Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[mrsprogram]

Hi All,

I did my landing today at Point Roberts, WA. As those around British Columbia may be familiar, Point Roberts is a tiny peninsula cut off by N49 parallel, and there is a wee US-Canadian border there. As it's such a small border, very few people seem to the landing there - or very few people GO there.

I just happen to be staying this summer at Point Roberts with my partner, and cross the border almost daily to do the shopping on the Canadian side etc. So it was a bit of a non event, going to the border just like any other day. Only, instead of saying "eh, I'm still on the visitor status, but will land very soon" and pass by the border booth in the car, my word today was "I'd like to do the landing please."

I was given a small sheet of paper and instructed to go into the border office. There were 2 people in the lineup for various custom/immigration reasons, and within a minute I was called up by the same officer I talked to at the booth. He briefly went through with me the landing document which I received from Buffalo, and I signed at the few places. Then he told me to "sit there, wait for 5 minutes while I put it in computer". And yes within 5 minutes I was called again and was returned the passport. I was also explained that PR card would arrive in about 6 weeks, in the meantime I could travel between US and Canada with the proof of landing document stapled in the passport, but would need a visa if I travel to other countries and come back before I get PR Card.
And that was it.
They didn't even say "Welcome to Canada", which I was looking forward to hearing!

Anyhow, just about 5 months since filing the application, 6 weeks after PPR and 3 weeks after getting the passport back, I got round to becoming a Canadian landed immigrant. I must say I had a tiny butterfly in the stomach for a moment while waiting for 5 min in the border office.

For anyone considering going to the border around BC, Point Roberts is a hidden gem. It's 45 min drive from Vancouver. Only July/August it gets a bit crowded and the car lineup can be long especially on those summer weekends with lots of people coming to stay at cottages, but in other times you get to land ever so quickly. Can't promise you a "memorable" landing, but if just a plain, quick landing will do for you, I recommend it.

Congrats Lilac6! Thanks for sharing.

We're looking forward to our landing next week! My husband's passport was accepted at a post office in Fort Erie this morning.

 

[mrsprogram]

My timeline seems to be lagging and i am worried it has to do with Medicals. E-CAS says In Process - started processing on JUNE 7th, but there is no mention of medicals received. Do I need to do something to make sure the medicals get to Buffalo? For what it's worth, we had the medicals done a few months before the application was filed.

My husband faxed the Ottawa Regional Medical Office and asked them to forward the medical results to Buffalo. They replied within the same day and said that they had already forwarded them to Buffalo.

He faxed two numbers:
613-941-9528
613 954 6211

Also, ECAS didn't say anything about my husband's medical results until after they requested for his passport.

 

[beantown]

My husband faxed the Ottawa Regional Medical Office and asked them to forward the medical results to Buffalo. They replied within the same day and said that they had already forwarded them to Buffalo.

He faxed two numbers:
613-941-9528
613 954 6211

Also, ECAS didn't say anything about my husband's medical results until after they requested for his passport.

Thank you, Mrs. Your timeline is reassuring - sounds like yours began processing a week or so before mine, so hopefully we'll be hearing something soon!

 

[giggles1985]

I got an email from Buffalo stating that they forwarded my file to the consulate in Los Angeles "In order to expedite the processing"

I wonder if this really does make it faster? ???
It still states right in the email not to ask for status within 90 days of receiving the letter. So that seems to indicate to me that they're still giving me the standard revisit date, boo!

 

[Lilac6]

Congrats Lilac6! Thanks for sharing.

We're looking forward to our landing next week! My husband's passport was accepted at a post office in Fort Erie this morning.

Thank you MrsProgram for you support Hope everything will be smooth and enjoyable with your hubby's landing and keep us posted. Well done!

 

[Cherlyn]

I got a letter today from CIC -they received my landing fee.
Nothing about the passport request

 

[mrsprogram]

Thank you Lilac! ;D

Cherlyn, I hope you get a passport request soon!

Giggles, hope LA is much faster than Buffalo has been.

 

[SaugaBoss]

My timeline seems to be lagging and i am worried it has to do with Medicals. E-CAS says In Process - started processing on JUNE 7th, but there is no mention of medicals received. Do I need to do something to make sure the medicals get to Buffalo? For what it's worth, we had the medicals done a few months before the application was filed.

when did u mail out your application and get approveD?

 

[SaugaBoss]

I got an email from Buffalo stating that they forwarded my file to the consulate in Los Angeles "In order to expedite the processing"

I wonder if this really does make it faster? ???
It still states right in the email not to ask for status within 90 days of receiving the letter. So that seems to indicate to me that they're still giving me the standard revisit date, boo!

other people on this forum had the same issue where it was mailed to Newyork, NY from Buffalo... hopefully it will be faster!!!

 

[SaugaBoss]

I'll probably hold onto mine until they ask for it.. it's sad that we'd have to do this though!

mine was expired when I mailed it in and requested a new one just incase they ask for one...

How do we find out about the medicals being transfered.


BTW Buffalo sent me an email telling me to stop emailing them pretty much:

We are currently creating family class applications received June 4,
2010.

Due to the complex nature and varying circumstances, we are unable to
predict processing times between stages of processing.

We have received repeated messages from you in recent days. In order to
serve all clients better, we are not able to reply to multiple messages
from the same client.

Canadian Consulate General Buffalo

Immigration Section

buffalo-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca

 

[Vervain]

Yay June 4th!! I'm June 8th so hopefully next week I will hear something.

 

[beantown]

when did u mail out your application and get approveD?

I FedExed the Appl'n April 5, CPC-M received April 6. Sponsorship approved May 7. AOR from Buffalo early June. E-cAS says began processing June 7.

 

[adetia9]

Still waiting for FBI clearances, tho I did speak to someone today named Jorell who was actually very helpful, which, imo is a minor miracle when dealing with the FBI. My second set of fingerprints are currently in progress, so hopefully that means it will be less then two weeks until they are processed and start the journey back to me.

Got everything in order, however, to send in extensions today as despite our best hopes, we will not be done before our current visas run out. Buffalo says they can tell that our medicals were done however they haven't received them yet, not real sure on how long that normally takes. We were given a 90 day (starting July 7) deadline for the FBI paperwork so we're really just praying at this point that we can get it in in time.

 

[nyssa]

Good luck adetia! I've spoken with a few pleasant people at the FBI office. They were often kind and would joke with me on the phone. Only one time did I talk to a nasty woman who had no clue what she was doing... "Maybe it's impossible to read your fingerprints, is there another option?" Right.

 

[beantown]

Re: App in Buffalo Now

My question for anyone reading this (as I have consulted an imm lawyer, and tried to ask people at both Cit and Imm Canada side and US side -- and I get nowhere!)

Q: Can we use 'dual intention', and enter Canada as a fam (myself and daughter are Canadian), and have my husband come in as a 'visitor' (as he does on a monthly basis when we visit fam -- for up to 6 months), while his app is being processed, or does this in any way jeopardize the app --- or our future -- ?!

I am in similar situation (Canadian with a Cnadaian/American baby) and my husband (American) is here with me but is not employed (until he gets PR). We moved here as a family in June. The customs guys at the Toronto Island Airport are super nice and all went smoothly. We even signed for all our earthly belongings that we moved up here from the States and the customs warehouse, and everything was cool.