To be interviewed soon can anyone help me with the following?

[Dikz]

My wife is a Canadian Citizen and sponsored me for a PR to Canada. We have been living in The Gambia together for almost three years now. We got married one and a half years ago and applied for PR status through the Accra office. I have been recently contacted that my interview is scheduled for December. I have read extensively on the possible interview questions and certain experiences shared by others.

I wanted to ask on the following:

What are the chances of being issued a visa on the day if the interview goes well?
Those anyone have any idea of a reasonable hotel close to the CHC in Accra...Personal experiences will be helpful.

 

[bobshynoswife]

I am on my phone right now but will post and answer your questions when I get on my laptop in a few hours.

Cheers!

 

[Dikz]

Can't wait! Thanks in advance

 

[Canuky]

Get your wife to order for a copy of your CAIPS notes ASAP. It takes 30 days to process, plus mailing time, so about 40-days in total before you get it, well in time before your interview. The CAIPS notes will tell you what the visa officer wants to interview you about. It only costs $5 and will save you some embarrassment at the interview, since you will be well-prepared for it. I didn't order one for my wife, and it caused us serious problems, and my wife is likely to be refused....

Here is how to order the CAIPS notes.

Here are the forms:
http://www.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5563B.pdf

Here is the mailing address:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Narono Building
360 Laurier Avenue West, 10th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1
Canada

Here is the Phone number: (613)946-0953 or toll free 1-800-667-6703

Here is the Fax number: 1 (613) 957-6517

 

[Canuky]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5563B.pdf

 

[Dikz]

Get your wife to order for a copy of your CAIPS notes ASAP. It takes 30 days to process, plus mailing time, so about 40-days in total before you get it, well in time before your interview. The CAIPS notes will tell you what the visa officer wants to interview you about. It only costs $5 and will save you some embarrassment at the interview, since you will be well-prepared for it. I didn't order one for my wife, and it caused us serious problems, and my wife is likely to be refused....

Thank you for your post. And sorry for your situation i hope it works out for you. Will work on the CAIPS right away. Will it make any difference that my wife is not residing in Canada?

 

[prixit]

i have my interview schedule on 18th oct....

Thank you for your post. And sorry for your situation i hope it works out for you. Will work on the CAIPS right away. Will it make any difference that my wife is not residing in Canada?

 

[bobshynoswife]

First of all, if you have recently submitted your applications, your CAIPS will probably show nothing. Since you have time, and if you have the money, you can go ahead and order them though. Since you are both out of Canada, you can use a service like caipsnotes.com and pay about $30 and they will email them to you. Our notes showed absolutely nothing.

For a straightforward case they will issue the visa on the same day as the interview. Make sure you plan to spend the night in Ghana because, if granted, your visa will not be ready until the end of the day. My husband's interview took about 30 min - it was very obvious they had no concerns, but it was just a formality. They asked him basic questions about our relationship and my prior divorce and children from my first marriage.

Our case was not totally straight-forward, as we are different races (I'm white, he's Nigeria) I was divorced with three children. We were never able to live together. 2 year relationship with 8 visits to see him totalling 55 days together. We made up for all of that by submitting a huge application with a TON of communication evidence and a lot of photos. If your wife is living with you now in Africa, and you put in a solid application, I would say it is likely you will get the visa the same day if your background checks are complete.

How many countries have you lived in? Any military service? Any memberships to groups that might cause a longer background check? Do you have a very common name that might be easy to mix-up with a criminal? If so, your background check may take longer, and you might not get the visa that day. However, December is still a couple months away, so they could be done by then. You will unfortunately have no idea until that day.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Laura

 

[bobshynoswife]

Unfortunately, all hotels close to the Canadian High Commission are fairly expensive. My husband stayed at the Paloma hotel at a cost of $90 CDN per night.

I re-read your first post, and it seems you have a very solid relationship. They may want to question your re-establishment plans. Does your wife have a job offer? Lease on a home? Family to stay with? They will need to know you are going to Canada as a couple.

Also, how long after getting married did you submit your application? Posting your timeline would help me advise you.

 

[canadianwoman]

If the visa officer decides to give you the visa, they usually tell you the day of the interview. You then get the visa that day or the next. Sometimes they take longer to decide, so don't panic if you don't get an answer right away.
The Canadian High Commission is in an expensive area of Accra. My husband and I stayed at Frankie's, which was about a 10-minute taxi ride away. It was about $70 a night, though - not exactly cheap. It is very easy to get a taxi in Accra, so you don't really need to be near the embassy. Just make sure you have directions to it in case the driver doesn't recognize the address.

One thing the visa officer will most likely ask you about is your wife's plans to go back to Canada. Your visa can be refused if the VO doesn't believe your wife will go back, so make sure the two of you have a plan for establishing yourselves in Canada - what you will do for money, job offers, job plans, arrangements for a place to stay, etc. - and bring proof of it.

 

[Dikz]

Thats an amazing response bobs! Thank you so much. I dont think i will have issues with background checks. We got married after living together for over 1 and a half years and applied six months later. What are your thoughts?

 

[Dikz]

@ Canadianwoman

Thank you for the info. Is highly appreciated!

 

[canada_777]

hope ur interview went well

 

[Dikz]

The interview went great. The IO was happy with my application. The only issue was that our marriage cert was stamped by the registrar but not signed, so the IO wanted to very that before issuing the visa. I was able to have a signed and notorised letter from the Registrar General verifying the validity of our marriage and is already sent to CIC. I am hoping to hear from them soon.