Hi Everyone,
It's a terribly cold and snowy day today. Thank goodness for snow tires or my poor car may not have made it up a few hills like others I saw.
Was in meetings all day and just got caught up on today's posts.
It appears as though there is some ambiguity around what happens to files when it's received by the foreign visa office and in our case Kingston as to whether it gets opened immediately or sits untouched for months on end. Files technically go in process almost immediately. eCAS can cause much confusion since the VO normally only updates it near the end, when they are about to make a decision of approved or denied. Rest assured that files are opened fairly quickly and goes through a series of preliminary review processes to ensure applications are complete and have the required documents as per the checklist. Once these checks are performed, and depending on the scope of review they've determined is required for your file, they will assign it to a category they've deemed as appropriate for your application. Sort of like a fast lane and a slow lane. This will all depend your individual circumstances.
If all is good, it goes into queue for a formal initial review at which point, the evidence to support the bona fides of your relationship is examined by a senior staff member thus immigration officer. At this stage, they'll make a decision if whether the application will move onto the next stage of processing, request interview, or deny.
Next stage of processing entails security and background checks however the applicant will have needed to pass the initial review before they move to this stage as you are applying under spousal sponsorship and would need to satisfy these criterias first; the bona fides of relationship. There are also different levels of security checks performed which would determine how quickly your file gets completed. Level 1 to 3. Through background checks, it can come back as a pass or fail at which point the visa officer will make a decision based on the findings to pass, request for an interview, request additional documentation or deny it completely.
To conclude this entire process, only once the application gets a pass for all checks, (genuiness of relationship, medicals, security, background), the file goes in queue for final review by the final decision maker, the visa officer. Based on an audit from 2010, Kingston has 2 official visa officers who is assigned to the family class sponsorship. There are a number of locals hires who provide admin support in junior to intermediate capacities. Their is a fraud department who verifies documents and a migration officer stationed to investigate applicants. Background checks are performed by CSIS which is a separate entity from immigration. As you can see, there a quite a few moving parts to this process and it's not immigration particularly that holds up files as some parts are out of their control.
Hope this helps with a general overview of what happens on the inside.
Stay warm this weekend and know that your file is not being used as a paper weight or collecting dust.
