Tired of waiting? I have an idea…but we have to do it together!

[Daisyd5]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

Thanks to everyone for the comments and contributions made.

I'm sorry I didn't post the letter and addresses last night. Being that my husband can't work yet, and I'm working 2 jobs, things get pretty hectic at times!

Scylla made a very good point, and I'd like to hear other ppl's feed back on what Scylla brought up. At the same time that we want to bring attention to speeding up the process, we don't really want to HELP the strike, because those are the very ppl that are slowing everyone down!

Hi!

I agree with Scylla you need to be specific. I also think it's important to focus on the huminatarian aspect as well. There is one story on another pos lt where a Canadian lady has a 2 year old and still waiting!

I think it's a great idea though.

Also lets not forget That the requested papers and forms are so demanding and specific many people see lawyers which cost a lot of money out of fear of not putting together a proper file. Adding to this is the $ paid to the government as well.

Which to me all of this is just a sign of the xenophobia that is invading this country

 

[Rob_TO]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

It's sad to say, but any news story, petition, rally, letter, email, phone call etc... that is addressed to the government expressing feelings on either the strike or PR processing times in general, will not really make any difference whatsoever. The simple fact is that the people going through the family class PR process across Canada represents an insignificant portion of the electorate. For any given family class case, the only ones that can actually make an impact with a vote in the next federal election against the current government, is a Canadian citizen sponsor. No applicant or PR sponsor can really do anything about it, and the government knows this.

So while the media could run with the story about how difficult the current government is making it for families to re-unite, at the end of the day the vast majority of voters will not see this as a significant election issue. Nobody will really understand it unless they go through it themselves.

This is why the government will concentrate first on speeding up things like tourist and student visas, since it affects much more of the general population in terms of total quantity of applications, and students are guaranteed to bring in a set amount of money into the economy. It's something the government can claim they are being pro-active on to stimulate the economy.

Personally speaking, my spouse and I were extremely lucky at how fast our application took so we never had to deal with separation or long waits. Had I not been active on this site, I would have just thought the process was easy for everyone and not understood what the fuss was about or why so many people were complaining. Because i've also gone through the process the issue is a little more personal to me, so will definitely consider it when i cast my vote in the next election. But to the average Canadian, I just don't see it happening.

 

[ACS]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

One thing that made me consider this as a viable and potentially effective option is seeing what happens when these stories DO hit the media. Over the years I have seen a few human interest stories where the person’s Visa or PR is going to be denied, and once it hits the papers, a few days later we see the decision reviewed and the person gets to stay.

Yes a few of us Applicants/Sponsors could get our stories picked up by the local media. But if 1000’s of us, or even better 10,000’s of us ALL tell our stories and bombard all the media outlets with it, if we make a big enough outcry, and the media picks it up, they can’t ignore it. Something will have to be done/changed.

Like I said…and it is very true…the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!

 

[Kiwi12]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

I don't have any opinion with regard to whether this is or is not a good idea but for those of you who have been waiting a very long time I can tell you the best way to deal with this is to try and keep busy. Although this forum is a wonderful fountain of knowledge, it can also be a stressor when reading some of the negative stories about wait times and denials. I have seen the wait times increase and decrease over the 18 months my husband's file has been in process and it hasn't been due to a strike, it is just the process. A petition or media attention is not going to make the least bit of difference.

As for a person that has been waiting a long time, the anticipation of a long wait for a person that has just started can be just as stressful if not worse.

Good luck to everyone here.

 

[Rob_TO]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

Yes a few of us Applicants/Sponsors could get our stories picked up by the local media. But if 1000's of us, or even better 10,000's of us ALL tell our stories and bombard all the media outlets with it, if we make a big enough outcry, and the media picks it up, they can't ignore it. Something will have to be done/changed.

