visa office processing time difference (rant-ish)

[michaelab]

I am sure someone can tell me...why some visa offices are much much faster than the others? I have seen people who got their visa within 3 months from offices like New Dehli.

Slightly off topic but my daughter is still waiting for her citizenship certificate...she applied on April 20 and they did not even start processing it til May 27!! Now it has been 3 months and still in process (and I hear it will take 6-12 months in total). She cannot even have OHIP to cover her even her dad is a Canadian citizen simply cuz she was born in the States.

So why such a big difference in processing time??? Anyone knows??

 

[rjessome]

Slightly off topic but my daughter is still waiting for her citizenship certificate...she applied on April 20 and they did not even start processing it til May 27!! Now it has been 3 months and still in process (and I hear it will take 6-12 months in total). She cannot even have OHIP to cover her even her dad is a Canadian citizen simply cuz she was born in the States.

How old is your daughter? I take it you are all living in Canada. This could be fightable. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[michaelab]

Thanks! Let me know if you find out anything.

She just turned 1 year old. I am still in the PR process (just got the sponsorship approved but not AOR letter yet) but we are going to be "visiting" til I have my PR approved. It was getting too difficult to be apart from each other financially and emotionally..esp the baby was getting close to 1 year.

 

[rjessome]

From what I've gathered, you should go to the OHIP office (with hubby and child), bring child's birth certificate and hubby's passport and OHIP card as well as proof of application for citizenship certificate for your daughter and fight this out with them (assuming you have met the residency requirements of 153 days out of the last 183 days since re-settling in Ontario). I know another couple who got it for their 14 year old son under the same circumstances although OHIP said it was because the son was under 16 years of age. They are still fighting for their 17 year old but I expect they will win.

 

[michaelab]

Does she need to satisfy the residency requirement even she is applying for her citizenship certificate to get an OHIP?? She and I crossed a month ago so we are not near those days.

 

[rjessome]

Yes, according to OHIP's website everyone needs to meet those residency requirements, even your hubby as a returning resident.

BTW, sorry to hi-jack your rant! Just hoping to help.

I understand your frustration and feel your pain. I went through it too and it's funny because the very same thing annoyed me to no end. And I think it has to do with resources meaning number of staff, number of applications, etc. Buffalo is soooooo busy because it's also the default office for people in Canada. And before anyone says that CIC should hire more staff, have ya noticed that when things go wrong with the economy it's typically the immigration policy that get's blamed? Some of the clueless, uninformed, ignorant rants that get spouted from all corners of the country are pathetic. So faster immigration is not exactly a big vote-getter for those in power. And since they want to keep the power, they need the votes. It bites but there it is.

It's hard looking at it when you're in it. Canada has the largest and most comprehensive immigration policy in the world. 265,000 new pr's a year. Plus thousands of temporary workers, students, visitors, etc. Wow! Pretty staggering numbers. But doesn't help when you're waiting and waiting and waiting...

 

[michaelab]

I had my husband call OHIP and they told him to call CIC instead (I don't know why)..and when he called this person checked on our daughter's citizenship certificate status and said "It has been approved and ready to go for THREE WEEKS but no one has done it!!!!!" :-X :-\
She said she was going to have it mailed and the certificate should arrive in one week...wow. Can you believe it was ready to go for 3 weeks and no one did anything about it!?

 

[rjessome]

Uh, yeah! I can believe that!! But you know, that's GREAT news! Now you just have to meet the residency requirements for OHIP and it's smooth sailing for your daughter.

Stay strong during the wait. PR for you is next.