VIENNA OFFICE

[dbaltov]

Hi All,

I can understand everyone's frustration....hopefully all goes well for you.

I sponsored my husband at the end of Jan 2011 and still waiting......His application has been there since March 4, 2011. They sent him a request for military background information in May 2011 and nothing else after that.  We were notified in Aug 2011 (after I sent an email that he is pending an interview). We never received an acknowledgement letter from Vienna.

I sent another email a few weeks ago letting Vienna know I was in Macedonia for 2 week to visit my husband.

Last week, my husband received a call from Vienna asking him if he speaks and understand Serb-Croatian, he advised them yes.

I received an email response from Vienna today tell me that.....they can not schedule an interview date because they do not have a Macedonian interpreter at this moment.........WTF?
But it might be possible for him to have an interview mid December in Serb-Croatian if he agrees to.

I don't get this system sometime. Why are we Canadian citizens and what about our rights? I have contacted my MP's office, and I'm going to send an email to the ministry of citizenship and immigration to justify why us Balkan countries in my opinion and in many cases have to go through such a hassle. I thought the saying was......"we cant help who we fall in love with"?

I'm upset because I have some friends and acquaintances that come from parts of Asia...and they have had arranged marriage, know their spouse for less then 2 weeks (plus are closely related family) get married, and are in Canada with 4-6 months..no questions asked....I'm happy for them....but how does that justify the process of the Canadian immigration system and what we are going through?

[cleo]

 @  dbaltov....I totally agree with you, but in Asia they don't have military service and war criminals.  It's the background checks from CSIS that take all the time it seems.  I'm lucky that my husband had his service just  before the wars started, so it didn't take that long but still, we never knew what was going on during the whole process.    Have you ordered CAIPS notes to see what's going on?   It would be helpful to know why he is having the interview.  Is it military related or about your relationship?    Anyway,  you or he should email the Vienna office and tell them he doesn't need an interpreter.  Does he speak English?   


 @  serdj...thanks!   I am so excited I can't sleep and I can't focus at work.  I'm sure you'll get your visa soon.  I'm looking forward to meeting you and Vasilisa the Beauty.   

[cleo]

I was just looking at some other threads, one from Beijing.  Three months to process an application!  That is NOT right.

[Gemini1]

Was anyone else aware that Vienna is no longer dealing with Serbian visas?  Apparently as of a few weeks ago it is now London...?

[Serdj977]

Last week, my husband received a call from Vienna asking him if he speaks and understand Serb-Croatian, he advised them yes.

I received an email response from Vienna today tell me that.....they can not schedule an interview date because they do not have a Macedonian interpreter at this moment.........WTF?
But it might be possible for him to have an interview mid December in Serb-Croatian if he agrees to.

Hi dbaltov,

I had my interview in September and I waited in a queue for 8 months...

Don't wait for them to find Macedonian translator it will slow down entire process... If you need to confirm them by email that your husband speaks and understands Serbo-Croatian do it.
Did they asked you to confirm that by email? If you need to confirm do it and let them schedule interview for December.
After the interview VO sends it to CSIS or CBSA for a review (around 3 months wait) then he will probably be asked to redo his medicals (around 2 months wait) and that's final stage, after that is passport request.
There's approx 5-6 months of time waiting after the interview... so sooner you do it the better.

I'm sure you'll get your visa soon.  I'm looking forward to meeting you and Vasilisa the Beauty.   

Hope it will be over in a few months, we'll see... I'm looking forward to meeting to you too guys.

Was anyone else aware that Vienna is no longer dealing with Serbian visas?  Apparently as of a few weeks ago it is now London...?

As I understand Vienna sends just medicals to London for a review, not entire application package.

[Gemini1]

Ah ok, because my husband just did his medical today and he said they sent it to Vienna.  Then we were talking on Skype and he told me he called the medical place and they said that "london took over administration from vienna and serbia is being processed in london from a few weeks ago". Confused.

[Serdj977]

It just refers to Vienna applicants medicals. London is regional medical office.

[nika80]

Hi All,

I can understand everyone's frustration....hopefully all goes well for you.

I sponsored my husband at the end of Jan 2011 and still waiting......His application has been there since March 4, 2011. They sent him a request for military background information in May 2011 and nothing else after that.  We were notified in Aug 2011 (after I sent an email that he is pending an interview). We never received an acknowledgement letter from Vienna.

