Los Angeles LVO INFO

[StellaArtois]

I have no idea what it could be.I asked my lawyer and he said its normal because he had told me before we submitted our file in April that it will get transferred to LAVO.So i am just going to wait and see what happens.

I'm surprised that you submitted your application a month earlier than mine but got transferred a month later. That sucks...

Hmm, odd that your lawyer said it's normal for family class sponsorship applications to be sent to LVO; I heard other people in the threads say that the LVO no longer processes family class sponsorship applications unless there are complications. Also, on the excel spreadsheet tracking both outland and inland family class sponsorships, a lot of US applicants finish processing in Mississauga and don't get transferred to LVO :s Those Mississauga ones are usually the ones done within 3 months ^^;

They have that section of the application where they ask whether applicants have been married to the sponsor for more than 2 years plus whether they have children together plus whether the marriage is the first for both spouses... Did you and your significant other say yes to all those questions? Those applications with "yes" to all those questions normally get fast tracked to approval (unless there are other complications like criminal charges) because the marriage is considered to be likely genuine.
If you guys said "yes" to all those questions and you can't think of any possible complications, you should probably request GCMS notes to see why they transferred your application to LVO so that you can prepare for whatever comes next.

 

[G121]

We have not been married for two or more years.We got married in January 2019.We do not have any kids.The only thing i can think of is that maybe because i have work permit in US and my asylum case is pending??

 

[StellaArtois]

We have not been married for two or more years.We got married in January 2019.We do not have any kids.The only thing i can think of is that maybe because i have work permit in US and my asylum case is pending??

I've heard of other applicants with student or work visas in the US sometimes getting transferred to LVO, while some of them are processed in Mississauga, so I don't think it's considered a complication. Not sure about the asylum case either; haven't heard about many of those.
I'm guessing the most likely reason they transferred to LVO is because they question the authenticity of your relationship given that you submitted your application just 3 months after getting married plus you have no kids together. If you want to know for sure though, definitely order those GCMS notes! It costs $5 and it'd be worth it so that you have a sure explanation for your transfer.

If it does turn out that they want to confirm the authenticity of your marriage, make sure you have lots of proof ready. I don't know how much proof you submitted with your original application, but check with your lawyer on whether it's a good idea to submit more proof of your relationship when they haven't requested it yet.
If you live together, you might want to show all shared bills, bank accounts, insurance, medical coverage, joint property ownership, your wills with each other, etc. If you don't live together, photos, call logs (video and/or audio), chat logs, e-mails, physical letters, receipts for gifts you've bought each other (and also invoices from the wedding), money transfers, transportation costs to visit each other, tickets to events you went to together, and social media posts are all helpful. Whether you live together or not, you can also submit letters from close friends/family confirming they are aware of your relationship and how long they've known about you guys etc.
Our lawyer advised us to submit a supplement with more proof of our relationship (like the examples given above) about 6 months after our initial application submission to support that our relationship is ongoing and authentic (i.e., to provide proof against any possible notion that we got married merely to apply for sponsorship). Our lawyer also basically told us to submit as much proof as possible even in the initial application submission, and said that the maximums stated in the application instructions (e.g., maximum 10 pages of conversation logs) don't apply to us due to our complicated case (we condensed our submitted conversations to 43 pages of our most moving conversation just to be merciful to the immigration officer reading our case). Not sure if that's necessarily a recommendation for every applicant, but check with your lawyer.

 

[Duemanshi]

So sorry to hear it took so long, but glad you got approved on the spot at least!! What was the reason they asked you for an interview? And did they ever explain why it took them so long to get your case finished??

Congrats and hope you have a great new life in Canada

Thanks! Sorry for the late reply, life has been crazy trying to get everything arranged.

My file was transferred there questioning if our relationship was genuine. We've been together for 3 years and married for almost two now, just had a small court marriage. Didn't have any pictures from the wedding day(or many we submitted at all). We brought plenty of cards from families from holidays and pictures of us together on various trips and activities with each others family from the past few years.
Also, my wife moved back to Canada last May to help take care of her father, that apparently was also a red flag?


