VIENNA OFFICE

[nada3]

Nada,

Aaaaany and all help is always welcome! To me and anyone else on here who reads our responses.
You are definitely right, maybe my lawyers are being a bit more rigorous because i need an ARC too (long story) but the problem was that one assistant told me to do one thing, then another told me to do the total opposite. So i found it best to ask all you guys here =D
That has always helped me before!

Angie

Hi Angie,
I know, it help me too , and I understand your frustration... just do it from your heart. Short or long, it just has to be genuine.
Good luck

 

[Avissa]

(JUST A JOKE)

I think the reason why it's taking so long for them to process our case is that they are all busy looking at all our pictures. Just imagine them all sitting around the table and looking at the pictures and saying " ahhhhh so cute!"

 

[Cbn Cdn]

Ah! Someone else who has to deal with the ARC too (not that i'm thrilled that we do but alas... updates are always welcome). I'm waiting to see what that's gonna look like when the time comes for it. Do you have any idea when they request it? When should the ARC be filed? During the wait period after we apply for sponsorship or toward the end? (I'm passport exempt so i won't get a 'passport request'. Just an answer.) As far as I've seen, people with failed refugee statuses who also needed ARC's got them granted. Hope that info helps a bit.

Angie

Hi Angie.

How are you?

Do you need to apply for ARC? If yes, your Visa office will ask for it. It includes a letter (you need to check their website and see if they will request this letter), + ARC fee (CAD$400). You should be close to the end as soon you get an Email or mail asking for it.

After ARC is approved, they will request your passport to issue a travel visa (In your case, the VO will send an Email showing your application approval).

I had applied in the past for the Canadian refugee system as well, but it was denied.

The end is near..!!

 

[messenger]

Evening all!

Firs off - Tom, CONGRATS!!! Wish you and your wife a wonderful and blessed life together with your little bundle of joy too!!!

Second - I've been going on a mean streak with a NEW legal assistant to my lawyer... (three so far...) and this one now wants me to redo all my (300+) pictures, by putting them two at a time onto a Word document with a label under each one. I wanted to fling fat little kittens with razor sharp claws and teeth at her AND my old assistant.
Breathe in.... breathe out....
So, is she right? Do i really need to do this? I just read elsewhere on the forum that this is legit, and what CIC prefers now is pictures on word docs. This is insane. Is this true?

Also, the assistant accused us that only ONE of us wrote both our 7+ page long spouse letters. My husband wanted to murder bunnies when he heard that (no animals were harmed. really.) The assistant stated that the letters are like novels and too 'flowery'. Clearly this lady has no idea how horribly sarcastic my husband and I can be and how (insanely) vividly literate we are. So yes, the old assistant asked for a novel - he got one. FELLOW BRETHREN - what is your opinion? Should i shorten my Harry Potter-esque novel of a letter (husband too) or keep them as they are? They are definitely in our own words and yes, mine may sound a bit like a novel but it's not flowery. It's brutally honest actually.

Please help =(
I've been pretty depressed all weekend because of this, no matter how upbeat i sound (gotta stay positive).

(what in the world is up with the 15 month wait time for Vienna? That's awful ??? )

Angie

Hi b4roness thank you so much for your warm wishes

Tell your assistants to cool down and try not to guide you into long roads. Why do you need to send in 300+ photos in the first place? Spaska and I applied as Common Law and we just sent in no more than 120 photos lay'ed out in a Word document 3 per page with a caption to the right (look at a screen grab of mine) REMEMBER that you must refer to your selves on a third person basis describing where the photo was taken and who are the people in it! I started ours with the oldest photos of 5 years ago in a timeline format and the last page had the most recent ones. 40 pages in total!

Also writing your story as an essay is also alright and don't let them tell you otherwise. We only wrote one (from Spaska's point of view) and it was 8 pages long. After all we had five years to justify!

Don't be depressed dear. Just do this and you will be A1 ok!

Tom

 

[messenger]

Dear Tom.

Our application is still IN PROCESS. Two weeks ago we sent our last (we hope so) documents they requested. It is good to know that Rome is working fast, but our application had an extra step (Authorization to Return to Canada). My wife and I are very optimistic about it.

She is missing home

Yes, we are in Crete still, trying to enjoy our stay here. Living in Greece without a job (way of income) it is a challenge, but I think we are doing well

Regards,

William and Afrodite

Hi William

Afrodite and you will be back home soon. Being unemployed in Crete is not that bad. People there have great souls and pride. After all the nature is so plentiful there! Rome will fix you and get you going in a jiffy! Having Rome as your VO at least it makes you feel better even if the process takes a little longer. They at least correspond with you and you get to feel that you are not ignored!
If you have Skype send it to me over a PM so we can chat sometimes. After all we live in the same country! I can tell you stories about my experiences in your beautiful country Colombia!

Regards

Tom

 

[b4roness]

Hi b4roness thank you so much for your warm wishes

Tell your assistants to cool down and try not to guide you into long roads. Why do you need to send in 300+ photos in the first place? Spaska and I applied as Common Law and we just sent in no more than 120 photos lay'ed out in a Word document 3 per page with a caption to the right (look at a screen grab of mine) REMEMBER that you must refer to your selves on a third person basis describing where the photo was taken and who are the people in it! I started ours with the oldest photos of 5 years ago in a timeline format and the last page had the most recent ones. 40 pages in total!

Also writing your story as an essay is also alright and don't let them tell you otherwise. We only wrote one (from Spaska's point of view) and it was 8 pages long. After all we had five years to justify!

Don't be depressed dear. Just do this and you will be A1 ok!

