Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[SchnookoLoly]

There's a chart on the cover page that shows you the averages across each of the 3 offices. London is about 8, Ottawa is about 6.5, Mississauga is just under 4.

So even "worst case" of 8ish months in London is still a pretty good result.

 

[PurpleJellyBean]

Oh 8 months is still good! The quicker the better though obviously. The thought of being out of work for longer than 6 months makes me want to bang my head against a wall lol

I have no idea what I am going to do all day. I read that they advise not to so much as do any volunteer work.

I have my fingers crossed that my app stays inside Canada.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Oh 8 months is still good! The quicker the better though obviously. The thought of being out of work for longer than 6 months makes me want to bang my head against a wall lol

I have no idea what I am going to do all day. I read that they advise not to so much as do any volunteer work.

I have my fingers crossed that my app stays inside Canada.

You can do volunteer work as long as the work is normally volunteer work. For example, you could go volunteer at a soup kitchen or at the Salvation Army or whatever - those positions would be volunteer positions in all circumstances. What you cannot do is go to a business and "volunteer" there as, say, their receptionist, because one would normally expect that a receptionist position be a paid position.

So as long as the volunteer work would normally be volunteer work, then it's fine. So you can look into various non-profits in your area that are looking for volunteers and occupy your time that way. I know someone who spent weekends volunteering for Meals on Wheels and loved it, plus the driving time gave them time to really get acquainted with the city!

 

[PurpleJellyBean]

You can do volunteer work as long as the work is normally volunteer work. For example, you could go volunteer at a soup kitchen or at the Salvation Army or whatever - those positions would be volunteer positions in all circumstances. What you cannot do is go to a business and "volunteer" there as, say, their receptionist, because one would normally expect that a receptionist position be a paid position.

So as long as the volunteer work would normally be volunteer work, then it's fine. So you can look into various non-profits in your area that are looking for volunteers and occupy your time that way. I know someone who spent weekends volunteering for Meals on Wheels and loved it, plus the driving time gave them time to really get acquainted with the city!

Great news!!

 

[judester]

Hi all,

Since there's so many pages, I thought I'd ask rather than trying to trall through the all the questions etc...

My boyfriend and I applied Common-law and application got sent off 1st week of March as Outland. He is still at home in Canada, and I'm back in the UK to earn some money to pay the bills and mortgage etc... every time I check to see where the application is at online with CIC it says I can't look, so I'm assuming that although I know it's been received as it was posted recorded and signed for at the start of March, it just hasn't been opened yet...

Any ideas how long people waited from the time of sending the application to CIC to it being opened and having some kind of acknowledgement that they're starting the process? I miss my man haha and so checking it religiously, which obviously doesn't help!

Thank you!

 

[kettle]

Hi all,

Since there's so many pages, I thought I'd ask rather than trying to trall through the all the questions etc...

My boyfriend and I applied Common-law and application got sent off 1st week of March as Outland. He is still at home in Canada, and I'm back in the UK to earn some money to pay the bills and mortgage etc... every time I check to see where the application is at online with CIC it says I can't look, so I'm assuming that although I know it's been received as it was posted recorded and signed for at the start of March, it just hasn't been opened yet...

Any ideas how long people waited from the time of sending the application to CIC to it being opened and having some kind of acknowledgement that they're starting the process? I miss my man haha and so checking it religiously, which obviously doesn't help!

Thank you!

There are two links in my signature, have a look at the London office processing times link. It shows the average processing times to receive SA approval and other steps along the way.

It took about 88 days to receive Sponsorship Approval. We received conformation of our application being received February 27, and applied on December 15. The application was physically received on December 19.


Hang tight,

read the spreadsheets, and the FAQ for UK sponsorship (posted in several peoples signatures) and maybe post your information here so you can be added to the spreadsheet too


I had a look for a March Outland thread, but couldn't find one for you, admittedly I didn't look very hard, but I do know there is one out there.

 

[judester]

Thank you Kettle!! I'm still trying to grasp all the names of things too haha but is the SA generally the 1st time you'll see anything updated on your CIC account or do they generally show they are processing it, before the SA approval (or not )

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Thank you Kettle!! I'm still trying to grasp all the names of things too haha but is the SA generally the 1st time you'll see anything updated on your CIC account or do they generally show they are processing it, before the SA approval (or not )

Kettle's advice is spot on.

For the record, coming onto a forum like this and saying "I can't be bothered doing my own research, please just tell me the answer" is generally NOT appreciated. None of us are paid to give advice, we just do out out of niceness, but we generally appreciate you trying to help yourself out first. If you'd gone back even one page you'd see numerous references to the London Spreadsheet, and that gives you a pretty clear idea of wait times. In addition, there's an FAQ, again referenced numerous times, and one question on there is "When will I hear something from CIC" or something along those lines. Please use the resources that are made readily available and at least attempt to help yourself before expecting others to do the work for you.

