Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[g-man]

FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS THIS QUESTION

It is NOT necessary to cram every scrap of evidence of your relationship and life together into an envelope to send to CIC. I only know this because we chose to go the "don't overwhelm the agent" route with our application, and it worked! My hubby had this theory that they probably just get annoyed with having that much stuff to examine so they go through the easier packets first. Well, I'm not sure if it's that they are annoyed so much as just that they are under obligation to carefully and thoroughly examine every piece of information/evidence that you give them, right? I mean, if they missed something that was a red flag, that's their butt on the line. Makes sense right? And obviously a giant packet of photos, letters, plane tickets, emails, screep caps of text messages, and all the other stuff people come up with is going to take a long time to sort though! I can't help but think that this would seriously slow down the approval process! Think about it...

So my husband and I dated for 6 months before marrying and applied outland (with me in Canada on VR) nearly 2 months after the wedding. For evidence in our application package, we included just 2-3 pics for each section of the spouse/common law questionaire such as #2 "Did you and your sponsor go on outings and/or trips together?" I included one pic from our trip to Niagara Falls and one from a trip to Savannah, GA. And I attached the plane tickets/boarding passes for these trips in the same place. For #7 "Were there formal ceremonies.... etc?" This is where I attached 3 photos from the wedding (one of just the two of us, one of the officiant standing before us as we recited our vows, and one of the kiss). I also attached the wedding program, the receipt from the B&B that organized our wedding package, and the wedding reservation confirmation email here. Then when it asked for persons who attended the wedding, I attached photos of our family members taken at the wedding along with those separate sheets.

This is just to give you an example. As far as how to organize your evidence, I would think common sense says the best thing to do is put everything in the package in the order in which the information is requested. So that is exactly what we did.

Admittedly, I am no expert on this topic. I can only speak from experience. But our application was processed in almost exactly 4 months from the date the package was received in Mississauga to the date I received the PPR email. We are now awaiting COPR from Seattle. Of course I am not suggesting that the simplicity of our application package is the sole reason our application was processed quickly, but I do know that it obviously did not hurt because we made it through!! And we don't even have this huge long history together...

All I'm saying is, don't overwhelm the agent handling your case with piles and piles of "evidence." They are duty bound to examine every item in your packet, so don't slow things down by cramming all sorts of unnecessary stuff in there. Make sure you do provide some photo evidence when it applies, and certainly don't forget the legal documents, but chill out! If your relationship is legit, you have nothing to worry about. The biggest thing is BE HONEST about everything! (fyi, 4 months AOR to PPR was even with an old arrest in the states that had to be "deemed rehabilitated")

I hope this doesn't sound too "know-it-all"ish. I don't mean it that way at all. I just hope to save some of you out there just starting the process some time. And I agree with an earlier poster... pay the RPRF up front. You don't want to get set back another 5 or 6 months just because of that. And based on what others are saying, it looks like if you don't pay until they ask, you go back to the bottom of the pile.

Best wishes everyone!!

I took the less-is-more approach as well and I just passed 5 months, and I'm sure there are others who took a similar approach and have waited much longer. Anecdotal experience is always good, but I don't really thnik there's much of a rhyme or reason to CIC's widely-ranging processing times.

 

[amishell01]

I agree, g-man. I was just pointing out that loads and loads of evidence isn't needed and has the potential to slow things down...

Some of it is luck of the draw, some it timing, some is economical (the CIC website says as much), and we all have to remember that every couple's story and circumstances are different, so we can't expect processing times to follow any sort of uniform pattern.

 

[StateOfConfusion]

FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS THIS QUESTION

It is NOT necessary to cram every scrap of evidence of your relationship and life together into an envelope to send to CIC. I only know this because we chose to go the "don't overwhelm the agent" route with our application, and it worked! My hubby had this theory that they probably just get annoyed with having that much stuff to examine so they go through the easier packets first. Well, I'm not sure if it's that they are annoyed so much as just that they are under obligation to carefully and thoroughly examine every piece of information/evidence that you give them, right? I mean, if they missed something that was a red flag, that's their butt on the line. Makes sense right? And obviously a giant packet of photos, letters, plane tickets, emails, screep caps of text messages, and all the other stuff people come up with is going to take a long time to sort though! I can't help but think that this would seriously slow down the approval process! Think about it...

So my husband and I dated for 6 months before marrying and applied outland (with me in Canada on VR) nearly 2 months after the wedding. For evidence in our application package, we included just 2-3 pics for each section of the spouse/common law questionaire such as #2 "Did you and your sponsor go on outings and/or trips together?" I included one pic from our trip to Niagara Falls and one from a trip to Savannah, GA. And I attached the plane tickets/boarding passes for these trips in the same place. For #7 "Were there formal ceremonies.... etc?" This is where I attached 3 photos from the wedding (one of just the two of us, one of the officiant standing before us as we recited our vows, and one of the kiss). I also attached the wedding program, the receipt from the B&B that organized our wedding package, and the wedding reservation confirmation email here. Then when it asked for persons who attended the wedding, I attached photos of our family members taken at the wedding along with those separate sheets.

