US outland applicants' thread :)

[saintsim1]

I'm not sure if they work on the weekends or not but my ECAS has updated on Sunday too..

That's great! Congrats!

 

[rhcohen2014]

Hey!

Is anyone else here a January 2014 applicant? I'm on month 6 right now and was wondering if anyone has heard anything from Ottawa. All we have received is sponsorship approval and nothing else. My ecas says ' application received'. Are we missing out on anything or does this seem normal??

you are not missing anything, this is pretty normal. it seems the average processing is 8-10 months, with a majority of it in silence. my suggestion is to find the january applicant thread to track the progress. you can always order a sent of your GCSM notes to see if any movement has been made on your file. right now it seems that september - december applicants are getting their ppr and copr. so i'm sure you'll be hearing from them soon enough!

 

[ACKSteve]

you are not missing anything, this is pretty normal. it seems the average processing is 8-10 months, with a majority of it in silence. my suggestion is to find the january applicant thread to track the progress. you can always order a sent of your GCSM notes to see if any movement has been made on your file. right now it seems that september - december applicants are getting their ppr and copr. so i'm sure you'll be hearing from them soon enough!

What exactly are these notes you speech of? Do they hurt the progress of your application if you order them? Is there any useful info in them?

 

[rhcohen2014]

What exactly are these notes you speech of? Do they hurt the progress of your application if you order them? Is there any useful info in them?

GCMS are the case notes for your file. if they are ordered electronically, they do not have any effect on the process. if you order them by mail, it will effect your application negatively. they may or may not provide insight. every case, application, and officer are different. it may tell you if your file's been picked up for review yet, what movement there has been, and what concerns an officer has. there are many threads on this forum about them. user828 has a video in his signature about ordering them. it is free for those in canada, and $5 for those not in canada.

 

[computergeek]

GCMS are the case notes for your file. if they are ordered electronically, they do not have any effect on the process. if you order them by mail, it will effect your application negatively. they may or may not provide insight. every case, application, and officer are different. it may tell you if your file's been picked up for review yet, what movement there has been, and what concerns an officer has. there are many threads on this forum about them. user828 has a video in his signature about ordering them. it is free for those in canada, and $5 for those not in canada.

Actually, whether you order the notes by mail or electronically does not impact the processing. If you request a physical copy of your file it can have a negative impact. Generally, the time to request a physical copy (rather than an electronic copy) is when there's already a scheduled deadline (like an interview date or a fairness letter) or it's been refused. The electronic notes will summarize the status of the application sufficient in most cases, but sometimes the physical file copy can show you things the officers write on the documents themselves that don't show up in the electronic case notes.

To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf.

If one requests information about someone other than themself, it is an "access to information" request and there is indeed a $5 fee.
If one requests information about themself it is a "privacy act" request and there is no fee.

 

[rhcohen2014]

To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf.

so just to clarify, if i am in canada as a visitor, i can order my case notes for free and do not need to have a canadian order them for me?

 

[ACKSteve]

Amazing!!! Congrats! I just sent them an email with my new passport and notification that we will be moving in the next month... Hopefully I'll have the same luck as you!!

May I ask what email address you sent this request too??

 

[crawf307]

so just to clarify, if i am in canada as a visitor, i can order my case notes for free and do not need to have a canadian order them for me?

I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.

 

[rhcohen2014]

I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.

if a canadian citizen is ordering them, then it's free, so why would he need his credit card?

so if I am in Canada as a visitor, do i need to have my husband order them with my consent, or can i do it myself? i am referring to computer geek's response "To request them, one must either be in Canada, or a Canadian citizen. If you are neither, you must ask someone who is to do so on your behalf."

 

[katester]

I believe your spouse has to order them as a Canadian citizen or PR on your behalf and then you provide "consent". Since it's all online, I filled it out for my husband and used his Canadian credit card.

Yea I'm confused also. My husband is a Canadian citizen and he put his Canadian address and everything but we still had to pay??? I mean it's $5 that's nothing compared to everything's we've already paid. By why did he have to pay if for Citizens it's free?

 

[Zarilenth]

Yea I'm confused also. My husband is a Canadian citizen and he put his Canadian address and everything but we still had to pay??? I mean it's $5 that's nothing compared to everything's we've already paid. By why did he have to pay if for Citizens it's free?

Because he was ordering on your behalf, and you do not have a Canadian address. If he just ordered for himself it would be free but he'd only get info about his sponsorship, not your application.

And Rhcohen, I dont' think you can if you're just visiting. You have to show proof of residence, which you do not have. But I could be wrong.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Because he was ordering on your behalf, and you do not have a Canadian address. If he just ordered for himself it would be free but he'd only get info about his sponsorship, not your application.

And Rhcohen, I dont' think you can if you're just visiting. You have to show proof of residence, which you do not have. But I could be wrong.

ok, that makes sense. thanks!

 

[TanyaVV]

I'm very confused, someone please explain if you know what that means:

Just checked eCas and it says "Application for Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Worker submitted to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) Sydney, Nova Scotia"

Ummm...i applied as a Family Class Sponsorship applicant for permanent residency as my husband is Canadian. I never applied for a Federal Skilled Worker... I mean, i do have business degree from a University but i don't think i qualify for a Federal Skilled Worker criteria (30 or so professions...). Should I contact them somehow to clarify? IS there a way to clarify it? I dont want my app rejected at the end of the day as i am pregnant and going to have a baby at end of October and gestimating that i shoud Dhave my residency approved at around christmas/new year time based on a 8-10 mth wait. SOMEONE PLEASE CLARIFY AS ITS STRESSING ME OUT!!!

 

[TanyaVV]

I'm very confused, someone please explain if you know what that means:

Just checked eCas and it says "Application for Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Worker submitted to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) Sydney, Nova Scotia"

Ummm...i applied as a Family Class Sponsorship applicant for permanent residency as my husband is Canadian. I never applied for a Federal Skilled Worker... I mean, i do have business degree from a University but i don't think i qualify for a Federal Skilled Worker criteria (30 or so professions...). Should I contact them somehow to clarify? IS there a way to clarify it? I dont want my app rejected at the end of the day as i am pregnant and going to have a baby at end of October and gestimating that i shoud Dhave my residency approved at around christmas/new year time based on a 8-10 mth wait. SOMEONE PLEASE CLARIFY AS ITS STRESSING ME OUT!!!

So, my hubby just got off the phone with call center and the lady said it's a mistake and she has absolutely no idea why it went to Nova Scotia FSW center as we are married and applying thru Family Sponsorship. She will provide me with Nova Scotia office email so i can email them with inquiry and ask why it was sent to them and that they need to send it back to Ottawa asap.

I guess it's a good thing so far.....just a pain in the a$$ to deal with... grrrrrr

 

[computergeek]

So, my hubby just got off the phone with call center and the lady said it's a mistake and she has absolutely no idea why it went to Nova Scotia FSW center as we are married and applying thru Family Sponsorship. She will provide me with Nova Scotia office email so i can email them with inquiry and ask why it was sent to them and that they need to send it back to Ottawa asap.

I guess it's a good thing so far.....just a pain in the a$$ to deal with... grrrrrr

They will figure it out.

Now according to their own rules, you shouldn't be penalized (they are supposed to work in order of original receipt, not receipt by the office) but from what I can tell, they actually do it by date of receipt by the office.

Sorry they screwed it up.