Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[COPRQuestion]

So anyone can see actual timelines of other applications. stage by stage as they are processed through either London or Ottawa and calculate actual and recent averages etc.

CIC seem to be using Ottawa increasingly as an alternative to London, presumably to 'balance the load' and / or take some of the pressure off of London.

Ah right, thanks very much, bit late to add me now then

 

[Hurlabrick]

The same has happened on my ECAS account too. It had been 'in process' and to be honest after reading other posts I expected it to stay that way throughout the entire process even after 'decision made' would appear in the permanent residence application status column.

Have you tried registering under MyCIC and linking your application to your MyCIC account (i.e. rather than using ECAS)? I ask as you get a lot more detail going this route than through ECAS.

None of which speeds up the process, but you do get a better look at what is going on!

 

[Gary_87]

so many Uk applicants going through Ottawa when they're not in Canada. Was really hoping I would be the same considering I'm not in the UK(nor have I lived in the Uk for 8 years). Mine got sent to London though. Long wait. Really hope they pick up soon or something happens.

 

[COPRQuestion]

so many Uk applicants going through Ottawa when they're not in Canada. Was really hoping I would be the same considering I'm not in the UK(nor have I lived in the Uk for 8 years). Mine got sent to London though. Long wait. Really hope they pick up soon or something happens.

I had no idea how it worked, guess I was lucky, they told me it was going to Ottawa because of my British passport, I even contacted the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong once and they said it had nothing to do with them until the end and passed me back to Ottawa.

I've been out of the UK for 10 years now

 

[toeknee]

Have you tried registering under MyCIC and linking your application to your MyCIC account (i.e. rather than using ECAS)? I ask as you get a lot more detail going this route than through ECAS.

None of which speeds up the process, but you do get a better look at what is going on!

Yes my application has been linked via the MyCIC but on a weekly basis I routinely check both ECAS and MyCIC, and as I stated I was surprised to see a change on ECAS and nothing on MyCIC. Reading other threads elsewhere on this forum I see that it was just a system update.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

I had no idea how it worked, guess I was lucky, they told me it was going to Ottawa because of my British passport, I even contacted the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong once and they said it had nothing to do with them until the end and passed me back to Ottawa.

I've been out of the UK for 10 years now

Yeah, no one is really sure why some applications go to Ottawa and others go to whatever the overseas visa office is. My personal suspicion is that it just has to do with work load - if one office is maxed then they'll send apps to Ottawa for a time just to help spread out the workload. CIC has always said that apps can go to a particular office based on EITHER residency OR citizenship, so even though you're resident in HK, because you're British your app could go via London (or Ottawa) instead.

Ottawa doesn't process only British applications, I know the vast majority of American applications also go through Ottawa. Not sure who else goes to Ottawa. It seems to be just a workload thing - once London started helping with applications from Islamabad 2-3 years ago a lot of applications that 'normally' would have gone to London started getting redirected, to Ottawa and for about a year or so also staying in Mississauga (which was amazing for people who fell into that lucky group as those PR applications were processed in as little as 2 months. (From a quick scan, the current record-holder from Mississauga is andykelly at 48 days total - that's nuts. tunaeggs takes the overall record of being processed through Ottawa in a grand total of 37 days... equally crazy.)

 

[Duffy]

Yes, was glad to read that our papers had been sent to Ottawa. I feel for those waiting for theirs being processed in London. Thanks for adding the info to the spreadsheet, will try and keep you up to date as things progress.

We used an immigration lawyer as well... Just a heads up, in case they didn't tell you, don't link your Ecas to a MyCIC account as communication won't go directly to them first and they won't be able to accurately represent your application. That's what we were told when we asked about it good luck!

 

[Duffy]

Has anyone else noticed the application processing times have gone from 14 to 15 months for sponsorship outside the UK... Thumbs. Down.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

We used an immigration lawyer as well... Just a heads up, in case they didn't tell you, don't link your Ecas to a MyCIC account as communication won't go directly to them first and they won't be able to accurately represent your application. That's what we were told when we asked about it good luck!

Who told you that? That doesn't sound right at all. I don't know what MyCIC has to do with it. The reason your communication goes through the lawyer is that you fill out the Use of a Representative form when you do your application... the lawyer is your Rep and you are telling CIC to contact you via the rep. I would be SHOCKED of simply linking your account to MyCIC negates that. I can't even imagine how it CAN negate it.

If I had to guess (and I am only guessing) this is just your lawyer spewing boo-hockey at you.

But I don't know 100%... just the logic side of me finds that very difficult to believe.

Curious to know what some of the more experienced people have to say about this. (canuck_in_uk, I'm looking at you.)

 

[Duffy]

Who told you that? That doesn't sound right at all. I don't know what MyCIC has to do with it. The reason your communication goes through the lawyer is that you fill out the Use of a Representative form when you do your application... the lawyer is your Rep and you are telling CIC to contact you via the rep. I would be SHOCKED of simply linking your account to MyCIC negates that. I can't even imagine how it CAN negate it.

If I had to guess (and I am only guessing) this is just your lawyer spewing boo-hockey at you.

But I don't know 100%... just the logic side of me finds that very difficult to believe.

Curious to know what some of the more experienced people have to say about this. (canuck_in_uk, I'm looking at you.)

Our lawyers told us. They said:

"Dear xxx and xxx,
Thank you for your emails. In order for our office to properly reprsent you in this application, our office must remain the main point of contact and all communication going to or coming from the visa office should go through our office for review first. In light of the above, we do advise against linking xxx's applicatin to your CIC account as we cannot otherwise represent your application effectively."

