Thread For applications Through SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) Office

[Robhi]

Still haven't gotten a SIN number from Service Canada, will do that soon as well.

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know we "landed" at the Buffalo/Toronto border via Fort Erie. Everything was very smooth and took about 10-15 minutes. They signed both copies of the COPR and put one of them in my wife's Australian passport. The PR card will arrive in the mail in 6-8 weeks, at which time we will remove the COPR from her passport (but we were told to hold on to it for when we apply for citizenship). They told us she has all the rights of a Canadian citizen except voting, and that she has to reside in the country for at least 2 out of the next 3 years. When travelling with me, she is considered to still be "residing" in Canada. My question is, if we've already been residing in Canada for the last 6 months, does that count as part of the 3 years?

We used the COPR to arrange for her Social Insurance Number at a Service Canada Office. We've also requested a driver's abstract from the RTA in Australia and once that arrives in the mail, she'll be able to exchange her Australian license for a full G class license in Ontario.

So glad it's all done! I guess I won't have many more updates to provide here, but I'll be checking the forums once in a while to provide any help that I can. Good luck to all the others who are patiently awaiting their PR!

 

[Catou]

Hi all,
I'm confused by the NZ police clearance. When it asks us to state where the application will FIRST be submitted are we supposed to put Mississauga or "overseas processing office"? The whole application goes to Mississauga but really the applicant's part is only dealt with in Australia so I'm not certain what is required on this form.

 

[Keratzlaff]

Hey Everyone!!! I emailed the Sydney office since there still had been no change in ecas it still says " Application recieved" , asking if it was in process and if the Sydney office was on strike they replied

"Dear Mr Foster

Thank you for your sponsor's e-mail of 13 June 2013. Your application is in the processing queue. In due course, once it has been reviewed by a Visa Officer we will be in further contact to advise the next stage of processing.

Yours faithfully

Immigration Section"

So they ignored the strike question, hopefully it doesnt take too long as the meds expire in January!!!! Does anyone know right now the average time it is to process , i know online it says 10 months does that only start once its actually in process? or does this waiting time for it to get processed get included in that wait time?

Thanks

 

[RoscoEscobar]

Hi All,
This thread is a saviour. This process of waiting is quite frustrating.
My Canadian wife and I decided to move to Canada for work reasons earlier in the year. My wife is now leaving tomorrow for Canada because she needs to start her job. It's sad to think after being married for 8 years I don't know when I will see her next, especially with the Canadian foreign office strikes going on.
I have a question I hope people can help me with. Our application was originally received in Canada late Feb '13 and sent to Sydney late Mar '13. Rather than sitting around Melbourne waiting for an email from Canadian Immigration I'm thinking of heading to Guatemala to volunteer for a fee months, then when I hopefully receive confirmation from the sydney office of my application I'll fly up to Canada to complete the process(eg. submitting my passport). Does anyone see a problem with this? I'm a little concerned by two aspects of this plan.
A. The visa application takes longer than 6 months from receipt in Sydney.
B. Canadian Immigration stopping me at Customs, though I hope with the letter from Sydney requesting my passport should allow me to enter.

Any thoughts would be very helpful. Cheers, Ross.

 

[thedreadedpiper]

Some positive movement from Sydney on my case - a change to "in process" on the 19th. nzandcanada and mrlahori, hopefully that means they're working on yours too.

 

[EGNN]

Hello all... I sent my application to sponsor my wife end of January 2013... I received notification that application was recieved Feb 14 2013.... I was approved as a sponsor March 12 2013... her medical was done october 2012.... Im a little concerened as I have not received any notification from the Sydney office that the application has been recieved there...... as well what does it mean when the Permanent residence status states "appliction received" but when you click on it, it gives you an update that medical reports have been received...... is this the last stage before approval and should i be worried that i havent heard anything at all from the sydney office????....... thanks in advance

 

[mrlahori]

Some positive movement from Sydney on my case - a change to "in process" on the 19th. nzandcanada and mrlahori, hopefully that means they're working on yours too.

I really hope so. Been waiting for so long

Hope you hear from them soon regarding PPR

 

[mrlahori]

I just checked the spreadsheet and somebody removed few columns like PPR column and documents requested and interview column.

This is really annoying. One person making decision that everyone dont need those columns. Somebody made made some changes to some dates few days ago as well including adding average and median rows.

If You (whoever made those edits) dont need those columns. Then make a copy of the spreadsheet and keep it in your profile. Dont EDIT the main spreadsheet the way you feel like it.. I think opening the spreadsheet to everyone was not a good idea afterall.

 

[rachiy]

I just checked the spreadsheet and somebody removed few columns like PPR column and documents requested and interview column.

This is really annoying. One person making decision that everyone dont need those columns. Somebody made made some changes to some dates few days ago as well including adding average and median rows.

If You (whoever made those edits) dont need those columns. Then make a copy of the spreadsheet and keep it in your profile. Dont EDIT the main spreadsheet the way you feel like it.. I think opening the spreadsheet to everyone was not a good idea afterall.

Hey mrlahori,
I just checked in to the spreadsheet, and those columns were just hidden from view - not deleted. There were a couple of arrows at the top row between J and O so I clicked on the arrows to expand the view.
I spent a lot of time getting that spreadsheet up and running and you guys have put in a lot of work keeping it up to date, so lets keep it going and make sure we are only editing our own updates and not changing formulas etc. It would have been disappointing if these columns were deleted - thankfully they are still there.

rachiy.

