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The Reality of CIC

Fencesitter

Champion Member
Sep 29, 2011
1,761
52
Category........
Visa Office......
Hong Kong
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
April 13, 2012
AOR Received.
AOR2 July 25, 2012
File Transfer...
July 13, 2012
Med's Done....
Mar 1, 2012
Interview........
WAIVED!
Passport Req..
Aug 28, 2012
VISA ISSUED...
Sept 24, 2012
LANDED..........
Jan 30, 2013
Hi folks,

So, my application has been delivered and now the wait begins. Not too bad considering I am living with my wife and son. The only problem is that I am very tired of living in China...but that's another story altogether.

After reading this forum over the past few weeks, I have come to view the people who work at CIC as bumbling buffoons. Are they really that bad? I sent our application in 5 envelopes loosely placed inside a UPS express pack. Are the people at CIC so dumb as to separate the envelopes? Will they lose one or all of them? My point is, are they stupid people with no sense?

Before coming to this forum, I would never have thought anything like this would be possible. It's only after reading various posts that I start to wonder about the competence of the people working at CIC.

I had a very strange dream about CIC last night. One part of my dream was especially odd, in that, when arriving at the office, each applicant would be taken outside, lifted up in a crane, then dropped to the cement below. If you survived, you got the visa! Haha! Another part was that they attached all the forms and supporting evidence to your car, then they would take your car for the time it takes to process the applications. Weird. At one point, I remember bribing one of the officers...haha...if only it were that easy!

Anyways, happy Saturday!

FS
 

SenoritaBella

VIP Member
Jan 2, 2012
3,673
194
Category........
Visa Office......
Dakar
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
08-01-2014
AOR Received.
12-02-2014
File Transfer...
25-02-2014
Med's Request
02-11-2015
Med's Done....
18-09-2013
Passport Req..
02-11-2015
VISA ISSUED...
hopefully soon
LANDED..........
hopefully soon
That cracked me up! The dreams of an immigration applicant!!! lol I don't know if stupid is the word... seems like the work is being done by robots so one can't make heads nor tails from it. A spokesperson actually admitted last year that applications do get lost/missing sometimes. Imagine that! This should not worry you though, I'm sure they will know the entire package is for one applicant.
 

CharlieD10

VIP Member
Sep 5, 2010
5,849
185
123
Northern Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
KGN
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
15-02-2011
File Transfer...
09-05-2011
Med's Done....
17-01-2011, 08-03-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
30-3-2012
VISA ISSUED...
13-04-2012
LANDED..........
06-06-2012
Hahaha, you cracked me up with that. Lay off the dairy before bedtime. :p
 

Fencesitter

Champion Member
Sep 29, 2011
1,761
52
Category........
Visa Office......
Hong Kong
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
April 13, 2012
AOR Received.
AOR2 July 25, 2012
File Transfer...
July 13, 2012
Med's Done....
Mar 1, 2012
Interview........
WAIVED!
Passport Req..
Aug 28, 2012
VISA ISSUED...
Sept 24, 2012
LANDED..........
Jan 30, 2013
Yeah, it was a very weird dream. I guess the good thing is that the dream took place in Canada...and my wife was with me! So, I guess that's a sign...or maybe a sign I'm slowly losing my mind...If I have any other strange dreams related to CIC, I'll be sure to post them... :p

Anyway, and in all seriousness, what do you think of the following:

"After reading this forum over the past few weeks, I have come to view the people who work at CIC as bumbling buffoons. Are they really that bad? I sent our application in 5 envelopes loosely placed inside a UPS express pack. Are the people at CIC so dumb as to separate the envelopes? Will they lose one or all of them? My point is, are they stupid people with no sense?"

Cheers!

FS
 

CharlieD10

VIP Member
Sep 5, 2010
5,849
185
123
Northern Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
KGN
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
15-02-2011
File Transfer...
09-05-2011
Med's Done....
17-01-2011, 08-03-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
30-3-2012
VISA ISSUED...
13-04-2012
LANDED..........
06-06-2012
I expect the people at CIC are much like government employees anywhere: they have a lot of work to do, they feel very put upon given their wage scale in comparison to their private sector peers, they work in a very defined pecking order and prefer that because it mostly absolves them of personal responsibility for any decision they didn't make, and many of them just want to get through the day so they can finally get to their pensions. I expect there are also a few who genuinely care about their jobs, want to excel at what they do, and wonder what they could do to make things better. (I could be very optimistic, saying that, LOL).

