How Long Is To Long?

[TripleP]

Hi,

I was approved as a sponsor about 2.5 weeks ago (September 1).   However, when I log on to eCAS, the “Permanent Residence Application Status” is still listed as “not available”.  I believe the status should change to “In Process” sometime in the near future (presumably as soon as the Taipei office receives the file and opens it).

I know from lots of previous experience that sending a package from Canada to Taiwan by regular air mail seldom takes more than two weeks.  I've also noticed that many people on these forums (including some applying through Europe/Asia offices) had their Application Status change to “In Process” roughly 1 -2 weeks after sponsorship approval.  So, I'm starting to get a little bit anxious...

I don't want to annoy any immigration officers or slow down the processing time even further because of impatience.  So I'm a little reluctant to call.  If I were to contact CIC, would you suggest I get in touch with the call centre in Canada or contact the Taipei office directly?  Or should I continue to wait a while longer?  Any advice/suggestions?

Thanks!

[IsleChik]

They don't just pop your application in the mail to the visa office
The applications are sent via diplomatic courier and they don't send them one at a time
I guess what I'm saying is - it really all depends on how busy that office is - the busier offices get packages of applications more often than the "slower" offices
You can always call CIC & ask if it was sent - keep in mind that, once the application is in the overseas office, CIC won't be able to tell you anything on it anymore

Hi,

I was approved as a sponsor about 2.5 weeks ago (September 1).   However, when I log on to eCAS, the “Permanent Residence Application Status” is still listed as “not available”.  I believe the status should change to “In Process” sometime in the near future (presumably as soon as the Taipei office receives the file and opens it).

I know from lots of previous experience that sending a package from Canada to Taiwan by regular air mail seldom takes more than two weeks.  I've also noticed that many people on these forums (including some applying through Europe/Asia offices) had their Application Status change to “In Process” roughly 1 -2 weeks after sponsorship approval.  So, I'm starting to get a little bit anxious...

I don't want to annoy any immigration officers or slow down the processing time even further because of impatience.  So I'm a little reluctant to call.  If I were to contact CIC, would you suggest I get in touch with the call centre in Canada or contact the Taipei office directly?  Or should I continue to wait a while longer?  Any advice/suggestions?

Thanks!

[mitamata]

Some visa offices are rather slack with inputting the data from received applications into e-cas. Some plain and simple don't get to opening the application until they've had it for a while. Sometimes you will receive the AOR letter before seeing anything on e-cas. Some open the app, mail the AOR letter and months later when they actually start processing it, the info shows up on e-cas.

Point being, just because it's not in e-cas, it doesn't mean they haven't got it yet. My advice would be to learn to be patient, you will need a lot of patience before this is done. 2.5 weeks is not a long time, at all. As previously suggested, you can call CIC and they'll let you know where it went, but they can't tell you anything beyond the point when thevisa office got it.

[TripleP]

Hey guys.  First off, thanks so much for taking the time to reply.  Your advice really is comforting.

Indeed, patience is the key with this entire process!    I know 2.5 weeks is an insignificant amount of time compared to how long most people have/had to wait for their processing.  But, I've seen many cases change to "in process" very quickly, so I just wanted to verify whether or not I had anything to worry about.  You guys confirmed my suspicions that eCas isn't all that reliable and that some visa offices are not as thorough in their updates of the system or may take a while to just open the file.  Knowing this for certain makes me feel much better!  Thanks so much for that.

Out of curiosity I may still contact CIC today to see if they can tell me if the application has been sent out yet.

Thanks again!

[stephenK]

My one took like 3-4 weeks.....you'll be fine...i'm sure they already have it but have not updated ECAS-...ECAS is not very reliable...trust me

[mitamata]

Heh, it's easier to tell other to be patient than do it yourself.
For the visa office where I applied, most people got "In Process" within 14 days of the sponsorship approval. When I got to day 16 and still no "In Process", I started freaking out, knowing fully well I was overreacting and it probably meant nothing bad. But I kept imagining the plane with my app crashing in the middle of the Atlantic, my papers sinking to the bottom of the ocean with it. And I knew I was being silly xD I got "In Process" at 27 days after the sponsorship was approved. When it did show up, it said they started processing it a week before that day.

Oh, yeah, that's another thing. Data from most visa offices only arrives once a week, usually on mondays. So if you'll see an update on ecas, it will probably be on a monday/tuesday, depending on your time zone.

[TripleP]

Hey guys.  For the heck of it, I called the CIC call center today, but the girl basically told me they wouldn't have any additional information other than what was provided in the sponsorship approval letter (i.e. that the sponsorship was approved on Sept. 1 and would be forwarded to the Taipei visa office).  She said she wouldn't have information about whether the package was truly en route already or not.  I don't know if she is correct (your mileage may vary with the call center reps, right?), but that's what she told me.  Anyway, I'm not worried any longer thanks to the calming words and experiences you guys have provided.

stephenK - Thanks for the info and kind words!    You're right, it's probably just a slow ECAS update or something.

mitamata - I guess I'm not the only one with a tendency to worry and an overactive imagination!  The mind will really do interesting things when this application means so much to us and we put so much time and effort into putting it all together.  But in the end it will hopefully work out for all of us *crosses fingers*.  Interesting that eCAS is only updated once a week from the visa offices - I wasn't aware of that tidbit.

Thanks again all!