Once the lady at the front counter took all of the papers that are asked on the "interview request sheet" we waited until another man called us down to a small booth. he explained why we were getting interviewed and why it's not typically apart of the process. Next, he asked my wife to step out into the waiting room. He asked Why we didn't have many pictures upon submitting application, why my wife moved back to Canada. He then asked if my wife ever came back to my home after moving back to Canada (which she did for about a month in December). He then asked my plans once I were to arrive in Canada.


Honestly that was pretty much it, he called my wife in as I left and pretty much asked all the same questions from what she said. After that, he said that he's approving our application and handed me the COPR

 

[StellaArtois]

Thanks! Sorry for the late reply, life has been crazy trying to get everything arranged.

My file was transferred there questioning if our relationship was genuine. We've been together for 3 years and married for almost two now, just had a small court marriage. Didn't have any pictures from the wedding day(or many we submitted at all). We brought plenty of cards from families from holidays and pictures of us together on various trips and activities with each others family from the past few years.
Also, my wife moved back to Canada last May to help take care of her father, that apparently was also a red flag?


Once the lady at the front counter took all of the papers that are asked on the "interview request sheet" we waited until another man called us down to a small booth. he explained why we were getting interviewed and why it's not typically apart of the process. Next, he asked my wife to step out into the waiting room. He asked Why we didn't have many pictures upon submitting application, why my wife moved back to Canada. He then asked if my wife ever came back to my home after moving back to Canada (which she did for about a month in December). He then asked my plans once I were to arrive in Canada.


Honestly that was pretty much it, he called my wife in as I left and pretty much asked all the same questions from what she said. After that, he said that he's approving our application and handed me the COPR

That's totally understandable! It's a lot of work to relocate yourself to a new country for sure. Super happy for you and your wife

Thanks for sharing, that's really helpful for what to expect.

Just curious, did you already submit explanations for some of the things that they asked about in the interview?
For example, had you previously told them that your wife moved back to Canada while you waited for processing because she needed to take care of her father, and then they asked you about that again in the interview? Or did they only ask things in the interview that you hadn't addressed in what you submitted to them?
(no rush to reply; I know you have a lot going on )

 

[StellaArtois]

I’ve received my gcms today
Reason of transfer: Eligibility
What does it mean?

Not sure if you already found an explanation, but if you haven't, there's a thread here that goes into detail with explanations of GCMS notes
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/gcms-notes-well-explained-has-never-before-until-now.390292/

Hopefully they have an answer for you if you haven't already found one!

 

[Duemanshi]

That's totally understandable! It's a lot of work to relocate yourself to a new country for sure. Super happy for you and your wife

Thanks for sharing, that's really helpful for what to expect.

Just curious, did you already submit explanations for some of the things that they asked about in the interview?
For example, had you previously told them that your wife moved back to Canada while you waited for processing because she needed to take care of her father, and then they asked you about that again in the interview? Or did they only ask things in the interview that you hadn't addressed in in what you submitted to them?
(no rush to reply; I know you have a lot going on )

The only update we gave them was when my wife filled out a change of address form on the CIC website when she first moved back.
We were pretty much left in the dark for 13 months in LA, they never contacted us asking for more information until we received the interview request letter. I've read both in these forums and on CIC website to NEVER send things to them unless they ask.

If you have to go through an interview just triple/ quadruple check everything they ask for you to bring in that letter, everyone I interacted with at the office was very soft spoken, kind and patient. If you're honest and intentions are true it should be easy to get through

 

[StellaArtois]

The only update we gave them was when my wife filled out a change of address form on the CIC website when she first moved back.
We were pretty much left in the dark for 13 months in LA, they never contacted us asking for more information until we received the interview request letter. I've read both in these forums and on CIC website to NEVER send things to them unless they ask.

