Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[ddobro2]

Thanks for sharing that, Allison. It was pretty amazing to read how people actually told you your application was "doomed for refusal" and how you lost hope, but still got the PPR email in a relatively extremely short time.

I think that a lot of knowledgeable people on here say "every case is different, don't compare yourself to anyone else." And you know that what ends up happening is people consider that for a few minutes and continue comparing themselves to everyone else. And it's perfectly natural. I mean, would you not expect someone who applied on a certain date and still does not have PPR to be noticing that another person with the same filing date does? I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that it's just too tempting for many of us.

This quote applies to skilled workers, not family class. Unfortunately, it's different processing, but you might try posting your situation in the temporary worker folder. There may be a option to get a work permit even though your family class PR is still processing.

@ JustandDaph. I am surprised your MP said they would look into your app. From your timeline it seems you are well within the current average, and from what I've read in this forum MPs are unlikely to contact cic unless you are well OVER average processing time or you have some other problems, like lost documents, with your app. Good luck, but I think it's likely that they will only hear "in process" from the cic.

I haven't visited this folder in a while. I've been a PR since Nov 2009 and I remember clearly how crazy the waiting game is, especially when we have access to other's processing info. I encourage y'all to try NOT to compare waiting times, because each person's process is unique. Plus, Buffalo is not consistent with providing info on e-cas, and some apps are going to be faster, some slower than others. It just is what it is, and it's not likely to change.

For those of you who haven't been around for the first few pages of this thread, here is my first post on p2.
I'll chime in here to, though I have finished the process. I applied outland via Buffalo in the conjugal partner category. I'm American (South Carolina) and he has dual citizenship- French by birth and naturalized Canadian. We live in Mississauga, where I waited out the process. I'm 45, he's 53. Both married prior, he has one grown child. No criminal history. We applied in early August 2009. I drove to Buffalo to get my COPR after the PPR and landed in early November 2009. It took about one month to approve the sponsorship and about 2 months for the PR processing...just less than 3 months total wait time.

Though I had finished processing by the time this thread started, at the time I was in process there were a lot of people telling me on this forum (and another one which I no longer participate) that I was doomed for refusal because I was American, with no barriers to marriage or common law, applying as conjugal. Boy did that make my extremely short wait excruciating!! I had no hope and no confidence, and I was absolutely sure there was going to be a deportation order when I finally heard from B'lo. And when my PPR came in an email I almost threw away because I didn't recognize the sender's email or the subject line!!

I wish you all speedy processes, no interviews and no lost documents, and 100% approval ratings for everyone processed by B'lo! And I encourage you as much as you can to step away from the ecas tracker and not to fixate too much on who started and finished when.

Two last pieces of advice...
1. Once a PR, be sure you understand your residency obligation (I now spend a lot of time on the forum with people who stayed away from Canada for too long and are at risk of losing status!). You must reside in Canada for 2 of every 5 years (a total of 730 days, does not have to be continuous) and this is a rolling 5 year period. By law they can only assess your residency status in the previous 5 year period.

2. Once you get your COPR, keep it in a safe place!! You need it if you ever want to apply for citizenship and nobody tells you that when you land.

All the best.
Allison

 

[ddobro2]

I applied when I was already in Canada on a study permit. Haven't had any issues yet. I've only used my Canadian address, which I share with my sponsor (which obviously is a huge advantage when you've got mail going to the same place), and CIC knows that not seeing a foreign address anywhere on the forms is not unheard of when applying outland, as outland is not necessarily that the principal applicant is outside the country.

Any of you guys (family class: spouse) applying or applied to Buffalo but you were already living in Canada on a visitor visa status?

Is there any issues that comes up from doing so? (like which residential address to apply under - Canada or US)

I'm planning on applying to Buffalo. I am already in Canada.

 

[ddobro2]

Congrats Stumpedmom - I'm happy you're almost done

ddbro...yes I did get PPR last week. I got an email response from Buffalo 2 weeks ago that our file had been transferred to Los Angeles, meanwhile they had responded to 2 inquiries in June and July. We also found out through my MP that it was transferred sometime in June and the PPR was originally sent on June 30th. I was lucky enough that my MP did look into it for me, because they only give you 60 days to submit the passport. If we didn't have him look into it, we likely would have had to redo everything and pay all the fees over again...that's what scared me the most...we got all the communication from the MP to Los Angeles after the 2nd PPR request....you would think that they would send something by snail mail as back up in case the email addresses change....that's why we sent a more reliable email address to Buffalo along with the mailing adress change...

No wonder it didn't get updated...the file was in LA and had already been approved....I hope all of you the best...keeping my fingers crossed and checking in still

 

[AllisonVSC]

Thanks for sharing that, Allison. It was pretty amazing to read how people actually told you your application was "doomed for refusal" and how you lost hope, but still got the PPR email in a relatively extremely short time.

I think that a lot of knowledgeable people on here say "every case is different, don't compare yourself to anyone else." And you know that what ends up happening is people consider that for a few minutes and continue comparing themselves to everyone else. And it's perfectly natural. I mean, would you not expect someone who applied on a certain date and still does not have PPR to be noticing that another person with the same filing date does? I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that it's just too tempting for many of us.

