Interview and still no communication from VO. Normal or not?

[confusednscared]

My interview is in about a month from now and I still haven't received any instructions from the POS office.

Is this normal that they take forever to send out their interview letters? E-CAS only has the update and aside from that, I have had no correspondence whatsoever with the Visa Office.

I am kinda getting worried because the days are nearing and I have so much work to do in terms of gathering all the additional evidence post application. It seems like it's easy putting together all the evidence but boy oh boy it's time consuming and gets confusing because I don't quite know where to begin and what should be considered as most important information to put on top of the pile.

How much is enough evidence to submit?

So far I am submitting over 300+ pictures from since our application and vacations together (things we did with friends and family, events we have attended), Skype phone records and emails since I left Canada, Skype account statements showing that I have been paying for the phone services, our 2009 tax return statements which we filed together, our mortgage statement and the bills that follow with those, utility bills for our new condo, land tax receipts, house insurance, boarding passes, passport pages with stamps, receipts of all our spendings on vacations, hotel check out statement,flight itineraries, personal and joint bank account statements to show proof of address as well as proof that I withdrew cash from his account whenever needed, wedding and birthday invitations from his friends, Power of Attorney, flower receipt I sent to his mom, my phone record statements from Canada to show that my account is put on a vacation plan until I get back to Canada, certificates and statements of recommendations from my time in Canada volunteering and being actively involved in the community, and a few other minor stuff which I can't remember at this time ..

At the time the application was submitted, we have included his insurance policy from his work showing that I am his beneficiary, etc along with support letters from our friends and mostly his family. Not that many from my family because I don't feel comfortable being out to the majority of my family members (including my parents) who live in a society that doesn't accept homosexuality.

Is this enough evidence to prove to CIC that our same-sex marriage is real seeing that I was previously deported from Canada.

I want to bombard CIC with enough paper work so they wouldn't question our relationship but at the same time I don't want them to question why certain aspects of the evidence I submit is only done by one person. For example, my partner handles all the finances for our place including the monthly mortgage and utility payments for now because I don't work or have a set income coming in. I am blunt on the amount he pays on certain bills each month such as the mortgage since he handles all of that. Would this be a problem is the IO asks me for a value in the interview?

Your comments and help will be highly appreciated.

 

[iarblue]

How did they inform you of the interview,my wife got a letter thats all,it stated what she needed to bring.

 

[confusednscared]

ECAS has

"Interview scheduled for XXX date"

 

[bobshynoswife]

How did they inform you of the interview,my wife got a letter thats all,it stated what she needed to bring.

wishing you wife good luck with her interview tomorrow!

 

[bobshynoswife]

my husband's interview is in a week. he received a letter via email on july 6, and then got one in the post just a few days ago, mailed in early august. hopefully you will hear soon!

be careful with bringing too much evidence to the interview. it will take them longer to assess your case if they have a lot to go through. it depends, of course, on how much you submitted with the actual application. if you didn't send much, by all means bring a lot. if you sent a sufficient amount, don't bring too much to the interview.

we sent a TON in the initial application, so my husband is only bringing about 20 sheets of paper with emails, skype logs and phone bills from the past 3 months since we submitted the app.

 

[iarblue]

Ok i dont know ours doesnt say anything but you should get a letter soon but just bring your passports and originals of you rmarriage cert,birth cert and any other supporting docs with you but im sure you will get a letter before

 

[HoneyBird]

i think if you don't get the letter, print out what the ecas says as your proof and just show up at the embassy.

 

[boasorte]

i think if you don't get the letter, print out what the ecas says as your proof and just show up at the embassy.

agreed!

 

[confusednscared]

my husband's interview is in a week. he received a letter via email on july 6, and then got one in the post just a few days ago, mailed in early august. hopefully you will hear soon!

be careful with bringing too much evidence to the interview. it will take them longer to assess your case if they have a lot to go through. it depends, of course, on how much you submitted with the actual application. if you didn't send much, by all means bring a lot. if you sent a sufficient amount, don't bring too much to the interview.

we sent a TON in the initial application, so my husband is only bringing about 20 sheets of paper with emails, skype logs and phone bills from the past 3 months since we submitted the app.

