It's over. My wife got the visa.
It took three weeks for the embassy to issue the visa. The file sent to Ottawa (CPP-O). I heard the approval from Ottawa and the visa is issued at the Cairo visa office.
There were areas of weakness in my case. I overcome this by providing a very detailed statement explaining these areas in details with full honesty. In addition, after the 3-month processing at CPC-M and transferring the file to CPP-O, I sent a supplementary package showing the progresses that took place during those three months. If you feel that your case has some "holes", write a statement to support your case against these holes and do not leave it for the officer to "speculate" or "suspect" anything wrong. In the statement, also explain in details how the relationship started and how progressed, and plans to establish your family in Canada. Everything in the statement was supported with documentation (even if it is not required). Therefore, I went beyond the basic requirements by having very strong letters of support from my employers. I also issued notarized letters of affidavits from my family members and close friends. I think those helped a lot although they are not required. It took me big efforts to issue these letters but glad that they paid off in the end.
Know that filling the forms only is not enough for success and avoiding the interview. Explain everything in details with honesty (especially the weak areas and do not leave them for the officer assumption). Provide documentation for everything even if it is not required. Many of these documents I provided were even certified as true copies to increase the credibility. Be familiar about the criteria they use in evaluating the genuineness of any relationship and mention in your statement how you meet some of these criteria and explain in honesty why you do not meet others. By reviewing these criteria, you would know the areas of weakness you have in your case. You will be able to know these criteria (and mistakes of others) by going over the reasons of case rejection, appeal cases and court decisions. These are available on some web sites posted on this forum.
I did not use a lawyer to represent my case but I asked a lawyer just to review my file and provide feedback. It did not cost much (just few hundreds of dollars for reviewing the file and providing feedback). The feedback of the lawyer was greatly helpful. The lawyer guided me about what to do to overcome the weakness areas by providing certain number of documents and the statement of explanations...the lawyer went over the forms, my statement and documents to ensure accuracy and completeness. I highly recommend doing the same..just consulting a lawyer to go over the forms and provide feedback rather than paying thousands of dollars to represent you. It is better to handle the file by yourself as you will have the freedom of direct communication with the CIC rather than going through the lawyer (it does not make difference whether or not you are represented by a lawyer but it makes a big difference if you have a lawyer going over your file for review and feedback). I surprised how my lawyer was able to detect many things that I did not pay attention to. My lawyer has very decent experience. I found this lawyer accidentally through the internet and we were communicating through email and express mail (the lawyer is out of my province).
The documents were organized in a way that makes it very easy for the reviewer to go over them quickly and in a short time. This is very important as you have large numbers of documents to present and if they are not organized, the officer might lose the track leading to negative impressions and misunderstanding or confusion resulting in a call for interview.
For those who asked about the timeline of visa issuance at Cairo office, it takes 3-4 weeks to issue the visa but I heard that it can take up to 6 weeks (so you can say 4-6 weeks in average.. may be more or less depending on their workload). You send the passport with two photos via the DHL. Once the visa is issued, they call for pick up. Therefore, do not forget to provide a cover letter showing several phone numbers to be called on.
It was indeed a very stressful process that exhausted mentality, time, money and efforts. Have faith that things are NOT controlled by human beings but actually they are in the hands of our God. Nevertheless, you still have to do your part very well.
I have decided to drop the lines above with my hope they will of any kind of help to others who are still on the road. I have decided to write as I own this forum a lot and it was the key of success although it was a cause of depression as well. It's time now to leave this forum for ever.
I wish you all the best from my deepest heart as I know how difficult the process is. If there is any question, feel free to ask.
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