I think you are just suffering separation anxiety and driving yourself crazy with what-ifs. Whatever happens, it's out of your hands now, and you just have to trust CIC and the universe that all will happen as it ought to.
 

leo77

Star Member
Mar 14, 2012
55
2
I've found being able to talk to a local CiC officer with regards to my visitor visa, and sponsal application absolutely priceless, these people are'nt morons and they have to work to guide lines, and i promise you this THEY HAVE HEARTS AND FEELINGS, its not the person who is looking at your case who can speed up or slow down, its the MANAGEMENT/GOVERNMENT who implements all the procedures.

PATIENCE IS THE KEY, ROME WASNT BUILT IN A DAY..............................
 

Lasiar

Hero Member
Mar 1, 2012
224
3
124
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo/Detroit
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-09-2011
Doc's Request.
02-22-2012
AOR Received.
12-09-2011
File Transfer...
11-15-2011
Med's Request
medical extension 07-06-12 request sent by VO
Med's Done....
13-06-2011
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
16-05-2012
VISA ISSUED...
COPR 16-08-12
leo77 said:
I've found being able to talk to a local CiC officer with regards to my visitor visa, and sponsal application absolutely priceless, these people are'nt morons and they have to work to guide lines, and i promise you this THEY HAVE HEARTS AND FEELINGS, its not the person who is looking at your case who can speed up or slow down, its the MANAGEMENT/GOVERNMENT who implements all the procedures.

PATIENCE IS THE KEY, ROME WASNT BUILT IN A DAY..............................
Luv it. :)
 

mobeyk

Hero Member
Oct 10, 2011
337
4
Picton, ON
Category........
Visa Office......
Hong Kong
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-04-2012
Doc's Request.
additional docs 29-08-2012
AOR Received.
none
File Transfer...
10-07-2012
Med's Done....
15-11-2011
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
29-08-2012
VISA ISSUED...
Oct 8 2012
LANDED..........
Nov 10 2012
CharlieD10 said:
I think you are just suffering separation anxiety and driving yourself crazy with what-ifs. Whatever happens, it's out of your hands now, and you just have to trust CIC and the universe that all will happen as it ought to.
Fencesitter is lucky. He can dream beside his wife. I have dreams of me being with my wife. I never would dream of CIC. Yuk. I think it is a shame that people have to go through such process, just because a few bad apples have caused trouble. I think it should be straight forward. You are married and longer than 2 years with a few specified evidence and bang, the wife can come without lengthy process. I doubt that a normal working Canadian man takes money to get a woman to Canada running danger to be sucked out with the Sponsorship agreement in place. Government can't protect the sponsor anyways. I do not want to judge about CIC. I can imagine its not a fun job and it takes a lot of organized effort to keep track of things. Can you alone imagine how many applications are being stored before they get processed? As a employee you see a mountain grow that never will cease to grow. After all documents and interpretations, only facts will count and the overall impression they get from your relationship.
 

cndcit

Full Member
Sep 16, 2010
25
0
CIC is just another fickle government agency with laws and policies that are as clear as pea soup!! Only in government can you get away with verbally saying something and then sending you something completely different in writing. After dealing with CIC and the hoops a person has to jump through,makes me wonder what other countries are like! And it is said Canada is easier to get into.
 

cms418

Star Member
Apr 8, 2012
52
0
cndcit said:
CIC is just another fickle government agency with laws and policies that are as clear as pea soup!! Only in government can you get away with verbally saying something and then sending you something completely different in writing. After dealing with CIC and the hoops a person has to jump through,makes me wonder what other countries are like! And it is said Canada is easier to get into.
Taiwan took me 3 weeks!
 

parker24

VIP Member
Nov 26, 2011
3,324
72
123
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY --> Los Angeles, CA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
File Transfer...
05-06-2012
Med's Done....
16-11-2011
Passport Req..
16-11-2012
LANDED..........
04-01-2013
The one thing that irks me is the whole working thing.. You'd think as a country who is in debt, you'd want people to come in and be working within like, three months... Does that make sense? Like Sure you can come to our country, but you better get a job and pay taxes!! Sigh.