Problem is, the majority of family class PR applications do not really involve horrible stories of unreasonable delays and waiting. Out of the 40-45,000 family class PR cases Canada processes each year, around 80% of them are done quicker than the times posted on the website, and others are justified to take longer if they involve criminality, fraud or other actual issues. So the cases where sponsors/applicants are seeing unreasonable delays, is measured in just the thousands across Canada.

The actual posted times for family class applications on the CIC website, are actually in the same ballpark as other wealthy countries family class times (around 1 year give or take). So this is why I don't think there will ever be a huge outcry over this at the federal level. Decreasing processing times from 12 months to 9 months may mean a world of difference to people actually going through the process, but the typical Canadian citizen and the news outlets they read simply wouldn't care since long waits are common around the world. Not to mention if you asked the typical Canadian if they would be willing to have their taxes increased in order to pay for more visa officers to process family class application to get the wait times down... i bet the vast majority would say no since it doesn't directly affect them.

So by all means I think the extreme cases should be reported to the media as some are simply unacceptable and the result of government incompetence. But to simply complain about a long wait when everyone knows it's a long wait before they even start the process, I don't think that will go anywhere. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing some more of my tax dollars go to quicker or more efficient processing, but again I actually married an immigrant and went through the PR process so am biased here and represent only a small portion of the voting and media consuming population.

 

[Daisyd5]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

Problem is, the majority of family class PR applications do not really involve horrible stories of unreasonable delays and waiting. Out of the 40-45,000 family class PR cases Canada processes each year, around 80% of them are done quicker than the times posted on the website, and others are justified to take longer if they involve criminality, fraud or other actual issues. So the cases where sponsors/applicants are seeing unreasonable delays, is measured in just the thousands across Canada.

The actual posted times for family class applications on the CIC website, are actually in the same ballpark as other wealthy countries family class times (around 1 year give or take). So this is why I don't think there will ever be a huge outcry over this at the federal level. Decreasing processing times from 12 months to 9 months may mean a world of difference to people actually going through the process, but the typical Canadian citizen and the news outlets they read simply wouldn't care since long waits are common around the world. Not to mention if you asked the typical Canadian if they would be willing to have their taxes increased in order to pay for more visa officers to process family class application to get the wait times down... i bet the vast majority would say no since it doesn't directly affect them.

So by all means I think the extreme cases should be reported to the media as some are simply unacceptable and the result of government incompetence. But to simply complain about a long wait when everyone knows it's a long wait before they even start the process, I don't think that will go anywhere. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing some more of my tax dollars go to quicker or more efficient processing, but again I actually married an immigrant and went through the PR process so am biased here and represent only a small portion of the voting and media consuming population.

That 80% applies to only certain countries. What they don't tell you is that they refuse a great many of West African countries or the Middle East. So no our system is not functional once it excludes people based on where they come from.

 

[Rob_TO]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

That 80% applies to only certain countries. What they don't tell you is that they refuse a great many of West African countries or the Middle East. So no our system is not functional once it excludes people based on where they come from.

There is most likely a reason for higher refusals from certain regions, such as more fraud, marriages of convenience or criminality issues from those countries. I would expect that levels of fraud would be higher in less developed countries vs the wealthier nations since there are more reasons to want to move to Canada instead of simply love/family, so having a higher rejection rate from them in general is perfectly normal.

Now as to if the rejection rate is excessively too high, that i'm not sure of and would want to compare to other wealthy nations immigration rejection stats by country.

 

[niks1]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

Friends,

Check out this petition on change.org


http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/citizenship-and-immigration-canada-process-family-class-permanent-residency-applications-in-a-timely-manner-2

Please sign it if you are affected by it and maybe we can make this move this forward.

 

[Daisyd5]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

There is most likely a reason for higher refusals from certain regions, such as more fraud, marriages of convenience or criminality issues from those countries. I would expect that levels of fraud would be higher in less developed countries vs the wealthier nations since there are more reasons to want to move to Canada instead of simply love/family, so having a higher rejection rate from them in general is perfectly normal.

