Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[ddobro2]

Truly, unless they are talking about an RCMP name search, but I doubt that.....for one, I don't know that your son has lived in Canada in the first place.

I know that CIC has asked some people on here to provide medical results for their nonaccompanying kids, but I always thought that you had the choice (although I understand how most people would want to be conservative about it and do it if there's any chance they wanted their child to join them in Canada): if you had them undergo the medical exams, you basically attested to CIC that you preserve your right to later sponsor them for immigration to Canada, but if you chose not to have them undergo the medical exams at the same time CIC was processing your file, then you were telling CIC that you understood you could not sponsor them under Family Class in the future, and so they must meet immigration requirements in their own right (i.e. be sponsored by someone else or apply under another stream).

And I thought this was the same principle for the police clearances........

Yes, they already waived the interview! This process is so confusing!!! why do they need FBI clearance if they are going to do their own security search?

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

First off, just because they say that the last thing they need is the background/security check please don't expect it to be a quick turn around. They keep saying that's all my file needs (waiting on my GCMS notes to clarify if that's true or not) and have been saying that since my file went into process at the beginning of July. Hopefully you'll have better luck than me though and it will be quick.

Secondly, I actually did some searching online the other day on the security/background check that the RCMP does for CIC. A check of some kind is supposed to be run on every person, but for some it is a simple name/background check and for others it is actually a security check. The security check means they do a more in depth look into the person to confirm that they are not a threat to Canada and Canadian security. There was no explanation as to why some people were checked one way and others checked the other. It could be completely random, or it could be that something in your file raised a flag.

Obviously I have a strong suspicion I got picked for the more in depth security check (now if only I'd be so lucky with the lottery). As to why I don't know. I have no record at home and am a licensed attorney in the U.S., which involved it's own background checks, etc. I don't really consider myself a threat to Canadian security, but maybe all of my drunken college photos on facebook did me in.

Anyway, what I saw online is that generally this occurs prior to a decision regarding an interview, and if the check shows no issues then the interview is waived. This of course makes no sense in my case since they told my MP that my interview was waived, nor in yours if yours has been waived as well.

I don't have children, but I could see them doing checks on teenage or adult children even if they weren't immigrating, because odds are they will go visit you in Canada and/or stay with you for extended periods of time. Still, it really seems unfair to me that they'd put such weight on a non-immigrating member of your family...and now you have me freaking out that my brother's affinity for left-wing politics & protesting is what is holding up my application.

I think if I ever get this darn PR that my goal will be to get my citizenship, go into politics and do my best to improve the CIC. Ugh.

Truly, unless they are talking about an RCMP name search, but I doubt that.....for one, I don't know that your son has lived in Canada in the first place.

 

[ddobro2]

Well, I never said it was certain to be a quick turnaround, but odds are that if this is the very very last thing keeping them from finalizing her file, it shouldn't be THAT much longer. But since Buffalo's processing is a big riddle wrapped up in an enigma stuffed into a black box, we can only speculate what that actually means, in real days and weeks.

First off, just because they say that the last thing they need is the background/security check please don't expect it to be a quick turn around. They keep saying that's all my file needs (waiting on my GCMS notes to clarify if that's true or not) and have been saying that since my file went into process at the beginning of July. Hopefully you'll have better luck than me though and it will be quick.

Well, I had read that for those that have ever been present in Canada, they run a simple RCMP name check. If the name check comes up with anything interesting or gives them any kind of doubts that they should pursue a background check with fingerprints, they issue that request to the applicant. Maybe you're right, that there's a random element in there, kind of like U.S. airport security checks....I don't know. The criminal checks (FBI and RCMP) are actually different from the security check though - the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is involved with that and I don't think that's something that would show up in GCMS notes because ATIP has been known to redact those notes and I would think they would do that with national security related/sensitive information.

Secondly, I actually did some searching online the other day on the security/background check that the RCMP does for CIC. A check of some kind is supposed to be run on every person, but for some it is a simple name/background check and for others it is actually a security check. The security check means they do a more in depth look into the person to confirm that they are not a threat to Canada and Canadian security. There was no explanation as to why some people were checked one way and others checked the other. It could be completely random, or it could be that something in your file raised a flag.

Obviously I have a strong suspicion I got picked for the more in depth security check (now if only I'd be so lucky with the lottery). As to why I don't know. I have no record at home and am a licensed attorney in the U.S., which involved it's own background checks, etc. I don't really consider myself a threat to Canadian security, but maybe all of my drunken college photos on facebook did me in.

Anyway, what I saw online is that generally this occurs prior to a decision regarding an interview, and if the check shows no issues then the interview is waived. This of course makes no sense in my case since they told my MP that my interview was waived, nor in yours if yours has been waived as well.

I don't have children, but I could see them doing checks on teenage or adult children even if they weren't immigrating, because odds are they will go visit you in Canada and/or stay with you for extended periods of time. Still, it really seems unfair to me that they'd put such weight on a non-immigrating member of your family...and now you have me freaking out that my brother's affinity for left-wing politics & protesting is what is holding up my application.

I think if I ever get this darn PR that my goal will be to get my citizenship, go into politics and do my best to improve the CIC. Ugh.

 

[janamay1967]

I think if I ever get this darn PR that my goal will be to get my citizenship, go into politics and do my best to improve the CIC. Ugh.!!

I AGREE COMPLETELY! I fully intend to attack the system from the inside if I ever get though this process. I am a High school English Teacher and I fully intend to go into politics in Alberta as well.

