CAIPS notes are the notes made on your file by the Immigration Officer...useful bits of information if you are called for an interview, for example. They take 4-6 weeks to arrive (the norm is about 35 days). They have to be ordered by someone in Canada, so you can either sign a form to have someone order them on your behalf (with a fee of $5, cheque payable to the Receiver General of Canada) or order them yourself for free if you are within Canada. Order the CAIPS notes, not the FILE, as the file contains everything, takes a LONG time to get, and can really slow down your application. CAIPS is just the basic information that you need, and does not affect your processing time in any way.
Here are the forms:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5563B.pdf
Here is the mailing address:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Narono Building
360 Laurier Avenue West, 10th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1
Canada
Here is the Phone number: (613)946-0953 or toll free 1-800-667-6703
Here is the Fax number: 1 (613) 957-6517
I ordered them for my husband, who is not in Canada, so i had to pay the $5 and he had to fill out a form authorizing me as his representative. ...hope this helps
