Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[Calgary-Bound]

Did you get a visa or a visitor record? I only nit-pick because they're actually two very different things and it tends to confuse people when the proper phrasing isn't used.

I got a 6 month visitor visa.I had a work visa but it expired back in September.

[ddobro2]

You're upset.....imagine how Calgary-Bound feels. It's not that quick for everyone because Buffalo is notoriously inconsistent (and of course, we spend our time trying to come up with some hypothesis or other to explain the inconsistency). Anyway, don't try to be too upset. Your time will come, just trust in that.

Wow is right. I won't be coming here any more because I get too upset. Buffalo is messed up. Seriously. Why isn't it that quick for everyone? Our case is very straightforward - I don't get it. Anyway, thanks to those who answered my questions. I need to stop reading this stuff and getting all worked up. Bye!

[ddobro2]

Remind me again - why did you need to pay the $5 in the first place if you were in Canada on visitor status even before applying?

It only cost me $5 to get my GCMS notes via email (it took about 30 days), and I will be forever grateful to this forum for letting me know I could do that and get a real update on my file.

[ddobro2]

Leave that blank. Just be sure to include your visa file number.

when i was filling the GCMS form, they are asking for Requester's reference number, what is that ? Is it a file number?

[ddobro2]

Indeed. People should really understand that "In Process" in e-cas is not a magical event that guarantees their PPR will come imminently. In fact, the difference between "in process" in e-cas and "PPR" in one's email or, more rarely, mailbox, has historically been as short as 1 day and as long as....well, I'm not going to spend time again checking on the spreadsheet, but we can just look to Calgary-Bound's example of 5 months. Moreover, do you really need e-cas to give you an arbitrary judgement of your application's progress or would you prefer to see just what exactly that "processing" looks like by way of reading GCMS notes? I think the latter. And remember, some people never get "in process" before PPR for some odd reason. There's more diversity here at Buffalo than you'll find in a South American rainforest ecosystem. Sad but true. You have to find sanity somewhere, folks.

well its been a year this month for me since I applied.Actualy longer if you count when I first sent the app In back In Nov 2010.I dont think the In Process means anything because I have been In Process for 5 months.Think about it Ive been In Process longer than people have subitted there app.Theres people that have been waiting longer than I have even.It just burns me when people start complaneing about there app and its only been 3 or 4 months.If your haveing a hard time with it now than its going to be realy hard if you have to wait another 6 to 8 months.Sorry for the rant its just one of those mornings. 

[ddobro2]

You can still have a study permit. That's not the issue; it's paying international fees for your education that are 4 times what resident fees are.

My advice to anyone waiting and having difficulty with it is to make themselves as busy as possible. No, that will not work for an indefinite period of time but if you can find some regimen that you will concentrate on and make yourself very busy with for, say, one month, that is one month that you will be distracted from what is happening or not happening with your file. Of course, being distracted does not mean totally not checking in to see what is going on. After all, there have been many people who discovered something via GCMS notes or an inquiry through one's MP that unveiled a real roadblock to either the IO moving on the file, or them being informed of document requests or even PPR (mail was going to another address, for example).

But if you have batches of GCMS notes being ordered on a regular basis and there's really nothing there that would suggest there's a REAL bottleneck to progress on the file (laziness of the IO not counted), don't dwell on it. There are actually LOTS of things you can do in Canada that do NOT require working for money or paying international fees for university. Improve your English or French, grab the latest Ikea catalog and redesign your house or apartment, master the public transportation system in your city, do all the laundry, cleaning, and cooking for your hard-working spouse so he or she will be inconsolable when you finally stop doing all that stuff because you become busy. I was essentially able to try out almost every single yoga studio in Montreal while I was waiting, and a lot of those were due to the various daily deal sites for Canada that are everywhere.

I wish we were given an open work permit after sponsor approval like those inland applicants. If I was working I wouldn't care how long the process would take. The most difficult part of waiting for me is being a 'visitor' in Canada for God knows how long without work/study permit and health coverage.

[AmericaninQuebec]

Remind me again - why did you need to pay the $5 in the first place if you were in Canada on visitor status even before applying?

Because I wasn't certain what proof I needed to send to get it for free, and $5 was cheap enough that I didn't bother figuring it out. Haha.

[ddobro2]

Ah okay. So does that mean that you had your husband make the request under the Access to Info Act? Because I think if ATIP saw "Privacy Act" checked off yet a payment for $5, they would refund the $5 because it's one or the other ("Access to Info Act" and payment, "Privacy Act" and no payment), not both. I don't recall what I did the first time I ordered notes as far as proof, but the next three times I included none whatsoever and still got my documentation.

