Australian or NZ applicants - share timeline here !!

[rachiy]

Hey Kiwiz,

Go outland for sure! There is a link to the Sydney spreadsheet in my signature, as you will see most cases are processed well below the 9-10 month guideline from the CIC website. A few of us who recently got PR applied in June - August, so you are looking at around 6 months total.
I know that people often recommend inland for a few reasons - getting implied status, getting the open work permit after stage one, being able to stay with their spouse throughout the process, and not having to travel for the interview. But unless you have some red flags in your case I don't see any of these reasons being a factor for you.

If PR has not come through by October then you can apply to have your status changed to visitor BEFORE your work permit expires. It is $75 (I think, might have changed) and you can apply without leaving the country - it actually works in your favour to just apply online rather than flag-poleing at a border because if they decide to deny you - which they won't, it will take a few months to get to your application, which effectively buys you free time. You may have PR by then anyway.

It depends where you have lived for the police records. If you have only lived in Canada and NZ then you will just need to sign the form authorizing CIC to access your NZ criminal records and they will do the rest. If you have lived in other countries then you might need to do something more.

There is a form where you list your parents and siblings with their addresses for general info, but the form which I think you are talking about where it asks about family members you do not need to mention them, that is just for dependants.

Good luck!

 

[Kiwiz]

Can anyone tell me about the outland application- additional family info?

I thought I did not need to fill out this form but I have seen some threads saying otherwise. My Canadian partner is sponsoring me and me only (we live in Canada, and all my family are in NZ) but do I need to fill out all my additional family info anyway?

 

[Kiwiz]

Hey Rachiy

Thank you so much. I lived in Sydney the last 7 years before my partner and I moved here, so I'm getting an Aus police check too.

Hoping to have application off buy the end of Feb, and yeah it's a straight forward case, we have been living together a bit over a year and have all records i.e.. emails, lease, joint credit cards, stat dec forms etc. He has a great secure job too so there shouldn't be problems with him sponsoring me.

So just to confirm, 30 days before my work visa expires in October, I need to change my status to visitor (if my PR hasn't come through yet) which I can do online? CIC website?
Obviously this means I wont be able to work while I wait for the PR to come through?

If anyone has any other tips about the outland application- i.e.. any reasons you got it sent back, or any tricky things that weren't filled in correctly, please let me know! I will be sending mine off as soon a sthe police checks are back, and I don't want to get anything wrong on the applications!

 

[Kiwiz]

Also Rachiy, what did you mean about applying inland you are able to stay with your spouse during the process? I am with my spouse now in Canada, and I can still stay with him while we wait for my PR to come through yes? I'm on the NZ IEC work visa til October.

 

[rachiy]

Also Rachiy, what did you mean about applying inland you are able to stay with your spouse during the process? I am with my spouse now in Canada, and I can still stay with him while we wait for my PR to come through yes? I'm on the NZ IEC work visa til October.

Yes you can stay. For some people, especially those from countries requiring a visa to visit Canada, the inland route is the only way for them to stay together during the process. Outland applications may mean being apart for up to 2 years depending on processing times as the spouse is often denied a visitor visa - thus when they are together in Canada they submit the app and take advantage of implied status.

As you are a kiwi there is no advantage for you to apply inland as you are already here on a WP and can easily get a visitor visa to stay throughout the application if your WP expires before PR.

Yes, submit your application for Visitor visa before your WP expires - they recommend 30 days, but I have submitted applications on the day of expiry in the past and it has been fine. Stressful, but it worked out in the end! You could submit just a few days before to buy yourself some extra time. Once you change your status from worker to visitor you will not be allowed to work, but it shouldn't be too long in your situation.

 

[Kiwiz]

Thank you so much. Everyone on here has been so helpful. It has taken a lot of the stress away!

If anyone has any more tips or advice for the outland common law application please let me know- submitting it as soon as my police check certs are back.

Cheers

 

[Kiwiz]

As I have now been living in Canada for 6 months- do I need to produce a Canadian Police certificate check too?

 

[figgy]

no, the cic does their own check. my fiance has been here almost 2 years and we did not submit one with our application

 

[bagelbagel81]

Can anyone tell me about the outland application- additional family info?

I thought I did not need to fill out this form but I have seen some threads saying otherwise. My Canadian partner is sponsoring me and me only (we live in Canada, and all my family are in NZ) but do I need to fill out all my additional family info anyway?