 

[mrlahori]

Hey mrlahori,
I just checked in to the spreadsheet, and those columns were just hidden from view - not deleted. There were a couple of arrows at the top row between J and O so I clicked on the arrows to expand the view.
I spent a lot of time getting that spreadsheet up and running and you guys have put in a lot of work keeping it up to date, so lets keep it going and make sure we are only editing our own updates and not changing formulas etc. It would have been disappointing if these columns were deleted - thankfully they are still there.

rachiy.

Thanks Rachiy for pointing that out. I was on mobile so it was not very visible. Yea i am glad they are there and hopefully will stay the same.

 

[Pg05]

Hi every one! Thank You google for finding me this forum.

I need some advise, I have been in Canada for the past two years. I came here on a working holiday program (WHP). My visa expires on July 19th, I applied for another WHP visa and was told to apply for a work permit, which I did under "open work permit". I got an email yesterday saying my work permit has been refused and to get my employer to apply for a Labor Market Opinion.

On the other hand, we sent my PR application in November, my spouse received an email back in February and I received an email on 24th of March stating my application was received on 28th of November 2012.

I really want to continue working but I'm afraid nothing can be done in three weeks, I've done some research and LMO can take few weeks by which my work permit will have expired. I've looked at the spreadsheet and nothing for November applicants. Has any November people heard anything? Do I count the 10months processing time from November 28th?

Pg05

 

[thedreadedpiper]

Hi every one! Thank You google for finding me this forum.

I need some advise, I have been in Canada for the past two years. I came here on a working holiday program (WHP). My visa expires on July 19th, I applied for another WHP visa and was told to apply for a work permit, which I did under "open work permit". I got an email yesterday saying my work permit has been refused and to get my employer to apply for a Labor Market Opinion.

On the other hand, we sent my PR application in November, my spouse received an email back in February and I received an email on 24th of March stating my application was received on 28th of November 2012.

I really want to continue working but I'm afraid nothing can be done in three weeks, I've done some research and LMO can take few weeks by which my work permit will have expired. I've looked at the spreadsheet and nothing for November applicants. Has any November people heard anything? Do I count the 10months processing time from November 28th?

Pg05

Hi Pg05,

My application was received November 22, and my case went in process last week.

I am in a similar situation in that my work permit has expired and my PR hasn't been approved yet. I had a work permit sponsored by my employer, but was told that it was unlikely that my LMO would be approved for a second term because I clearly don't have "temporary intent" due to having filed a PR application.

So, I filed a work permit extension without the LMO.... I know I'll be told to get an LMO or it'll be denied, but I am HOPING that the PR will be approved before then. The paper-based extension applications were taking over 3 months when I filed it. This gives me implied status so that I can continue working until a decision on either case is made.

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago when I switched from a working holiday visa to the employer sponsored work permit, where I filed an extension application knowing that the working holiday visa could not be extended, while I waited for the LMO decision and work permit. I had an attorney help me figure this all out! It served its purpose, allowing me to keep working; the LMO was approved before the extension application, and CIC even kindly reimbursed the extension filing fee!

So, although your OWP was denied, you could probably file an extension application and get implied status that way. There's lots of debate on this forum about when implied status comes into play, but based on my experience, it should work ok for you too. The bad thing about implied status is that if you have a drivers license with an expiry date linked to the expiry of your visa, some provinces (BC for example) will not update your license until you have a new work permit or PR. So I can legally work, but not drive myself there! A little frustrating!

Hopefully it won't be too long until your PR case goes in process anyway. Feel free to add your dates to the spreadsheet - it helps people filing after us to get an idea of how long each stage is taking.

Good luck!

 

[Pg05]

thedreadedpiper, thank you so much for replying. I understood everything you said but I have one more question, I wasn't expecting CIC to refuse my work permit so I bought tickets to go to Europe for two weeks. If I apply for another work permit and leave Canada, will my "implied status" be no longer valid?

And congratulation on your processing status, how much longer roughly now? I had a look at the spreadsheet, I have to check all my dates again and will post it soon!

 

[thedreadedpiper]

thedreadedpiper, thank you so much for replying. I understood everything you said but I have one more question, I wasn't expecting CIC to refuse my work permit so I bought tickets to go to Europe for two weeks. If I apply for another work permit and leave Canada, will my "implied status" be no longer valid?

And congratulation on your processing status, how much longer roughly now? I had a look at the spreadsheet, I have to check all my dates again and will post it soon!

You're right, you lose implied status if you leave the country. You can re-enter as a visitor after that but won't be able to work. When are you traveling?

It's hard to say how much longer after cases go in process.... it depends how long they look at the case before they make a decision. For some people it's days, for others months. Once the passport request comes through, it looks as though receiving the COPR is usually 2-3weeks after that, since I'm in Canada and it's posted from Sydney.

 

[EGNN]

Hello all... I sent my application to sponsor my wife end of January 2013... I received notification that application was received Feb 14 2013.... I was approved as a sponsor March 12 2013... her medical was done October 2012.... I'm a little concerned as I have not received any notification from the Sydney office that the application has been received there is that stage 2 AOR?... as well when i check the status online it says application received for PR and when you click on that it says medical results have been received, does this mean that a decision has been made?