Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[amyt1984]

This should be taken with a grain of salt but wouldn't they contact you for an interview if they were about to reject your application ? That's what happened to a friend of mine.

Thank you for your reply...I hadn't given much thought to an interview, although when I replied to their letter back in February I said I was more than happy to fly back for one.

 

[amyt1984]

Carnish, applying conjugal is for very specific circumstances. When we applied I though we qualified but learned we didn't qualify. It put our application in jeopardy of being refused. It was only through the help of an MP and meticulously responding with different proofs. In the end we got married to clear up any question of applicants eligibility. Click on my profile and read my posts from the beginning .... Good luck to you

Oh Geez... if I didn't already feel sick because our status has just changed to DM, I do now. We applied under the conjugal category, for much of the same reasons. Plus we didn't qualify as common-law. We couldn't afford for me to be out of work whilst our application was processed, and my now fiancee couldn't simply leave the Canadian military. Finances are a massive barrier to immigration - I have a mortgage in the UK and like most people some debt.

Needless to say I couldn't take us being apart any longer and have been here as a visitor since Christmas. 8 months out of work... brilliant!

So, is it likely that our application will be refused? I was contacted in February to provide further evidence that we are in a genuine relationship, and that I was committed to moving to Canada. As I had already moved over at Christmas this was pretty straightforward. We haven't heard anything back, and only yesterday realized it has changed to decision made.

If I call the contact center here in Canada will they tell me anything?

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Oh Geez... if I didn't already feel sick because our status has just changed to DM, I do now. We applied under the conjugal category, for much of the same reasons. Plus we didn't qualify as common-law. We couldn't afford for me to be out of work whilst our application was processed, and my now fiancee couldn't simply leave the Canadian military. Finances are a massive barrier to immigration - I have a mortgage in the UK and like most people some debt.

Needless to say I couldn't take us being apart any longer and have been here as a visitor since Christmas. 8 months out of work... brilliant!

So, is it likely that our application will be refused? I was contacted in February to provide further evidence that we are in a genuine relationship, and that I was committed to moving to Canada. As I had already moved over at Christmas this was pretty straightforward. We haven't heard anything back, and only yesterday realized it has changed to decision made.

If I call the contact center here in Canada will they tell me anything?

Ah.

It's likely you are going to be rejected. While CIC understands that there are financial barriers, those aren't enough to stop you from getting married in either Canada or the UK.

Conjugal is for very specific circumstances - as has been said, it's for countries like the Philippines, where divorce is illegal, and living with a married person is illegal, so it is literally IMPOSSIBLE for a couple to either get married or live together. Same wtih countries where homosexuality is illegal - the couple cannot get married, and would be risking their own personal safety by living together. Even in those situations, if the non-Canadian has not at a minimum at least attempted to apply for a TRV to come to Canada in order to get married, the application is often refused until the couple shows that.

Couples applying as conjugal literally have to show that they have tried every possible means to either live together or to get married and have to prove that they are unable to do either of those things.

In both your case as in Canrish's case, there is nothing to stop you guys from getting married. Saying you can't afford to live together for a year, or you don't have a visa, or whatever, doesn't stop you from going to the courthouse and obtaining a marriage license.

Please keep us updated on the outcome... If CIC gives you the opportunity, either do what katahafax did and get married ASAP, or otherwise withdraw your application, get married on your own time, and then reapply.

 

[amyt1984]

Ah.

It's likely you are going to be rejected. While CIC understands that there are financial barriers, those aren't enough to stop you from getting married in either Canada or the UK.

Conjugal is for very specific circumstances - as has been said, it's for countries like the Philippines, where divorce is illegal, and living with a married person is illegal, so it is literally IMPOSSIBLE for a couple to either get married or live together. Same wtih countries where homosexuality is illegal - the couple cannot get married, and would be risking their own personal safety by living together. Even in those situations, if the non-Canadian has not at a minimum at least attempted to apply for a TRV to come to Canada in order to get married, the application is often refused until the couple shows that.

Couples applying as conjugal literally have to show that they have tried every possible means to either live together or to get married and have to prove that they are unable to do either of those things.

In both your case as in Canrish's case, there is nothing to stop you guys from getting married. Saying you can't afford to live together for a year, or you don't have a visa, or whatever, doesn't stop you from going to the courthouse and obtaining a marriage license.

