Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[Rinnerz]

Well, the good news is that, apparently, this sort of constant mishandling of an applicant's file and incompetence is NOT the norm. I just got lucky enough to be the poster child for it this year, it seems. I think (hope) the chances of things happening as badly as this are fairly low. Of course... some days, that makes it even more frustrating, because we have to fight the "Why did it have to be me, then?" mentality -- but I guess someone has to be the statistic, and I wouldn't wish this on anyone else, especially not given our circumstances.

Sidenote: I've replied to them (to both their general enquiry email AND the one they replied from), sending them another copy of the certificate. I CC'd it to my consultant, and he'll also be resending them the email he sent them 2 months ago, with the copy and other proof of having already sent it. Since they specifically ASKED for the copy this time, I'm hoping this will be enough and end this. With the long weekend coming up, I doubt we'll hear anything for awhile -- if at all.

 

[Calgary-Bound]

Thats such BS Rinnerz.We contacted our MP wich Is Jason Kenney and we told them about the Nov-Feb group also.So maybe his office will look into the situation for everyone.

 

[doctorkb]

I contacted our MP's office earlier this week. They verified some information with me, then got back to me today (2 days later).

Apparently our file is in review and no further information is required from us at this time.

It sounds like a standard response, but perhaps they're a bit more truthful when they're talking to an MP's office.

I expressed that the most disconcerting part was that applicants from January and February seem to have been neglected completely, yet March applicants are getting approvals.

It's not as though our case is complicated. We're close in age (4.5 years), first marriage, no kids (for either of us), and plenty of evidence that we've known each other a while.

Hopefully something happens soon...

 

[Trish1982]

Don't forget the October-November-December applicants too.

On another forum i seen someone from effing MARCH get their PPR today.

March 27th they applied, June 29th they get PPR

total bs.........................

 

[Cindy1]

I too have contacted Jason Kenney, it's so hard being seperated from your spouse especially what is suppose to be the honeymoon stage. Our lives are in limbo, not knowing if and when we will able to start to live our lives as husband and wife.

Here is a copy of the email I sent, in case anyone would like to use it or edit as you see fit:

Dear Mr. Kenney:



I wanted to inform you that I am a Canadian citizen by birth, and an upstanding individual and working professional.

In October, 2010 I got married, my husband is a resident of the US.

We completed the Spousal Application for permanent residence and submitted this intially to Mississauga, ON on December 4, 2010.

I understand that the US offices have upgraded their computer systems, and this has caused many applications that were received from November 2010 - March 2011, to be delayed beyond the normal processing times. Some individuals who have applied after the computer upgrade, even as late as April, 2011 through the Buffalo Office have already received their permanent residence status, while applicants like myself seem to be "stuck" with little movement or communication from Buffalo.

We continue to live our lives on hold, and in limbo, and our family unit is seperated which is causing emotional distress in our lives.

I am not an individual that normally asks for help, or raises concerns to authorties. However, as a newlywed we have a strong desire is to be joined together and to begin our lives as husband and wife together.

Specifically, I hope that you can allow Buffalo to hire more people for their very heavy workload, and/or there is concerted effort made so that families can be reunited sooner to avoid the system (computer changes) from affecting us. Your help is much appreciated, and I know that you will do everything you can to reunite our family.

My information is the following:

xxxxxx

 

[doctorkb]

Don't forget the October-November-December applicants too.

On another forum i seen someone from effing MARCH get their PPR today.

March 27th they applied, June 29th they get PPR

total bs.........................

Trish: I don't see the Oct-Dec applicants quite as "stuck" as Jan-Feb applicants. They have seen some movement in their groups, whereas Jan and Feb have seen NONE, despite the fact that if they kept up the pace they had for Dec applicants, we should have seen something about 2 months ago -- at least for some of us.

I agree that it's BS that someone can get it in 3 months and yet some of us are stuck waiting with no communication. There's no semblance of a FIFO queue, which is the saddest part.

 

[avon]

The data from Sparkle's spreadsheet is there for all of us to see. At the November 20th date these individuals have not had any movement. The four people that received the ppr after this were quackingaspen, fleetingdasein, and then quickly followed by KazinAz within two weeks. What is not talked about is that both quackingaspen and fleetindasein from memory got state clearances as well as FBI clearances, I am not sure about KazinAz. Since then we have seen no movement except it has skipped Jan entirely, and randomly giving to a few Feb and March, April people. Most recently palamr got in touch with them, and they responded with a ppr. If you read most of the postings on this thread, what you realize is that this is much more random, and communication is very poor. Somebody emails then gets ppr, and then they seem put upon to respond to wives and husbands getting in touch wanting to be reunited. It should be a process that as they get information automatically places people in right categories to a certain extent with documented communication. ie. why should we contact them, and then they look at our file and realize that their file was overturned as in adetia's case, they issue a ppr on day 349. Unfortunately, this is way too common. This is what we are all afraid of, and with the computer changes the quality control seems to be fairly poor.

