Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[markstimson]

Latest developments with the strike: http://www.pafso.com/news_releases.php?newsID=161

 

[FRT]

WE LANDED! Docs are signed and passport is stamped! Tomorrow it is off to SNB/Service Canada for SIN and ID's and Medicare nonsense.

I thought I would give you all our landing story, since most people are not really landing in NB (mostly ON/BC) and this might be helpful to others in NB.

Our Landing Story:

We chose to go to 3rd Bridge, St. Stephen NB for our landing. We are in Fredericton (about 1hr45min away from St. Stephen) and I have the day off so it made for a nice drive. Hubby and I packed up my mother and took her with us, mostly for directions, and also because I am very non-confrontational and if something were to go wrong, I'd be sobbing in a corner unable to articulate anything to the CBSA official LOL.

We got to 3rd Bridge and drove over to the US side. We told the US border official that hubby was flagpoling. He asked if he'd ever done this before (for work visas, etc) and he hadn't, so we pulled over and went into the US border office. They gave us a declined form that we need to take back to CBSA on the other side of the bridge. I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I also asked if we ever decided to go to the US again, do we need to let the border agent know that hubby was declined this time. Border Agent said NO. Because we were just flagpoling, we did not need to declare this "rejection" moving forward.

US agent told us to go back to our car, swing around and drive back to Canada with the decline form. Got to the Canada border, told the rep we were landing, and she told us to pull over and go into the Border Services building. We went up to the desk and spoke with the MOST WONDERFUL CBSA Agent Mahar - what a delight! She was newer, but she was very thorough and did everything step-by-step while explaining what she was doing. Luckily things were straight forward for us (no B4 form, etc). We brought lots of additional docs (hubby's birth cert, marriage cert, proof of address, etc) but she didn't ask to see any of them. The only thing she did was take the form we got from the US Border and the yellow slip we got from the CBSA agent when we were in our car, as well as hubby's TRV extension because it was not affixed to his passport. She signed his 2 forms for COPR, gave us one of them back, and stamped/signed his passport. She took our CORRECT mailing address (because CIC has botched it about 3 times already) to make sure that the PR card comes to us. She also gave us a checklist on how to get a SIN, Medicare, Drivers License, etc.

This is us! Finally landed!

Then we went to Ganongs (known for it's Chicken Bones - if you don't know what they are GO GET SOME THEY ARE DELICIOUS) and stocked up because they are all made in St. Stephen NB.

Hope this will at least help a few people on their way with landing!

Congrats. Enjoy.

 

[CkMaddall]

Hi all

I am 3 months in to an outland UK common law application, while living in Winnipeg. My gf and I have got tickets to Las Vegas for the week after next - do I have to be careful, or do anything clever when heading to and from the USA? I have the required ESTA documentation.

cheers

 

[Eabie]

Hi all

I am 3 months in to an outland UK common law application, while living in Winnipeg. My gf and I have got tickets to Las Vegas for the week after next - do I have to be careful, or do anything clever when heading to and from the USA? I have the required ESTA documentation.

cheers

Las Vegas at this time of year! It's gonna be HOT! Have fun

I could be wrong, but I don't think there should be any issues so long as you're honest with the border staff.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi all

I am 3 months in to an outland UK common law application, while living in Winnipeg. My gf and I have got tickets to Las Vegas for the week after next - do I have to be careful, or do anything clever when heading to and from the USA? I have the required ESTA documentation.

cheers

You should be fine. Carry proof of the PR app, like the sponsor approval letter, for when you re-enter Canada.

And as said by Eabie, it's gonna be HOT!! A friend of mine was just there, was around 45 Celsius everyday

 

[scottishmaple]

WE LANDED! Docs are signed and passport is stamped! Tomorrow it is off to SNB/Service Canada for SIN and ID's and Medicare nonsense.

I thought I would give you all our landing story, since most people are not really landing in NB (mostly ON/BC) and this might be helpful to others in NB.

Our Landing Story:

We chose to go to 3rd Bridge, St. Stephen NB for our landing. We are in Fredericton (about 1hr45min away from St. Stephen) and I have the day off so it made for a nice drive. Hubby and I packed up my mother and took her with us, mostly for directions, and also because I am very non-confrontational and if something were to go wrong, I'd be sobbing in a corner unable to articulate anything to the CBSA official LOL.

