope they don't require serial numbers on everything, especially from my fam in Michigan who are giving me a huge box full of my dad's old stuff. Also gonna try to squeeze in a few 1.75L of liquor.

From experience your list does not need to be so detailed as to have serial numbers. Just a general estimate of what you have. Landing will be one of the easiest most painless things you'll do in your life. Good luck.

 

[yooper]

(...New York will only accept an original FBI clearance . . . and the current wait time for clearance is at least 13 weeks, per the FBI website.

I've applied twice now, and both times were quite a bit less than 13 weeks. First time was about 6 weeks, and second time, around 8 weeks. But the second time included a delay for an error I made on the credit card form. So there's a little good news.

 

[yooper]

So.
First was "medical results received" (this would be 28th time the tracker has told me this since September 22!)
Second was "We started processing your application on September 20"

I also received just received my first news in a while -- medical results received. But its still progress! Been stuck at 'application received' and nothing more for quite a while. (I'm a mid-June applicant.)

 

[TryingToGetHome]

Yup, I've got healthcare in Alberta, so not worried about the medical bills for giving birth. I just don't want to worry about extending a visitor record and landing with a newborn.

We talked to Meghan today, she found out that our fee hasn't been received by Buffalo yet but that they were processing RPRF's received in September (which is when ours was sent in) and that my file had a review date of November 25th. So, if they didn't get it by then they would look it over again. But, she said everything else was approved and they were literally just waiting for the fee to come through. (Makes me want to shoot myself in the foot for not sending it in originally).

Anyone here live in the US and have a spouse in Canada and file joint taxes on your US tax return? I'm having a tax return issue with my US return and I'm curious to know if anyone else found a professional who actually knew the US/Canadian tax treaty I could hire to review my return? I'm looking for an accountant or preferrably a tax lawyer. I'm really getting screwed over for filing married filing separately in 2010.

 

[ddobro2]

My husband is studying to be an accountant, but unfortunately he doesn't know as much about U.S. tax law (we're both in Canada). Hopefully someone else here can put in a good word for a specialist - good luck.

Yup, I've got healthcare in Alberta, so not worried about the medical bills for giving birth. I just don't want to worry about extending a visitor record and landing with a newborn.

We talked to Meghan today, she found out that our fee hasn't been received by Buffalo yet but that they were processing RPRF's received in September (which is when ours was sent in) and that my file had a review date of November 25th. So, if they didn't get it by then they would look it over again. But, she said everything else was approved and they were literally just waiting for the fee to come through. (Makes me want to shoot myself in the foot for not sending it in originally).

Anyone here live in the US and have a spouse in Canada and file joint taxes on your US tax return? I'm having a tax return issue with my US return and I'm curious to know if anyone else found a professional who actually knew the US/Canadian tax treaty I could hire to review my return? I'm looking for an accountant or preferrably a tax lawyer. I'm really getting screwed over for filing married filing separately in 2010.

 

[scylla]

Anyone here live in the US and have a spouse in Canada and file joint taxes on your US tax return? I'm having a tax return issue with my US return and I'm curious to know if anyone else found a professional who actually knew the US/Canadian tax treaty I could hire to review my return? I'm looking for an accountant or preferrably a tax lawyer. I'm really getting screwed over for filing married filing separately in 2010.

Nope - have been looking for one but have had no success. If you find someone smart and capable, please share their name.

Out of curiosity (if it's not too personal) - what type of general problem have you run into by filing married filing separately? This is how my husband filed (he's the American) and everything seems to be OK (fingers crossed). We even walked into an IRS office when we were visiting the US earlier this year and spent about two hours trying to sort out how we should file with their "help". In the end they were of very little assistance and essentially recommended that my husband file married filing separately and that I submit nothing. No joke the woman must have said the following 20 times during the visit (directed at me): "So you're Canadian. And you're married to an American. And you're living in Canada. And you have no status in the US." It was like she was repeating something she thought was impossible.

We filed his Canadian tax return on time (partial year since he only landed in October 2010) and still aren't sure we got it right. Very confusing understanding how to report his interest, capital gains, employment income and rental income from the US (on the Canadian tax return) for a year when he wasn't living in Canada fully.

Also (you probably know this already), it doesn't matter where you're living. As an American, you'll have to continue filing US taxes forever no matter where you're living (unless you're making next to no income). My husband has lived outside of the US for 20 of the last 25 years and has filed taxes every year.

I decided about six months ago that dealing with taxes are the one thing I hate about being married to my husband. Freakin' nightmare.

 

[QCSunshine]

As for my visitor record, after we got married last December, and after we finished gathering stuff together to send the application off, my wife and I both crossed into Canada, and we told the border agent there that we were married, that we've filled out all the paperwork, and even showed our receipt for the immigration fees that we paid for. That was when the border agent stamped my passport, and issued me a 12 month visitor record.
As for my 'visitor status', I'm a US citizen just visiting my wife in Canada.

If you have a visitor permit for twelve months, you are actually permitted to stay in Canada that long without leaving at all. I was here on a visitor permit and mine was for just over 12 months (although I got PR before that time). The thing is, I was told that when you are on a visitor permit and are in Canada, it is fine. But when you leave Canada, the permit is no longer valid and you stand the risk of being turned away at the border when you try to re-enter Canada. Perhaps someone else can confirm this for sure?

Anyhow, because of my understanding of how visitor permits work, I didn't leave Canada until it was something very important that I couldn't miss. When I left, I took copies of my paperwork showing my application was in process, marriage certificate, sponsorship approval, etc., but thankfully, while I was out of the country I got PPR, so I didn't have anything to worry about when I re-entered, since I just landed when I re-entered Canada.