Yeah, ddobro, no one actually used the word "doomed", but they basically said I wasn't qualified to apply in that class because I was American, could have gotten married and didn't have any immigration barriers. I've stuck around the forum since I got my PR to help others who want to apply in that class to have hope. And, well, to help others understand that though the conjugal class was developed specifically for couples who have these issues, not having them doesn't preclude you from the class either. And I have learned a lot about immigration, PR obligations, problems for new immigrants, paths to citizenship, etc.

You are right. It is perfectly natural to make these comparisons, and I know the crowd I'm preachin' to, since I have been through it as well. But every case really is different; there are steps in processing which take longer for some people than for others (and that may have little or nothing to do with the applicants!). The forum is a great opportunity to share information, commiserate, worry, celebrate, wonder, etc but in the end the process is in the hands of the visa officers now. So I still want to say, don't fret too much if you can help it.

Allison

 

[doctorkb]

1. Once a PR, be sure you understand your residency obligation (I now spend a lot of time on the forum with people who stayed away from Canada for too long and are at risk of losing status!). You must reside in Canada for 2 of every 5 years (a total of 730 days, does not have to be continuous) and this is a rolling 5 year period. By law they can only assess your residency status in the previous 5 year period.

This isn't entirely true. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27) section 28(2) (see http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-8.html#h-16 ) lays out the following:

(2) The following provisions govern the residency obligation under subsection (1):

(a) a permanent resident complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period, they are

(i) physically present in Canada,

(ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent,

(iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province,

(iv) outside Canada accompanying a permanent resident who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent and who is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, or

(v) referred to in regulations providing for other means of compliance;

Of special note is paragraph (ii) -- if you're with your Canadian citizen spouse, you are meeting this requirement, even if you are both residing abroad.

 

[AllisonVSC]

Yes, thanks for clarifying doctorkb. There are exceptions to the rule, but even these exceptions aren't always followed. There have been court cases about whether the PR spouse was 'accompanying' the citizen spouse or vice versa, and the rules on employment outside Canada are somewhat vague when you get down to the details of how the employee can still meet the obligation while outside of Canada. So it is important to understand the obligation. If you're landed (or soon to be) and still on the forum, you might be interested in reading the PR obligations folder in the settlement topics section.

 

[spiritrac]

It is so refreshing to read your story AllisonVSC, and I cant agree with you more on some of the things you have posted, I have always felt that although they are very Knowledgeable people on the forums they don't know everything and certainly are not privy to most of the goings on at the Visa Offices. my advice is that we can be supportive of each other while we wait and hope for a successful outcome to our applications

 

[buffalo-toronto]

No good news??

These guys put my old address back on e-cas again...I wont be shocked if they work in a chaos over there. I sent a case-specific inquiry to update address 1 month back and still they come back with old address on the file.

 

[spiritrac]

My wife received her passport with visa stamp and copr from buffalo this morning

 

[pavickd]

Application filed 21/12/10
Medical done 15/10/10
Medical sent 21/12/10
Sponsorship approved 25/01/11
AOR received 19/05/11
File Transferred to locale Consulate 02/02/11
Application status as of 15/08/11 In Process

 

[ddobro2]

Woohoo ;D

My wife received her passport with visa stamp and copr from buffalo this morning

 

[cantor2537]

Hey all,

I sent in my application via Fedex last week. CIC-Mississauga received it Friday. I am wondering how long it will take for me to hear back from them. Will I receive an email or snail mail letter acknowledging receipt of my application? I know it takes about 2 months right now for the sponsorship approval. Do I just sit and wait? Thanks everyone!

 

[ddobro2]

You're on....keep us posted on news

Application filed 21/12/10
Medical done 15/10/10
Medical sent 21/12/10
Sponsorship approved 25/01/11
AOR received 19/05/11
File Transferred to locale Consulate 02/02/11
Application status as of 15/08/11 In Process

 

[ddobro2]

Yeah, it used to take about a month, but since June, people have been waiting 2 months or more : You won't receive acknowledgement of receipt unless you used a courier (thus, they signed for it) or Post Canada gives you a tracking number on your receipt (I'm assuming this is only for sending it Priority). I received my sponsorship approval (message always addressed to sponsor) via email (ok, husband's email), so I would say to watch email mostly but postal mail is not an impossibility. Yep, you just sit and wait.

Hey all,

I sent in my application via Fedex last week. CIC-Mississauga received it Friday. I am wondering how long it will take for me to hear back from them. Will I receive an email or snail mail letter acknowledging receipt of my application? I know it takes about 2 months right now for the sponsorship approval. Do I just sit and wait? Thanks everyone!

 

[cantor2537]

Yeah, it used to take about a month, but since June, people have been waiting 2 months or more : You won't receive acknowledgement of receipt unless you used a courier (thus, they signed for it) or Post Canada gives you a tracking number on your receipt (I'm assuming this is only for sending it Priority). I received my sponsorship approval (message always addressed to sponsor) via email (ok, husband's email), so I would say to watch email mostly but postal mail is not an impossibility. Yep, you just sit and wait.

Thanks! I guess I won't do anything until 52 days or whatever have elapsed then... It's getting nerve-wracking.