I don't mean this to sound mean or insensitive, but you do need to do a BIT of work yourself first!!

Both the FAQ and Spreadsheet are linked in my signature. Please have a look at those two resources, then come back if you still have questions.

 

[andrew-brit]

Thank you Kettle!! I'm still trying to grasp all the names of things too haha but is the SA generally the 1st time you'll see anything updated on your CIC account or do they generally show they are processing it, before the SA approval (or not )

Welcome to the forum judester,

The processing time for sponsor approval (SA) is currently at 64 days. In reality this means than you will likely receive an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) which is CIC's way of telling you they have your application. You will receive an AOR roughly 64 days from the day they received your application. Your AOR will either be an e-mail or a letter (if it is a letter then it will take longer than 64 days to get to you).

Once you have received your AOR you should receive SA within 2 weeks. Some people wait a couple of days, some wait 2 weeks. While you wait for SA you may be able to check your application status online using the file number in the AOR document. If you cannot then do not panic, some people can only access ECAS after they have received SA.

Finally, would you like to be added the London spreadsheet (linked in my signature)? We use this to track timelines.

If so please provide the following info:

-Date application received in Mississauga
-Whether you applied as Married or Common-Law
-Date of sponsor approval
-Which office is processing Phase 2 of your application (will say on your sponsor approval letter/email)
-Date(s) of any other requests you've had
-Whether or not the principal applicant is non-visa exempt
-Current location of the principal applicant- closest major city is fine if you don't want to be too specific!


Thanks,
Andrew

 

[judester]

I'm very sorry that it came across that way.

I have in fact been checking the spreadsheet daily and looking through the thousands of pages but I guess I started at the beginning rather than closer to the end of the pages. I have also been scouring the CIC pages and pretty much anything I could to the point where I thought I'd ask the forum for help. again, my apologies I'm sorry I didn't state my prior personal research first

 

[judester]

Thank you so much Andrew, I really appreciate that information! It definitely helps to clarify!

As soon as I get any info back I'll definitely send you all my info, this is such a fantastic resource and the spreadsheet is such a valuable tool, I think that it's a great idea and I'd love to be able to contribute to putting people's mind at ease! We all appreciate how stressful the whole thing can be.

Thanks again!

 

[SchnookoLoly]

I'm very sorry that it came across that way.

I have in fact been checking the spreadsheet daily and looking through the thousands of pages but I guess I started at the beginning rather than closer to the end of the pages. I have also been scouring the CIC pages and pretty much anything I could to the point where I thought I'd ask the forum for help. again, my apologies I'm sorry I didn't state my prior personal research first

Your original post asked specifically "when can I expect to hear something"...

Look at the spreadsheet and you'll see the general amount of time it takes from applying to sponsor approval. Right now CIC is quoting 64 days, as Andrew said, so just over 2 months. You can see from the spreadsheet that only 3 people in January have heard, everyone else is still waiting, so as you are a March applicant, you are at LEAST one month away from hearing, if not more.

Please read this section of the FAQ, as it addresses exactly what you are asking: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousal_Sponsorship-Canada/FAQ#While_your_application_is_in_process

 

[andrew-brit]

Thank you so much Andrew, I really appreciate that information! It definitely helps to clarify!

As soon as I get any info back I'll definitely send you all my info, this is such a fantastic resource and the spreadsheet is such a valuable tool, I think that it's a great idea and I'd love to be able to contribute to putting people's mind at ease! We all appreciate how stressful the whole thing can be.

Thanks again!

No problem! You do not need to know everything right now, if you can provide the date your application was received, whether you are married or common law and the principal applicant's location then we can add you right now. Principal applicant is the person who is being sponsored. I assume you are British, if so you are visa exempt.

Once you receive SA you can post here and myself or SchnookoLoly will update the good old spreadsheet.

 

[kettle]

Thank you Kettle!! I'm still trying to grasp all the names of things too haha but is the SA generally the 1st time you'll see anything updated on your CIC account or do they generally show they are processing it, before the SA approval (or not )

uhmmm...

truth be told I couldn't find it prior to my SA because CIC has the other half registered as being born in England instead of Wales for some reason. So when I was looking under his name and his proper country of birth nadda. Also, I had better luck with the UCI number instead of the file number, but I had to add the dash in it. ****-**** instead of the eight digit number without a dash CIC references.


You should provide Andrewbrit with your details so you can be added to the spreadsheet. Its a great way to redeem yourself (teasing)

 

[kettle]

2015 March Outland Thread

Judester I found the 2015 March Outland Thread

There should be a spreadsheet linked in it somewhere. (ETA I looked there definitely is) and theres also an information bulletin on the acronyms being slung around. (I know they can be and still are overwhelming)
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t273028.0.html


It looks like no one has heard anything as of yet. I like to stalk threads +/- a month or two of my application date to see if I can have an idea of how things are moving. Not creepy stalk, but you know read and see whats shaking 8)