Gooi said:Hi All!
I've been following this forum for a few months now...mainly to keep my sanity intact through this process! Though I've never posted anything before, this place has been a great resource for information and excellent support system for me. No one really understands the hardship of this process unless you're actually going through it. I just want to say thank you to everyone!
On another note, I wanted to instill hope in those that are still waiting for a DM that the London office is still working! I'm still in shock but we got our COPR todayI know there are people in my timeline so I thought I'd share our dates.
Application Received: December 12, 2012
Spousal Approval: January 11, 2013
ECas Changed to In Progress: May 28, 2013
DM ON ECas: July 29, 2013
Even though ECas didn't show DM till July 29, the COPR says it was issued July 24 and the envelope shows it was mailed out July 30.
I know most people on here have already sent in their application and are waiting it out but there were a couple tips from our lawyer that I thought were worth sharing if you haven't sent your app in yet. The first one is to number all the pages you send in and make an exact duplicate copy for yourself. That way if they say they didn't receive a form and you know you sent it, you can tell them which page to refer to. Secondly, we highlighted and wrote notes on all our evidence. Our lawyer told us to make things blatantly obvious for them and don't make them search for the evidence. Though this took A LOT of time to do, I'd like to think this made a difference because we never got asked for docs and we had a common law application...Which I expected to be a bit longer process because our burden of proof is higher.
Lastly, I do have a question. Does anyone know how long it takes for the landing process? My partner is flying into Vancouver but we have to book a connecting flight and I just want to make sure we have enough time in between.
Thanks everyone and sorry for rambling on!
Congrats!!
I flew in to Vancouver in May to land as a PR. Landed at 1:30pm along with 3 other planes, so the line-ups for passport control were huge! I asked an agent which lineup to use as I was landing as a PR.. She told me to use the line that was for returning residents..so I got through in about 5-10mins as most of the people were tourists! So there's a tip
When I got to the part of waiting to see an immigration officer it was a joke! I guess maybe because it was lunch time, I'm not sure? But when I arrived there was 10 people in-front of me and only 1 officer! Fast forward almost 2 hours and another officer came on shift, so that sped things up! My husband arrived 3 months before me so was waiting for me at the gates. While I was waiting I could use the internet as Vancouver supply you with a free 30 mins or an hour, I can't remember. When it was my turn, it was all over in 10 mins or so, but the officer didn't stamp and put a code(COPR number) on my passport. Make sure and check its there otherwise you can't apply for your sin until the Pr card arrives which is about 50 days later!
Hope that helps..good luck!!