Tom

Tom, this helped a lot!!!
It will definitely help, and save a lot of time and money, by putting the pictures 3 at a time. Originally, i had put in the back of my regular pictures as 'first person' p.o.v. for the quotes. Good to know that it can be put as 3rd person because that makes it a lot easier to label.
I'll get started on that right away, and cut out as many pictures as i can that may seem repetitive.
Plan on sending this all out tomorrow to the lawyer so we can FINALLY file!!!
(and yes, they need to calm down and collaborate better...) =)

Angie

 

[sponsor2012]

Tom, this helped a lot!!!
It will definitely help, and save a lot of time and money, by putting the pictures 3 at a time. Originally, i had put in the back of my regular pictures as 'first person' p.o.v. for the quotes. Good to know that it can be put as 3rd person because that makes it a lot easier to label.
I'll get started on that right away, and cut out as many pictures as i can that may seem repetitive.
Plan on sending this all out tomorrow to the lawyer so we can FINALLY file!!!
(and yes, they need to calm down and collaborate better...) =)

Angie

Hi Angie

I'll explain shortly what we sent Vienna about our relationship. You need to explain development of your relationship from the begging to the present. We wrote how did we meet each other, how and when did we meet our friends. If you have pictures with your and your spouse's friends you could show them and explain where did you take them and who is on the pictures. ex. From left to right and write the names of people on the pictures. My husband and I were on some weddings of his friends. We included those pictures. My cousin's daughter visited us in Canada so we provided Vienna pictures with her. Holidays with families such as Christmas, Halloween with pumpkins ,everything you could remember you can include. As a proof we included gifts bills from his family, me, him.

If you have some questions feel free to ask me I'll try to help you as much as I can.

 

[messenger]

Tom, this helped a lot!!!
It will definitely help, and save a lot of time and money, by putting the pictures 3 at a time. Originally, i had put in the back of my regular pictures as 'first person' p.o.v. for the quotes. Good to know that it can be put as 3rd person because that makes it a lot easier to label.
I'll get started on that right away, and cut out as many pictures as i can that may seem repetitive.
Plan on sending this all out tomorrow to the lawyer so we can FINALLY file!!!
(and yes, they need to calm down and collaborate better...) =)

Angie

Angie hi, Don't remember if had asked you before, but why did you chose to hire lawyers?

Tom

 

[messenger]

Europe where are you my friend! We miss you here!


Tomorrow is Monday. Not just any Monday but another Monday full of hopes about Vienna. Let's see!

Tom

 

[b4roness]

Angie hi, Don't remember if had asked you before, but why did you chose to hire lawyers?

Tom

Yup, you did =)
Long story short, at the end of Dec. 2012 i was denied refugee status. I went to seek legal advice to see if i can go to federal court and appeal because the judge was horrific, etc. About the time i was going to go sign with my lawyer, i broke my wrist bad and then i REALLY needed legal help. To renew my work permit, etc (all that month that i broke my wrist). I just couldn't get a thing done on my own (there's a lot more to this story, got screwed over by a false lawyer once). Was a pretty bad year... Now we are going via Sponsorship but more than 2 and a half years after we've met and almost a year and a half after we've been married (married May 4, 2012, about 10+ months after my refugee hearing). I just found out with some help from Cbn that i may NOT need an ARC! But you never know. We shall see.

Angie

 

[Canhun]

OMG, 15 months! There is totally something wrong with this system and with Vienna.
I'm not exactly sure, but your husband being Hungarian, did he serve in the military? I know some cases that waited this long with Vienna because they had to do background checks that lasted 10-12 months for the military stage.

Hi Avadava,

My hubby isn't military, but he has worked for the Hungarian foreign service as a diplomat in Sweden and Canada. I am suspicious that this is the reason for our waiting we were warned by other diplomats who married Canadians that the system try's to set an example because it's not encouraged. I doubt I will ever truly know though...

 

[Canhun]

Oohhh no!!!!! Poor thing 15 months is a crap!!!! any ideas why they asked for GCMS info? He is visa exempt though , he could stay with you for 6 months if he has no job here.
Welcome to our thread dear!
I will go mad if they make me wait for that long though

Hi Hungary,

Thanks yes he could come here, and it may come down to that! I ordered our CIC file through the access to information act which gave me the GCMS notes since Vienna rarely answers an email.

 

[Canhun]

Hi Canhun,
I am too from last year, but a little bit shorter time (Sept. application, arrived in Vienna in Nov). This really sucks, has Vienna forgotten about us???
As far as I know, the last info received was we are pending background checks. Hope you will hear something soon. Just keep positive.

Hi Nada & Newpal,

I too received the same response from them in early spring that background verification was under way and since it involved third parties, they have no control over how long it takes.

 

[Hungary]

Hi

Angie, I already told you, my novel was long as well, it was 9 pages as I remember, but please don't panic, I think
you should do it as you feel like!
Photos, we had around 100 and Julius printed details on the back, place and date and names. Nothing special.
Oh but you guys made me worried, or mad at myself that I never thought about LETTERS from friends and family...
I am afraid sometimes, because we didn't have a huge wedding ceremony with white dress and whatever.... and my Mom and Grandma (I don't have a huge family, so I ) couldn't come to Canada, plus Julius has a tiny family with 5 members, and 2 of them didn't come (long story). But anyways, I wish I've found this forum before we applied... They'll do what they want to, eventually...

 

[Canhun]

Hi Angie,

Our letter was short and to the point, but contained a lot of detail. We submitted less than 100 photos tagged with people's names and a one liner description. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Our lawyer said it's better to be brief and to the point and not to give any "unnecessary information".
When I ordered our case file notes, I see that our relationship passed eligibility very early on even though they didn't notify us of this. It was actually kind of weird reading a caseworkers description of our relationship.