BOGOTA Visa Office 2012 applicants

[jf_yul]

Hi all,

Un update on my case. My wife got the interview last week. It went very well. The questions are exactly like what was posted here (job, family, friends, how you communicate to each other, how did you meet etc.). It took 15 minutes. At the end of the interview, the interviewer (a Canadian) asked for my wife's passport and she told her that she should get the visa in about a month. This is very good news for us. Overall, it will have taken less than 6 months.

Application received: May 30, 2013
Sponsor approved: June 25, 2013
AOR in Bogota: July 11, 2013
Interview in Bogota: October 10, 2013

The only thing that was missing was the 60.000 COP deposit for the background check. We had already done it, scan it and send it to aplicantes@procesosec.com but it seems it never got through. They asked us to send it again to the following email: BGOTAIMMIGRATION@international.gc.ca

Best advice I can give to save time: do your medical exam in advance! Last cases are taking less than a year, don't wait for them to ask you to do it.

Cheers,

jf_yul

 

[spetroun]

I only sent the reciept for confirmation of payment to the Embassy for the background security check. Was I supposed to email it to both the embassy and aplicantes @ procesosec.com. The instructions that the embassy sent us did not mention to email aplicantes @ procesosec.com. They requested that we send in the reciept. I am assuming that the embassy will initiate for recieving the results of the security check when confirmation of payment is confirmed. Am I incorrect with this assumption? Thanks.

 

[Cancol]

Jf congrats that's great news, we applied about a month after you, so it's good to know the cases are moving along.

Spetroun, I did the same, I only sent in the receipt for the background check with the translation to the embassy, I didn't email anything to anyone. I think once the company sees the deposit made into their account they start the check. I think the people that do the background check before they are asked for it email it, but I'm not sure.

Have you heard anything more on your status?

 

[spetroun]

Hi Cancol I haven't heard anything since we sent in the background verification check. I think it will be soon. By the way I just got back to Toronto from Medellin on Saturday. Beautiful weather for the week I was there. Colombia sure knows how to celebrate when there national soccer team plays. The wife was even interested... lol But the next day she still got me shopping argggg...

Did you send in the background verification test when they requested it or went ahead and did it your own? If they requested it our cases are moving along nicely.

No interview request for my wife yet. Maybe was waived. Crossing my fingers.

Take care.

 

[jf_yul]

For the background check, we took the initiative to do it before they ask, following the instructions on the CIC website to send a scanned copy of the 60.000 COP deposit to aplicantes@procesosec.com.

I don't know if that address was wrong or if they simply didn't forward it to the right place, but the embassy never got it and they asked us to send it back to BGOTAIMMIGRATION@international.gc.ca

Once you get your file number starting with an F, you're good to go and make the deposit for the background check. No need to wait for them to ask.

 

[Cancol]

What I ended up doing is the medical test first, because we did it after we sent in the original application, and like a week after we sent that in they sent us an email requesting the background check and his military card and proof I'll move back to Canada if he gets the visa.

We sent the background check receipt about 4 weeks ago and online it still doesn't say it was received and still only says application received not in process yet. But so far no interview and hopefully not, and i guess since they were requesting info they must be working on the files.

And yes people go nuts here for the games, I love soccer so it's great and awesome to see so much pride!

 

[Cancol]

Well this morning my status officially changed from application received to in process. It says they've started reviewing our application on October 15th. Does anyone know roughly how long it takes them to look over it? I'm so excited to see some progress!

 

[spetroun]

Wow. Congrats Cancol. Hopefully it won't be much longer. I am still waiting for my spouses status to change from application received to in process. We also sent the background check approximately 4 weeks ago. Let's cross our fingers that no interview is needed. Keep in touch..thanks.

 

[jf_yul]

Good news! My wife just got a call from the Canadian embassy and she was accepted for the PR!! They already have our passport since we left it with them when we got the interview. They will send the passport and all documentation with Servientrega today and we should get it in the next 3 days.

We are delighted that it took us only 5 months. Best advice: send your medical exams with your first file submission. And once you get your file number with the AOR, proceed rapidly with the payment of the background check. Our timeline:

Application received: May 30, 2013
Sponsor approved: June 25, 2013
AOR in Bogota: July 11, 2013
Interview in Bogota: October 10, 2013
Visa issued: October 29, 2013
Landed in Canada: Planned for Mid-November 2013

Good luck, all of you!! Bogota is in a fast mode these days, don't give up the hope!

JF

 

[Cancol]

Congratulations jf_yul! That's great news. The bogota office has definitely been on a role! Spetroun, hopefully we'll be hearing something in the next month or so would be great to all be home for Christmas!

 

[spetroun]

Hi jf_yul, my sincere congratulations and enjoy your life together. That was fast and well done. Your posts were very informative. To Cancol I hope we hear something soon. I personally was expecting next year but of it happens this year it will be one big celebration.. Keep up the spirit and just remember all will be okay..Go Bogota Go...Thanks.

 

[spetroun]

Extremely happy. My wife recieved the official notice to send in her passport for the visa. She has been approved as a permant resident. Extremely happy. Cic recieved the papers on May 7th. That was fast..

 

[spetroun]

My wife has officially recieved the email yesterday for the passport request for the visa stamp and a decision made for permanent residence status. What is the next step?

1./Does she send the passport with a prepaid returned waybill to the Embassy in Bogota? Prepaid I am assuming is the most important thing.

2./Does the embassy send any paperwork to her residence or will it arrive with the passport? Paperwork to officially confirm permanent residence status?

3./ How long is this last step?

I want to thank everybody who passed on their knowledge and expertise on this forum. It was well informative and a fantastic forum where we can all share our true life experience.

Thank you again

 

[Cancol]

I'm so excited, my husband got the email requesting his passport and saying he is approved for the permanent resident visa!! Total time for our application was just under 5 months in total including the time it was sent to Canada.

Spetroun, We are going to send his visa by servientrega, and they don't say anything about prepaid waybill for the return. I read somewhere on his forum that someone once picked up their passport when it was ready, so I wrote a short letter with all the info they requested and just added if possible we'd prefer picking up the passport. I don't personally trust the mail system getting to our house, as we have never received any kind of mail here, so I'd rather pick it up. But if not I guess they do this all the time so it should be reliable.

As for how long it takes, I've read various things on this forum from 3 days to months I think. Honestly I don't think it will take more than a week, but not sure. So happy to hear the good news, I can't wait to go home with my husband for Chistmas.

 

[spetroun]

Congrats Cancol...Not in my wildest dreams was the sponsorship going to be this fast. We were all thinking around spring,early summer next year in our conversations on this forum. My wife will be going to servientrega tommorow and ask a few questions. She does receive mail because I have sent her mail in the past. Did you ask yet if servientrega provides prepaid services. I think I also read somewhere that fedex provides this service as long as you send it with a company that has an account with Fedex. She lives in Envigado near Medellin so if possible I would rather not have her fly to Bogota but if worse comes to worse I will fly her there...

I will write a letter tommorow to immigration to leave it for pickup if we cannot send it with a prepaid waybill.
We have decided that she will spend christmas and New Years with her mother and to get her things in order. Selling the house, additional medications for 3 months etc... Secondly I am in the retail service business and the company has a black out period for vacations fro me at this time of year...Boooooooooooo

extremely happy...take care..if your ever in Toronto shoot me an email at my personal email address. I will send you a private email now..

thanks.