February 2014 Outland Applications?

[AthinaK]

My husband just got an e-mail from rome requesting a copy of his entire passport and requesting my declaration of intent to reside in Canada? Anyone else on the same road? Does this sound good???

 

[MizAngel]

My husband just got an e-mail from rome requesting a copy of his entire passport and requesting my declaration of intent to reside in Canada? Anyone else on the same road? Does this sound good???

If no one in this thread has an answer for you, you can check the Rome thread here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/rome-office-t189732.0.html

 

[Canadian_belle1]

My husband just got an e-mail from rome requesting a copy of his entire passport and requesting my declaration of intent to reside in Canada? Anyone else on the same road? Does this sound good???

Hi Athina,

It sounds like they are finalizing your file. It's a Passport Request but they also want to know that you intend to move to Canada and when and if you have a job waiting for you.

If you send the requested information it shouldn't be too long.

Congrats!

 

[Kayaker]

Hello everyone,

we've been off the forums for a while, just tired of the whole thing... long story short, Manila VO requested a document we'd already sent (Police certificate) without telling us why; it took us 2 weeks to get some response from them explaining why (they had specific unwritten requirements about letterheads that was Not mentioned on any of CIC's guidelines) and we're now waiting for the Russian Consulate in Toronto to produce this document. (Takes about 2 months.)

Anyway, I checked my ecas today and it says IN PROCESS (Aug 13, 2014)!

What is that supposed to mean? Does that mean, police certificate aside, they're working on the rest of our application (relationship proofs etc.)? I've always wondered about what order they do things - relationship proofs first, or background stuff (police certificates, marriage certificates etc.) first?

I'm just wondering what they're doing now and if it's too late to send them additional relationship proofs. (I intended to send them some additional proofs along with the Police Certificate, probably in 5 6 weeks.)

 

[O_guy]

Hello everyone,

we've been off the forums for a while, just tired of the whole thing... long story short, Manila VO requested a document we'd already sent (Police certificate) without telling us why; it took us 2 weeks to get some response from them explaining why (they had specific unwritten requirements about letterheads that was Not mentioned on any of CIC's guidelines) and we're now waiting for the Russian Consulate in Toronto to produce this document. (Takes about 2 months.)

I don't understand what you mean by "letterheads". The only reason you would require anything from Russia is if the principal applicant has lived in Russia before. And if that is the case, the sponsorship application tells you to submit police certificate from every country you have lived in.

Anyway, I checked my ecas today and it says IN PROCESS (Aug 13, 2014)!

What is that supposed to mean? Does that mean, police certificate aside, they're working on the rest of our application (relationship proofs etc.)? I've always wondered about what order they do things - relationship proofs first, or background stuff (police certificates, marriage certificates etc.) first?

I'm just wondering what they're doing now and if it's too late to send them additional relationship proofs. (I intended to send them some additional proofs along with the Police Certificate, probably in 5 6 weeks.)

For most VOs, "in progress" means they have opened your application. But the Manila VO seems to open applications, send either PPR or request additional documents, and THEN you see "in progress" on your ECAS. So the Manila VO seems to follow different sequence than most VOs. That is what I have noticed by looking through the Manila VO Spreadsheet. Anyway, it is possible that they have decided all other parts of your application and simply waiting to complete the security part of the application (i.e police certificate from all countries you have lived in).

 

[Kayaker]

Thanks O_guy!

Yes, I've lived in Russia for over a decade. I sent them a police certificate from the Russian Consulate, as written in their guidelines. They rejected it without telling us why. We went to our MP and initially Manila just said "follow the instructions" (on the website) cryptically. We'd followed it to the letter. Then Manila sent us a sample of the police certificate they expected to see - one that was issued for people living IN Russia, by the Interior Ministry. (The certificate I got was issued by the Foreign Ministry (Russian Consulate), as specified on CIC's website.) We told Manila (through the MP) that Russia does not allow people (Russians or non-Russians) living outside Russia to get a PC from the Interior Ministry (the only way I could get this was to immigrate to Russia and establish residency there), and also told them that the vice consul of the Russian Consulate in Japan was quite upset that CIC claims that an official document they issued is not valid and would like an explanation from CIC. (She said a foreign entity does not have the authority to declare a document issued by another government invalid, nor does any foreign entity have the right to dictate how Russia issues its official documents.)

