CAIRO VISA OFFICE

[sheila la]

Hello Guys,
I think I have good news. I have checked the website today and the status has been changed to "IN PROCESS." The question now is " How much time is remaining now?"

Congrats Too_Much...hopefully it won't be much longer for you.

 

[sheila la]

I'm pretty sure not Sheila. Just check with the airline if you don't get an answer on here. Or you can call the CIC and ask them.

If you're lookiing for flights, I found an amazing one on the 27th of October. It goes Cairo to London with a 1.5 hour layover and then directly to Toronto International. It was only 805.00. The total flight time was only 14 hours. The shorrtest flight I had on my journeys to Cairo was 23 hours and the longest 37. I searched for minimal stops and layovers and that's the best flight I could find. It's Egyptair out of Cairo and Air Canada out of Heathrow.

I'm assuming he got the visa???????????:::))))

Yes he did get the visa. He picks it up Sunday. We are trying to make travel arrangements now as his medicals expire November 24. Did you booked with Air Canada? Also, there is no transit visa required for England. Sometimes in reading I think no, but other things I read confuse me and make me wonder.

Oh, and I will update the spreadsheet this weekend.

 

[madamadam]

@ Sheila la

Hi Sheila! First off, Alf Mabrook!

For a good flight, a friend of mine in the U.S. turned me onto this site: http://www.cheapoair.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1685&sid=2&oa=CAI&da=YYZ&adt=1&chd=0&snr=0&infl=0&infs=0&dd=10-27-2011&tt=ONEWAYTRIP

If you click on it, you will find the session has timed out because I was putting in specifications for my husband's trip. You can select any date and find available flights. I find Air Canada to be a good choice. I've flown back and forth between Canada and Egypt a few times and definitely recommend it.

If you select trip markers at the top of the page, you can search flights by 'cheapest' or 'fastest'

The flight I found, my husband will not be able to take because he still has business to finish in Egypt before he can come. Flight details were as follows:

Egyptair flight 777 from Cairo to Lndon Heathrow departs 9:30am Oct 27. Arrives London Heathrow 1:35pm Oct 27.
Air Canada flight 849 London Heathrow to Toronto International Leaves 3pm Oct 27th, arrives 5:40pm October 27th Toronto.
The fee is 874.00 plus taxes

I don't think my husband will be here until the end of November so I'm a little bummed out. The visa came much quicker than we expected and we are unprepared and are now dashing around like crazy trying to get all the last minute details we thought we had months to complete done. He also has to secure his home in Cairo.

I asked my immigration lawyer about baggage and he said it's best to contact the airline directlly after you book the flight. It's cheaper to ship large or heavy items by sea. An immigrant also has the right to bring whatever he/she wants into Canada including furniture, tax and duty free, but Mr. Abuzayed our lawyer says if the things will be shipped after your husband arrives, make sure and tell immigration when he lands or he could get hit with taxes and duties when they do arrive.

Hope that helps and once again, congratulations!

Dominique

 

[louisa]

I just wanted to share a part of the response from the letter I sent to Mr.Kenny


I am replying to your letter dated October 10, 2011, addressed to the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, about the application for permanent residence of your husband.

Probably no other immigration issue causes more dismay or gives greater concern than processing delays. We understand that as processing times lengthen, anxiety levels increase, especially among those waiting to be reunited with family.


I want to express that our anxiety levels are so high now this is slow torture to their citizens,it's been 22 days since the letter was emailed to them with the information, how long does background checks take???????


I was really praying to have him with me by Christmas :'(

 

[sudanese one]

We received ,,,,,,,,, application for permanent residence on May 19, 2011.

We started processing ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,application on October 4, 2011.

Medical results have been received.

A decision has been made on .....................application. The office will contact ...................concerning this decision.


al7mdolelh

 

[madamadam]

I just wanted to share a part of the response from the letter I sent to Mr.Kenny


I am replying to your letter dated October 10, 2011, addressed to the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, about the application for permanent residence of your husband.

Probably no other immigration issue causes more dismay or gives greater concern than processing delays. We understand that as processing times lengthen, anxiety levels increase, especially among those waiting to be reunited with family.


I want to express that our anxiety levels are so high now this is slow torture to their citizens,it's been 22 days since the letter was emailed to them with the information, how long does background checks take???????


I was really praying to have him with me by Christmas :'(

Hi Louisa, don't fret too much. I wrote letters to Mr Kinney's office and also the office of the Prime Minister of Canada. I never even received a response!

That being said, my husband opened his cam today on skype and showed me his bright and shiny visa sticker in his passport.

Don't give up hope.

My timeline went a little faster but I'm also a horrendously squeaky door. I was emailing MP's and checking all the time. My application went in 2 months after yours, my sponsorship letter arrived within 30 dayss. My file was transferred in May and received in Ottawa May 19th, 2011. It took them 4 months to send me a letter stating this. I received a file number and client ID on September 28th and then we got the letter requesting the passport on October 10th. He sent in his passport on October 13th and we got the email on the 19th that it was approved and being sent out by courier. He received the actual passport and visa today, October 21st. Once it starts to move, it flies along as long as all your documents are in line. I had an immigration lawyer put my package together and there was no interview and no request for additional documents. I think the lawyer did a great job and elhmdulellah, our file processed without a hitch. From beginning to end, only five months. I am sure that files that went in slightly before (as yours) or even slightly after are nearing completion and I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

[louisa]

Thanks madam adam for your kind words and I'm so happy for you and your hubby good luck in your future :-*and as you said I'm sure things will go quickly for all of us now but it's still a struggle I haven't been with him for a year and 5 months now and it's breaking our hearts.

