Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[parker24]

I'm now confused. My husband called the CIC number and they also said that my file was transferred to OTTAWA office but the guy on the phone can't tell if my file was already there or not..
I then emailed Ottawa office and got a very vague response:

" Dear Sir/Madam,This is in response to your email (see below)

.If you are an applicant with a file being processed by this office:We will contact you with further information once your file has been processed.  

Due to the high volume of correspondence received, we are unable to provide a status update to you at this time.  No further action is required by you at this time. We thank you for your patience and for keeping your correspondence to a minimum. "

Should I send an email to LA office to ask then?

I e-mailed LA today, will see if they respond. It couldn't hurt to ask them!

[moochops]

I emailed Ottawa last week and have had no reply from them at all.

[Belinasha]

I emailed LA last week inquiring about our file. This is what I just got back.

Dear Applicant:

If you had a Permanent Resident file in process in Buffalo,  it is in the process of being transferred to the Case Processing Pilot Office in Ottawa. If you have been requested to provide further information or documentation for your file, it is recommended that you wait for 6-8 weeks before sending this information to:
 
Case Processing Pilot-Ottawa
Centre de traitement pilot-Ottawa
219 Laurier Ave. West, 7th floor
219 av Laurier  ouest, 7e étage
Ottawa, ON Canada    K1A 1L1

[brightredscream]

So if what happens for those of us who haven't filed yet, but were supposed to file to Buffalo?  Does every thing just automatically get transferred to LA?  Or should we be requesting that it get sent to LA?

[Amoss]

I emailed LA last week inquiring about our file. This is what I just got back.

Dear Applicant:

If you had a Permanent Resident file in process in Buffalo,  it is in the process of being transferred to the Case Processing Pilot Office in Ottawa. If you have been requested to provide further information or documentation for your file, it is recommended that you wait for 6-8 weeks before sending this information to:
 
Case Processing Pilot-Ottawa
Centre de traitement pilot-Ottawa
219 Laurier Ave. West, 7th floor
219 av Laurier  ouest, 7e étage
Ottawa, ON Canada    K1A 1L1

6-8 weeks! They absolutely MUST have been able to better plan and handle this transition so that we, oh unfortunate ones, didn't have to pay the price! I am glad they want to change things in order to speed up the process for regular cases, but how about the ones who just so happened to apply when they did but still want the same attempts to speed things up?? They should have left all the VOs in the states open to continue what they already had, and simply stopped sending new stuff to them (and send the new stuff to Ottawa). instead all the bulk seems to be going to 2 places (Ottawa and LA) and anyone who wasn't already in process before this transition will have to wait and not know anything  

Sorry for the complaining. Really, it's better for us to be in higher spirits and think positively. I still anticipate news everyday, but it gets you down when you haven't heard anything (not initiated by us first) for 3 months. and I am sure others have gone longer

[blue_scomet]

Hey there,

We filed out outbound application to Buffalo on January 31, and heard that I was eligible to sponsor my husband on April 30th and that the file was transferred to Buffalo on the same day.

I have not heard anything at all since this time so really have no clue where our application might be (it just says that his medical records have been received)

What we are concerned about is the Security FBI Clearance thingy he had to do. I think its only valid for 6 months and it surely has run out by now since we did it late last year. Has anybody ever had to re-do this?

Has anybody in January received any notification yet with good news? Is there a link I can read up on what happens after the "Passport Rec" step? (and what does rec stand for?)...Sorry, i'm not the brightest crayon in the box..

[Amoss]

Hey there,

We filed out outbound application to Buffalo on January 31, and heard that I was eligible to sponsor my husband on April 30th and that the file was transferred to Buffalo on the same day.

I have not heard anything at all since this time so really have no clue where our application might be (it just says that his medical records have been received)

What we are concerned about is the Security FBI Clearance thingy he had to do. I think its only valid for 6 months and it surely has run out by now since we did it late last year. Has anybody ever had to re-do this?

Has anybody in January received any notification yet with good news? Is there a link I can read up on what happens after the "Passport Rec" step? (and what does rec stand for?)...Sorry, i'm not the brightest crayon in the box..

Hi there,

welcome to be the bunch of uninformed! Well, some of us more so than others.. To answers some of your questions: yes, some people have had to redo their police record checks... on the other hand, some have not. It partly seems to depend on your agent, or perhaps your background.