Please keep us updated on the outcome... If CIC gives you the opportunity, either do what katahafax did and get married ASAP, or otherwise withdraw your application, get married on your own time, and then reapply.

Urghhhh..... I feel physically sick.

We looked into getting married but determined it wouldn't make any difference to our situation... we still wouldn't have met the requirements for the common-law category. They talked about sham marriages and to prevent them they simply require you live together for two years after you land, if I recall rightly.

Surely, when they contacted me in February they would put more of an emphasis on the category we were applying for - rather than my commitment to come to Canada.
I just tried to call the contact center in Canada, obviously he couldn't help me because 26 months haven't passed. He did say that when I click on DM I should be able to see something written there about the decision, and I can't. Does this mean a rejection?

Sorry for all the questions, I am just so disheartened by this whole experience. A rejection now means we will be UK bound for sure!

Amy

 

[Edin2Van]

I really wouldn't be too disheartened yet, especially if your ECAS shows decision made but you haven't had any request for an interview. I could be wrong but I didn't think it was possible for someone to be outright rejected without first being invited to interview and the 'Interview May Be Necessary' still falls under the 'In Process' category on ECAS.

I won't post it all in here (as it's huge) but CIC's own guidelines over what constitutes a conjugal relationship really don't match up with what's been said above, they are far more general with room for the case officer to assess cases on merit. (Thought the burden of proof is certainly higher than the other categories)

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

Section 5.45 is probably the key part for you

Every situation is unique and nobody here knows all the ins and outs of your case, it's entirely possible you and your fiancee have convinced the case officer of the genuine nature of your relationship and that you were unable to live together previously because of him serving in the military.

 

[katathfx]

Urghhhh..... I feel physically sick.

We looked into getting married but determined it wouldn't make any difference to our situation... we still wouldn't have met the requirements for the common-law category. They talked about sham marriages and to prevent them they simply require you live together for two years after you land, if I recall rightly.

Surely, when they contacted me in February they would put more of an emphasis on the category we were applying for - rather than my commitment to come to Canada.
I just tried to call the contact center in Canada, obviously he couldn't help me because 26 months haven't passed. He did say that when I click on DM I should be able to see something written there about the decision, and I can't. Does this mean a rejection?

Sorry for all the questions, I am just so disheartened by this whole experience. A rejection now means we will be UK bound for sure!

Amy

This entire process is very stressful so try and settle yourself while waiting for the decision to arrive by post. Our ECAS simply stated that a decision was made and we would receive it by mail, no dates. It was about 3 weeks of waiting for us to know what CIC's decision was.

We received our procedural fairness letter in January, but it was clear that they were questioning my partners eligibility under conjugal and giving us the opportunity explain our situation. We submitted over 80 pages of proofs ending with our strongest proof that we married. We actually married 9 days after receiving the PFL and we do have condition 51 on the COPR.

Please do keep us posted, you will be on my mind until then. Sincerely wishing you the best and praying you post good news.

 

[shekoofeh]

hi
can anyone provide me which email address should i use to contact london vo for general enquiery?

 

[amyt1984]

I really wouldn't be too disheartened yet, especially if your ECAS shows decision made but you haven't had any request for an interview. I could be wrong but I didn't think it was possible for someone to be outright rejected without first being invited to interview and the 'Interview May Be Necessary' still falls under the 'In Process' category on ECAS.

I won't post it all in here (as it's huge) but CIC's own guidelines over what constitutes a conjugal relationship really don't match up with what's been said above, they are far more general with room for the case officer to assess cases on merit. (Thought the burden of proof is certainly higher than the other categories)

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

Section 5.45 is probably the key part for you

Every situation is unique and nobody here knows all the ins and outs of your case, it's entirely possible you and your fiancee have convinced the case officer of the genuine nature of your relationship and that you were unable to live together previously because of him serving in the military.

Thank you! Although reading this again, and the letter they sent me in February, I am now questioning my entire thought process? I wish they had called me for an interview, I certainly offered to fly back for one if needed.

Fingers crossed its good news, the last 15 months hasn't been easy.

