China Applicants Thread

[ABCml]

That's the pessimistic way of looking at it. I think those people just got their visa and never came back because if you load up their profiles you can see the last time they logged in and its usually right around the PPR time. I would think they would at least come back and complain about it taking so long.. . My promise for everyone here is I will absolutely let this board know as my status changes up to "visa received"

Currently though I am still looking for Beijing to acknowledge I exist. which I think based on others should have occurred last week but didn't - so hopefully this week or the next or the next next... .

ABC I have seen in other posts you seem to have them questioning a few things and they want an interview. Did you expect this or what do you think their reasons for going this way with you? It seems like you have had a very long haul from AOR to SA and then to a required interview?

Maybe pessimistic, tho not meaning to cast any dark shadows on being always hopeful for the best with everyone waiting. No, I didn't expect an interview and one hasn't been scheduled, but it is in being strongly suggested in our GCMS notes as I've posted in another thread. My suspicion is that a former denied Visitors Visa application before we were married may be the thorn..., but, interview or no interview, we're as you, hoping for the shortest possible timeline to landing. Have you requested your GCMS notes? It does give some insight.. Thanks for committing to showing a completed timeline yourself - I wish everyone would do the same!

 

[Kysorb]

Have you requested your GCMS notes? It does give some insight.. Thanks for committing to showing a completed timeline yourself - I wish everyone would do the same!

I haven't for 2 reasons. One reason is they I still don't have the AOR from Beijing so there is obviously nothing to request. The other reason is although I am a citizen I read on one of their websites somewhere that since I am living abroad I am not eligible to receive the notes unless I request them from inside Canada.

 

[ABCml]

I haven't for 2 reasons. One reason is they I still don't have the AOR from Beijing so there is obviously nothing to request. The other reason is although I am a citizen I read on one of their websites somewhere that since I am living abroad I am not eligible to receive the notes unless I request them from inside Canada.

Have you considered this; http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5744E.pdf ? for a Canadian friend or family member's assisting you.

In our notes, it shows the assessment/evaluation/opinions begin the day the application is opened in Mississauga. You may discover with your notes some detail or indication regarding the lack of progress - I did.
According to Wikipedia, Canada received 33,018 Chinese permanent residents in 2012. Amazing. I read somewhere that the numbers have gone down slightly since then.
Good luck to all of us. Hope the pace accelerates soon

 

[Kysorb]

Another week with no news,

it has now been 11 weeks with nothing new to report since SA.


I really don't care I just hope they get me home for Christmas...

 

[ABCml]

Another week with no news,

it has now been 11 weeks with nothing new to report since SA.


I really don't care I just hope they get me home for Christmas...

Been 19 weeks for us.. - but hopes are still high - after 6 months apart, I'll be in Beijing in 3 weeks

 

[LiamNorwich]

Any updates from anyone here. Not sure how the practice goes but in my case our application was received Mid-March, our status is listed as application and medical received on the website. Not sure how they go about processing time. A friend of ours in the same city in Northern China applied 3 weeks before us and they land in Canada this week. They received their passport request nearly 6 weeks ago. So wondering if there's a bit of luck required. Perhaps landing on the top of the pile, just wondering if its first come first served or a bit of luck of the draw?

Hopefully everyone hears soon. We were hoping for a summer arrival but now will be happy with being home for Christmas.

Good luck everyone

 

[Kysorb]

Hi Liam,

God I wish I knew... I was really hoping you had already got yours and just never came back to the forums.

Have you received anything from the Embassy ? AOR from them to at least tell you they have it ?

 

[LiamNorwich]

Nope, nothing as of yet. It's a little disheartening when someone who applied 3 weeks before me will land in Canada in 2 days time and i have yet to receive my AOR2 from Beijing. The only thing i can say is that they got their AO2 and PPR in the same day. I check our email and the cic website daily and have come up empty handed every day so far.

 

[Kysorb]

Nope, nothing as of yet. It's a little disheartening when someone who applied 3 weeks before me will land in Canada in 2 days time and i have yet to receive my AOR2 from Beijing. The only thing i can say is that they got their AO2 and PPR in the same day. I check our email and the cic website daily and have come up empty handed every day so far.

I know and you're 2 weeks ahead of me.... It's not that i really care except like you said historically it seems they process very quickly once they start processing. This has made me thing twice about planning any trips after my job ends at the end of this month because if they ask for the wife's Passport we cant really be flying off to Cambodia. It looks like i am going to get to go sit on my ass in Beijing or in a small town outside Xi'an for who knows how long instead of sitting on a beach eating Prawnzillas.

I really expected AOR2 by now...

Maybe a trip to Sanya is in order at least we could just turn the passport in with no mess and still go there.

 

[LiamNorwich]

I'm hoping that their just busy with a summer rush. I was stoked for my friend who got his PPR in less than 3 months. Thought that might be a timeline for our application. Hahaha apparently not. I know it will come in due time. I'm just hoping its well before Christmas. Haven't been home for Christmas in nearly 8 years.

