GCMS notes rant.

[agarand8]

That's not actually true... Mine is 'application received' but I know that they've passed me on medical grounds (now expired), assessed our relationship as genuine and recommended we pass, applied and received RCMP record, etc. All this back in August last year. My application was certainly 'in process' for while, but now I appear back in the queue.

If I had seen any update in ECAS to reflect that my application was moving along then I wouldn't have applied for GCMS notes. All I really wanted was some confidence that my application had arrived safely and was being looked at. A few small updates would certainly reduce the number of requests.

Medical has nothing to do with what they do at your visa office. Your medical is assessed in its own office dedicated to medical somewhere in Ontario and all they do is send the results to your VO. Your relationship evidence was probably skimmed by the first person who touched it who is trained to look for red flags so that people can be put in line for interviews. I don't know what you mean in regard to RCMP record.

When they first receive your app, or at least it appears so for my VO, seems like they review the file immediately looking for documents that need to be updated and review the relationship evidence deciding if an interview is needed. Once that's done they send out AOR2. Doesn't mean your file was in process, just means someone's checking to make sure it's complete so that when they are ready to review it, everything is there.

I mean, not every VO is the same of course, so it could be different, but I don't think the policies and procedures are that different at each place. For me I can tell that that's what happened because the notes about the interview being needed were dated the same day I received AOR2 with an updated document request.

 

[brucem]

Medical has nothing to do with what they do at your visa office. Your medical is assessed in its own office dedicated to medical somewhere in Ontario and all they do is send the results to your VO. Your relationship evidence was probably skimmed by the first person who touched it who is trained to look for red flags so that people can be put in line for interviews. I don't know what you mean in regard to RCMP record.

When they first receive your app, or at least it appears so for my VO, seems like they review the file immediately looking for documents that need to be updated and review the relationship evidence deciding if an interview is needed. Once that's done they send out AOR2. Doesn't mean your file was in process, just means someone's checking to make sure it's complete so that when they are ready to review it, everything is there.

I mean, not every VO is the same of course, so it could be different, but I don't think the policies and procedures are that different at each place. For me I can tell that that's what happened because the notes about the interview being needed were dated the same day I received AOR2 with an updated document request.

I think both the above posts again highlight the need for regular updating of ECAS to allow the prospective applicant to have some idea of where their application is, rather than having to make this speculative guess work. It will reduce the requests for GCMS notes, and in my opinion increase processing times as it would avoid applicants being delayed/refused when they do receive requests for additional information but actually never receive the email/correspondence thus having to appeal, contact MP's etc. The information would be in black and white on the notes.

How the application is processed in terms of the medical, initial skimming, red flags, police checks is of little interest to me unless there is something to be concerned about, at which point they could update the notes. If its sitting in a pile waiting to be reviewed then I want to know its waiting to be reviewed. 'Application received' literally tells me nothing about where my application is in terms of processing.

 

[Mariac819]

Yeah a lot of people landed really early, one July applicant got in process last week, a couple landed back in November, same with June, June was flying through. It is just since December that nothing has happened. There A LOT of July applicants that haven't heard a peep since December. If you check the July outland 2014 thread you'll see quite a few people highly concerned. Same with June. We were all really hopeful with how many applicants moved quickly early on, but everything stopped in December.

Its almost like during the holidays they just STOPPED lol

 

[Christoph100]

with 30 day delay, but thats too much now right?

Yes it is really unacceptable for a Government service that we as Canadians are paying for. Something electronic such as this should be a maximum of a 2 week turn around. For some people the notes are not helpful but for us I feel they are. It gives us an idea as to what is left for completion and would help with my wife and I making some of our decisions.

Chris

 

[AshleyAnne]

Yes it is really unacceptable for a Government service that we as Canadians are paying for. Something electronic such as this should be a maximum of a 2 week turn around. For some people the notes are not helpful but for us I feel they are. It gives us an idea as to what is left for completion and would help with my wife and I making some of our decisions.

