Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[Calgary-Bound]

Question, when does the 11months begin to count? When app is received or when sponsorship is approve?
Thanks

With the way things are going I would start the count down about 3months after the sponsorship is approved.But on a serious note I would consider it once the sponsorship is approved.Because the sponsorship part usualy goes relatively quick its the Buffalo part that sucks.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

My file transfer was Feb.24th so I consider tomorrow my 10 month mark woohoo.Im going for the all time Buffalo record for the longest running app ever.So if everyone could wish me luck on my goal it would be greatly appreciated and I appreciate your support.

This message was brought to you by another poor soul who is getting taken through the ringer by Buffalo and I approve this message. ;D

 

[yooper]

hello folks I am in the process of filling out application forms to sponsor my wife. I am going through the checklist. One thing i got confused with is NO. 17. that says An original option C print out of your and your co signer last notice of assessment for the most recent taxation year. ( i havent worked in canada yet in the past I used to be working in USA)
<snip>...And regards to medical examination. does my wife just need to make an appointment to one of the DMP? how long does the medical result take. <snip>

As regards the 'notice of assessment', in addition to the reply you already received, I think it would be wise for you to consider why they are asking this question. I believe that they are looking to make sure that you (sponsor) can support the applicant. The application and the sponsors pledge all talk about the need for the sponsor to guarantee that the applicant will not become a burden to Canada's welfare system. Thus you might want to include a memoradum under that item that explains your financial picture and how you can fulfill the obligations to support.

On the medical --- note that you do not receive any medical results. They are sent directly to CIC. You only receive a receipt that you must include with application. You never see or know the results of the tests. There's more on this if you search around this forum.

 

[yooper]

Question, when does the 11months begin to count? When app is received or when sponsorship is approve?...

If the 11 mos. is the time listed for processing of the application for permanent residence, then I believe that it refers to the time to process the application for permanent residence -- that is after sponsorship approval. There's a separate time for processing the sponsorship application (was around 30 days when I applied.)

Why do you care about this particular timeline?

 

[ddobro2]

That processing time concerns the visa office so obviously when they receive the file from Mississauga, which is currently taking approximately 2 months to complete step 1.

Question, when does the 11months begin to count? When app is received or when sponsorship is approve?
Thanks

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

As regards the 'notice of assessment', in addition to the reply you already received, I think it would be wise for you to consider why they are asking this question. I believe that they are looking to make sure that you (sponsor) can support the applicant. The application and the sponsors pledge all talk about the need for the sponsor to guarantee that the applicant will not become a burden to Canada's welfare system. Thus you might want to include a memoradum under that item that explains your financial picture and how you can fulfill the obligations to support.

Not saying it's not worth taking the time to do that, but my husband definitely didn't do it for his sponsorship application and he was approved as a sponsor (he sent copies of his tax statement, but no further explanation memos). The one thing that I would note is that you do have to indicate that you are planning on moving back to Canada and possibly include your plans for that.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Anyone else who's in or headed to Quebec should check this out: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Medicare+limit+English+communications/5905089/story.html

Apparently they're trying to force immigrants to communicate with Medicare only in French, even if their French is no good. It appears they could still request communication in English, but if they don't take the steps to do so all communication will automatically switch to French after 1 yr. The Parti-Quebecois is trying to get the exception done away with so that immigrants would have no option, but communication in French. This is supposedly due to the large allophone community in Montreal (to force them to learn French instead of English), and no word on whether anglophone immigrants would be granted an exception.

 

[ddobro2]

Read the financial evaluation form - it says, "If you are sponsoring a person other than
• your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner who has no family members, or
• your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner who has dependent children who have no dependent children of their own, or
• your child who has no children of his or her own,
you must prove that you have an annual income that is at least equal to the minimum necessary income to support the group of persons consisting of......"

So while they do ask for the Option C printout and last paystubs, unless you are in Quebec, (although note that they say send a written explanation if you cannot provide said printout) on the document checklist, basically there is no income limit to sponsoring someone of the spousal category (and by the way, also for sponsoring a dependent child of the Canadian sponsor). As it pertains to finances, unless the sponsoring spouse has declared bankruptcy and hasn't been released from it yet, receives government assistance for reasons other than a disability, defaulted on a court-ordered support order like alimony or child support, defaulted on an immigration loan, or sponsored someone in the past and failed to meet the requirements of the undertaking for that sponsorship, they will have no problem being approved.

As regards the 'notice of assessment', in addition to the reply you already received, I think it would be wise for you to consider why they are asking this question. I believe that they are looking to make sure that you (sponsor) can support the applicant. The application and the sponsors pledge all talk about the need for the sponsor to guarantee that the applicant will not become a burden to Canada's welfare system. Thus you might want to include a memoradum under that item that explains your financial picture and how you can fulfill the obligations to support.