If you have to go through an interview just triple/ quadruple check everything they ask for you to bring in that letter, everyone I interacted with at the office was very soft spoken, kind and patient. If you're honest and intentions are true it should be easy to get through

Hmm I see. That's good to hear that the staff at LVO were nice. I've definitely heard some pretty bad horror stories on this forum... though most of them were at other visa offices.

Did that list of things they asked you to bring to the interview include things that you already submitted previously? Or did they specify that you shouldn't bring things that you've already submitted?

Sorry that I have so many follow up questions; I'm just very curious (my husband and I haven't been asked for an interview at this time, but I want to be mentally prepared for it ^^; I'm the worry wart between the two of us, haha...).

 

[Sair1]

Has any one ever received PPR within normal processing time (1 yr) from LA office? Everyone on the this board seems to have a delay - minimum 1 month to max of 13 months except 1 person who was 2 months early.

My wife's app is about to hit 1 yr next month and the only thing we have from them is "in line to be reviewed by officer"

File was transferred to LA on April 4th.

 

[Duemanshi]

Hmm I see. That's good to hear that the staff at LVO were nice. I've definitely heard some pretty bad horror stories on this forum... though most of them were at other visa offices.

Did that list of things they asked you to bring to the interview include things that you already submitted previously? Or did they specify that you shouldn't bring things that you've already submitted?

Sorry that I have so many follow up questions; I'm just very curious (my husband and I haven't been asked for an interview at this time, but I want to be mentally prepared for it ^^; I'm the worry wart between the two of us, haha...).

It's specified they have all of your files and everything you originally sent in is there in LA. In fact, the guy interviewing us had a stack of papers with all of our orginal forms, pictures and notes we sent in, he gave back the original photos too.

I had to get another police clearance and create an updated Schedule A, that was the most work for getting ready. Everything else (passport, birth certificates, proof of relationship) was not too difficult to gather.

 

[StellaArtois]

It's specified they have all of your files and everything you originally sent in is there in LA. In fact, the guy interviewing us had a stack of papers with all of our orginal forms, pictures and notes we sent in, he gave back the original photos too.

I had to get another police clearance and create an updated Schedule A, that was the most work for getting ready. Everything else (passport, birth certificates, proof of relationship) was not too difficult to gather.

I see I see. Thank you so much for the details! I really appreciate it, and I'm sure many others will too.

All the best in your move to Canada

 

[Riria]

Application type: Outland
Applicant: Applicant is in US, but Philippine Citizen
Sponsor: Canadian Citizen
Application received date - Dec 4th, 2018
AOR 1: January 30th, 2019
MR: Feb 19th, 2019
SA: Feb 26th, 2019
Medical received: March 17th, 2019
Medical Passed: March 22nd, 2019
Application transferred to CPC-Mississauga: February 27th, 2019
AOR2: April 11th, 2018
Application transferred to CPC-Los Angeles: May 5th, 2019
Decision Made: September 17th, 2019

 

[G121]

Application type: Outland
Applicant: Applicant is in US, but Philippine Citizen
Sponsor: Canadian Citizen
Application received date - Dec 4th, 2018
AOR 1: January 30th, 2019
MR: Feb 19th, 2019
SA: Feb 26th, 2019
Medical received: March 17th, 2019
Medical Passed: March 22nd, 2019
Application transferred to CPC-Mississauga: February 27th, 2019
AOR2: April 11th, 2018
Application transferred to CPC-Los Angeles: May 5th, 2019
Decision Made: September 17th, 2019

Hello There
Were you called in for an interview??And was the visa issued on the spot??

 

[Riria]

Hello There
Were you called in for an interview??And was the visa issued on the spot??

We got the pre-arrival services letter today. Should get PPR soon. No, we were not called in for an interview.

 

[Sair1]

Our status also changed to decision made yesterday and today we got pre-arrival services letter.

Let's hope ppr comes soon.