All outland applications centrally pooled now? Is that true?

[wyho007]

I'm a Canadian citizen sponsoring my common law partner who resides in Macao. I was told by a Canadian friend that all outland applications are all centrally pooled now (from March, 2016) and processing time across should follow the processing time as listed in the CIC website instead of visa office specific. Currently, the central processing time for outland applications is 17 months. Hong Kong visa office processing time is months shorter. Which timeline should be more reliable? Is the "centrally pooled" claim a new change that is true?

Thanks!

 

[Decoy24601]

The Hong Kong timeline will be much more accurate. The new way that you see application times is even more inaccurate than it was before. It's the time it takes 80% of applications from all visa offices. The application will still be processed in the same place and will follow the same timeline as it did a few months ago likely, unless the processing times for Hong Kong have recently slowed down or sped up (I'm unfamiliar with this VO, so I don't know).

Your friend didn't completely know what s/he was talking about, but I find that's common unfortunately.

 

[mega_option101]

The Hong Kong timeline will be much more accurate. The new way that you see application times is even more inaccurate than it was before. It's the time it takes 80% of applications from all visa offices. The application will still be processed in the same place and will follow the same timeline as it did a few months ago likely, unless the processing times for Hong Kong have recently slowed down or sped up (I'm unfamiliar with this VO, so I don't know).

Your friend didn't completely know what s/he was talking about, but I find that's common unfortunately.

Actually, if this were true - my application should have been sent to Warsaw VO (my wife is a Polish National and lives in Warsaw). However, my application will be processed in Mississauga, and not Warsaw.

 

[Decoy24601]

Actually, if this were true - my application should have been sent to Warsaw VO (my wife is a Polish National and lives in Warsaw). However, my application will be processed in Mississauga, and not Warsaw.

It's still up to the discretion of the CIC as to where your application gets sent, but it is definitely not centrally pooled. If a specific VO has a backlog, sometimes applications from that VO will be sent to other offices. Most applications still won't be processed in Mississauga if they were supposed to be processed in another outland VO.

 

[scylla]

I'm a Canadian citizen sponsoring my common law partner who resides in Macao. I was told by a Canadian friend that all outland applications are all centrally pooled now (from March, 2016) and processing time across should follow the processing time as listed in the CIC website instead of visa office specific. Currently, the central processing time for outland applications is 17 months. Hong Kong visa office processing time is months shorter. Which timeline should be more reliable? Is the "centrally pooled" claim a new change that is true?

Thanks!

No - not true. You should be following the Hong Kong visa office processing times. You'll get your best information from the Hong Kong thread here.