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US outland applicants' thread :)

saintsim1

Star Member
Nov 19, 2012
90
1
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-10-2013
Doc's Request.
04-16-2014
AOR Received.
10-29-2013
File Transfer...
10-29-2013
Med's Done....
08-01-2013
VISA ISSUED...
05-21-2014
LANDED..........
........
Zarilenth said:
I'm not sure if they work on the weekends or not but my ECAS has updated on Sunday too..
That's great! Congrats!
 

rhcohen2014

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2014
4,935
185
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
March 17, 2014
Doc's Request.
April 11, 2014
AOR Received.
May 8, 2014
File Transfer...
May 9, 2014
Med's Request
upfront
Med's Done....
Nov 15, 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
July 15, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
July 25, 2014/ received August 1, 2014
LANDED..........
August 29, 2014
ACKSteve said:
Hey!

Is anyone else here a January 2014 applicant? I'm on month 6 right now and was wondering if anyone has heard anything from Ottawa. All we have received is sponsorship approval and nothing else. My ecas says ' application received'. Are we missing out on anything or does this seem normal??
you are not missing anything, this is pretty normal. it seems the average processing is 8-10 months, with a majority of it in silence. my suggestion is to find the january applicant thread to track the progress. you can always order a sent of your GCSM notes to see if any movement has been made on your file. right now it seems that september - december applicants are getting their ppr and copr. so i'm sure you'll be hearing from them soon enough!
 

ACKSteve

Member
Apr 23, 2014
10
0
rhcohen2014 said:
you are not missing anything, this is pretty normal. it seems the average processing is 8-10 months, with a majority of it in silence. my suggestion is to find the january applicant thread to track the progress. you can always order a sent of your GCSM notes to see if any movement has been made on your file. right now it seems that september - december applicants are getting their ppr and copr. so i'm sure you'll be hearing from them soon enough!
What exactly are these notes you speech of? Do they hurt the progress of your application if you order them? Is there any useful info in them?
 

rhcohen2014

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2014
4,935
185
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
March 17, 2014
Doc's Request.
April 11, 2014
AOR Received.
May 8, 2014
File Transfer...
May 9, 2014
Med's Request
upfront
Med's Done....
Nov 15, 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
July 15, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
July 25, 2014/ received August 1, 2014
LANDED..........
August 29, 2014
ACKSteve said:
What exactly are these notes you speech of? Do they hurt the progress of your application if you order them? Is there any useful info in them?
GCMS are the case notes for your file. if they are ordered electronically, they do not have any effect on the process. if you order them by mail, it will effect your application negatively. they may or may not provide insight. every case, application, and officer are different. it may tell you if your file's been picked up for review yet, what movement there has been, and what concerns an officer has. there are many threads on this forum about them. user828 has a video in his signature about ordering them. it is free for those in canada, and $5 for those not in canada.
 

computergeek

VIP Member
Jan 31, 2012
5,143
278
124
Vancouver BC
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O/LA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
AOR Received.
21-06-2012
File Transfer...
21-6-2012
Med's Done....
11-02-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
26-09-2012
VISA ISSUED...
10-10-2012
LANDED..........
13-10-2012
rhcohen2014 said:
GCMS are the case notes for your file. if they are ordered electronically, they do not have any effect on the process. if you order them by mail, it will effect your application negatively. they may or may not provide insight. every case, application, and officer are different. it may tell you if your file's been picked up for review yet, what movement there has been, and what concerns an officer has. there are many threads on this forum about them. user828 has a video in his signature about ordering them. it is free for those in canada, and $5 for those not in canada.
Actually, whether you order the notes by mail or electronically does not impact the processing. If you request a physical copy of your file it can have a negative impact. Generally, the time to request a physical copy (rather than an electronic copy) is when there's already a scheduled deadline (like an interview date or a fairness letter) or it's been refused. The electronic notes will summarize the status of the application sufficient in most cases, but sometimes the physical file copy can show you things the officers write on the documents themselves that don't show up in the electronic case notes.

To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf.

If one requests information about someone other than themself, it is an "access to information" request and there is indeed a $5 fee.
If one requests information about themself it is a "privacy act" request and there is no fee.
 

rhcohen2014

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2014
4,935
185
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
March 17, 2014
Doc's Request.
April 11, 2014
AOR Received.
May 8, 2014
File Transfer...
May 9, 2014
Med's Request
upfront
Med's Done....
Nov 15, 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
July 15, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
July 25, 2014/ received August 1, 2014
LANDED..........
August 29, 2014
computergeek said:
To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf.
so just to clarify, if i am in canada as a visitor, i can order my case notes for free and do not need to have a canadian order them for me?
 

ACKSteve

Member
Apr 23, 2014
10
0
kateee said:
Amazing!!! Congrats! I just sent them an email with my new passport and notification that we will be moving in the next month... Hopefully I'll have the same luck as you!!
May I ask what email address you sent this request too??
 

crawf307

Star Member
Jan 14, 2014
58
1
Connecticut USA
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
6-12-2013
Doc's Request.
27-5-2014
AOR Received.
3-1-2014
Med's Done....
8-11-2013
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
Waived Decision Made: 30-6-2014
VISA ISSUED...
05-07-2014
LANDED..........
30-08-2014
rhcohen2014 said:
so just to clarify, if i am in canada as a visitor, i can order my case notes for free and do not need to have a canadian order them for me?
I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.
 