Eventually Manila came out and said that I can get a second police certificate, and clarified that they want an English original with letterhead, or a Russian original (without letterhead) with a certified translation. (I'd sent them an English original without letterhead.) CIC's guidelines didn't say anything about letterheads - so they apparently have unwritten requirements that they do not disclose when you are applying.

Anyway, I applied for a second police certificate, this time in Toronto. I asked for a letterhead but they told me I cannot dictate how they issue their documents. They issue documents according to their rules and CIC can take it or leave it.

So that's the unshortened long story

 

[missmatalini]

Dooooooes anyone have any good news? haha

 

[O_guy]

Thanks O_guy!

Yes, I've lived in Russia for over a decade. I sent them a police certificate from the Russian Consulate, as written in their guidelines. They rejected it without telling us why. We went to our MP and initially Manila just said "follow the instructions" (on the website) cryptically. We'd followed it to the letter. Then Manila sent us a sample of the police certificate they expected to see - one that was issued for people living IN Russia, by the Interior Ministry. (The certificate I got was issued by the Foreign Ministry (Russian Consulate), as specified on CIC's website.) We told Manila (through the MP) that Russia does not allow people (Russians or non-Russians) living outside Russia to get a PC from the Interior Ministry (the only way I could get this was to immigrate to Russia and establish residency there), and also told them that the vice consul of the Russian Consulate in Japan was quite upset that CIC claims that an official document they issued is not valid and would like an explanation from CIC. (She said a foreign entity does not have the authority to declare a document issued by another government invalid, nor does any foreign entity have the right to dictate how Russia issues its official documents.)

Eventually Manila came out and said that I can get a second police certificate, and clarified that they want an English original with letterhead, or a Russian original (without letterhead) with a certified translation. (I'd sent them an English original without letterhead.) CIC's guidelines didn't say anything about letterheads - so they apparently have unwritten requirements that they do not disclose when you are applying.

Anyway, I applied for a second police certificate, this time in Toronto. I asked for a letterhead but they told me I cannot dictate how they issue their documents. They issue documents according to their rules and CIC can take it or leave it.

So that's the unshortened long story

That is insane. My wife also lived in another country. She went to the consulate of that nation in Manila and she applied for Police Certificate. It took 3 months but eventually that Police Certificate came and we included it in our spouse sponsorship application. We received PPR and not a request for another police certificate, so I hope this means her Police Certificate was acceptable.

With respect to your last post, I don't know why CIC can declare a document issued by a foreign government invalid. I would understand if they simply requested an Certified English translation of that Russian document.

 

[Kayaker]

Well, we were pretty upset about the whole thing, and the MP's assistant who made the inquiries for us also agreed that we had followed CIC's instructions faithfully and that this was not reasonable of CIC.

The PC I got was an original, and it was issued in English (the Russian consulate gave me the option of Russian or English, and they are both originals) but it had no letterhead. Sure, a document can look more fancy and official with a letterhead, I agree. But the vice consul got rather snappish when I said CIC did not accept the document the consulate had issued - and I must say, she's right when she says Russia has a right to issue documents as they see fit and no one else has the authority to question the validity or authenticity of that document. And really, if CIC wants to instruct foreign governments on how to issue their official documents... leave me out of it please!

Anyway we applied for another police certificate. I don't know if it will have a letterhead or not, and I don't know if CIC will find the second one more acceptable than the first. I'm hazarding a guess that after making all this fuss, CIC doesn't want to back down and accept the first and original police certificate, and they'll be amenable to the second one we produce - they probably want to see us making an effort, so to speak.