Chris

Not only that but it seems when some people do request their notes they find that CIC has lost a form or information and hasn't bothered to ask the applicant for another copy so the application sits frozen for months without a word. Sometimes asking for notes is the only way you know if they need something.

 

[Christoph100]

Not only that but it seems when some people do request their notes they find that CIC has lost a form or information and hasn't bothered to ask the applicant for another copy so the application sits frozen for months without a word. Sometimes asking for notes is the only way you know if they need something.

I had seen that exact sort of thing on our notes, however we were lucky as they were able to request what was needed back from Mississauga and the notes show when the request was made and when CEM received it.

Chris

 

[taffy7]

I for one love seeing my notes. Honestly its the only thing that has keep me sane and this forum. Twice now while ordering notes i have found they have made mistakes and have lost documents. Ok so it might just be some one just skipping over our file in Mississauga and saying medicals received ,relation genuine ,and a recommend pass under eligibility for criminal record and has no concerns is a big deal for me. It at least gives me some light at the end of the tunnel,because ecas don't make me feel any better about our application plodding along. Bring forwarded dates or due dates may not mean anything to someone else but to me it means we have some sort of a plan. Each to our own but it gives me comfort.

 

[Christoph100]

I for one love seeing my notes. Honestly its the only thing that has keep me sane and this forum. Twice now while ordering notes i have found they have made mistakes and have lost documents. Ok so it might just be some one just skipping over our file in Mississauga and saying medicals received ,relation genuine ,and a recommend pass under eligibility for criminal record and has no concerns is a big deal for me. It at least gives me some light at the end of the tunnel,because ecas don't make me feel any better about our application plodding along. Bring forwarded dates or due dates may not mean anything to someone else but to me it means we have some sort of a plan. Each to our own but it gives me comfort.

Exactly how I feel too and that is why I would like to see a 2 week maximum turn over for our notes. Bring fwd dates are a little confusing as the task assigned to that date is usually completed well in advance of it. But seeing bring fwd dates far in the future is disheartening. I have seen due dates as long as Sept 2015 but her meds will expire this July I just hope my wife will be able to land before her meds expire.

I should be receiving a new set of notes mid April and hopefully there will be some positive changes to be seen.

It is hard to plan anything when you don't know the status.

Chris

 

[mec14]

Exactly how I feel too and that is why I would like to see a 2 week maximum turn over for our notes. Bring fwd dates are a little confusing as the task assigned to that date is usually completed well in advance of it. But seeing bring fwd dates far in the future is disheartening. I have seen due dates as long as Sept 2015 but her meds will expire this July I just hope my wife will be able to land before her meds expire.

I should be receiving a new set of notes mid April and hopefully there will be some positive changes to be seen.

It is hard to plan anything when you don't know the status.

Chris

From what I can tell the due date is set by default to 1 year after SA, so I wouldn't read too much into it (based on my notes and a few other posts I've seen).

 

[SenoritaBella]

I think you have a point. My husband's is 'application received', medicals passed (now expired) and the notes briefly summarize when we met, got engaged and married and said that they are satisfied with the chronology of events (notes are in French). Eligibility status says "review required" and due date Feb 12, 2015 (1 year after SA approval). I ordered notes Feb 17th, too early to have had results. I also see file has been assigned to an officer and the same officer wrote the notes.

But honestly if you're seeing "application received" you're essentially just in line for review. You can order notes but unless you're waiting for an interview your notes aren't going to tell you anything. In my case I did get an interview so my notes showed me that I was added to an interview queue, they showed my additional document request, and our communications regarding the birth of my daughter. The only helpful thing it told me was that I was waiting for an interview. they didn't say why, there wasn't a paragraph with notes on our relationship evidence literally all it said was "add to Nicaragua interview queue". So at least I knew that much. But I think if I hadn't needed an interview it would have just been a wasted $5.