rhcohen2014

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2014
4,935
185
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
March 17, 2014
Doc's Request.
April 11, 2014
AOR Received.
May 8, 2014
File Transfer...
May 9, 2014
Med's Request
upfront
Med's Done....
Nov 15, 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
July 15, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
July 25, 2014/ received August 1, 2014
LANDED..........
August 29, 2014
crawf307 said:
I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.
if a canadian citizen is ordering them, then it's free, so why would he need his credit card?

so if I am in Canada as a visitor, do i need to have my husband order them with my consent, or can i do it myself? i am referring to computer geek's response "To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf."
 

katester

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2012
231
3
124
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottowa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
August 12, 2013
Doc's Request.
March 4 & April 9, 2014
File Transfer...
September 12, 2013
Med's Done....
June 4, 2013 extended until May1, 2015!!!
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
June 6,2014!!
LANDED..........
April 2,2015
crawf307 said:
I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.
Yea I'm confused also. My husband is a Canadian citizen and he put his Canadian address and everything but we still had to pay??? I mean it's $5 that's nothing compared to everything's we've already paid. By why did he have to pay if for Citizens it's free?
 

Zarilenth

Hero Member
Oct 18, 2013
884
21
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
27-01-2014
File Transfer...
07-03-2014
Med's Done....
01-04-2014
VISA ISSUED...
23-06-2014; COPR received 27-06-2014
LANDED..........
30-07-2014
katester said:
Yea I'm confused also. My husband is a Canadian citizen and he put his Canadian address and everything but we still had to pay??? I mean it's $5 that's nothing compared to everything's we've already paid. By why did he have to pay if for Citizens it's free?
Because he was ordering on your behalf, and you do not have a Canadian address. If he just ordered for himself it would be free but he'd only get info about his sponsorship, not your application.

And Rhcohen, I dont' think you can if you're just visiting. You have to show proof of residence, which you do not have. But I could be wrong.
 

rhcohen2014

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2014
4,935
185
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
March 17, 2014
Doc's Request.
April 11, 2014
AOR Received.
May 8, 2014
File Transfer...
May 9, 2014
Med's Request
upfront
Med's Done....
Nov 15, 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
July 15, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
July 25, 2014/ received August 1, 2014
LANDED..........
August 29, 2014
Zarilenth said:
Because he was ordering on your behalf, and you do not have a Canadian address. If he just ordered for himself it would be free but he'd only get info about his sponsorship, not your application.

And Rhcohen, I dont' think you can if you're just visiting. You have to show proof of residence, which you do not have. But I could be wrong.
ok, that makes sense. thanks!
 

TanyaVV

Full Member
Feb 26, 2014
27
0
I'm very confused, someone please explain if you know what that means:

Just checked eCas and it says "Application for Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Worker submitted to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) Sydney, Nova Scotia"

Ummm...i applied as a Family Class Sponsorship applicant for permanent residency as my husband is Canadian. I never applied for a Federal Skilled Worker... I mean, i do have business degree from a University but i don't think i qualify for a Federal Skilled Worker criteria (30 or so professions...). Should I contact them somehow to clarify? IS there a way to clarify it? I dont want my app rejected at the end of the day as i am pregnant and going to have a baby at end of October and gestimating that i shoud Dhave my residency approved at around christmas/new year time based on a 8-10 mth wait. SOMEONE PLEASE CLARIFY AS ITS STRESSING ME OUT!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 

TanyaVV

Full Member
Feb 26, 2014
27
0
TanyaVV said:
I'm very confused, someone please explain if you know what that means:

Just checked eCas and it says "Application for Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Worker submitted to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) Sydney, Nova Scotia"

Ummm...i applied as a Family Class Sponsorship applicant for permanent residency as my husband is Canadian. I never applied for a Federal Skilled Worker... I mean, i do have business degree from a University but i don't think i qualify for a Federal Skilled Worker criteria (30 or so professions...). Should I contact them somehow to clarify? IS there a way to clarify it? I dont want my app rejected at the end of the day as i am pregnant and going to have a baby at end of October and gestimating that i shoud Dhave my residency approved at around christmas/new year time based on a 8-10 mth wait. SOMEONE PLEASE CLARIFY AS ITS STRESSING ME OUT!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
So, my hubby just got off the phone with call center and the lady said it's a mistake and she has absolutely no idea why it went to Nova Scotia FSW center as we are married and applying thru Family Sponsorship. She will provide me with Nova Scotia office email so i can email them with inquiry and ask why it was sent to them and that they need to send it back to Ottawa asap.

I guess it's a good thing so far.....just a pain in the a$$ to deal with... grrrrrr
 

computergeek

VIP Member
Jan 31, 2012
5,143
278
124
Vancouver BC
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O/LA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
AOR Received.
21-06-2012
File Transfer...
21-6-2012
Med's Done....
11-02-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
26-09-2012
VISA ISSUED...
10-10-2012
LANDED..........
13-10-2012
TanyaVV said:
So, my hubby just got off the phone with call center and the lady said it's a mistake and she has absolutely no idea why it went to Nova Scotia FSW center as we are married and applying thru Family Sponsorship. She will provide me with Nova Scotia office email so i can email them with inquiry and ask why it was sent to them and that they need to send it back to Ottawa asap.

I guess it's a good thing so far.....just a pain in the a$$ to deal with... grrrrrr
They will figure it out.

Now according to their own rules, you shouldn't be penalized (they are supposed to work in order of original receipt, not receipt by the office) but from what I can tell, they actually do it by date of receipt by the office.

Sorry they screwed it up. :(