Just wanted to point out that while you aren't sent the test results, you can certainly have access to them through ATIP. There's an option to select medical results on the form that you use to request GCMS notes as well.

On the medical --- note that you do not receive any medical results. They are sent directly to CIC. You only receive a receipt that you must include with application. You never see or know the results of the tests. There's more on this if you search around this forum.

 

[ddobro2]

So I noticed that toward the end of the article it said only 1/3 of the allophones (in other words, those whose native language or language spoken at home is neither English nor French) choose to receive the correspondence in English. So they're doing all this because of 1/3? What about the other 2/3 of allophones that select French? And didn't they consider that some of those 1/3 of allophones that seem to prefer English that apparently they're marginally better-versed in when they're getting important information about their medical coverage might be doing so because they're relatively new to the province and they are just starting to learn French? They'll be happy to order in a restaurant in French but it might just be a tad safer using the lang you reaaaally know when dealing with something like health insurance. Living in Quebec, almost everyone gets to some degree or another of bilingualism, so haven't they thought of the possibility of these 1/3 of allophones, as they take their Francisation courses provided for free by le Ministere de l'Immigration et des Communautes Culturelles and they make Quebecois friends and they get jobs where they use their French and they settle into Quebec society in general, that they might one day prefer to get their correspondence in French or just be indifferent? Anyway, I don't know if this is a money-saving thing on the part of Parti-Quebecois or purely ideological but it seems to be blowing the "problem" out of proportion.

Anyone else who's in or headed to Quebec should check this out: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Medicare+limit+English+communications/5905089/story.html

Apparently they're trying to force immigrants to communicate with Medicare only in French, even if their French is no good. It appears they could still request communication in English, but if they don't take the steps to do so all communication will automatically switch to French after 1 yr. The Parti-Quebecois is trying to get the exception done away with so that immigrants would have no option, but communication in French. This is supposedly due to the large allophone community in Montreal (to force them to learn French instead of English), and no word on whether anglophone immigrants would be granted an exception.

 

[ddobro2]

Okay so I noticed I missed the key "for their lifetime" in the article. Oops. Well, I still kinda have a point with the blowing it out of proportion thing, or at least I like to think so. Point is, if you want to make immigrants feel at home and welcomed, you probably don't want to "force" them to do this, that, and the other all of the time.

So I noticed that toward the end of the article it said only 1/3 of the allophones (in other words, those whose native language or language spoken at home is neither English nor French) choose to receive the correspondence in English. So they're doing all this because of 1/3? What about the other 2/3 of allophones that select French? And didn't they consider that some of those 1/3 of allophones that seem to prefer English that apparently they're marginally better-versed in when they're getting important information about their medical coverage might be doing so because they're relatively new to the province and they are just starting to learn French? They'll be happy to order in a restaurant in French but it might just be a tad safer using the lang you reaaaally know when dealing with something like health insurance. Living in Quebec, almost everyone gets to some degree or another of bilingualism, so haven't they thought of the possibility of these 1/3 of allophones, as they take their Francisation courses provided for free by le Ministere de l'Immigration et des Communautes Culturelles and they make Quebecois friends and they get jobs where they use their French and they settle into Quebec society in general, that they might one day prefer to get their correspondence in French or just be indifferent? Anyway, I don't know if this is a money-saving thing on the part of Parti-Quebecois or purely ideological but it seems to be blowing the "problem" out of proportion.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Okay so I noticed I missed the key "for their lifetime" in the article. Oops. Well, I still kinda have a point with the blowing it out of proportion thing, or at least I like to think so. Point is, if you want to make immigrants feel at home and welcomed, you probably don't want to "force" them to do this, that, and the other all of the time.

Do you speak French at this point? I do now, and watch a lot of French news with my husband (he LOVES the news that one). The Francophone politicians are ALWAYS going on about how the anglophones and allophones are ruining their province and threatening their language & culture. It's the ultimate boogeyman. This isn't a money saving measure, this is purely political in nature. If the Parti-Québecois had its way they would outlaw immigrants speaking anything other than French in the home (seriously, there was a PQ politician that was upset a few months ago because a study showed that something like 45% of immigrants chose to speak their native language at home instead of French).

Anyway, my frustrations with the hardliners aside, there appears to be a loophole that if you go out of your way to request on-going communications in English they will accomodate you. Otherwise they will automatically switch everything to French. Of course, the PQ want to close that loophole, but I don't legally know if they're allowed to go that far under current language laws. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Once I'm set up with my provincial health insurance I'm going to look into how to confirm on-going English communications. While I can speak French, I would much rather deal with health services in English.

