Hi Everyone,
I'm well into this process, but avoided this forum for many, many months since i wasn't sure what made me more depressed: hearing cases of people waiting for years on end, or hearing cases (mostly from china or india!) who get their visas usually in matter of a couple of months.....
Saw this Vienna thread, and figured I can contribute....
To bring you up to speed:
(I'm Canadian citizen, husband Serbian citizen)
Going through an "Out of Canada" Application - both my husband and I are in Serbia at the moment as we couldn't be separated anymore....
Feb 16, 2010 - Application Rec'd CPC-Mississauga
March 10, 2010 - Decision Made, file transferred to Vienna
March 31, 2010 - Vienna starts working on my hubby's file. NEVER GOT ANY LETTERS FORM THEM - only found out the in process when i logged on to CIC.GC.CA to check
April 13, 2010 - Request for additional info: Hubby got request to fill out a form regarding his military service (Military table)
Sept 22, 2010 - Request for additional information: Certified English translation of your military booklet.
Dec 8, 2010 - Request for additional information - Original military booklet.
(I mean f**kers! they couldn't ask for everything in april and saved me 9 months of this s**t?!?!?!?!)
Since then nothing.... i called Vienna a few times and every time got different information even though every time i spoke to the same person (Her name is Hanna)! First time she told me that our file will take approximately 12-18 months. Then a few months later they told me that only my husband's portion will take approx 12-18 months. While today i found out that specifically the background check by CSIS will take approx 12-18 months, and received the information that they forwarded our case to CSIS in July, 2010 - meaning that we're in months 13. She said that everyone who was involved in the military ESPECIALLY during the crucial time of war in the ex-yugoslavia is a subject to verification in the background checks. That lasts 12-18 months.
Serdj977 advised me to ask for CAIPS notes, so I will be doing that this week. I only hope I can pay by VISA as (since i'm not in Canada) I cannot get a draft nor certified check... I can't exactly pop into TD Canada Trust.... Anyone has experience with paying for CAIPS via VISA?
Other than that, i have no idea what to do with myself but stress. Currently in talks with an attorney who guarantees me that she can finish all this for us "fairly quickly" and even though everyone on this site is advising me not to bother, man i'm desperate!