 

[amyt1984]

This entire process is very stressful so try and settle yourself while waiting for the decision to arrive by post. Our ECAS simply stated that a decision was made and we would receive it by mail, no dates. It was about 3 weeks of waiting for us to know what CIC's decision was.

We received our procedural fairness letter in January, but it was clear that they were questioning my partners eligibility under conjugal and giving us the opportunity explain our situation. We submitted over 80 pages of proofs ending with our strongest proof that we married. We actually married 9 days after receiving the PFL and we do have condition 51 on the COPR.

Please do keep us posted, you will be on my mind until then. Sincerely wishing you the best and praying you post good news.

I will keep you updated for sure. Fingers crossed it is quick... because I will be glad to know one way or the other to be honest so I can start making plans.

So, once you had decision made did you get a letter saying it was rejected? and then you filed an appeal? I'm not sure I'm understanding how you received a PFL?

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Thank you! Although reading this again, and the letter they sent me in February, I am now questioning my entire thought process? I wish they had called me for an interview, I certainly offered to fly back for one if needed.

Fingers crossed its good news, the last 15 months hasn't been easy.

If you get married you don't have to live together as common law, so don't know where you got that. Either get married or live together for a year.

I'll reiterate, you are 99% not going to be approved as conjugal. There are buckets of cases that have actual barriers that get rejected - If you are able to get married you don't qualify as conjugal, case closed.

However I agree that it's odd that you weren't asked for extra stuff before your status changing to decision made... All you can do at this point is wait for the letter in the post.

hi
can anyone provide me which email address should i use to contact london vo for general enquiery?

Read the faq.

 

[taffy7]

I will keep you updated for sure. Fingers crossed it is quick... because I will be glad to know one way or the other to be honest so I can start making plans.

So, once you had decision made did you get a letter saying it was rejected? and then you filed an appeal? I'm not sure I'm understanding how you received a PFL?

Lets hope its good news . There was no rejection letter as soon as she found out they couldn't apply for conjugal they changed it to common law , then when London requested more proof they got married .. So conjugal was never an issue . Its a tough one to go through and very stressful . May be we are all wrong and its a good decision.

 

[katathfx]

I will keep you updated for sure. Fingers crossed it is quick... because I will be glad to know one way or the other to be honest so I can start making plans.

So, once you had decision made did you get a letter saying it was rejected? and then you filed an appeal? I'm not sure I'm understanding how you received a PFL?

No in the end we were not rejected and received COPR last week and will flagpole next week. What happened was within 3 weeks of submitting our application (May 2014), I was informed by the members watching this thread that I messed up. I immediately got my MP involved and was directed to resubmit the applications forms that indicated Conjugal and resubmit them as Common Law. That was last summer. In January I received the PFL and realized that they did not attach the resubmitted Common Law firms to the application and our application was most certainly in jeopardy. We immediately got married and with our mountain of other proofs replied to the PFL. We went "In Progess" February and we order GMSC Notes every months until we received Decision Made. LVO actually sent our application back to Mississaugs for the sponsorship approval to be reassessed. It was incredibly stressful and each month we reviewed the notes and got the MP to call LOV to address any red flags. We were tenacious and if we hadn't married I doubt we would have been approved.

 

[andrew-brit]

Just got a response from MP as my medicals expire end of the month.

Background check and criminality still have not begun, with no timeline for bringing the file forward. It won’t be ready prior to any return on 2 September. The updated passport was received and uploaded on 20 July 2015. Meds expire 30 August 2015. I will be contacting LONDON directly the first week of September to ascertain when a decision to extend or request new medicals will be made.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Ugh Andrew that sucks, I was keeping fingers crossed that there would have been some movement. Continuing to keep fingers and toes crossed for you!

 

[Sibby]

Just got a response from MP as my medicals expire end of the month.

Background check and criminality still have not begun, with no timeline for bringing the file forward. It won't be ready prior to any return on 2 September. The updated passport was received and uploaded on 20 July 2015. Meds expire 30 August 2015. I will be contacting LONDON directly the first week of September to ascertain when a decision to extend or request new medicals will be made.

CIC makes no sense at all. You have applicants who applied before you going in process and yet barely any movement on your part. There seems to be no logical explanation of how LVO works!! The painful wait continues. Cant wait for this process to be over!!