We got to 3rd Bridge and drove over to the US side. We told the US border official that hubby was flagpoling. He asked if he'd ever done this before (for work visas, etc) and he hadn't, so we pulled over and went into the US border office. They gave us a declined form that we need to take back to CBSA on the other side of the bridge. I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I also asked if we ever decided to go to the US again, do we need to let the border agent know that hubby was declined this time. Border Agent said NO. Because we were just flagpoling, we did not need to declare this "rejection" moving forward.

US agent told us to go back to our car, swing around and drive back to Canada with the decline form. Got to the Canada border, told the rep we were landing, and she told us to pull over and go into the Border Services building. We went up to the desk and spoke with the MOST WONDERFUL CBSA Agent Mahar - what a delight! She was newer, but she was very thorough and did everything step-by-step while explaining what she was doing. Luckily things were straight forward for us (no B4 form, etc). We brought lots of additional docs (hubby's birth cert, marriage cert, proof of address, etc) but she didn't ask to see any of them. The only thing she did was take the form we got from the US Border and the yellow slip we got from the CBSA agent when we were in our car, as well as hubby's TRV extension because it was not affixed to his passport. She signed his 2 forms for COPR, gave us one of them back, and stamped/signed his passport. She took our CORRECT mailing address (because CIC has botched it about 3 times already) to make sure that the PR card comes to us. She also gave us a checklist on how to get a SIN, Medicare, Drivers License, etc.

This is us! Finally landed!

Then we went to Ganongs (known for it's Chicken Bones - if you don't know what they are GO GET SOME THEY ARE DELICIOUS) and stocked up because they are all made in St. Stephen NB.

Hope this will at least help a few people on their way with landing!

Awesome Stuff. And Great Photo

 

[salsaadani]

Hi everyone,

I've been a predominantly silent member on this thread for the last few months, but I have to admit I have learnt so much from the experiences of other members here going through the London VO. I've just received my PPR via email, and couldn't be more excited - so thought I'd let people on here know, as all the news about the strike potentially slowing the processing of applications down recently has been quite daunting at least for me. Once again, it is really promising to know that there is some work going on in London, however slow! I know it's probably a bit late now, but would appreciate it if someone could add my timeline to the London spreadsheet, especially, as I am a non-visa exempt applicant. Our application was received in Mississauga on November 20th 2012, and the file was transferred to London on 7th February 2013. We went 'in process' on April 23rd and we weren't requested to go in for an interview or send in any further documents about our relationship. PPR on 30th July 2013 - all in all it's been quite fluid

Would appreciate it if anyone here could give me advice on the following step. Unfortunately I had to move from the UK and return to my home country in June, so I will be sending my passport to London to get the visa stamped. I'll be sending my passport via courier early next week so that shouldn't be a problem. However, I did my medicals on September 23rd 2012, and in the instructions sent to me via email (with the PPR) it clearly states that I should expect to be without my passport for up to 6 weeks. So basically by the time my passport is returned to me it could be around mid-September, i.e. I will have only a few days to make arrangements to travel to Canada and land before my medicals expire. I've just sent a CSE to London asking if they would be able to extend my medicals just to give me a bit more time to travel and land. Has anyone here been in this situation before? Did anyone here manage to get their medicals extended even by just a couple of weeks / months for this purpose? Would appreciate any feedback about this.

Thanks everyone! Here's to hoping that all 2012 applicants are done soon - it's been a long wait!

 

[Sweden]

Hi everyone,

I've been a predominantly silent member on this thread for the last few months, but I have to admit I have learnt so much from the experiences of other members here going through the London VO. I've just received my PPR via email, and couldn't be more excited - so thought I'd let people on here know, as all the news about the strike potentially slowing the processing of applications down recently has been quite daunting at least for me. Once again, it is really promising to know that there is some work going on in London, however slow! I know it's probably a bit late now, but would appreciate it if someone could add my timeline to the London spreadsheet, especially, as I am a non-visa exempt applicant. Our application was received in Mississauga on November 20th 2012, and the file was transferred to London on 7th February 2013. We went 'in process' on April 23rd and we weren't requested to go in for an interview or send in any further documents about our relationship. PPR on 30th July 2013 - all in all it's been quite fluid

Would appreciate it if anyone here could give me advice on the following step. Unfortunately I had to move from the UK and return to my home country in June, so I will be sending my passport to London to get the visa stamped. I'll be sending my passport via courier early next week so that shouldn't be a problem. However, I did my medicals on September 23rd 2012, and in the instructions sent to me via email (with the PPR) it clearly states that I should expect to be without my passport for up to 6 weeks. So basically by the time my passport is returned to me it could be around mid-September, i.e. I will have only a few days to make arrangements to travel to Canada and land before my medicals expire. I've just sent a CSE to London asking if they would be able to extend my medicals just to give me a bit more time to travel and land. Has anyone here been in this situation before? Did anyone here manage to get their medicals extended even by just a couple of weeks / months for this purpose? Would appreciate any feedback about this.

