Is it OK to get my hopes up now or still NO???

[SadGirl:(]

This is the latest news I heard on my husband's application. I called the immigration officer in Stockholm, Sweden (the immigration officer that done my husband's interview) on Thrusday June 3 and he told me that they are going to review my husband's case in early June. I asked him what does this mean exactly, he told me that when we review the case it could go three ways: if all the information they need is on file then they will be able to make a decision whether to approve OR reject our case OR if not all the information is on file and they need further background checks then they will send it back for further background checks. So I don't really know what to make of the immigration officer's response to me??? I want to get my hopes up that they will finalize the case, but I'm also worried at the same time.

I am also worried because before I called the immigration officer, I had gotten this email response from London very early in the morning (about 8 hours before I called the immigration officer):
"This is in reply to your enquiry last week. Unfortunately, background enquiries are still ongoing. The duration of these enquiries is out of our control. However, this is a necessary and important stage in processing your spouse's application. If you email us in August, we will follow up on the status of these enquiries. We ask you to please refrain from sending status enquiries until then.
Thank you.
The High Commission"

I asked the immigration officer about this email that London sent to me, because he (the immigration officer) is telling me that the case is up for review in early June, but this email doesn't make any reference to that -- he told me that this is a generic response that they usually send out to enquires that are made to cases that are still in process. He then reiterated that the case is up for reveiw in early June and hopefully we'll hear a positive response -- but made no commitment to that word.

I want to get my hopes up that my husband's case is almost going to finish but at the same time I don't want to get my hopes up only to have a big disappointment. I just want this to be over with!

Does anyone have any interpretations on what I should make of all of this? So far we've heard no new news :'(.

Thank you!

 

[Swede]

The only thing I can read from the Swedish IO's comment is that you'll get a decision or a request for more documents in June.

I'm sure everyone here hope that your application will be successful. Hang in there!

 

[iarblue]

Well girl i seen before that your husbands case was already once before sent out for more security checks correct.So i cant imagine for the life of me why they would send it out a third time,so i dont want to say they wouldnt but it looks really good it might be over.
Fingers and toes crossed for you both.
Well be waiting for the good news.

 

[nncs]

Praying for you!

Keep us updated.

 

[SadGirl:(]

Thanks! I really want to get my hopes up, but at the same time I am hesitant because I just cannot trust these immigration officers.

What makes me worried is why did London respond to my enquiry telling me that they are still waiting for the results of the background checks and the immigration officer in Stockholm, only a few hours later, told me that our application is up for review in early June and that he has not heard back from London yet. Why wouldn't London's response be the same? Why wouldn't London tell me that our case is up for review? This is why I'm hesitant on getting my hopes up . . . but I really want to believe what the immigration officer in Stockholm said.

I'm praying so much everyday that this torture will soon be over.

 

[iarblue]

Well when a visa office needs more things like a new background check,they place you process on hold and give it a return date,this date is when they will open the process and see if the things they requested are there.
So if the Stockholm office told you they are going to review it again in early june that is the revisit date.Thats the date they will open the file to see if the required info is there.
So nobody told you the security checks are done right?London says they are still waiting for them.
Well i hate to be the bad one here i just dont want you to get all excited and then feel the pain again.But Early June is the date they are going to revisit his file,and if the results are not in there they will give it another revisit date.So if London says the results are not back yet then they will not be in the file on the revisit date,unless the results get to London in the next couple days.
So keep on Londons as- to see when the results come in.Once you get confirmation that the results have been sent then call you may want to get your MP to call Stockholm to revist the file as soon as the results come in so the revisit date gets pushed up a bit.

 

[SadGirl:(]

Well, I don't know if anything has come in or not, but the immigration officer in Stockholm said that they're going to make a security decision on the case.

This is not fair, 15 months of background checks . . . come on now!!! That's enough time to have searched my husband from the date he was born until today. This is ridiculous!!!

 

[iarblue]

Your right,by the looks of it somewhere along the line the app was shoved aside.
But like i said fingers and toes crossed for you girl this all ends june.

 

[nncs]

do you have any idea why it was sent back for extensive background checks? is it cause your husband has lived in more than one place? or because of his birth country? did they tell you the reason at all in any of your correspondences?

 

[SadGirl:(]

nncs, no matter how hard I tried to get any information out of them, they never told me why they sent the case back for a more extensive background check. All that the immigration officer in Stockholm told me and keeps telling me is that because your husband is from the Middle East and not from Europe, you should expect that the application will take longer to process. But in my opinion, that is not always true. There are many people coming from Iraq and going to Syria and then applying to come to Canada and their applications finish within the average time frame, give or take. However, their applications are being processed in Damascus and not London. I had enough of London's lies and excuses!!! :'( I'm just praying every second that we will hear some good news very soon.

 

[Arbol]

I'm so sorry to hear that your process has lasted for such a long time. It's heartbreaking. I haven't waited for nearly as long as you guys but I'm pretty sick and tired of this already so I can only imagine how you must feel. I just wanted to wish you the best of luck and I'm hoping that they don't torture you for much longer. The problem (one of them) with CIC is that there's no higher authority above it regulating processing times or decisionmaking... so it does seem very arbitrary in some cases. The best of luck to you! Don't lose your hope.

 

[nncs]

I agree. People from the Middle East going through Demascus have their applications finalized within 6-7 months TOPS.

Question: the IO in Stockholm, did he fly from London to interview your husband or is he permanently placed in Stockholm? Is he the same officer that reviewed your entire application or did he just take care of the interview process? Let me know since I'm in a similar case.

You know, I'm in the same situation, we don't even have an interview DATE and it's been 3 months since they said they want one, 4 months since it's been in London, and a total of 5 months since I've sent it to Mississauga.

I'm just praying every single day to not have to wait so long

 

[iarblue]

Well it does happen sometimes that your spouse has the identical mane and birthdate of someone who has comitted a crime and they are just making sure they have the right guy.
I dont know how much relavance it has but one time i was going to the US with a co worker he had the exact date and the exact name of a wanted criminal,of course it was not him but the stuff they put him through to make sure was hours.it was a nightmare.
So know in the middle east they do have a lot of similar names this may be the case.
But this should be almost surely the last step for you both,once they get the security check done,it should be finalized.
Its says right in their manual that they by all means do not want a file to take over a year and they will do all they can to make it happen,I think they need to rewrite the manual,lol
So lets hope they make the security decision very soon this is so unfair to anyone to have to go through this over a year,i cant remember anything in life that was more stressful,buying a house is easier.

 

[SadGirl:(]

Question: the IO in Stockholm, did he fly from London to interview your husband or is he permanently placed in Stockholm? Is he the same officer that reviewed your entire application or did he just take care of the interview process? Let me know since I'm in a similar case.

Hi nncs!
The immigration officer is in Stockholm. I believe he is in permanently placed in Stockholm, but I do know that he makes trips to London as sometimes when he is not there the receptionist says he's in London. This officer is the one in charge of my husband's case (well, this is what he tells me). He is the one that will issue my husband the visa once London says to him that the background checks have been cleared. As he keeps reiterating to me, he is not the one that does the background checks and neither does he know what the immigration officers in London asked for in the background check. He is the only person that I can get in contact with to get any information whatsoever about my husband's case as there is no actual person to speak with in London.

 

[SadGirl:(]

Its says right in their manual that they by all means do not want a file to take over a year and they will do all they can to make it happen,I think they need to rewrite the manual,lol

iarblue, where did you read this? I'd like to point this out to London. I hope it is true. However, it's been almost 2 years !!!