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March 2012 applicants, join here! : )

damodar

Star Member
Jul 10, 2013
158
0
computergeek said:
I applied under the FSW program in June 2009 (after procrastinating for three years about it!) I received permission from Sydney to proceed in September 2009 and my file was sent to Buffalo, with an AOR in late September 2009. In April 2010 they transferred my file to NYC. I received the usual medical, RPRF and FBI PCC request in July 2010. An issue was found in my medical in August 2010, I had an additional medical follow-up in October 2010. In March 2011 I received a "fairness letter" indicating that I was medically inadmissible to Canada. I'd done my homework and was prepared, switched attorneys and put together 40 page response including a comprehensive mitigation plan based largely upon prior legal decisions in this area. We submitted that in July 2011. In December 2011 I received a rejection that said "we considered your additional material but it did not change the opinion about your medical condition and therefore you are medically inadmissible". Merry Christmas - the letter was sent December 22nd. The reasons were suspect, since the point hadn't been to challenge the medical opinion but rather to provide a comprehensive plan to provide coverage (the arguments were all about drug costs, but through my private insurance, employer group insurance and an employer health savings plan we had coverage for $68k in drugs, including demonstration that the drugs they were worried about were covered.) They just said that because BC provided drug coverage I was inadmissible.

We filed a legal challenge in January 2012.

In parallel, I met and married my spouse. In fact, I met my spouse before I even filed for PR, let alone before I found out about the medical issue - a point I think helped in the end. I'd sent the paperwork about being married to NYC - twice - but they claim they never received it. This is one reason I routinely counsel people to send it via a courier and get a delivery receipt. I've never had them lose anything sent that way. We were married in May 2011.

I'm a bit stubborn here and really wanted to gain PR on my own. I never want my spouse to think I married for immigration purposes - in fact it's really the opposite. I'd have just gone back to the US, because I bring my own work with me wherever I go as I'm a world-class expert in my own little niche field. Odds are you've probably used products that are based upon work that I've done in some form or fashion. But after discussion with several people in my life - including my spouse - I decided to file a sponsored spousal application. That arrived in Mississauga on 6 March 2012.

The legal challenge went through it's paces into April with each side filing their documents with the Court. This is known as the "leave" stage - cases are not automatically heard by the Court as you have to convince a judge there are real issues in your case. Only about 20% of cases are granted leave.

June 21, 2012 my spouse was approved as sponsor - one of the last sponsors to be approved from the March group in fact. I had some concerns that CIC would question our relationship - there's a significant age difference, income difference AND my prior rejection. I was fully prepared to be called for an interview and expected the process to go long - 18 to 24 months.

In July, 2012 leave was granted by the Court. There's a second round of documents that get filed including the "certified tribunal record" which is a copy of the CAIPS notes, but they left out part of what they should have filed. We filed our own arguments, narrowing them to the procedural issues - which, to be honest, were all the Court would ever consider because they were enough to make a decision. My reading between the lines was that CIC's attorney (who has been arguing medical inadmissibility cases for 14+ years) knew they had screwed up and were going to lose - her only arguments were that the Court shouldn't hear my case because I could apply in the sponsored spousal class, which is a very weak argument.

Because the CIC decision was to declare me medically inadmissible, I was concerned about the possibility of being turned away at the border - I travel quite a lot for work, mostly to the US but home has been Vancouver for a number of years at this point. Indeed, my spouse is here, my business is here, my employees are here. So I put together an application for a "Temporary Resident Permit" (TRP) and submitted it to Seattle in February 2012. I've been checking my GCMS notes on that application every 30 days since I received the AOR for it. I kept sending them supplemental materials - the JR application materials, the sponsored spousal application, then the sponsor approval letter, etc.

In the past two weeks everything has converged. Seattle started to process my TRP application (seven months after it was filed), and the VO handling that told me that she spoke with the officer in Ottawa who had just finished our application. She said that he had determined we had a genuine relationship and was sending everything on to LA. She said she would hold off on issuing the TRP because I would be hearing from LA "within two weeks". I cannot blame her, because I know from reading the manuals that a medical TRP is a LOT of work to issue. CIC only issues just under 200 per year worldwide. But she said that if I hadn't heard something in a few weeks they "would make sure I had something so I wouldn't run into a problem at the border."