Thanks everyone! Here's to hoping that all 2012 applicants are done soon - it's been a long wait!

Congrats! they probably will extend your medicals, or have done that. Also - from the spreadsheet, it seems that people get their passport back in close to 2 weeks, so hopefully you'll have yours by the end of August, or mid AUgust... and if London thinks that it's too short for you to land, they might check with you before they issue the visa (asking you, are you able to land by that date? ). Sending a CSE ahead of time will help - if they hadn't noticed, they will look into it. Or your medicals are already extended, and then you will know about it!

Good luck for the final stretch!
Sweden

 

[salsaadani]

Congrats! they probably will extend your medicals, or have done that. Also - from the spreadsheet, it seems that people get their passport back in close to 2 weeks, so hopefully you'll have yours by the end of August, or mid AUgust... and if London thinks that it's too short for you to land, they might check with you before they issue the visa (asking you, are you able to land by that date? ). Sending a CSE ahead of time will help - if they hadn't noticed, they will look into it. Or your medicals are already extended, and then you will know about it!

Good luck for the final stretch!
Sweden

Thanks Sweden! Yeah I'd sure hope that my medicals could be extended! I've already sent a CSE asking about that, and have replied to the email I got asking the same question as well, so let's see how they respond. Don't know if I would get my passport in 2 weeks because I'm no longer in the UK, so I would anticipate that because of the post it might take longer - so cant really make any plans at the moment. Good thing is that the hubby is spending his holiday here with me in my home country, so we'd like to be able to book a return flight to Canada together

 

[Sweden]

Hi everyone,

I've been a predominantly silent member on this thread for the last few months, but I have to admit I have learnt so much from the experiences of other members here going through the London VO. I've just received my PPR via email, and couldn't be more excited - so thought I'd let people on here know, as all the news about the strike potentially slowing the processing of applications down recently has been quite daunting at least for me. Once again, it is really promising to know that there is some work going on in London, however slow! I know it's probably a bit late now, but would appreciate it if someone could add my timeline to the London spreadsheet, especially, as I am a non-visa exempt applicant. Our application was received in Mississauga on November 20th 2012, and the file was transferred to London on 7th February 2013. We went 'in process' on April 23rd and we weren't requested to go in for an interview or send in any further documents about our relationship. PPR on 30th July 2013 - all in all it's been quite fluid

Done - you're not in red yet as you don't have DM on ecas, but I've added the PPR date in the comment section.

 

[Swedish citizen]

Hi all

I am 3 months in to an outland UK common law application, while living in Winnipeg. My gf and I have got tickets to Las Vegas for the week after next - do I have to be careful, or do anything clever when heading to and from the USA? I have the required ESTA documentation.

cheers

Hi, also be prepared to answer the question for how long you intend to stay in Canada, if you have a flight ticket back home and if you don't - a reason for that.
I've been in and out of Canada 8 times (I know, it sounds crazy! 3 times in Sweden, 1 time in Las Vegas, 4 times Seattle & Portland via Peace Arch) during the application process and I get that question every time.
Also, what I do for a living and when I say I quit my job to be with my husband in Canada, they want to know what he does for a living etc. The last times, I've brought my own bank statements too, to show that I've got my own money.
I've never been asked to show any documentation but it sure feels better to have them with you.
Las Vegas is awesome, have a nice trip! =)

 

[moonchild67]

Sigh , I cant stand this. My heart goes out to you ScottishMaple

 

[scottishmaple]

Sigh , I cant stand this. My heart goes out to you ScottishMaple

awww thanks moonchild.

 

[ToqueEh]

Never mind, seen it now! Our App received date is incorrect on the spreadsheet, it says 15th Jan, when it was actually 14th March. 15th Jan was my medical date

ScottishMaple, please when you get a moment can you fix our entry on the spreadsheet? Thanks very much

 

[scottishmaple]

ScottishMaple, please when you get a moment can you fix our entry on the spreadsheet? Thanks very much

Done...x