We have nearly completed the process now and I just wanted to share our timeline and useful info for people coming from Vietnam or dealing with CIC Singapore.
I am a Canadian Citizen. My husband is Vietnamese.
I lived in Vietnam throughout the process but maintained an address and "residency" in Canada.
We have no children and were only married 2 months before we filed. We knew each other for about a year before marriage.
We applied in late March 2008. Sponsorship was approved late April 2008. The PR application was sent to Singapore and the letter to me said it "met the minimum requirements for completeness".
We heard nothing until a letter arrived early July asking for police certificates. This was a problem because we had already sent police certs. from the local ward police in HCMC and from his hometown. (He had recently changed the housebook to HCMC). So, I email Singapore (using the case specific enquiry tool) and asked what I should send ..... another original copy?? something else??? They sent a reply saying "no further documents are required as of now". This was totally false and a stupid error that cost us an extra month because we believed them and did nothing. However, I sent an email early August to ask about the interview (which was waived) and they replied that "police certificates were requested July 3rd and have not been received.."
I replied asking again what they were looking for exactly and what the problem was with the certs we already sent. They never replied. FYI*** They required police certificates from the City or Provincial Level. In HCMC you need to go to the Justice Building on Pasture Street. These can take up to 6 weeks to get.
We sent our the certs. late August. We got the letter (with all our pictures back) saying he was approved late Sept.
**** Here is the interesting part: The letter said we must bring his passport to IOM (the International Organization for Migration) and that CIC "strongly advises" the immigrant to make all further travel arrangements though IOM.
IOM is a non-profit organization and they were really helpful. (Although they help only after approval it seems)
We paid a fee ($35 just enough to cover shipping to Singapore) and left the passport with them (as required by CIC). Then they also told us they could arrange cheap tickets to Vancouver and he could get pre-departure help in Vietnamese. He could travel with other Immigrants and IOM would be able to fill out departure and landing forms with him. This is a huge help as I will not be travelling with him and he does not speak English.
I just wanted to pass on this info especially about the help we are getting from IOM in the actual landing and the details of how to get police certs. that CIC would not help us with at all.
Good Luck to all!!
I am a Canadian Citizen. My husband is Vietnamese.
I lived in Vietnam throughout the process but maintained an address and "residency" in Canada.
We have no children and were only married 2 months before we filed. We knew each other for about a year before marriage.
We applied in late March 2008. Sponsorship was approved late April 2008. The PR application was sent to Singapore and the letter to me said it "met the minimum requirements for completeness".
We heard nothing until a letter arrived early July asking for police certificates. This was a problem because we had already sent police certs. from the local ward police in HCMC and from his hometown. (He had recently changed the housebook to HCMC). So, I email Singapore (using the case specific enquiry tool) and asked what I should send ..... another original copy?? something else??? They sent a reply saying "no further documents are required as of now". This was totally false and a stupid error that cost us an extra month because we believed them and did nothing. However, I sent an email early August to ask about the interview (which was waived) and they replied that "police certificates were requested July 3rd and have not been received.."
I replied asking again what they were looking for exactly and what the problem was with the certs we already sent. They never replied. FYI*** They required police certificates from the City or Provincial Level. In HCMC you need to go to the Justice Building on Pasture Street. These can take up to 6 weeks to get.
We sent our the certs. late August. We got the letter (with all our pictures back) saying he was approved late Sept.
**** Here is the interesting part: The letter said we must bring his passport to IOM (the International Organization for Migration) and that CIC "strongly advises" the immigrant to make all further travel arrangements though IOM.
IOM is a non-profit organization and they were really helpful. (Although they help only after approval it seems)
We paid a fee ($35 just enough to cover shipping to Singapore) and left the passport with them (as required by CIC). Then they also told us they could arrange cheap tickets to Vancouver and he could get pre-departure help in Vietnamese. He could travel with other Immigrants and IOM would be able to fill out departure and landing forms with him. This is a huge help as I will not be travelling with him and he does not speak English.
I just wanted to pass on this info especially about the help we are getting from IOM in the actual landing and the details of how to get police certs. that CIC would not help us with at all.
Good Luck to all!!