I discussed the current situation with my attorney this week and he offered to contact the attorney at Justice Canada representing CIC to see if they could work something out. This went back and forth and led to her checking with LA. This afternoon we received the PPR via e-mail. Based upon the discussions with my attorney and CIC's attorney, I had agreed to discontinue the JR application.

While I don't know for sure, I think that this losing case has been a strong incentive for CIC to complete the spousal application. The last filings for the government are due THIS Friday, and I suspect she wanted to be in a position to say "this case is moot because the applicant's passport has been requested and CIC is prepared to issue a COPR to him." This also matches up perfectly with the information from the VO in Seattle.

So, 3 years, 3 months to the day after I submitted my first application, I received a positive notification for my second application. It's hardly the normal path through immigration, but I'm glad because it means I get to stay in Canada with my spouse (because in our case, immigration to the US is not an option that is open to us.)

LOL. Aren't you sorry you asked?

I'm sending my passport out to LA tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can get it and me put back together by the end of October so when I return from the US at the end of October I can complete the landing process. Fortunately, I still have my second (legal) US passport so I won't have a problem flying to the US next month, even if I don't have my passport back from LA in the interim.
hi cocknbull
how are you
my case got refuge in march 2013 at last stage after submitting medical and landing fees
then I went for judicial appeal and on 1st week july I got settlement offer from department of justice , so they error of law has been made
so I accepted their offer and my case going back to new visa officer for redetermination
could you plz how long it take from here on
all kind of police clearance was done on my file
I have my submit my new medical and landing fees also
I lost my 15 points but after acceptance with federal court , I got my 15 point back so my point score reached on 80 now
plz do reply how long Ottawa will now , as I have job offer I m loosing salary every month
I have filed my case in dec 2009 and oct 2011 I got request to submit medical and landing fees also
 

computergeek

VIP Member
Jan 31, 2012
5,143
276
123
Vancouver BC
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O/LA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
AOR Received.
21-06-2012
File Transfer...
21-6-2012
Med's Done....
11-02-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
26-09-2012
VISA ISSUED...
10-10-2012
LANDED..........
13-10-2012
damodar said:
my case got refuge in march 2013 at last stage after submitting medical and landing fees
then I went for judicial appeal and on 1st week july I got settlement offer from department of justice , so they error of law has been made
so I accepted their offer and my case going back to new visa officer for redetermination
could you plz how long it take from here on
all kind of police clearance was done on my file
I have my submit my new medical and landing fees also
I lost my 15 points but after acceptance with federal court , I got my 15 point back so my point score reached on 80 now
plz do reply how long Ottawa will now , as I have job offer I m loosing salary every month
I have filed my case in dec 2009 and oct 2011 I got request to submit medical and landing fees also
Nobody can tell you how long your case will take. Since it sounds like you were far along in the process, it shouldn't be too bad - perhaps six months, but more likely nine. Usually they don't even start working on your file again for a couple of months.

Congratulations on winning your judicial review.
 

PC0827

Star Member
May 23, 2013
109
4
Category........
Visa Office......
New Delhi
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
NOV 23 2012
AOR Received.
NOV 26 2012
File Transfer...
DEC 04 2012
Med's Done....
JULY 2016
Interview........
NOV 11 2013 (Refused) APPEAL WON 2016
Passport Req..
JAN 18 2017
VISA ISSUED...
Waiting....
LANDED..........
waiting.....
http://video.intelligencer.ca/search/all/source/kenora-daily-miner-and-news/foreign-service-greed/2572847494001



This makes me so angry and sick at these greedy strikers! I wish my salary was even close to what they receive at the moment. *slow clapping for PAFSO*
 

chickie72

VIP Member
Mar 12, 2012
4,108
78
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Kingston, JA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
27-02-12
Doc's Request.
09-06-13
AOR Received.
20-06-12
File Transfer...
04-10-12
Med's Request
20-06-12
Med's Done....
07-09-12
Passport Req..
March 4, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
March 20, 2014
LANDED..........
March 22, 2014
who is cocknbull?
 

computergeek

VIP Member
Jan 31, 2012
5,143
276
123
Vancouver BC
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O/LA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
AOR Received.
21-06-2012
File Transfer...
21-6-2012
Med's Done....
11-02-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
26-09-2012
VISA ISSUED...
10-10-2012
LANDED..........
13-10-2012
PC0827 said:
http://video.intelligencer.ca/search/all/source/kenora-daily-miner-and-news/foreign-service-greed/2572847494001



This makes me so angry and sick at these greedy strikers! I wish my salary was even close to what they receive at the moment. *slow clapping for PAFSO*
Sorry, but I actually disagree with you. The analysis is nuanced and complex - and this piece does a good job of framing things with one slant.