Also, a few people, whose VO is in the US, have already received approval and request for passport.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people in a similar position as you. Our app was received by Mississauga on Jan 10th, sponsorship approval on March 20th, notified it went to Buffalo... and nothing since then. I emailed Buffalo back in May and got a reply that it was sent to LA on May 8th. But still nothing.

[computergeek]

What we are concerned about is the Security FBI Clearance thingy he had to do. I think its only valid for 6 months and it surely has run out by now since we did it late last year. Has anybody ever had to re-do this?

It is good for a year; if he is in Canada, then they can further extend it (since any issues in Canada will show up when they do the Canadian security background check).

Has anybody in January received any notification yet with good news? Is there a link I can read up on what happens after the "Passport Rec" step? (and what does rec stand for?)...Sorry, i'm not the brightest crayon in the box..

There is a specific thread for January folks, but it would be a bit early for that to happen, especially with the Buffalo closure.  I also noticed that with yesterday's update they had extended the 80% processing time in Q1 to 12 months for Buffalo - so don't be surprised if you have to wait for many months before you hear anything else.

The "passport request" stage is when they ask for your passport OR copies of all the pages, so they can issue the confirmation of permanent residency document (COPR).  The new rules (effective December 1, 2011) allow for the visa office to just request the copy of pages, not the actual passport.

This process requires patience, as difficult as it is.

[kitchloo]

My husband officially landed yesterday! We went to Port Huron, Michigan and told the border agent that we were just going to turn the car around and go back to Sarnia so that my husband could land as a permanent resident in Canada. They made us pull over, get out of the car, and then checked our passports once more. Then they told us to go ahead.

Landing in Sarnia was pretty painless. We had to take a number for immigration and waited for about an hour. Then the whole process took about 20 minutes.

We didn't export my husband's car yet because even though we already paid it in full, we are still waiting for the title. Then it's back to the border (Queenston-Lewiston), I suppose.

[mapleleafs2011]

My husband officially landed yesterday! We went to Port Huron, Michigan and told the border agent that we were just going to turn the car around and go back to Sarnia so that my husband could land as a permanent resident in Canada. They made us pull over, get out of the car, and then checked our passports once more. Then they told us to go ahead.

Landing in Sarnia was pretty painless. We had to take a number for immigration and waited for about an hour. Then the whole process took about 20 minutes.

We didn't export my husband's car yet because even though we already paid it in full, we are still waiting for the title. Then it's back to the border (Queenston-Lewiston), I suppose.

So is his car still in the US? If not, how do you guys deal with insurance?

Also, can someone tell me the email for Ottawa? I've been approved as a sponsor but I'm not sure where our application was transferred to.

Thanks!

[kitchloo]

So is his car still in the US? If not, how do you guys deal with insurance?

No, his car is here. My husband had a work permit so it was already plated and insured in Ontario. We just have to export it from the US. We wanted to do it when he landed, but unfortunately it's going to take weeks to get the title and we couldn't afford to wait. We've waited long enough! My husband needed a permanent Social Insurance Number asap, and got it yesterday.

[leodr]

We had a baby girl recently in Ontario and are trying to get her birth certificate made for her as soon as possible so that my wife can come back with the baby to usa but they are taking their time. Is there anything that can be done to speed things up. Also do u know if they do expedited passport service for newborns?
Also if somebody has applied for canadian passport, I'm in the usa and my wife is in Canada. Do u foresee any issues with getting baby's passport due to that?

Thanks.

[OhCanadiana]

We had a baby girl recently in Ontario and are trying to get her birth certificate made for her as soon as possible so that my wife can come back with the baby to usa but they are taking their time. Is there anything that can be done to speed things up. Also do u know if they do expedited passport service for newborns?
Also if somebody has applied for canadian passport, I'm in the usa and my wife is in Canada. Do u foresee any issues with getting baby's passport due to that?

Thanks.

Have her go to the passport office near her to get overnight service.

[computergeek]

We had a baby girl recently in Ontario and are trying to get her birth certificate made for her as soon as possible so that my wife can come back with the baby to usa but they are taking their time. Is there anything that can be done to speed things up. Also do u know if they do expedited passport service for newborns?
Also if somebody has applied for canadian passport, I'm in the usa and my wife is in Canada. Do u foresee any issues with getting baby's passport due to that?

Thanks.

If one of you is a US Citizen, you should obtain US paperwork (legally, a US citizen must use a US passport to enter the United States.)  See http://travel.state.gov/law/family_issues/birth/birth_593.html for information on this process (if it applies to you).

[leodr]

Thanks OhCanadiana and computer geek.

She will head out to the passport office and get this taken care of.