Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[Morena]

Morena, if you're in Vancouver, my understanding is that you can indicate Seattle for interview in the Country Specific Instructions.  Admittedly they can still make you go to Buffalo...but seems to me in the unlikely event of interview CIC will try to accommodate?

BTW, I'm in the Vancouver area as well ("visiting") and am just getting my stuff together to apply Outland after much foot dragging.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions for all you veterans  .

I'm not in Vancouver yet. I'm in the Caribbean. Far from seattle, far from NY.....

[Morena]

Doiron and Morena,

My family is in very similar circumstances to yours so I thought I would share my experience.

I am a Canadian-US dual citizen who resided in the US for over 15 years.  My husband is a US citizen and our 4 children, all born in the US are dual.  We decided we wanted to move to Canada but for the last 2 years my husband has been a stay at home dad and I have been working full time.  We don't own any property in the US and have been renting for the last several years.  We lost everything when my husband's business failed a few years ago so we really have no financial assets of any kind and I was worried about the lack of ties to the US as well.

We all came to Canada together in March and like you both, we were a little concerned about the border crossing, so we left most of our belongings in storage in the US so we didn't throw up any red flags.  The officer at the border where we crossed with both of our vehicles and 1 small u-haul trailer was very helpful once we explained our situation.  He gave my husband a 6 month visitor visa in his passport and said he should be able to renew it if the PR is still not processed when it expires.  He said that since we are married and have been living together, we can't really separate our possessions into his and mine so he just let me bring everything we had with us listed in my name as a returning Canadian.

We were up front with him that we understand the law and that if for any reason my husband is not approved, we will all just move back to the US as we cannot be separated.  He didn't seem concerned and now I sort of wish we had just brought all of our stuff then since now we probably have to wait until he lands to get it.  We have been in temporary furnished housing for the last 2 1/2 months but in a week we will move into a completely empty apartment..... we are thinking of it as camping

The one thing that was a concern was that we were going to keep one of our vehicles registered in the US until my husband got his PR but the border officer at the Canadian border asked us if we had a physical residence in the US and since we don't (we just have a UPS store address for mail), he said we were not allowed to keep a vehicle registered there.  So, we had to import both of our vehicles, which was a hassle because we hadn't done the advance paperwork and export from the U.S. of the second vehicle beforehand. 

I'm sure the fact that we have been married for 14 years and have 4 children together proves the legitimacy of the relationship but I was still concerned about them not allowing my husband to accompany us due to horror stories I have read.  In our case, it worked out fine, though I must admit I am still nervous about crossing the border again before he gets his PR even though I am dying to cross to do some shopping.  I still worry that a different border officer might refuse my husband back for some reason.

Thanks for share your experience! I'm dying to go back to Vancouver with my baby and see my husband....

[Trish1982]

I too have heard nothing-and we applied in December. 
Buffalo has had our application since January 6th!!! 
Sent AOR dated Jan 26th but we didn't receive the AOR until APRIL!
and we got it in 3 forms-ecas update, letter and email. ALL dated Jan 26th.

So lame.

Grrr..................

[CandC2009]

I too have heard nothing-and we applied in December. 
Buffalo has had our application since January 6th!!! 
Sent AOR dated Jan 26th but we didn't receive the AOR until APRIL!
and we got it in 3 forms-ecas update, letter and email. ALL dated Jan 26th.

So lame.

Grrr..................

There aren't many people who have heard anything but that doesn't mean they aren't processing your app. My hubby emailed buffalo on thursday and we got a reply on friday that they are processing our application. (Ecas is still application received) and buffalo received our application 26th.

[ConfusedinCanada]

Hi All,

My hubby and I applied in January, but have not yet heard anything. Unfortunately the FBI fingerprints that we submitted will expire mid June (so much for being prepared ). Did any of you have to resubmit your FBI prints? Is there an easier way to get them on file or do we just wait for them to ask for them again... of course, which would delay the process more.

good luck to you all still waiting!

[spiritrac]

Trish1982  We are in the same timeline as you, we received a letter from buffalo on April 9 telling as that they received my wife 's file on January 26, we also received a letter from Port of Spain Trinidad with Aor for the same time for my son and two weeks ago a letter from Port of Spain asking for my sons birth certificate and proof that I the sponsor had returned to Canada or planning to return to Canada..

So I would say that they are working although we may not see files saying in process Hang in there stay positive

[quakingaspen]

You probably won't need to redo your FBI clearance as long as it was within the 3 month window of validity when they received them.

[ocu_canadian]

My wife and I applied in January and haven't heard a thing since we got sponsorship was approved and it was sent off to Buffalo on Feb 8th!  Hoping we will hear something soon! Suck's not having a clue whats going and if Buffalo even got our paperwork!

[chess101]

If that post is real about them closing the Buffalo office in the second week of June to eliminate the backlog, then that's good news for at of us who are still waiting since last year Let's hope we all hear good news.

[Merik]

Well, Looks like we are off to a great start

We received your application to sponsor JOHN  on April 18, 2011.
 
We started processing your application on May 18, 2011.
 
We returned your application with a letter on May 18, 2011. You may re-apply or resubmit your application when the information requested is provided. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.

Friggen Wonderful

[buffalo-toronto]

I have been away from the forum for about 20 days as was traveling. can anyone update if they have received AOR from the Feb timeline. I filed my app on feb 3rd and the file was transferred to Buffalo on March 10th but nothing has been updated on Ecas other than Application Received.

[kerianne]

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that getting my SIN number/card was a breeze. (in BC)

It took about 15 days to get it in the mail, and about 20 minutes in Services Canada. My PR card should be arriving sometime in late June. I will let you know if anything changes. I finalized my move yesterday. I only brought 3 rubbermaid containers full of clothing and a few picture frames. They didn't even make me fill out a B4.  Here's to wishing you all a speedy and painless process!

Cheers!

[Tiggilicious]

buffalo-toronto, nothing yet.

[pdb1]

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that getting my SIN number/card was a breeze. (in BC)

It took about 15 days to get it in the mail, and about 20 minutes in Services Canada. My PR card should be arriving sometime in late June. I will let you know if anything changes. I finalized my move yesterday. I only brought 3 rubbermaid containers full of clothing and a few picture frames. They didn't even make me fill out a B4.  Here's to wishing you all a speedy and painless process!

Cheers!

Kerianne - from your profile it looks like it took nearly a year to get your visa from the day your sponser filed the paper work. Thats i quite a long time. I am hoping my process goes little quicker than that. During your application process, did you have to provide any additional info, was there lot of back and forth with document request or this was just the normal processing time for your visa

[sparkle]

My e-cas still says "Application Received" which is quite normal considering the timelines we are running into. However, it doesn't say anything about "Medicals Received"  ? Should I be worried? Does it usually say that with the Application Received status?

My husband emailed Buffalo today to let them know that my (sponsor's) passport expired and provided them with the new number and details in case they need that. We also asked what is the status....so let's see