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hamed_hamed_hamed said:
I got my doc request in August. It's common to be slow in summer. Last year in summer they were very slow too and it was not because of any strike.
I got my doc request in August which was in the middle of the strike. By the way, this was visa officers' strike for temporary residents such as workers and students, not permanent residency applications.

I don't think the slowness was due to the strike.

You need to search and study a little bit more before making any conclusion. A few month ago CIC officially announced that it has decided to shift non-striking officers working on the PR applications to the TRV section to avoid any slow down in the processing of temporary visas, and this action delayed the PR applications a lot. What you say is completely wrong. Anyway, I do not want to discuss about this issue as it seems to be over finally. Good luck.
 
aidina said:
You need to search and study a little bit more before making any conclusion. A few month ago CIC officially announced that it has decided to shift non-striking officers working on the PR applications to the TRV section to avoid any slow down in the processing of temporary visas, and this action delayed the PR applications a lot. What you say is completely wrong. Anyway, I do not want to discuss about this issue as it seems to be over finally. Good luck.

Aidina is right
You can see this link: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/06/20/foreign-service-officers-walk-out-at-eight-more-missions-abroad/

"Edwards said priority is being placed on temporary resident visa applications. As a result, some permanent resident applications are being set aside."

Tim Edwards is the PAFSO (Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers) president.
 
aidina said:
You need to search and study a little bit more before making any conclusion. A few month ago CIC officially announced that it has decided to shift non-striking officers working on the PR applications to the TRV section to avoid any slow down in the processing of temporary visas, and this action delayed the PR applications a lot. What you say is completely wrong. Anyway, I do not want to discuss about this issue as it seems to be over finally. Good luck.

Well, I have to partly disagree with you aidina. What I said is not completely wrong! If you remember last year, there was a bad slowness in PR applications like this summer. I agree that part of this slowness was due to moving officers to visa section.

Yet other part of the slowness is due to the summer itself and people going on vacation as in last year's summer.
Anyway, I am so happy for those who are waiting for a visa.
 
hamed_hamed_hamed said:
Well, I have to partly disagree with you aidina. What I said is not completely wrong! If you remember last year, there was a bad slowness in PR applications like this summer. I agree that part of this slowness was due to moving officers to visa section.

Yet other part of the slowness is due to the summer itself and people going on vacation as in last year's summer.
Anyway, I am so happy for those who are waiting for a visa.

Hopefully, everyone gets the visa soon :)
 
Thanks for sharing these good news!

The_Prince said:
26 September 2013 - Canada's Foreign Service Officers Reach Tentative Agreement with Federal Government
The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers is pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached with the Treasury Board of Canada to end our six-month labour dispute.

“PAFSO is satisfied with this deal,” said PAFSO President Tim Edwards.“This agreement was reached through compromises on both sides,” continued Edwards. “We salute the spirit of constructive engagement which our employer brought to our latest discussions. This deal is a victory for free and fair bargaining in the federal public service.”

With the signing of this tentative agreement PAFSO has ordered an immediate suspension of all strike measures and work to rule. The agreement requires ratification by the PAFSO membership and approval by the full Treasury Board. PAFSO's Executive Committee and Treasury Board president Tony Clement have agreed to recommend acceptance of the offer.

“We are pleased that the Government has recognized the tremendous value and dedication which Foreign Service Officers provide to Canadians and their elected representatives,” said Edwards. “It has been a hard-fought battle and I would like to salute the unity, resolve, and stamina of our members in securing a fair and equitable deal. We're excited to get back to doing the work we love, promoting and protecting Canada's values and interests abroad.”

The 1,350 Foreign Service Officers have been without a contract since July 1, 2011 and in a legal strike position since April 2, 2013. This agreement concludes the longest federal public service strike since the introduction of collective bargaining in 1967.

http://www.pafso.com/news_releases.php?newsID=168
 
Curious2 said:
Finally received my PR Card after 96 days!

I got mine last week. It is beautiful :)
 
CIC website just removed all its notices about the strike. We should start hearing from Ottawa very soon.
 
TyrusX said:
I got mine last week. It is beautiful :)
got our PR cards last monday at exactly 73 days..:).
 
anjuku said:
got our PR cards last monday at exactly 73 days..:).

Congratulations! Anjuku, Tyrusx, curious2 for getting ur PR cards. PLZ wish us good luck haven't got the MR yet :(
 
kg.jadu said:
TyrusX and anjuku, congratulations! :) You're now completely done with the PR application.
Thank You :)..hope u get yours soon too :)
 
kaziahmmed said:
Congratulations! Anjuku, Tyrusx, curious2 for getting ur PR cards. PLZ wish us good luck haven't got the MR yet :(
Thanks Kazi :)...now that the strike is over i hope you get your MR really soon!..good luck!..you are almost there :)
 
Hi Forum!

I was recently rejected for PR under the PhD stream. Looks like many others had the same problem. Their reason was that one of my reference letters did not state the main duties performed and hence making my work experience not count for the continuous full time employment.

I then appealed, even there is NOT a formal appeal process. My grounds was that I did include the main duties performed in the letter and that it must have been misplaced. I just received a reply rejecting my appeal on the grounds that there is no appeal and that I did not include the letter.

Question 1: Does CIC have a system for 100% making sure that they do not misplace documents? I am 99.99% sure that I included the letter in question and that it sufficiently described the duties of said employment. In their response they said:

"Your application for Permanent Residence in Canada was considered on its substantive merits according to the applicable section of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and was refused. Any different or new information that you have submitted cannot be taken into consideration."
And
"NOTE: The letter you submitted from University XX you submitted with your response was not part of your original application and thus cannot be used in a re-assessment."

I wonder if it is worth persevering or whether I should just (sic) make a new application?

Question 2: continuous employment (full/part time) I think is my main weakness. In a related forum asbereth notes that 1,950 hours of continuous work experience is required. I am a 4th year PhD student and have been continuously employed as an RA and a TA through my 2year MA and the frist 3 years of my MA. These have been smaller contracts: 64hrs, the odd 80 and 120 hours, but I am still not sure that this amounts to 1950 hours. Could anyone provide clarification, please? Is there anyone in the same situation who has been granted PR and yet only did small - albeit continous - RA/TA work.

Finally: I know that I don't have to re-do the English test (thankfully, especially because its my first language), but do I have to send original documents, or signed documents again, even though they have a copy of them already?

Thanks so much. Any help is much appreciated.