Waiting for answer from office in Seoul

[dlee31]

I've been reading some of the posts here and it seems like a lot of the people who applied for a spouse sponsorship/visa at the Seoul office in November 2009 have gotten the OK already. They started processing my file on December 1, 2009 and no answer yet, so I am getting kind of worried.

I am a Korean citizen. My husband (Canadian) and I got married in Korea last August after dating for 3 and a half years. We spent the last couple of years of our relationship going back and forth between Canada and Korea to see each other. We decided to get married over the phone and did not feel the need to have a giant ceremony in Korea because we wanted to have a party when we got back to Canada (his family is much, much larger and closely-knit than mine). In the application we did send in almost four years' worth of photographs, pictures from our small wedding party in Korea (my family did not attend), and other photos we took to commemorate the marriage.

I know a lot of the people who get denied do so on grounds of the relationship not seeming "genuine" to the visa office people. My biggest worry right now is that our case will seem the same to someone who doesn't know us and doesn't know what we've been through. We're both extremely no-nonsense and laid back, hence the no-fuss marriage deal. I figured our lifestyle and values might seem strange to whoever's going over our file, but, at the same time, I thought it would be best to be straighforward and honest on the application. Now I'm not so sure.

Could the fact that our file is taking longer than expected mean the visa people are having doubts?

What are some other factors that might delay a decision?

I speak English, I'm a registered nurse (grad nurse in Alberta), and I have no criminal record.

Another thing I'm worried about:
I applied for a visitor's visa extension while in Canada last February because I had to finish a nursing refresher-type program to get grad nurse status. The school had told me that a lot of people take this program on a visitor's visa because it's only 4 months long and there is no certification, diploma, or degree involved. I was also advised by an immigrations officer at the airport in Calgary to apply for an extension rather than going through the hassle of obtaining a student visa. In May I got a letter saying my application was denied because the immigrations office felt the nursing program I was enrolled in counted as "going to school without a student visa" and I was told to "leave the country immediately" to which I complied (my program was finished by then). I explained all this honestly and in detail on the PR application, so maybe they're looking into that?

So frustrating, just sitting here waiting and not knowing what's going on

 

[MidniteMarv]

dlee 안녕하세요?

I was just wondering, did you submit your application outland in Korea? I wouldn't panic just yet; I'm guessing that may not have just gotten to your application. 화이팅!

 

[fruittropics]

Hi dlee31

Did you get married before or after the incident where you were denied and had to leave?
Also you mentioned your application started processing dec1?
Have you gotten past the CPCMississauga part? Or rather have you gotten the Sponsorship approval and you're waiting for response to your PR application from Seoul Office?

If you have gotten the sponsorship approved I wouldn't worry as much because that part mainly determines genuineness of your relationship. That's the stage where they scrutinize your evidence. This is then followed with an interview by the Seoul office if they're not satisfied and think it's a marriage of convenience. It seems like it's been quite a while since you got any news, I doubt you'll be asked for an interview now.

Hang in there. No news is a good sign. Because if they require any interview or additional documents they would request for it at the early stage of your application (about 1-3 months into your PR processing).

 

[dlee31]

MidniteMarv:

We applied from Korea and the package is at the Seoul office now.


fruittropics:

I was asked to leave Canada May, 2009 so I came back to Korea. We decided to get married that July. My then-fiance came to Korea in August, we got married August 25th, and sent in our initial application (sponsorship application + PR application) to CPC Mississauga in early November.

We got the sponsorship approved November 23, and the application was sent to the Seoul office. We checked online that they began processing it December 1, and as of last week it is still "in process".


Thank you both for your kind words and wishes and best of luck to you, too I'm hoping the people at the office are just slow and not doubtful of our relationship. Fingers crossed!