This is just to give you an example. As far as how to organize your evidence, I would think common sense says the best thing to do is put everything in the package in the order in which the information is requested. So that is exactly what we did.

Admittedly, I am no expert on this topic. I can only speak from experience. But our application was processed in almost exactly 4 months from the date the package was received in Mississauga to the date I received the PPR email. We are now awaiting COPR from Seattle. Of course I am not suggesting that the simplicity of our application package is the sole reason our application was processed quickly, but I do know that it obviously did not hurt because we made it through!! And we don't even have this huge long history together...

All I'm saying is, don't overwhelm the agent handling your case with piles and piles of "evidence." They are duty bound to examine every item in your packet, so don't slow things down by cramming all sorts of unnecessary stuff in there. Make sure you do provide some photo evidence when it applies, and certainly don't forget the legal documents, but chill out! If your relationship is legit, you have nothing to worry about. The biggest thing is BE HONEST about everything! (fyi, 4 months AOR to PPR was even with an old arrest in the states that had to be "deemed rehabilitated")

I hope this doesn't sound too "know-it-all"ish. I don't mean it that way at all. I just hope to save some of you out there just starting the process some time. And I agree with an earlier poster... pay the RPRF up front. You don't want to get set back another 5 or 6 months just because of that. And based on what others are saying, it looks like if you don't pay until they ask, you go back to the bottom of the pile.

Best wishes everyone!!

On the flip side of this, I included 8lbs of paperwork (we weighed it) and proof in our application (pictures, receipts, letters, stories, explanations, skype records, bank accounts with both names, pictures of gifts we gave each other, you name it if we had it it was in there), and we too were processed in 4 months from CPC-M to PPR. So, I think what you should take away from this is, do what you think you should. I tackled it from the perspective of give them more than enough proof so they don't have to ask for anything else.

I think it's important to remember that there is a person on the other end of this application process. And people have different perspectives and more than likely different levels of what they think qualifies as a good application. It's hard to say "that's enough" or "that's not enough", because people are unpredictable.

I agree, if you have the funds, try to pay the entire $1040 up front. All in all, make your application as complete as possible. Go over the checklists, make sure you have everything they've asked for, from everything I've read them having to ask for anything could slow the process down.

As you can see, based on amishell01 and my cases all you really know is that there is really no set way to do it right for a speedy processing. Do the best you can, have faith, and if you are into that sort of thing, pray.

Best of luck

SoC

 

[amishell01]

You are so right, SoC! There is always that human element to consider as well. Plus the fact that every single situation is different and unique. We all just have to follow the rules and use our best judgement.

 

[GOGOGO]

Agree. There are so many different factors that affect the whole process. All we can is try our best and hope for the best.

You are so right, SoC! There is always that human element to consider as well. Plus the fact that every single situation is different and unique. We all just have to follow the rules and use our best judgement.

 

[GOGOGO]

Hi kourts, you're not on the Buffalo spreadsheet. Would you mind sharing your timeline so that we can add you to the spreadsheet please?

I'm currently in Canada, and I'm applying outland. I've also wondered if i'm being put at the end of the pile, because they want to reunite families and why work on mine if I'm already with my spouse.

 

[kourts]

app received June 8th, 2011 at Mississauga,AOR email from buffalo august 26th ,"in process" since February 16th,2012

 

[moochops]

Mine was the less is more approach, and has been 10 months since sending so far, went into process Jan 6th, had request for further police checks, sent them and am now (im)patiently waiting for ppr or death, whichever comes first.

 

[apstone]

FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS THIS QUESTION

It is NOT necessary to cram every scrap of evidence of your relationship and life together into an envelope to send to CIC. I only know this because we chose to go the "don't overwhelm the agent" route with our application, and it worked! My hubby had this theory that they probably just get annoyed with having that much stuff to examine so they go through the easier packets first. Well, I'm not sure if it's that they are annoyed so much as just that they are under obligation to carefully and thoroughly examine every piece of information/evidence that you give them, right? I mean, if they missed something that was a red flag, that's their butt on the line. Makes sense right? And obviously a giant packet of photos, letters, plane tickets, emails, screep caps of text messages, and all the other stuff people come up with is going to take a long time to sort though! I can't help but think that this would seriously slow down the approval process! Think about it...

So my husband and I dated for 6 months before marrying and applied outland (with me in Canada on VR) nearly 2 months after the wedding. For evidence in our application package, we included just 2-3 pics for each section of the spouse/common law questionaire such as #2 "Did you and your sponsor go on outings and/or trips together?" I included one pic from our trip to Niagara Falls and one from a trip to Savannah, GA. And I attached the plane tickets/boarding passes for these trips in the same place. For #7 "Were there formal ceremonies.... etc?" This is where I attached 3 photos from the wedding (one of just the two of us, one of the officiant standing before us as we recited our vows, and one of the kiss). I also attached the wedding program, the receipt from the B&B that organized our wedding package, and the wedding reservation confirmation email here. Then when it asked for persons who attended the wedding, I attached photos of our family members taken at the wedding along with those separate sheets.

This is just to give you an example. As far as how to organize your evidence, I would think common sense says the best thing to do is put everything in the package in the order in which the information is requested. So that is exactly what we did.

