visa offices that are very slowwwwwww

[mr-canada]

Hello everybody......

i thought of starting a new thread for those applicants who are going thru visa offices that are very slowwwww.
i know of 1-2 of such offices - nairobi, abu dhabi, accra, hong kong, islamabad etc...

it would be nice to have each other for updates and also to see if and what can be done about this. it is totally frustrating to hold our lives for soo long specially when we can see on different forums that other visa processing offices are processing applications much much faster than these...... definitely there is no difference in the process of the applications other than the way they are handled by the people in the different visa processing offices.... which is not really fair...... coz they are dealing with human beings whose lives are on HOLD which is not fair ...... specially for as long as 1 year or more.....

so lets get to know whats happening at these SLOW VISA PROCESSING OFFICES ........ and share our experiences, anxieties, issues, problems and most importantly i worries ... about our lives ......

hope this thread is helpful........

regards

 

[gillespiedc]

We live in mainland China, and when I saw that Beijing handled 20% of their cases in 2 months (for PR) I got all excited... then I read on.... Since we live in Guangdong province our case would be handled by Hong Kong. Their fasted turn-around according to the site is 8 months! Just try and call them to find out why... what you will get is a recorded message saying that for provacy reasons they will not talk on the phone or through email. You may fax or post a letter and they will respond within 60 days....

I think we will take our chances inland and leave the HK office as a last resort.

 

[Munnimehek]

Hi,

I found SINGAPORE visa office is very slow now a days. We have sent the full doc to them on 03/02/2010 & from 09/02/2010 status showing "Received by visa office"

 

[mahmed17]

Well I think Islamabad is VERY SLOW..and when you send them documents they won't even say if they received them, they don't update ecas until you have your passport back or have landed. It's just sad their average time right now is 9 months but most cases I have seen on the forums are being finalized in 10-14 months which just makes you mad! Anyways they say the reason is there are a lot of applicants and not enough staff but last year they were actually a lot faster than they are now. ???

 

[SadGirl:(]

London

They're the worst! They give you no information whatsoever. You cannot even get in contact with anyone over there. They approve the cases they want to approve and they hold back the cases that they want to hold back. In my opinion, the London office does nothing more than practice political racism! I am very angry and frustrated with the London visa office that it has been nearly two years and there is still no information on what is going on with my husband's application.

 

[bobshynoswife]

We are just starting our journey through the wonderous office of Accra, where 14-18 months procesing is the norm! Truthfully, I am glad we know the office is slow, as opposed to Sadgirl who has been hung up at a supposedly 'fast' office for 2 years.

Our target is that my husband lands before Christmas 2011, and anything earlier than that would be a wonderful surprise!

We've been apart for 2 years, and we figure, hey, what's 18 more months? Nothing will change execpt I may have a few grey hairs and a couple wrinkles (due to this process!) We are excited to start a family, but I am using the time to lose some weight and have a healthier lifestyle, and he is using his time away to study, and write a book

Thankfully we are able to talk for about 2 hours each day, which makes missing each other easier.

Good luck to all the others here!

 

[Siouxie]

London

They're the worst! They give you no information whatsoever. You cannot even get in contact with anyone over there. They approve the cases they want to approve and they hold back the cases that they want to hold back. In my opinion, the London office does nothing more than practice political racism! I am very angry and frustrated with the London visa office that it has been nearly two years and there is still no information on what is going on with my husband's application.

You could send them an email ... re-london-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca - if you put your husband's name and file number (B*******) in the subject line and then put down his name, birthdate, file number, address and then yours... then ask them for an update / ask a question ... they normally reply within 3 days.

I know what you mean about London though, sigh.... in my dependant son's case, they took 5 years to do what they say they will do in 6 months.

 

[FamilyMan]

Hi All,

My wife's application is going through the Rabat office and from the various blogs, I have heard horror stories but I just pray that mine goes smoothly.

My main concern about all of these Canadian embassies is the lack of transparency in the process. When they cite "privacy" concerns, I start scratching my head because only my wife and I would be interested in "our" sponsorship case and they have several ways of confirming our identities. So unfortunately I don’t buy the "protecting privacy" argument.

As a Canadian Citizen, I pay Federal Taxes and when I hear time and again how our tax money is being wasted and squandered, it's no wonder the embassies complain that they don’t have the resources. Channel some of the wasted money to embassies so they can increase efficiency.

Bottom line is, it's not the wait time that annoys me, it's the fact that we wait and wait and there are no answers to why we are waiting.

When I sit at the doctor’s office waiting for my appointment, the slow disappearance of familiar faces and the appearance of new faces gives me hope that my file is what the doctor will call next even though at times this may take over an hour...so I wait patiently because I see progress before my eyes and that gives me some satisfaction.

With these embassies – no matter what you do to get information – you get a standard reply that doesn’t tell you much.

I sincerely hope that the government comes to a realization that people have loved ones overseas and they want to be with them as soon as possible and that they really need to look to improving the highly inefficient way that the current immigration system operates.

 

[confusednscared]

Port of Spain - Trinidad and Tobago .... application was in process since August 2009 ... so far, NOTHING except that my file is in queue for a scheduled interview.

Oh wait, and all the other standard messages they send regarding IMM inquiries. How pathetic of these offices to put a hold on our lives from reuniting with our loved ones for so long.

I think there needs to be a standard processing time set by the Government of Canada to relocate families equally. Therefore, equal amount of staff at each Visa Office to process applications equally.

It really bothers me that you sit at home each day hoping that this will be the day I get a letter in the mail or see an update on e-CAS saying something about the application. Unfortunate for most of us though