I sent another email a few weeks ago letting Vienna know I was in Macedonia for 2 week to visit my husband.

Last week, my husband received a call from Vienna asking him if he speaks and understand Serb-Croatian, he advised them yes.

I received an email response from Vienna today tell me that.....they can not schedule an interview date because they do not have a Macedonian interpreter at this moment.........WTF?
But it might be possible for him to have an interview mid December in Serb-Croatian if he agrees to.

I don't get this system sometime. Why are we Canadian citizens and what about our rights? I have contacted my MP's office, and I'm going to send an email to the ministry of citizenship and immigration to justify why us Balkan countries in my opinion and in many cases have to go through such a hassle. I thought the saying was......"we cant help who we fall in love with"?

I'm upset because I have some friends and acquaintances that come from parts of Asia...and they have had arranged marriage, know their spouse for less then 2 weeks (plus are closely related family) get married, and are in Canada with 4-6 months..no questions asked....I'm happy for them....but how does that justify the process of the Canadian immigration system and what we are going through?

I agree with you. I know that we had wars and I know everything but still!! Those background checks are really ridiculous...  I think  if you cant find something about someone after a month I really doubt you are gonna find something after one year or more. I am upset because not all Balkan countries are treated the same and we all had wars and there are criminals in every country...So something is wrong with all that...
But I think that we need to stay positive:) and I hope that we will be with our loved ones soon!

[dbaltov]

Thanks Serdj....we made the same decision, he is schedule for an interview December 15th in Serbian....

I spoke with my local MP and he did an inquiry to Vienna. We round out that his background checks have yet to be done....my advise to all if you have passed the 9 month waiting time from when your spouses files was transferred to Vienna try calling your local MP....he might be able to help you.

I'm also going to write a letter to the minister of immigration and citizenship in Calgary and to the Prime Minister. I think it's about time we stand up for our loved ones. I'm disgusted at the the immigration process for Canadian. I feel that been a Canadian citizen means nothing anymore. We have no rights or help for our government. How would they feel to be in our position? I understand their is a waiting period which I patiently waited but 9 months are over and now what?
How would they feel to be without their spouse for the holidays? They have to understand where we are coming from...it's not like my husband can come visit me anytime he wants...and i can't keep going back and forth either....I'm just so frustrated....

[VasilisaPrekrasna]

Hi,
I completely agree that the procedure is unfair and lengthy.
My MP told me that one of the reasons the checks are so slow is because the conservative govt cut spending and there are fewer officers working on cases. Apparently this is something that affects a minority of citizens and as such not a big deal...I don't think it is the truth, but most people affected by the immigration process are immigrants who usually because of language and other cultural reasons do not speak up about their experiences.
Another reason for the length of the process is the time information spends traveling (literally)...
 

[cleo]

It would be interesting to do research into other countries where military service is mandatory and if the checks take as long as those from the Balkans.  There are known war criminals that made it to Canada in the '90s so I'm sure they are being extra vigilant about that.  And of course, can you imagine the stacks and stacks of background checks they have at CSIS? And they don't just do checks on applicants but also on commanding officers etc.    Definitely there are not enough people to process these applications, and I'm sure some are given more priority than others.   Nothing was done on our file until September.  Seems like a lot of people were on vacation during the summer. 

Anyway I can't complain too much because the system worked for us.  It was also lucky that my husband was in the military before anything happened.  Still, they nagged him about not remembering all the names of his commanding officers and the specific name of his unit.  That was over 20 years ago!

That said,  there is a lot of misunderstanding about the former Yugoslavia.  I could go on and on about that. 

I don't think writing the minister of immigration nor the prime minister would do any good.  It would be better to talk with your local MP and if that person has a higher status in parliament he/she could possibly do something about it.  However,  the one good thing writing letters does is help you process your frustrations and anger.  It certainly won't hurt to do it. 

[lucky rain]

i might sound a bit lost here , but what actually means MP?

[cleo]

member of parliament

[cleo]

One more day.

He's leaving in an hour. 

I won't be online much anymore.  If anyone wants to ask me anything just PM me. 
Hoping the best for all Vienna applicants.  And thanks to everyone for their support and advice.
Metta,
Cleo

[Frida]

Wow cleo, all the best to you!