But let's look at the lead-in claim: Foreign service workers are making 25% more than the average Canadian.

Foreign service workers typically must have graduate degrees (e.g., Masters or Ph.D.) and be multi-lingual. Perhaps we should take the subset of the Canadian work force that qualifies AND is posted abroad as a better point of comparison.

Further, the spouse/partner of foreign service workers are typically not allowed to work during a placement overseas - so that "25% above the average" is strictly true, but ignores the fact that most households in Canada are dual worker these days - so now you're at 33% less for the household. http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=76ff3451-2fd2-4783-85fc-3c621b2e825a - I'd rather see a comparison of household incomes. And preferably household incomes for people with comparable skills.

This looks to me like a typical union/management dispute and each side is certainly doing what they can to sway public opinion. The union asked for binding arbitration. Treasury agreed but only if the issue of equal pay was removed from consideration. Sorry, but one doesn't agree to go into binding arbitration by taking the core issue "off the table". That's a disingenuous position to take.

Bottom line is that binding arbitration with all the issues on the table seems to be fair - let an impartial arbitration panel listen to their arguments and impose a decision if they can't come to agreement.

The union seems to be taking measured steps here. This contract didn't just expire - it expired over two years ago (June 2011). They've been trying to get the Treasury Board to negotiate a new contract without success. Maybe they're asking for too much. Maybe Treasury is being intransigent. But it doesn't look like the strike action was hasty, either.

Personally, even if I found out I was making 25% more than my neighbour, I'd still negotiate a pay raise with my own boss if I thought that I deserved it...
 

computergeek

VIP Member
Jan 31, 2012
5,143
276
123
Vancouver BC
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-O/LA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
AOR Received.
21-06-2012
File Transfer...
21-6-2012
Med's Done....
11-02-2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
26-09-2012
VISA ISSUED...
10-10-2012
LANDED..........
13-10-2012
PAFSO's response on the binding arbitration rejection is insightful:

http://www.pafso.com/news_releases.php?newsID=159

The Canadian public must understand two key facts:

Two of Treasury Board’s preconditions were so paralyzing that their acceptance would have predetermined the outcome of arbitration in the Government’s favour and negated the purpose and integrity of the process. Specifically, they wanted to exclude from consideration any mention of other professional groups in government who perform the same work as us – often in neighbouring offices – which has been at the heart of our position since day one.

PAFSO made a reasonable and responsible effort at finding common ground by accepting two of the six preconditions, and committing to a goodwill gesture – a suspension of service withdrawals while arbitration is ongoing – which would have satisfied a third.
So if Treasury had agreed to binding arbitration, the union was ready to have workers return to work immediately while the arbitration happened. Treasury Board needs to accept culpability in the current escalation of the labour action.

The ad hominem attacks on the foreign service workers are disingenuous. In my experience, when someone starts attacking the person and stops addressing the substantive claims it is a sign of weakness of the attacker's position.
 

chickie72

VIP Member
Mar 12, 2012
4,108
78
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Kingston, JA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
27-02-12
Doc's Request.
09-06-13
AOR Received.
20-06-12
File Transfer...
04-10-12
Med's Request
20-06-12
Med's Done....
07-09-12
Passport Req..
March 4, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
March 20, 2014
LANDED..........
March 22, 2014
I understand why they are doing it but it don't help us who are still waiting to be reunited with our spouses. Does anyone notice in todays bulletin what they are worried about- quote: By rejecting our offer of arbitration, they seem intent on prolonging this strike –at enormous cost to Canadian tourism companies, educational institutions, airlines, and agricultural producers. end quote.

There is nothing about reunification of families etc......

Just agree to disagree and get on with it, they agreed to 3 now the government needs to agree to 3 and move on!