I've been having dreams of CIC too, mostly nightmares of my husband being deported for some reason (He's with me). There's nothing in his background that suggests he ever would, I'm just paranoid haha. Thankfully I have my faith and it keeps me calm.......usually :p
 

canadianwoman

VIP Member
Nov 6, 2009
6,200
282
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra, Ghana
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
30-01-2008
Interview........
05-05-2009
Fencesitter said:
After reading this forum over the past few weeks, I have come to view the people who work at CIC as bumbling buffoons. Are they really that bad?
Bumbling, I don't know, but the visa officers are not idiots. They are not 'normal' government employees either: they are Foreign Service Officers, and that is not an easy job to get. 10,000 people apply for it some years, and they hire 50 to 75, and some years none. The tests take all day, and include an IQ test.
 

canadiangirl78

Champion Member
Mar 1, 2012
2,345
30
Category........
Visa Office......
Mexico
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
Feb 21
AOR Received.
Mississauga: May 10, Mexico: June 4
File Transfer...
May 16
Med's Done....
Dec 21, 2011
Interview........
Waived!
Passport Req..
July 6
VISA ISSUED...
July 13
LANDED..........
August 2, 2012
canadianwoman said:
Bumbling, I don't know, but the visa officers are not idiots. They are not 'normal' government employees either: they are Foreign Service Officers, and that is not an easy job to get. 10,000 people apply for it some years, and they hire 50 to 75, and some years none. The tests take all day, and include an IQ test.
I don't think they're bumbling idiots at all. One visa officer called my husband and he was amazing and helpful. I'm very grateful. The angier everyone gets at CIC the more sympathetic I am. I'm less stressed out now.
 

Lemondrop78

Hero Member
Nov 28, 2011
377
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
Apr 6th, 2012
Med's Done....
Feb 10th, 2012 granted extension til Feb 6th, 2014 (I didn't even know!)
Interview........
Waived!
Passport Req..
Exempt
VISA ISSUED...
COPR issued April 23rd, 2013
LANDED..........
Planning end of May or early June
LOL. I have not had any dreams of CIC yet so hopefully I don't start. At least your envelopes in your package are labelled 1 of 5, etc. I read that and it got me a little nervous. I have 2 envelopes and 1 folder in my package and I didn't write both of our names on all 3. I should've...and I didn't write 1 of 3 or anything like that. I think I only put my husband's name on the permanent residency application envelope and maybe I did write both our names on the proof of relationship envelope...but I didn't write any of our names on the sponsorship folder. Well I'm sure it'll turn out ok. My friend in Canada sponsored her husband from France and she said it only took 6 months for him to get approved. I told her I sent 56 photos and she said she thinks she only sent a few photos and their wedding invitation as some of the proofs she can remember. At the time she was pregnant w/their son and her husband was in France. So w/all the proofs we sent and all the photos...you have over 100 from what I remember...and you have a son together too...I'm sure they will grant her the residency, just hope sooner than later.
 

Mrslwsn

Hero Member
Oct 7, 2010
977
16
Toronto/Mobay
Category........
Visa Office......
Kingston, Jamaica
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
24-11-2011
AOR Received.
neva yet
File Transfer...
25-01-2012
Med's Done....
26-10-2011
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
14-03-12
VISA ISSUED...
31-03-12
LANDED..........
29-04-2012
FS..you already have heard me tell you that you are paranoid. You really are making yourself crazy by getting angry at every little detail. I have no idea what visa officers are like, but I will tell you this, which I think I told you before, I was worried a lot mostly about my low income, or wat cic would think or our relationship. Also I had a really rough life and made some incredibly bad choices that have come back to haunt me later in my life, so I was also worried about that. It made me feel super anxious about the process, all through this my husband and I are separated so I dont even have the comfort that I feel, the security I feel when I am with him. Imagine the stress of someone who earns 7G's a year, has a son with an aquired brain injury, having to find (legitimatly) plane fares for 5 ppl every summer, and plane fare for myself 2-3 more times that year just to keep the link, to get that exhale to be with the person u adore, love and your best friend.

I have come along way from a little girl from Jamaica who was abandoned in Canada at age 12, and had to sleep in some very unsavory places. I have tried to live my life being kind to others, tried to do my own thing, and be the best person I can be with what little I know how. My husband albeit far, has been a huge positive factor in our lives and a true blessing. So I dont know if my speedy approval time is god's work or the visa officers but someone who looked at our file must have had a heart, and intelligence to see the truth that lies beneath. I hope you understand I am explaining these personal and private things to give you some peace. Your brain needs a rest :)