 

[madamadam]

Thanks madam adam for your kind words and I'm so happy for you and your hubby good luck in your future :-*and as you said I'm sure things will go quickly for all of us now but it's still a struggle I haven't been with him for a year and 5 months now and it's breaking our hearts.

Oh I know. It's brutal. I was married 19 months ago and haven't been back to Egypt in just over a year. It was crushing us every day. One or the other of us was always critically depressed. Luckily not both at the same time because one of us always picked the other one's spirits up on the bad days.

I found I tricked myself mentally. You know how if you need to go to the bathroom, the closer you get to it, the worse the urge gets? I started thinking of how I felt when I first met him and immigration wasn't even a speck on the horizon. Everything was a little easier to bear when I thought of our future ahead without this wait in the interim. We went about it backwards too and wasted precious time. When I was in Cairo the first time (May 2010) we applied for a visitor visa.We were denied. I wrote the embassy and explained that we had been honest, that we wanted the visitor visa so that we would not be separated during the first part of our marriage and had every intention of starting the process when we returned to Canada together. The visa officer stated that we were denied based on 'the assessing officer doesn't feel the applicant has sufficient motivation to return to Egypt at the end of a temporary visa due to his family ties in Canada" (me).

That being said, after they received my emails, they encouraged us to reapply. When I returned to Egypt in October 2010 we did just that. Applied again, paid all the fees again. On the way out, a kindly Egyptian security officer at the embassy told us not to bother with the visitor visa because they are more than happy to take your money, but they'll never grant it. She was right.

We started gathering documents and photocopies and pictures and translations and certifications in November,and I paid an lawyer 4, 000.00 to put the file together and make sure all the 'i's were dotted and 't's' crossed. He submitted the file after many corrections in April 2011.

Just remember when you're down to think of the fact that once you are reunited there will be no separation ever again. No dropped skype calls and crappy connections where all you can say to each other is "Sorry??? What did you say???" The pot of gold is truly at the end of the rainbow. I'm excited and hellishly nervous. Being apart this long has given me the right to remain in "Newlywed" mode and I feel just the same about him now as I did the day I met him, smiling at me in the Cairo airport.

Blessings to all.

 

[louisa]

Your so right about everything... we met online june 2008 I was there in nov 2008 in 2009 we married, he too tried to get the visiting visa and was denied. If I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have put him through that and what a waste of money.That money could have been towards the fees for immigration. We spent our first anniversary together but our second one apart.Due to health issues of mine that needs correction I stayed here this year but we are miserable. 3 yrs and 4 months living apart this system is cruel but your right when he arrives it will be worth it all, but they sure do test the love this way I don't know many marriages in my home town that would ever endure this, today everyone divorces over everything at least the Egyptian man knows how to treat his wife it's why we love them so much.God Bless you all, in the end we are all winners.

 

[sheila la]

Dominique when it comes time to book his flight, try www.kayak.com. It has the best rates. We found one via Italy for $667.00 US, taxes included. Still works out better and flight time is 16.5 hrs.

I was having trouble determining if he needed a transit visa but he checked today with a travel agent in Egypt and they said no. He picks his visa up in Cairo tomorrow morning and I'm booking his flight tonight. Looks like he will be here on November 9th.

I'm already making plans for the next year....lol His scheduled will be fully booked. So much for him to see and do.

Stay strong Louisa, it won't be long. They are making their way through the applications and should get to yours soon.

 

[madamadam]

Oh Sheila!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy for you! My husband is tying things up quickly in Cairo and it looks like he will be flying in around the same time. Now wouldn't it be too funny if they were on the same flight? I made a spreadsheet of all the flights fastest vs. cheapest in excel, but have no idea how to paste it here. It's a thing of beauty too!

I will check out Kayak, but actually found a pattern looking through cheapoair. Every day there is a cheap flight with a terrible layover (ie: Etihad airways to Abu Dhabi with a 15 hour layover, Etihad airways to Toronto - only 468.00) and there is a standard "good flight" too (Egyptair to Heathrow, Heathrow to Toronto -- minimal layover, 15hrs total time).

If you can explain to me how to post a link to a spreadsheet, I will post what I have. It lists all the flights from Nov 1-14th. I'm excited!!! OMG, I have so much to do!! This came up so quickly and really, I thought I had months. (NOT complaining though!!); Is your hubby flying into Toronto International?

@Louisa; Like Sheila says; don't worry. It seems like things are moving quickly now at the Cairo embassy. I think they've been sitting on their hands all year and now it's coming to an end they have a quota to meet and they're scrambling....lol.

 

[madamadam]

Wed Nov 9 Alitalia 895 from CAI arrives 05:00am Rome Departs Rome 07:35am (Layover 3h15m) Alitalia 650 fromRome @10:50am/arrives in Toronto 02:50pm total flight time: 15h50m price: $586.00


Is it the same exact flight I'm looking at Sheila?

Too funny if they were both on the same flight!

Dominique

 

[ameenah06]

When you guys sent your photos of your wedding pictures and such, did you specify on the backs like where the pic was taken and what the occasion was? I'm just wondering because they might be confused when I send all our photos, we have like 150 lol.

BTW congrats to everyone on here for reuniting with their hubbys/wives.

-Ameenah

 

[Mels]

Hi Ameenah!

I did put names/dates/event behind each photo so that they know the story of each one of them

I kept it easy for them to understand!

~ Mels

 

[ameenah06]

Thanks, Mels! That's what I was going to do too, but wasn't sure if we were allowed.