 

[ddobro2]

I can't believe Mississauga did its thang in 2 weeks back in the day during February. And to think, it hasn't helped you in the slightest because there have been people who applied in June, Mississauga did its thang (sorry, I did it again) in 2 MONTHS, Buffalo got it around August, and they've already been done for awhile.

You don't have the longest running file so far though. Remember chess101 who took around a year or ndbella who I think is waiting since September or something? There's a woman sponsoring through the Rabat VO that has been waiting for 4.5 years. I would absolutely die. Seriously though, you have every right in the world to be pissed. I take it the last sentence was kind of influenced by U.S. campaign season?

Another Friday, and another PPR-less week for me. Thank you so much, Buffalo. You really know how to make the season bright.

My file transfer was Feb.24th so I consider tomorrow my 10 month mark woohoo.Im going for the all time Buffalo record for the longest running app ever.So if everyone could wish me luck on my goal it would be greatly appreciated and I appreciate your support.

This message was brought to you by another poor soul who is getting taken through the ringer by Buffalo and I approve this message. ;D

 

[Quince777]

Happy Holidays everyone!
I wanted to know what to expect next? We got our sponsorship approval Nov. 14 and our CSQ from Quebec Dec. 9. I also email and faxed the CSQ to Buffalo just in case.
Thanks

I also got sponsor approval on that day but I haven't go AOR from Buffalo yet.

 

[Quince777]

I can't believe Mississauga did it's thang in 2 weeks back in the day during February. And to think, it hasn't helped you in the slightest because there have been people who applied in June, Mississauga did its thang (sorry, I did it again) in 2 MONTHS, Buffalo got it around August, and they've already been done for awhile.

You don't have the longest running file so far though. Remember chess101 who took around a year or ndbella who I think is waiting since September or something? There's a woman sponsoring through the Rabat VO that has been waiting for 4.5 years. I would absolutely die. Seriously though, you have every right in the world to be pissed. I take it the last sentence was kind of influenced by U.S. campaign season?

Another Friday, and another PPR-less week for me. Thank you so much, Buffalo. You really know how to make the season bright.

This is exactly what I am fearing - the long wait. I really really hope my app won't take too much time. I'm going crazy being out of work for almost a year now.

 

[ddobro2]

I studied it in high school and college and spoke it at times with my husband while we were e-dating. I took a level 5 class at UdeM. I actually attempted to study at UdeM but left after a semester. I don't have a problem with communicating in French for day-to-day things, but I obviously can't go into the detail that I can go into when I use English. Since I have so much time on my hands thanks to the lovely Buffalo, decided to check out the free MICC French classes. After two sessions of the level they put me into, I pretty much decided they were crap, nothing like the UdeM class. Not challenging enough and most importantly, no opportunity for speaking whatsoever. I should watch more Francophone news, but I can't even bring myself to watch Canadian news. I just find American politics infinetely more interesting, at least in this point in my life.

I totally understand the frustration with the hardliners. Don't we have a name for laws that seek to control what one can do in one's own home without harming anyone else? Ah yes, "draconian." Anyway, I also do understand it from their perspective, and how their language and culture appears to being "drowned out" by the English influence. I guess some people think Loi 101 hasn't done enough or hasn't kept pace. I don't know. From what I understand with this new policy affecting the Regie, you can ask them to start communicating with you in English, and they'll comply, but only for a year. Not sure if you have to keep re-asking each year or you only get a year of English so you better learn enough French by then. Sure, it incentivises people to learn French faster, but what happens if they just don't pick it up? I also think that written communication is not as big of a deal as oral communication for a lot of people. Part of that is accent. Our neighbor is French and my husband spent several years in France and the way Quebecois speak French can be hard to figure out even for them.

Do you speak French at this point? I do now, and watch a lot of French news with my husband (he LOVES the news that one). The Francophone politicians are ALWAYS going on about how the anglophones and allophones are ruining their province and threatening their language & culture. It's the ultimate boogeyman. This isn't a money saving measure, this is purely political in nature. If the Parti-Québecois had its way they would outlaw immigrants speaking anything other than French in the home (seriously, there was a PQ politician that was upset a few months ago because a study showed that something like 45% of immigrants chose to speak their native language at home instead of French).

Anyway, my frustrations with the hardliners aside, there appears to be a loophole that if you go out of your way to request on-going communications in English they will accomodate you. Otherwise they will automatically switch everything to French. Of course, the PQ want to close that loophole, but I don't legally know if they're allowed to go that far under current language laws. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Once I'm set up with my provincial health insurance I'm going to look into how to confirm on-going English communications. While I can speak French, I would much rather deal with health services in English.