So our application is probably getting a three month delay (2 weeks spent trying to get some answer from Manila about what they want, 2 months to get the police certificate, another 2 weeks to get a certified translation and send it to Manila) and we're hoping that they don't automatically close our case on the 45-day limit they gave us to provide the PC. (The MP's office did tell us unofficially that CIC doesn't automatically close the case if they know we're working on it, so we sent them extensive proof outlining our efforts to comply - overkill, maybe, but CIC has made us neurotic with their cryptic messages and unwritten requirements) That's part of why the change to "In Process" made me curious about what was going on there.

Anyway... fingers crossed.

 

[O_guy]

And sometimes I wonder if it all depends on the experience of the CIC officer who picked up your application. Remember, it was probably one individual who looked at your application and decided the original document from Russia was not valid. Sometimes I wish CIC was like my bank because when I call my bank, there is an automated voice which says, "If you would like to know the experience of the agent you will be talking to, press 1 now."

 

[Kayaker]

I think it's quite possible that CIC in Manila have never dealt with a case of a Japanese person who lived in Russia. And in general there are probably very few foreigners who lived in Russia who later immigrated to CIC. So I understand their confusion, but still feel CIC could have done better by updating the requirements on their website to reflect what their Real requirements are. Or, they could contact the vice consul of Russia in Japan and make an inquiry into the authenticity of the police certificate if they felt it didn't look valid or something. I did give them the contacts of the vice consul because she was miffed and said she would be very glad to answer any questions CIC might have. But I doubt they did, they're probably just letting our file collect dust...

 

[Awesomeg]

Dooooooes anyone have any good news? haha

Got our file In Process.... as August 19,
I just found out.... one step closer....

 

[Awesomeg]

I think it's quite possible that CIC in Manila have never dealt with a case of a Japanese person who lived in Russia. And in general there are probably very few foreigners who lived in Russia who later immigrated to CIC. So I understand their confusion, but still feel CIC could have done better by updating the requirements on their website to reflect what their Real requirements are. Or, they could contact the vice consul of Russia in Japan and make an inquiry into the authenticity of the police certificate if they felt it didn't look valid or something. I did give them the contacts of the vice consul because she was miffed and said she would be very glad to answer any questions CIC might have. But I doubt they did, they're probably just letting our file collect dust...

I am so sorry to hear that your file got delayed....
but don't forget that the time of God is Perfect....
everything will be ready in due time.... my prayers for you

 

[Awesomeg]

Hello everyone,

we've been off the forums for a while, just tired of the whole thing... long story short, Manila VO requested a document we'd already sent (Police certificate) without telling us why; it took us 2 weeks to get some response from them explaining why (they had specific unwritten requirements about letterheads that was Not mentioned on any of CIC's guidelines) and we're now waiting for the Russian Consulate in Toronto to produce this document. (Takes about 2 months.)

Anyway, I checked my ecas today and it says IN PROCESS (Aug 13, 2014)!

What is that supposed to mean? Does that mean, police certificate aside, they're working on the rest of our application (relationship proofs etc.)? I've always wondered about what order they do things - relationship proofs first, or background stuff (police certificates, marriage certificates etc.) first?

I'm just wondering what they're doing now and if it's too late to send them additional relationship proofs. (I intended to send them some additional proofs along with the Police Certificate, probably in 5 6 weeks.)

Hi Kayaker:

I am glad that you status changed to In Process,
you are from a non Visa country and that may mean
that your Confirmation of permanent Residence may be in its way....
that is what normally means when you get the In Process....
I am so happy for you....
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations

 

[Kayaker]

Thanks Awesomeg!

Hmm, since they're waiting for a second police certificate, it didn't occur to us that there might be progress on our case. Well you really never know what's going on in Manila... the whole process is so obscure.

By the way, does anyone know at what point they notify you of an interview if there will be one? There's no way to know of course, but just wondered if we still have to worry about an interview on top of everything else, or if generally they notify you of an interview earlier than this.

Will keep fingers crossed for everybody!