You have to fill this out for yourself including your partner/sponsor, and any brothers, sisters, step siblings and dependents.

I thought this was only for myself because I was the only one coming to Canada, but I was wrong. If you don't include all family members you risk forfeiting possible sponsorship for them in the future, and possible misrepresentation.

I had to resend my form once it got to Sydney VO :| It didn't really delay the process any - it just made me worry for the whole first stage that my app might be returned!

 

[dawndarkharp]

Hey guys!


Weeks and weeks and our ecas still says "received." I am getting worried and discouraged and am thinking of sending a case-specific inquiry to the Sydney VO.

Any advice to what I should write so I don't risk the chance of pissing off my case officer? I can send information about our intent to stay in Canada when we receive PR - since we are already in Canada. My spouse received a job offer from Habitat for Humanity while he was volunteering and they are keeping it for him until he receives his paperwork. Is that something that should be mentioned or kept to ourselves for now?

I'm hoping the extra little push about our application will get things going or at least yield some information on where we are at or if we need to send additional information. Any advice would be great for those who have done this before.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Andy A]

Hey guys!


Weeks and weeks and our ecas still says "received." I am getting worried and discouraged and am thinking of sending a case-specific inquiry to the Sydney VO.

Any advice to what I should write so I don't risk the chance of pissing off my case officer? I can send information about our intent to stay in Canada when we receive PR - since we are already in Canada. My spouse received a job offer from Habitat for Humanity while he was volunteering and they are keeping it for him until he receives his paperwork. Is that something that should be mentioned or kept to ourselves for now?

I'm hoping the extra little push about our application will get things going or at least yield some information on where we are at or if we need to send additional information. Any advice would be great for those who have done this before.

Thanks so much in advance!

We contacted them about the birth of our son, which seemed to speed things up considerably. Barring that ;-) if you have any changes in contact details (new phone, address, etc) that would also be a legitimate reason to contact them. I would think letting them know about the job offer is also a good piece of information to contact them about??

A A

 

[bagelbagel81]

Hey guys!


Weeks and weeks and our ecas still says "received." I am getting worried and discouraged and am thinking of sending a case-specific inquiry to the Sydney VO.

Any advice to what I should write so I don't risk the chance of pissing off my case officer? I can send information about our intent to stay in Canada when we receive PR - since we are already in Canada. My spouse received a job offer from Habitat for Humanity while he was volunteering and they are keeping it for him until he receives his paperwork. Is that something that should be mentioned or kept to ourselves for now?

I'm hoping the extra little push about our application will get things going or at least yield some information on where we are at or if we need to send additional information. Any advice would be great for those who have done this before.

Thanks so much in advance!

Yeah you could send the job offer as additional "Proof of intent to move to canada" and just state it in a case specfic email with a scan of the paperwork, and then ask for confirmation (quoting your UCI and Client ID at the same time.)

I think that might work!

 

[dawndarkharp]

That sounds like a great idea! Thank you guys

I will do that tomorrow and send my additional proof and request a confirmation! Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[Canstralian/Oznadian]

Hey guys!


Weeks and weeks and our ecas still says "received." I am getting worried and discouraged and am thinking of sending a case-specific inquiry to the Sydney VO.

Any advice to what I should write so I don't risk the chance of pissing off my case officer? I can send information about our intent to stay in Canada when we receive PR - since we are already in Canada. My spouse received a job offer from Habitat for Humanity while he was volunteering and they are keeping it for him until he receives his paperwork. Is that something that should be mentioned or kept to ourselves for now?

I'm hoping the extra little push about our application will get things going or at least yield some information on where we are at or if we need to send additional information. Any advice would be great for those who have done this before.

Thanks so much in advance!

Hey Dawndarkharp, we applied 3 months before you, and just went "in process" as of Jan 15. I think they are finally starting to dig some files out of the black hole. I understand your worry, seeing everyone else getting their COPR's, but I think they just get to it when they get to it. I sent them a case specific change of address email that they never responded to. About a month later I sent them another one asking for a response. A month later they responded that the change was done....unfortunately, they screwed up the change and I've had to send another email with yet again,...no response. Hang in there.

 

[Mel Grover]

Hey,

I was wondering, generally how long does it take to get an AOR and UCI number from Sydney after you received sponsor approval?

The only reason I ask it because after I sent off my application I realised I sent my application off with a state police check rather than a federal one & I would like to send them my federal one so it doesnt hold up processing ect.