The above refers to our question of whether or not linking our account to MyCIC would create problems :/ it's because when you link your account to MyCIC you no longer get communication via mail and it apparently all goes to the email address you use to link MyCIC... So technically, CIC cannot contact us via our rep if we link our account.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Our lawyers told us. They said:

"Dear xxx and xxx,
Thank you for your emails. In order for our office to properly reprsent you in this application, our office must remain the main point of contact and all communication going to or coming from the visa office should go through our office for review first. In light of the above, we do advise against linking xxx's applicatin to your CIC account as we cannot otherwise represent your application effectively."

The above refers to our question of whether or not linking our account to MyCIC would create problems :/ it's because when you link your account to MyCIC you no longer get communication via mail and it apparently all goes to the email address you use to link MyCIC... So technically, CIC cannot contact us via our rep if we link our account.

Weird. I still think it sounds 'off'... it feels like the kind of thing that CIC would make pretty clear on MyCIC.

Curious to know what others have to say about this.

 

[girlish786]

hello all,
actually i need an advice. i am nov 2015 applicant and recently got my gcms notes. Visa officer had leave a little note saying " my case is unusual because i am not planning on metting my spouse. My spouse mentioned on PA questionnaire that i will not be able to come to pakistan before 2017 due to my studies and this is what the visa officer see as problematic. VO stated that my file needs review. Under eligibility sec it says "review needed" and it was last updated on 15th july,2016.
what do u guys think i should do in this situation? I am thinking of sending additional documents stating why i am not able to go to Pakistan and as a proof will send my confirmation of enrollment. is this a good idea to voluntary send add docs at this point?
i requested notes on 26th july and the Reason i did not visit him in vacations is because i was preparing for mCAT, my semester ended on 28th april,2016 and i was registered for wrting mcat exam in august. i can send those receipts along with completion of mcat certificate to them. i wish i could go to pak in dec break but again i am not sure how my final exam schedule will look like (and i wont be able to know about it until mid oct) so i cant just mention that i will visit my spouse. my current semester will end on dec23rd,2016 and 2nd semester will be starting on 4th of jan,2017. my schedule is really packed up anyone have any idea in how long they will review the file because i did not get any document request etc so far... and the update of review required was on 15th july 2016 & now its sep already.
any advice will be much appreciated
thanks

 

[girlish786]

Also the VO did mention in the notes that he believes that our wedding has taken place and its first wedding for both of us (proof seen). But later on he jumps on and say that because i am not planning to meet my spouse soon. this is unusual and i have entered review required because it seems like they are not going to see each other in person soon.

 

[flx2015]

Also the VO did mention in the notes that he believes that our wedding has taken place and its first wedding for both of us (proof seen). But later on he jumps on and say that because i am not planning to meet my spouse soon. this is unusual and i have entered review required because it seems like they are not going to see each other in person soon.

AsadA has already responded to your question in the pak thread.

also, please check your private messages.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

hello all,
actually i need an advice. i am nov 2015 applicant and recently got my gcms notes. Visa officer had leave a little note saying " my case is unusual because i am not planning on metting my spouse. My spouse mentioned on PA questionnaire that i will not be able to come to pakistan before 2017 due to my studies and this is what the visa officer see as problematic. VO stated that my file needs review. Under eligibility sec it says "review needed" and it was last updated on 15th july,2016.
what do u guys think i should do in this situation? I am thinking of sending additional documents stating why i am not able to go to Pakistan and as a proof will send my confirmation of enrollment. is this a good idea to voluntary send add docs at this point?
i requested notes on 26th july and the Reason i did not visit him in vacations is because i was preparing for mCAT, my semester ended on 28th april,2016 and i was registered for wrting mcat exam in august. i can send those receipts along with completion of mcat certificate to them. i wish i could go to pak in dec break but again i am not sure how my final exam schedule will look like (and i wont be able to know about it until mid oct) so i cant just mention that i will visit my spouse. my current semester will end on dec23rd,2016 and 2nd semester will be starting on 4th of jan,2017. my schedule is really packed up anyone have any idea in how long they will review the file because i did not get any document request etc so far... and the update of review required was on 15th july 2016 & now its sep already.
any advice will be much appreciated
thanks

Don't send anything until they ask for it, but get it ready in the meantime.

It's a legitimate question, though. When did you last see your husband? If months and months and possibly over a year is going by before you can even see each other then yeah, that's going to raise concerns.

Now, your reasons I suppose are valid, though most officers will find it odd that you don't even manage to find a week when you can go for a visit... and what's to stop you from studying while you're there? You can visit and spend time and still get some studying done. (BTW I am not saying this myself, I am simply illustrating how an officer might see it, or a question the officer may ask.) Tons and tons of students, even those writing MCATs, manage to take a week off here or there.

THey'll probably also ask why you didn't go for a visit after your MCAT. Why not go between writing the MCAT and before the new semester starts? And why not fly out on 24 Dec and come back on 3 Jan, since you don't know when you'll actually finish exams?

Don't send anything until they request it, though. But you can have it ready to go. You're only at 10 months as well, and your husband is non-visa-exempt which means longer than average processing times.

So all you can really do is just sit tight and wait to hear from CIC. In the meantime, make some actual plans to go for a visit, so that you have proof of plans to go when you are asked for more evidence.