I am sorry Rinnerz on behalf of my new country whenever I move there. I expect more in terms of professionalism from the communication. This isn't right and as much as we hope that your case is isolated and you get your ppr soon, we are not reassured that it is the one of the few isolated cases. From looking at earlier posts, the communication advice that I have seen is to email them about 3 to 4 weeks apart, and if you do more than this you could be like one of the earlier posters (saugaboss) and end up being delayed b/c of "security clearance", and right before saugaboss was to sue they gave her the ppr. I think they are overwhelmed with the situation, and doing too much without enough support especially with the computer changes. Thx Cindy - great letter.

BTW - I would be happy to see more PPR's from every month so March, April people please share, and we are happy for you. The more the merrier. Regardless, Happy Canada Day!!!! Hope you all enjoy it!

 

[spiritrac]

These questions is to stir our thoughts..

When we filed for our spouses or significant others what was our expectation of the process, did we discuss with them the possibilities of how long the process might take? (I know I did) Were our decisions based upon how fast others were getting through or was it that we wanted to be reunited and would begin the process expecting the unification to happen at some time in the future? We all knew that we were facing between 6 months to 11 months based on what was posted by the Buffalo office in their time frames

I agree that its okay to be frustrated but having gone through the other process from Canada to the USA I would prefer to be in this situation rather than the other one because in the USA you have to wait first, until there is a visa number available to you and secondly If your spouse is not a citizen but a permanent resident the wait is even longer, then don't talk about common law partner or conjugal partner you would be waiting forever. It took me several years to be with my spouse in the USA I used the long weekends to see my spouse and did that for about 2 and a half years every holiday I got in Canada I went to the USA or she came to see me. Each immigration jurisdiction functions differently and each office have an operations standard base on volume employees etc etc. I know you might say Spiritrac you don't understand because you are living with your spouse. My answer to that is I have been where you are at, been there done that so I dont get too frustrated. Its going to happen and sooner than you think

If we answer the above questions honestly and step back from the emotions of it all we wont be so hard upon ourselves and the VO's

So lighten up a little gave the process some time most of us have not been waiting 11 months.

 

[kayan]

I am more upset about the lack of communication than the longer processing times. Yes, it is frustrating when people who applied after us are getting through, I miss my husband and want to reunite with my SO just as anyone else here. If I knew that my application is being worked on and it is not just sitting there idle (because it is lost, forgotten, missing information noone is telling me about), I'd have a much easier time right now. We have not heard anything from Buffalo since our AOR in March.

 

[ocu_canadian]

I know that I talked to my wife about the possible wait times. We are not frustrated with the lengthy process. We are frustrated about the fact that December, January,and February applicants have received very little movement. Meanwhile, March and April have received a great deal of movement that is my frustration

 

[spiritrac]

Like I said I am only trying to stir up a discussion, but do they have to communicate with us on the ongoing process if they gave us timelines and they are within those timelines?

This is on the buffalo websiteCase Specific Enquiry

We will not respond to your enquiry if the application is within normal processing times.

If you are sponsoring a family member abroad, and if you are in Canada, you may wish to contact:

CIC Call Centre

The question then becomes what is normal processing times?

for buffalo thats 11 months

OCU_Canadian I understand the frustration but can you be happy for those who got some process and have the courage to believe that yours is being worked on being worked on although you dont see some progress

 

[amaranth]

Trish: I don't see the Oct-Dec applicants quite as "stuck" as Jan-Feb applicants. They have seen some movement in their groups, whereas Jan and Feb have seen NONE, despite the fact that if they kept up the pace they had for Dec applicants, we should have seen something about 2 months ago -- at least for some of us.

I agree that it's BS that someone can get it in 3 months and yet some of us are stuck waiting with no communication. There's no semblance of a FIFO queue, which is the saddest part.

Many of the people who are "In Process" for December only found that out after sending an inquiry... And I'm beginning to wonder if the In Process responses from these inquiries aren't just a general, automated response now. So yes, I'd say December IS just as stuck.

Spiritrac... I have done the back and forth "visiting" with my husband for SEVEN YEARS now. I think I've earned the right to be somewhat frustrated. (If anyone wants to know why we waited so long to get married and apply, I will simply say various medical and financial roadblocks had to be dealt with. Believe me, if we could have applied sooner, we would have!) If we all can't commiserate with people here who KNOW what we're going through, who are we supposed to be able to commiserate with? Most of my family and friends just glaze over and stop listening when I try to explain whats going on, even if they're the ones who asked! I don't have anyone "in real life" I can easily vent to when I get frustrated or depressed about this.

I was under the impression this was a place we could come to not only get answers, but support each other. I'd like to think we are all friends of some sort. Am I wrong?

 

[kayan]

@ spiritrac, considering they have a record of losing/misplacing people's information, and considering that in some cases they fail to inform the applicant of that, yes, i think they have to implement a system that would allow for better communication between the office and the applicant.

 

[ocu_canadian]

@spiritrac My frustration does not lie with the individual's being put through the process quickly they have no control over that. I am happy for them but that doesn't change my frustration with CIC and Buffalo my wife has a job offer on the table right now, and has been conditionally accepted into a university nursing program but we can't do anything until her paperwork comes through. That is why seeing March and April moving and January just chilling is frustrating to me

 

[Kess]

6 more days and I'll officially be in the "other 20%" of Buffalo applicants. Guess now that we hit 11 months we can email them directly? LOL