Now as to if the rejection rate is excessively too high, that i'm not sure of and would want to compare to other wealthy nations immigration rejection stats by country.

So basically what you are saying is that only rich people should be allowed in? Otherwise if its someone poor its fraud? Read the threads. There are people that were screamed at by interviewers (off the record because they stop the recording) because according to them the marriage was not legit. Stories of immigrants being treated like criminals just because they belong to a certain country.

 

[Nell1236]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

I don't believe anyone can say with any certainty that a mass complaint will have no effect. History has shown that such events do cause changes. Equally, history has shown that when people behave like sheep, they get herded by whoever has a lust for power until there is a huge revolt.

What we all want is for the government to sit down with PAFSO and negotiate, as a government should. There's no reason why a petition will not be effective, anymore than there is no guarantee that it won't be. Even more effective would be an organized mailing to journalists who (in my experience) do not answer individuals.

I'm signing the petition at change.org and hope you will too. As far as flagging goes, there's safety in numbers - as usual the cliché is right.

 

[Rob_TO]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

So basically what you are saying is that only rich people should be allowed in?

No I didn't say that at all.

What i'm saying is that its a known fact there there are more fraudulent cases that happen from the poorer countries, mixed in with the real legitimate cases. This is just common sense. So it's natural that to protect Canada and it's citizens, ALL cases from certain countries need to be looked at with a little more scrutiny than those vs those applicants from the wealthier countries.

Unfortunately there are too many cases you read in the news of people from poorer countries duping Canadians into marrying them, and then taking off as soon as they land in Canada. Because of this there is not much public sympathy in terms of becoming LESS lenient or stringent in the way CIC handles cases from these regions.

Also as I said, i'm really not sure if the current rejection rate is excessively too high, and know that some VOs are incompetent or non-compassionate when assessing cases. The excessive cases like this where real couples are treated horribly, are specifically the ones i mentioned should be addressed to the media. To see if Canada is really worse than other countries I would want to compare the visa policies of places like the US, Australia, UK etc and how they handle cases from counties known more for fraud.

 

[fitzdarcy2011]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

is just a signature! and this could help to speed our process !

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/citizenship-and-immigration-canada-process-family-class-permanent-residency-applications-in-a-timely-manner-2


got this post from somebody...maybe you can sign here....

 

[mark_kar]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

Hi All

I enjoyed reading the comments on this thread. All lot you make a lot of sense. To effect a change in family class processing times will require a collective effort.
I agree with Rob_TO comments completely when he says PRs apps wait times will never become an election issue at the Federal level. For most Canadians its simply a non issue (Before my immigration nightmare started I certainly did not care about spousal PR times).
I will go further to say any Immigration issue will never become a political football no matter how much protesting, media coverage etc you have on the subject.
Unless you have struggled bringing a loved one to Canada you will not understand the difficulties involved.

He also right when he says the majority of family class PRs hit the posted wait times. The horror stories (like mine and a few others I read about) are in the minority.

The question becomes more complex because each Country will have its own Visa requirements. In general the more developed Countries
will allow free movement of people (and goods) free of Visa requirements. The less developed Countries will have Visas imposed on them which basically means a National from the lesser developed Country will need permission to enter the developed Country. His passport is not enough.

This complicates the processing times in the respective VOs of each Country.

My struggle has been with the Mexican Visa Office. I have been in Mexico one year dealing with this Office. Over this time I have identified issues that I feel need correction. Its also my feeling the processing times for Spousal PRs for the Mexico VO is simply to long and in many aspects the process is flawed.

Here are some the issues that disturb me

1. Every year nearly 30,000 refugees reach our shores (family class PRs are roughly over 40K). Many of these applicants will enter the Country and enjoy the privilege of staying in Canada until their cases are heard by the IRB The Canadian Government will spend billions processing refugee claimants.
Yet legitimate PRs spouses need to wait a year (or much more) in their respective Countries because there are not enough resources to process the applications fast enough.