OK, thanks and good luck to your hubby on his interview.

I am a little confused and paranoid at the same time as to how much is enough. We had known each other for less than a year before we got married because of my immigration situation (failed PRRA application) that led up to a deportation order. Since we are a gay couple we decided to get married before I left Canada because he couldn't come home to marry me. Gay marriages aren't legal in my homeland.

We never would have thought that CIC would go against me so we never lived our life during our dating months thinking about gathering evidence and what's not. Therefore, at the time of our application we submitted a few pictures of me at his family party, Pride 08 pictures, NYE pics, letters from our friends supporting our relationship. Then right after we got married (the day before I left Canada), he included me on his life insurances and benefits, we opened a joined bank account together, I moved in with him and changed my address to his, etc. Luckily for us, my deportation order was put on stay by the Federal Court until my options became exhausted again ending last year.

From the time our application was filed to now, we have gathered more evidence to show our relationship is genuine and those are included in my original post.

I want to make everything crystal clear for the IO to understand and not have to fumble around to find answers but again, like I said I am too confused if I am handing in too much to them. For our pictures, I have pictures for each month since we started living together and I have included a description for those pictures. Other evidences such as bills and such, I just want the IO to see that I am part of all these things. The only downside is I don't pay too much attention to how much those bills are because my partner is the one who takes care of the monthly bill payments.

I think overall, the supporting documents I am bringing to the interview will be under 50 pages or less with about 200 4X6 prints and 10 or so pages of computer printouts of our just recent trip together.

The VO has responded to an email enquiry a few months back stating that "no additional documents are needed at this time" so I guess everything is/was good.

I need more advice on whether or not I am doing the correct thing because some say to bombard them with lots of paper work and evidence and others just barely hand in stuff and get their visas. I too am just overwhelmed by the situation because of my past immigration history in Canada (failed Refugee and PRRA). Was a minor when I entered Canada and fought the battle for almost 8 years.

 

[iarblue]

Bring everything you have dont shove it in their face but if they ask for anything you will have it.But bring all originals,and passports.

 

[confusednscared]

Bring everything you have dont shove it in their face but if they ask for anything you will have it.But bring all originals,and passports.

My marriage certificate was issued in Canada, totally Canadian.... I don't have the original here in my home country because I am just so afraid that it gets leaked out.

I think they only ask to see originals if it wasn't issued in Canada. I can surely provide them with a notarized copy if they ever ask but for now I am not keeping my gay marriage certificate with me in my homeland.

 

[iarblue]

Yeah just bring what you got then you have it if they ask,they may not ask for anything just a few simple questions and be done,but if they ask and you dont have it?

 

[confusednscared]

Yeah just bring what you got then you have it if they ask,they may not ask for anything just a few simple questions and be done,but if they ask and you dont have it?

I can get to them the next day or two if all goes well

I too will need to apply for ARC which adds an additional 3-6 months to my processing after the interview or who knows, the interview can be for the ARC part .... god, this is so confusing and the VO is not helping with the situation at all.

 

[iarblue]

The interview will be for the visa once they approve the visa they will then inform you that you need to do the ARC if that goes through ok they will issuse the visa right away.

 

[confusednscared]

The interview will be for the visa once they approve the visa they will then inform you that you need to do the ARC if that goes through ok they will issuse the visa right away.

I hope that is the case and I pass the interview. There is nothing to hide but I feel as if I will be so nervous and freak during the interview especially if they put me under pressure.

Everything about my relationship and application is true and I know most of it but I have this tendency of getting my msgs across in the wrong way or sometimes my msgs aren't too clear and this is what I am afraid of. Example, I may explain our relationship the way it happened but will get so carried away that I forget the small important things that will matter.

I too over think situations and in the end they work out well for me. I hope this is one of those situations *cross fingers*

Thanks though for your comments