Because I wasn't certain what proof I needed to send to get it for free, and $5 was cheap enough that I didn't bother figuring it out. Haha.

[AmericaninQuebec]

Ah okay. So does that mean that you had your husband make the request under the Access to Info Act? Because I think if ATIP saw "Privacy Act" checked off yet a payment for $5, they would refund the $5 because it's one or the other ("Access to Info Act" and payment, "Privacy Act" and no payment), not both. I don't recall what I did the first time I ordered notes as far as proof, but the next three times I included none whatsoever and still got my documentation.

Yes, we did it under my husband's name and I included a letter giving them permission to release the information about my file. I don't remember which box we checked. I just wanted to be 100% certain we got my GCMS notes and was in kind of a rush (I am a very impatient person at times) so instead of asking you guys for clarification I just paid the $5.

[ddobro2]

Understandable.  I'm about 3 weeks into my wait for my COPR 'n stuff, by the way (mailed my passport about an hour after PPR email, ironically). It never ends with them, sigh. Should be getting it any day now according to the tracker, though.

Yes, we did it under my husband's name and I included a letter giving them permission to release the information about my file. I don't remember which box we checked. I just wanted to be 100% certain we got my GCMS notes and was in kind of a rush (I am a very impatient person at times) so instead of asking you guys for clarification I just paid the $5.

[Ichiro]

Understandable.  I'm about 3 weeks into my wait for my COPR 'n stuff, by the way (mailed my passport about an hour after PPR email, ironically). It never ends with them, sigh. Should be getting it any day now according to the tracker, though.

I'm sure its in the mail. 

On a side note my partner's in Buffalo today to collect the COPR.  Let's hope the entire landing process goes over smoothly

[ddobro2]

Assumed the envelope would arrive delivered by a person, but just discovered it crammed into our too-small apartment mailbox. Passport slightly bent, PR application package (particularly wedding photos) NOT returned. Envelope I submitted with hair color/height sheet and immigration-sized photos, however, returned. Instructions and COPR form also included (counterfoil, of course, no longer in the passport). COPR is valid until July 7, 2013, which coincides with the expiration of my passport. Land-by date is April 6, 2012, which corresponds to one year and one day after the day I undertook the medical exam. So that's over with  

[AmericaninQuebec]

Assumed the envelope would arrive delivered by a person, but just discovered it crammed into our too-small apartment mailbox. Passport slightly bent, PR application package (particularly wedding photos) NOT returned. Envelope I submitted with hair color/height sheet and immigration-sized photos, however, returned. Instructions and COPR form also included (counterfoil, of course, no longer in the passport). COPR is valid until July 7, 2013, which coincides with the expiration of my passport. Land-by date is April 6, 2012, which corresponds to one year and one day after the day I undertook the medical exam. So that's over with  

Congratulations! Funny how the dates seem rather arbitrary in terms of "land by." My meds were well expired by the time I got PPR and yet they still gave me longer to land than they did for you, of course my passport expires in April though, so my COPR was only good until then. Crazy Buffalo.

Sounds like your package was the same as mine. I got all the same stuff, and like you didn't get anything back from my actual application package.

Good luck on landing, though I'm sure it will go smoothly for you. Congrats again!!

[ddobro2]

Thanks! It's GOT to go smoothly by comparison 

Congratulations! Funny how the dates seem rather arbitrary in terms of "land by." My meds were well expired by the time I got PPR and yet they still gave me longer to land than they did for you, of course my passport expires in April though, so my COPR was only good until then. Crazy Buffalo.

Sounds like your package was the same as mine. I got all the same stuff, and like you didn't get anything back from my actual application package.

Good luck on landing, though I'm sure it will go smoothly for you. Congrats again!!

[mumbles]

Assumed the envelope would arrive delivered by a person, but just discovered it crammed into our too-small apartment mailbox. Passport slightly bent, PR application package (particularly wedding photos) NOT returned. Envelope I submitted with hair color/height sheet and immigration-sized photos, however, returned. Instructions and COPR form also included (counterfoil, of course, no longer in the passport). COPR is valid until July 7, 2013, which coincides with the expiration of my passport. Land-by date is April 6, 2012, which corresponds to one year and one day after the day I undertook the medical exam. So that's over with  

Great news!!  YAYY!!!! keeps us all posted!