Applicant from PhD program after 5 Nov, 2011 connect here to get status

[TyrusX]

OK, that is what AOR means (thanks). I thought that was when they acknowledged that they were working on your particular application and not that they have just received it from the CIO and put you in their system. Everything is a bit clearer now. I think your timescale predictions for Buffalo sound about right. You never know though, the speed we have advanced compared to all of the people that applied back in 2010-2011 through FSW is promising.

Yep. I'm a bit curious if they really intended us all to send our applications to Buffalo, even though it seems clear in the regulations, I suspect they weren't prepared for that.

[Brit_Immigrant]

Yep. I'm a bit curious if they really intended us all to send our applications to Buffalo, even though it seems clear in the regulations, I suspect they weren't prepared for that.

I was thinking of sending it to the LVO but the initial wait looked very similar and I thought that it would be easier to deal with correspondence in North America as I live here and don't want to have to make overseas calls, quicker postal service etc. May have been a mistake now. I guess when Buffalo gets all the changes aligned, they will have a larger staff force than the other VO's and the wait time may drop. There are probably quite a few teething issues with all of the changes.

[informer2000]

Hi All,

I'm applying for PhD stream and I have a few questions related to the forms which I hope some of you can help me with.

1. I'm currently doing an internship outside of Canada for a few months and returning afterwards. Can I mention Canada as the country of residence? And what should the "to" date field have?

2. I visited the US by bus for a couple of days to renew my Canadian visa. But on my way back, the officers at the border did not stamp my passport with an entry date. I'm wondering if I should include that as my last entry to Canada in question 11 of the IMM0008 form!

3. I understand that we can claim the 5 points for adaptability. In the Schedule-3 form, question 7 is as about whether I "previously completed a program of full-time study of at least two years at a Canadian post secondary institution". I did not earn any degrees in Canada. Should I answer "no" to that? If so, how can I claim the 5 points?

4. In question 10 of the Schedule-3 form, should (settlement funds = the assets - liabilities)? I entered my bank account balance for the settlement funds and I was wondering if I should place it as assets as well.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

[ejamal]

I thought you guys would be interested in that piece of information, shared by a user on trackitt, recently. He is an FSW applicant who applied in Nov 2011 and got his PER in Jan.
The source: trackitt.com/canada-discussion-forums/federal-skilled-workers/953442229/2011-2012-fsw-applicants 

I sent an online inquiry to the Buffalo VO to see when I should be expecting an acknowledgment letter from them since it had been over 2 mths since CIC sent them my application. This is what they said:

"The creation of permanent resident applications in our database along with the mailing of the acknowledgement of receipt letter is taking a minium of 30 weeks.

Any application submitted without the required documents and information will be returned to the applicant."

Looks like there is a pretty decent backlog.

[TyrusX]

I thought you guys would be interested in that piece of information, shared by a user on trackitt, recently. He is an FSW applicant who applied in Nov 2011 and got his PER in Jan.
The source: trackitt.com/canada-discussion-forums/federal-skilled-workers/953442229/2011-2012-fsw-applicants 

Bah. Seven Months. That is too much.

[kg.jadu]

1. I'm currently doing an internship outside of Canada for a few months and returning afterwards. Can I mention Canada as the country of residence? And what should the "to" date field have?

2. I visited the US by bus for a couple of days to renew my Canadian visa. But on my way back, the officers at the border did not stamp my passport with an entry date. I'm wondering if I should include that as my last entry to Canada in question 11 of the IMM0008 form!

3. I understand that we can claim the 5 points for adaptability. In the Schedule-3 form, question 7 is as about whether I "previously completed a program of full-time study of at least two years at a Canadian post secondary institution". I did not earn any degrees in Canada. Should I answer "no" to that? If so, how can I claim the 5 points?

4. In question 10 of the Schedule-3 form, should (settlement funds = the assets - liabilities)? I entered my bank account balance for the settlement funds and I was wondering if I should place it as assets as well.

1. Yes, if you're returning to Canada to finish your studies, you are a Canadian resident. State the end of your studies as the "To" date;
2. Yes, because this is the most recent date you entered Canada. Stamps do not matter;
3. Answer "yes";
4. Ideally, these should be your assets - liabilities. But the figure you enter in the application form need to be supported by the papers you include with your application. If you print out the statement of your credit card, subtract the debt from your total savings.

Hope that helps.

[GeoCanadian]

Hi All,

I'm applying for PhD stream and I have a few questions related to the forms which I hope some of you can help me with.

1. I'm currently doing an internship outside of Canada for a few months and returning afterwards. Can I mention Canada as the country of residence? And what should the "to" date field have?

2. I visited the US by bus for a couple of days to renew my Canadian visa. But on my way back, the officers at the border did not stamp my passport with an entry date. I'm wondering if I should include that as my last entry to Canada in question 11 of the IMM0008 form!

3. I understand that we can claim the 5 points for adaptability. In the Schedule-3 form, question 7 is as about whether I "previously completed a program of full-time study of at least two years at a Canadian post secondary institution". I did not earn any degrees in Canada. Should I answer "no" to that? If so, how can I claim the 5 points?

4. In question 10 of the Schedule-3 form, should (settlement funds = the assets - liabilities)? I entered my bank account balance for the settlement funds and I was wondering if I should place it as assets as well.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Hi there...

First three questions were answered by kg.jadu well. Regarding your 4th question - if you have sufficient liquid funds saved up sitting in an account, just get an official bank letter certifying the amount of money in your (savings) account and don't worry about anything else. Those savings will count as your Net Worth and as money available as your settlement funds.

If you do not have enough cash saved up to satisfy the settlement fund requirment, then you need to present a formal appraisal of real estate and/or other assets you own along with any mortgage or loan information you owe. The appraised value of all your assets less all your outstanding debt equals to your current Net Worth and should be equal or more than the settlement funds required for you and your family.

Hope this helps...

Good luck...

[informer2000]

Thank you very much kg.jadu and GeoCanadian for your replies. They are really helpful.

[asbereth]

It's been almost 3 months since our first PER, and no AOR yet. Some NDVO applicants (FSW1) with jessiezz and ejamal's timelines have already received medicals and passport requests. Buffalo is too damn slow

[AST]

It's been almost 3 months since our first PER, and no AOR yet. Some NDVO applicants (FSW1) with jessiezz and ejamal's timelines have already received medicals and passport requests. Buffalo is too damn slow

Probably, those applicants are from the "Most-Wanted" streams (trades)...

[asbereth]

Probably, those applicants are from the "Most-Wanted" streams (trades)...

Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe they start implementing it already, where the most wanted NOCs get processed faster, and it just happenned those people who already got their medicals and passport requests were among the most wanted ones. But then again, the 29 NOCs are necessarily the most wanted NOCs in Canada anyway

[Brit_Immigrant]

Ecas has been slow in updating people's information. They update things only on Tuesday. You got Per. It may or may not be fast. Did you apply in Buffalo too? Since you are British, I think you have a good chance of having a fast process compared to some of us. Your documents will probably be more trustworthy to the VO.

Yeah they are pretty slow. Finally in the online system today "In Process". Time to forget about it for 6 months now I guess!

[TyrusX]

Yeah they are pretty slow. Finally in the online system today "In Process". Time to forget about it for 6 months now I guess!

Yes, Massoud, the first to apply, has being waiting for almost 7 months already. Wow. We were so young back then! LOL

[snow_walker]

Yes, Massoud, the first to apply, has being waiting for almost 7 months already. Wow. We were so young back then! LOL

lol.. 

[carol_0130]

  I finally received the positive eligibility review on May 18, after sending new reference letters of employment.