Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[SaugaBoss]

thanks everyone!

i went to buffalo today and officially landed. only thing i regret not buying a car in advance and putting it on my goods to follow!! oh well. Finally a Permanent Resident of Canada... Applying for OHIP and a SIN tomm.  good luck everyone. (btw my CAIPS came in after i got the PPR my BFD was Dec. 20th, also my ecas changed yesterday to decision made.)

the caips had the discussion with the MP on it as well. 
 

[Dralon]

sigh  well congratulation, welcome to canada even if you were here already

no news for me and i have a feeling the wait will still be very long.. even my wife if planing things for this summer considering she will still be in the states... which is kind of hard for me...  well i can say at least i am the case that will be over a year so that all of you never have to wait that much  (i guess they always need 1 long one and this one is me)

[kelKel]

Dralon is there any way your wife can come live with you for awhile and wait it out so you're not apart?

[ocu_canadian]

Question about the total wait time.. I know a few months ago some people were getting PPR in 3-4 months...what does it seem like the total wait time is now?

[Dralon]

11 months +   

oh wait that my time and still going

seriously i do not know

[ocu_canadian]

Question about wife's passport (applicant) it asks to send in travel documents. But she will need her passport while her application is ongoing..What do we include as far as her passport goes?

[fafi]

i'm in buffalo right now, waiting to go get my visa in the morning! two questions: do i have to be there at 8 AM, or from 8 to 11 like the e-mail says? just wondering because i drove from florida to buffalo last night with looots of snow in the way and wouldn't mind getting some rest! also, do you have to stay there while they do your visa? any idea how long it will take?


if anyone else is going to be there tomorrow, i'm sure i'll be the only one with blue hair  be sure to say hi!

[kelKel]

Fifi it seems from reading others experiences it's wise to be there before 8.  Generally it will take an hour to 2 hours to get your visa.  You wait in a waiting room so bring a book

[fafi]

blah! yeah, reading through it, it looks like i'll be there around 7 AM. time to get to bed then. i'll report back with my experience in a few days, i probably won't get home until tomorrow night! i'm nervous and excited. sooo glad it's almost all over. another question while i think about it - i have my own car and was going to put it on the goods to follow list because i was planning on driving back to florida in another 2 months to collect more of my goods. is that kosher?


edit: also, (so many questions, sorry!!) what all do i need to bring with me?? just the email that they sent?

[ocu_canadian]

Fafi

Did I see right you started your application in August? So about 5 months? My wife and I are sending out her application tomorrow

[scylla]

fafi -

My husband did what you're about to do. Be there by 8:30. Some have arrived a bit later (i.e. around 9am or 9:30am I think) and everything has gone fine. However I'd stick with 8:30 to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

My husband had to wait a couple of hours (or an hour and a half?). So bring something to read.

Congrats in advance!!!

[scylla]

fafi-

Sorry, didn't answer everything in my last rely.

Yes - you'll be fine if you go back to Florida in a couple of months and bring back the rest of your stuff. Just make sure you list these items on your "goods to follow" list when you land.

[fafi]

about 4 and a half, i got my e-mail a few weeks ago! thank you so much for the help, scylla!

[scylla]

ocu_canadian -

Unfortunately it's pretty much impossible to give any average time frames. All we know is that 80% of applications are being finalized by 11 months. Some of us are going through faster. Others (like Dralon) are suffering through a much longer wait. This is part of what makes the process so stressful and frustrating.

Once you submit your documents, you'll also find there's often a communication void (i.e. short periods where you receive an update mixed in with much longer periods where you have no idea what the heck is going on). It's not fun and I'm glad my husband is through.

It's also difficult to guess how long an application will take based on the person's profile. For example, some people wait a long time even though their applications seem extremely straight-forward. I was expecting my husband's to take longer because he's lived in several different places - but we were done in four months.

Long story short, you'll just have to submit the best application you can and hope for the best (fastest) results possible.

Hope this helps!

[fafi]

all went well! took less than 45 minutes! now on the way home, thankfully it's not supposed to be too snowy today. hope landing is quicky and smooth!