Hey chipits! Welcome.
Will be happy to help with what I know!
You are correct - Currently the waiting time is around 65 for Stage 1- Sponsor AOR/approval. (AOR- Acknowledgement of Receipt)CIC are currently working on August 13 applications. This date and number of days is updated weekly on the CIC website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp
Most people have been getting emails after that timeframe, either by way of an AOR (Acknowledgement of Receipt) or straight Sponsor approval. You might also get the approval letter in the mail, which can take up to 2-3 weeks,in addition to the initial 65 days, to receive.
In my case I didn't receive anything! However was able to ring CIC after my date had passed the current processing time and they told me over the phone we had sponsor approval and they had sent us an email (they hadn't though!)
The file is then transfered to Sydney and you will receive an AOR from them when it arrives. This is received by email.
From then it is anyone's guess how long it will take for the passport request, however from others' timelines it has been anywhere from 2.5-8 months. (It says 8 months on the CIC website). This time is calculated from the day Sydney VO receives it.
ECAS is pretty unreliable. For instance, after 3.5 months, mine only says "Application received 11 July, Medical results have been received". (However I have sponsor approval and an AOR from Sydney VO already), So you will probably know of your status before it is updated on E-CAS. Sometimes applicants' statuses go straight from "Application Received" to "Decision Made" despite the long processing times, so it can create more concern than needed, but at the very least shows you have been inputted into the system!
There is another system that a long-time member of this forum created called an E-Tracker : https://ecas.carroll.org.uk/
Which after registering can send emails to you directly on the status of your application. This site isn't related to CIC at all, so some people are cautious to input their details, however many other forum members have used it effectively (I am registered myself!)
So I think that's about it. Hopefully I have answered most of your questions. Feel free to ask if you have any more- we are all more than happy to help, as we are all going through the same thing!
chipits said:
Hey, can someone help me out with the timelines and acronyms?
We put in our application on Wednesday, it arrived Friday, am I correct in assuming I won't hear anything for (around) 70 days until my approval as a sponsor goes through? When it does, will I get a letter, or an email telling me I've been approved and the file has gone to Sydney? (All of my questions are assuming everything goes smoothly haha!)
Once the file goes to Sydney, what will I hear? Will it be basically nothing until they ask for the passport? Will things change on the internet, on the online checking thing? Will I get the info to check for updates on ECAS in the approval for stage 1?
Thanks guys, I'm just kind of confused as to when and how often we're going to hear from the visa people!