Admittedly, I am no expert on this topic. I can only speak from experience. But our application was processed in almost exactly 4 months from the date the package was received in Mississauga to the date I received the PPR email. We are now awaiting COPR from Seattle. Of course I am not suggesting that the simplicity of our application package is the sole reason our application was processed quickly, but I do know that it obviously did not hurt because we made it through!! And we don't even have this huge long history together...

All I'm saying is, don't overwhelm the agent handling your case with piles and piles of "evidence." They are duty bound to examine every item in your packet, so don't slow things down by cramming all sorts of unnecessary stuff in there. Make sure you do provide some photo evidence when it applies, and certainly don't forget the legal documents, but chill out! If your relationship is legit, you have nothing to worry about. The biggest thing is BE HONEST about everything! (fyi, 4 months AOR to PPR was even with an old arrest in the states that had to be "deemed rehabilitated")

I hope this doesn't sound too "know-it-all"ish. I don't mean it that way at all. I just hope to save some of you out there just starting the process some time. And I agree with an earlier poster... pay the RPRF up front. You don't want to get set back another 5 or 6 months just because of that. And based on what others are saying, it looks like if you don't pay until they ask, you go back to the bottom of the pile.

Best wishes everyone!!

Thanks for your reply, and all the others! I was thinking along those same lines. Obviously everyone can put together their file their own way, but I agree that tons and tons of evidence and all wouldn't do any good. Obviously we are including the marriage certificate, as it is requested explicitly. I think I am going to stick with the info we have, our case should be pretty easy.

 

[apstone]

I have also paid both the application and RPFF up front. Seems like it does have a chance of setting you back quite a bit. I guess all we can really do is check and double check the checklist. It also seems like more people have problems with CIC requesting additional documents that were explicitly asked for on the checklist (marriage certs, divorce certs, police checks, etc) rather than asking for more proof of the relationship.

That being said, maybe some people who have had CIC ask them for more evidence of their relationship could share what they initially sent in, and why it wasn't good enough?

Gonna relax about it, and just give them what we can. I wasn't looking forward to digging through bank records for every purchase we made for each other or together!

 

[DCGelfling]

My DMP returned my Appendix C form to me, along with the copy 2. Do I need to include both of them when we send in the app, or just the copy 2?

Thanks.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

I agree, they need to start working from the bottom up on there piles of paperwork.

Try waiting since November of 2010 just to get your app sent back so you can resend it Feb.2011.I have been in process longer than what most people are waiting to get there PPR.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

I hope this is the week for all of us oldies! Calgary-Bound first, then everyone from early to mid-2011. In a perfect world it would be first come, first served.

Much appreciated but I quit wishing and holding my breath.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

Are the people who are still waiting in backlog the ones who didn't send in the RPRF with the initial application? I'm just wondering why there's such a huge difference. It seems like if Buffalo has to request even one thing your file is tossed aside and not looked at until months later.

I don't mean to pry but has this thread ever looked into why some people get approved faster than others? Is there significant education, work exp, age, or something that maybe fast tracks some people over the others?

The answer to that question is some people get an officer that knows what ther doing while others get some new person or one that wants to be an a$$.

 

[bloodyguitars]

PPR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the following in the PPR email,

"Note: As of December 1, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will no longer issue a Permanent Resident counterfoil to applicants from visa exempt countries. All applicants approved for permanent residence, whether they hold a passport from a visa exempt country or from a country requiring a visa for Canada, will continue to be issued a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) document.

Please consult our website for a complete list of visa exempt countries: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp#exemptions"

I am not a us citizen , does this mean that I will get a COPR instead of a visa stamp in passport?

"RETURN OF YOUR PASSPORTS

We will return passports to addresses in the USA or Canada only. If your current mailing address is not in the USA or Canada, you must bring your passports to our office in person.
Once you have mailed your passports to us, they will be returned to you within three weeks from the date we receive them.
Passports sent to us by mail will be returned to you by United States Postal Service regular mail unless you use one of the premium services described below.
Passports sent to us by mail cannot be picked up in person.

ADDRESSES IN THE USA

If your address is in the USA, the Consulate will return your passports by U.S. Postal Service First Class Mail. Please provide a pre-paid, self-addressed return envelope (the envelope must measure at least 8.5 x 11 inches) with the correct postage affixed. We will not use registered mail, certified mail or return postage coupons.
If First Class Mail is not acceptable, please provide a pre-paid, self-addressed United States Postal Service Express or Priority Mail envelope (the envelope must measure at least 8.5 x 11 inches) with the correct postage affixed. Enter a daytime telephone number on the mailing label above the recipient address. Make a note of the tracking number.

Please note: We will not return passports to US addresses using ANY commercial courier service."


Does this mean that I cannot send my passport using Fedex with return fedex envelop included? Do I have to use USPS ONLY?

I really feel sorry for all the people waiting for so long and it just feels like not being fair. Even before I got my ppr i was hoping that people waiting longer should get their first..sigh. It seems like buffalo doesnt have any sense of "first come first serve" process. Everything feels so random. But hang in there people, I am sure its about due now.