Its not a matter of being anti refugee, Its matter of resource balance.

2. The Mexican VO office will invest most of their resources processing Visiters, Student Visas and work permits and less on Spousal PR.
During the PAFSO strike, this VO office has essentially ignored PRs. The reasons are obviously economic

3. The Mexican VO office workforce is primarily Mexican. Its my understanding Mexicans process and approve TRVs and to some extent PRs. I find this disturbing.

4. Communication between the VO office is one way. The only communicate with you when they need something, silence for months then suddenly, unexpectedly, about one year later you get your Visa (if you are one of the lucky ones). The VO should be able to communicate a schedule as to approx when your Visa will be ready and not leave you with uncertainty. Communication should be both ways and transparent.

5 CIC will be amalgamating VO offices all over Latin America. This will push Spousal PR processing time significantly.

The Following are Processing Issues

5. PRs require background checks. Its these background checks that are I believe the pacing items that drive how long the process will take.
(These are not police reports) If the applicant lived in Canada the background checks become more complicated. What are they looking for? How much does all this cost?

6. The Mex Office (last time I checked) do not have the ability to secure digital fingerprints. This could be a serious problem for applicants who have been in Canada for over six months because the RCMP will take at least 6 months to process ink prints.

7. Validity times for Meds, are less than posted processing times. This could be a problem if your process takes an abnormal amount of time

8. Forms not in Spanish

The list goes on

What to do....

As mentioned prior you will not change the Government however..

Canadians (even our politicians and bureaucrats) are in general compassionate. They just need a kick in the head to make them more aware that many Canadian Families are suffering because they can't bring their loved ones to Canada.

The individuals who make the decisions concerning immigration (starting with the Minister) need to be more aware of the problem. One of the best ways to do this is launch a mild protest in front of their Embassies. With the aid of some Media coverage, flyers signs, etc you will draw their attention. Then change might happen. The process will be a long one.

After a period of time, with a long enough petition, you might get an audience with the Minister and present your specific issues or goals

My wife and I protested in front of the Mexican Embassy on Sept 12. I handed out fliers essentially criticizing the way Spousal PRs are being handled by the VO office. A few weeks later I noticed on the discussion boards a notable increase in the number of PR visas being issued and in general more activity on PRs after months of silence. Is there a connection ??

No Embassy wants protesters in front of their gates so its gets their attention.

But all this needs to be organised. My concerns are primarily with the Mex VO office so how do we address the problem internationally?

In my case I am semi retired old fart with some time on his hands.

Never believe you cannot effect change. Even a monolithic bureaucracy like CIC can bend.

The first step is a petition so where do I sign?

Thanks Mark K

 

[Nell1236]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/citizenship-and-immigration-canada-process-family-class-permanent-residency-applications-in-a-timely-manner-2

That's one. Or you can start your own and try to get others to sign it.

History shows that this is how change begins. I agree with you. We already offered to join in your next protest in front of the Embassy, and hope others will. Is there anyone else in Mexico within driving distance of DF to join a peaceful protest?

 

[gongdi]

Re: Tired of waiting? I have an idea...but we have to do it together!

I think the ONLY way to get the attention of all sides (govt, union, press) is if a Canadian who is stuck in a sponsorship mess pays a lawyer to sue either the govt or the union or contacts the better business bureau to see if there is a case to be made. We are customers after all, we have paid our thousand or so dollar application fee, and we Canadians also have paid with tax dollars to finance this farcical public "service". Suing the govt or the union would of course be an impossible task but it would certainly get attention in a PR stunt kind of way. The media might latch onto it. They certainly aren't interested in hearing our sob stories.

Problem is, it would take a very rich Canadian with the resources to hire a good lawyer who would be willing to try this. Another problem is, any person with that kind of money would not be stuck waiting years for a PR stamp as they could just buy their spouses' way into Canada via economic investment immigration!