Sending an inquiry to Immigration re: PR

[lovingchange]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question regarding sending an inquiry to CIC by mail. Long story short, I applied for my PR in Sept 2008 and received AIP in Nov 2010. I completed my 2nd medical checkup in Feb 2011 and CIC received all the other required documents in March 2011. I've been contacting them almost once a month to see whats the delay for the approval. Every time I called they kept saying everything is moving along and your file is being processed. Considering it's already been over 3 years since I submited my application, I think I have a right to know what's going on with my file because it's sooooo over the timeline they post on the CIC website! So my husband is going to write a letter to CIC in Alberta to see exactly what's going on with my file. My question is:

Do you guys recommend doing this? If so, what does the letter look like (e.g., do I include all of my personal info, client ID, sponsor's name etc.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Admirable]

The times posted on the CIC website is for 80% of cases. You should get your MP involved to see what's the hold up.  Your husband can also write to CIC.

Best of luck.

[lovingchange]

I apologize for my ignorance, but what does "MP" stand for and how can I locate him/her?

[scylla]

MP is Member of Parliament.

You can search for yours here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

Good luck.

[lovingchange]

Thank you very much!

From your experiences, is it difficult to make an appointment to see the MP?

[Admirable]

You can send an email.  Figure out who your MP is and then email him your info as well as the reason for the inquiry.

[saralune]

we a had a similar situation.

We applied in December 2009. October 2010, we got a request to submit further documents. We sent them and then until this October 2011, we got no news despite our many attempts of getting updates, either by e-mail or by fax. I tried calling to but they always refereed me back to the website, telling me they do not deal with immigration issues over the phones, that everything had to be done by e-mail or fax.

Lima's processing time is 12 months, so basically, in October of this year, I went to see my MP. He explained to me that the embassy, had to reply to him, if he makes a request, so he e-mailed them once, and got no answers, he attempted a second time, still no answers. He told me that it never happened to him before, to try to contact an embassy and not get any answers from them.

Finally, from what I understand, the MP's offices have access to a call center, here in Canada, that has all the info on the files that are in the embassies. So that is what he did.He called and got an update. That is how we found out that my husband was in cue to get a request for an interview. The date it was added to his file matches the date the MP had been trying to get in touch by e-mail with the embassy in Lima. Had this not worked out, he said his next step would have been to fill a complain to the Minister of Immigration.

That said, 3 days after I got this update from the MP, my husband got his interview request, two weeks later he did the interview, and he finally got a his passport request last week, meaning we are almost done !

I strongly suggest you go that route. Who knows, maybe we would still be waiting right now had it not been because of the help we got from this MP's office. On the other hand, had we gone earlier on maybe this could have been resolved sometime ago.

The MP is with the NPD. I have to say that he was specially eager to help us, as they blame all of the backlogs and delays, and lack of communication on the current gov. That said others I have seen on here, seemed to have different experiences, but I think you should really give it a shot.

[saralune]

Thank you very much!

From your experiences, is it difficult to make an appointment to see the MP?

I called and got an appointment less than a week after. I went and brought my application as well as a letter from my lawyer explaining the situation, and the lack of communication with Lima, and the unacceptable delays, and the strains we had to ensure, but more specifically, that I had to endure as a Canadian citizen.

[lovingchange]

Hi Saralune!

Thanks for sharing your story! Now I am more confident about making the phone call to the MP's office! I plan on calling first thing tomorrow morning!

The local MP I found, according to my postal code, is also with NDP. He looks friendly enough from the picture..but who knows! I am defintely going to give it a shot because I don't think it's fair for me (us) to wait for soooo long! Whether I have been rejected or not, I feel like I deserve an answer after 3 years and 3 months!