 

[janamay1967]

But since Buffalo's processing is a big riddle wrapped up in an enigma stuffed into a black box, we can only speculate what that actually means, in real days and weeks.

A better description of our beloved immigration system I have yet to hear. I think all MPs should have to have gone though this process themselves so they understand the frustration!!!

 

[ddobro2]

LOL. Of course, this perfectly explains what those Buffalonians are so busy with that keeps them from issuing our PPRs (I kid....)

I don't really consider myself a threat to Canadian security, but maybe all of my drunken college photos on facebook did me in.

Don't you think Canada would be more concerned if he were a Tea Partier? No but seriously, I doubt they care what his political stances are, and even what the principal applicant's political stances are (unless you were a fugitive member of the Weather Underground during the '70s or something to that effect......I went to a school that hired one of those as a professor, so anything is possible in life).

Still, it really seems unfair to me that they'd put such weight on a non-immigrating member of your family...and now you have me freaking out that my brother's affinity for left-wing politics & protesting is what is holding up my application.

 

[JAYJAY2]

My wife will be going to live in another country tell her sponsorship gets approved will they ever send anything to the applicants address or will all info go to just the sponsor?

 

[ddobro2]

Lol, my credit goes to Winston Churchill, of course But since "riddle wrapped up in an enigma" was not intense enough for CIC (USSR, eat your heart out), I added the "stuffed in a black box" for added effect

You're so right about them having to go through this themselves. There's no better empathy than the one based on personal experience. I do wonder how many of the staff, both in the inland offices and the foreign-based ones at the Canadian High Commissions, have ever immigrated. I'm sure there's at least a few who have become citizens through naturalization. I don't know how sympathetic they are to the rest of us, but when you're just an IO you're probably just a cog in the wheel in the grand scheme of things. Making this process more user-friendly definitely has to come from higher up in the chain of command. But I don't know if they can do that with the budget cuts they've faced/are facing...... :-\

But since Buffalo's processing is a big riddle wrapped up in an enigma stuffed into a black box, we can only speculate what that actually means, in real days and weeks.

A better description of our beloved immigration system I have yet to hear. I think all MPs should have to have gone though this process themselves so they understand the frustration!!!

 

[mcmasters]

I guess I'm confused - your American address is where you were living before you came to Canada? Do you still own/rent that residence in the States?

Welp, if I have to use my parents' address I guess that's okay. I'll put it off as long as possible, though. It would be such a hassle to transfer everything back down to PA, then up to Canada. Blugh. I can probably make it through January without changing anything, but after that, ??

francohoosier: I also have Progressive and (had) BlueCross BlueShield until yesterday, when my company changed over to Catholic Health (which is still somehow related to BcBs. ?). Do you pay the full premium yourself or do you still get a discount through work?

Nope, not at all. It has my American address, which at this point is my permanent address since I don't have my PR yet. My car insurance is Progressive, and so far I've yet to have an issue, and my health insurance is BlueCross BlueShield. I got a private plan through them that lets me visit doctors and pharmacies nationwide, so I can go down to VT whenever I need anything. They've never questioned it, and I've even been on the phone with them a few times recently about correcting some billing errors.

 

[janamay1967]

My wife will be going to live in another country tell her sponsorship gets approved will they ever send anything to the applicants address or will all info go to just the sponsor?

Every piece of paper goes to the applicant's address! Make sure you have immediate access to it. I didn't and have the rest of this F U B A R process to regret it!

 

[janamay1967]

Making this process more user-friendly definitely has to come from higher up in the chain of command. But I don't know if they can do that with the budget cuts they've faced/are facing...... :-\

Good old Winston!

The budget cuts are a load of crap! They have a healthier economy than any one in the world right now. If they wanted to fix the system they could definitely afford to do it!

I love the "TRUST BUT VERIFY"

 

[ddobro2]

I hope they can!

The budget cuts are a load of crap! They have a healthier economy than any one in the world right now. If they wanted to fix the system they could definitely afford to do it!

Thanks, I thought it applied to dealing with government but I'm totally not a Republican, not that there's anything wrong with being one

I love the "TRUST BUT VERIFY"

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

I guess I'm confused - your American address is where you were living before you came to Canada? Do you still own/rent that residence in the States?

Welp, if I have to use my parents' address I guess that's okay. I'll put it off as long as possible, though. It would be such a hassle to transfer everything back down to PA, then up to Canada. Blugh. I can probably make it through January without changing anything, but after that, ??

francohoosier: I also have Progressive and (had) BlueCross BlueShield until yesterday, when my company changed over to Catholic Health (which is still somehow related to BcBs. ?). Do you pay the full premium yourself or do you still get a discount through work?

I got lucky in the sense that I was able to keep my driver's license and passport with my parents' address on it during college and grad school. After graduating I ended up moving home for a few months, then by the time I'd moved again for a job I'd met my now-husband. Long story short while I probably was supposed to have changed all my stuff over while I was living in NYC I never did get around to it, and then I moved up to QC. So as long as my parents stay at the current address my stuff there works. At least for now while I'm in limbo.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

So my husband just called me from home and goes, "You got a letter in the mail today..." I got so excited, then he went on and I found out it has nothing to do with my PPR. Curses! I yelled at him not to get my hopes up like that!

 

[ddobro2]

Ugh, that was cruel of him

So my husband just called me from home and goes, "You got a letter in the mail today..." I got so excited, then he went on and I found out it has nothing to do with my PPR. Curses! I yelled at him not to get my hopes up like that!