 

[ABCml]

I'm hoping that their just busy with a summer rush. I was stoked for my friend who got his PPR in less than 3 months. Thought that might be a timeline for our application. Hahaha apparently not. I know it will come in due time. I'm just hoping its well before Christmas. Haven't been home for Christmas in nearly 8 years.

It seems that you, Kysorb, and KTCYYZ all have a very similar application profile.. residing in China and such. I'm in BC, and no progress either. It does appear that the Beijing office is completely stagnant. My wife asked me to ask them to please let her come back with me after my upcoming visit there ;D - if it were only that simple, eh? She knows someone who reportedly asked to have their passport returned for a trip, and they gave them their COPR! So with stories like that going round in old Zhongguo, I can see why she thinks this way

 

[Kysorb]

I know that once I get AOR2 I will start complaining about how its taking so long for processing.

In a way I am kind of comforted that Liam hasn't heard anything. It sucks for him and me but otherwise I would start to be worried they had lost mine..

In truth, I think all the government slackers probably all have 6-8 weeks holidays and are all back home enjoying a summer on the lake - ironically doing exactly what I would like to be doing.

Previously there was also a major spike in wait times for SA. During the end of March/April it went from 30-55 days... Which might be related, I doubt there was a sudden rush on applications to me it seems more likely there was a rush on Spring break holidays.

 

[Kysorb]

I have made up my anti-insanity plan. Next month the probable plan now is that the wife and I will go on a cross China adventure. I think this is my travel itinerary which because we will travel by train i can always cut short and hurry back to Beijing. We will stay in each city for a day or 2

Beijing -> Qingdao -> Nanjing -> Ningbo -> Fuzhou -> Xiamen -> Shenzhen -> Guangzhou -> Wuhan -> Chongqing -> Chengdu -> Xian (wife's hometown probably stay until after national week unless the Embassy PPR's)


Any tourism advice from anyone about any of these places?

 

[ABCml]

I have made up my anti-insanity plan. Next month the probable plan now is that the wife and I will go on a cross China adventure. I think this is my travel itinerary which because we will travel by train i can always cut short and hurry back to Beijing. We will stay in each city for a day or 2

Beijing -> Qingdao -> Nanjing -> Ningbo -> Fuzhou -> Xiamen -> Shenzhen -> Guangzhou -> Wuhan -> Chongqing -> Chengdu -> Xian (wife's hometown probably stay until after national week unless the Embassy PPR's)


Any tourism advice from anyone about any of these places?

I've traveled in China 6 separate times over the past 4 years and literally only scratched the surface. I never get tired of it! The highlights of the places and things I've enjoyed;

Beijing - the '798 Art District' (jaw-dropping sometimes subversive and funny stuff; "can they really get away with this in Red China?")
Spinning grilled sandwiches on Shatan Houjie, and maybe the closet thing to good espresso (at the end of the alley) in all of Beijing.

Shanhaiguan, Hebei - where the great wall meets the Bohai Sea (Camel ride along the beach) and a very real slice of ancient village life in a older district that doesn't seem to have changed in centuries. The locals sing impromptu in the street at night in their own neighborhoods for themselves (not for tourists) such a wealth of living culture there.

Beidaihe, Hebei - a really odd, almost European resort town on the coast that seems to be geared mostly to the interest of Russian tourism. Excellent seafood, and real Italian style pizza right along the beachfront.

Chengdu, Sichuan - the biggest village like city I've seen. So many great and remarkably clean districts to take in. The best little hotel I've ever stayed in, called the Buddha Zen Hotel ("Round and Round," or Double O, in Chinese) smack in the middle of a village-like food court. Sichuan Hotpot-mild; still Hot! Best Chinese teahouse experience here, too - subtle and rich....So clean really, compared to the Northern cities...
As cliched as it may be, don't miss the Panda park. Especially the nursery. Natural comedians, the young ones.

Rural Sichuan - How to see it...? You have to know someone. I stayed with a family on a Pistachio farm, and was treated like a visiting dignitary. No central village. Just farmers. Real Human Beings. All noble salt-of-the-earth, completely self-sufficient, though interdependent, and rich beyond money... totally unforgettable

Wudangshan, Hubei - the most incredible mountain temples and scenic views - to die for, breathtaking and ancient - the 'how and why' library of incredible feats of architectural beauty. Still active Taoist culture there with many older Gōngfu masters practicing and teaching.


Chongqing - the endless city. So huge, you could easy spend two weeks here and just see a fraction..., it could easily be its own country. The riverside scene is a carnival atmosphere with more vendors than you can imagine. Huge riverboat rides and kites galore.



Haven't been to the other places you've mentioned. As you may know, traveling in China can sometimes drive you nuts, but at the same time bring things into some kind of bigger peaceful perspective. Gives a certain pause, somehow even in the midst of all the hustle... "Anti-insanity," indeed - * of course traveling with princess of this region makes it an experience of a lifetime, no doubt

Would love to hear what you find. I'll be headed there in two weeks!

 

[Degi]

Hi everyone

is anyone ever received AOR2 from Beijing lately?
I have no idea if they started working in my case or not ECAS showed app received and medical done.
any answer would be appreciated. thanks