what is better for FSW 3 - Buffalo or local office?

[kisunja]

Hi guys,
I am a int'l student in Canada, applying under FSW 3, and I have a choice between Buffalo and several Eastern European consulates.
On this forum, I've seen a lot of discussions about Buffalo being incredibly slow under new rules, compared to the offices abroad. I personally suspect that reason is CEC and understaffing.I also remember that now the cases are processed in arbitrary order and not in the order they have been received. Hence, I'd like to ask you for advice:

1. do you think that finishing my degree in Canada (coming soon) and working on a temporary contract may improve my chances for faster processing at local European offices?

2. do you think that situation in Buffalo would change for the good soon?

3. apart from the official site and trackitt, where can I get the info on processing time? Which info would you take into consideration before making this decision?

Thanks for ANY comment!

 

[rupeshhari]

do you have at least one year of work experience in a job of skill type 0, A or B, then it might be faster to get your PR through your visa office in your home country.

 

[kisunja]

Thanks so much, rupeshhari! Yes, I do have such a work experience.
Do you think the situation in Buffalo can improve any time soon?

 

[rupeshhari]

its hard to say whether it will or not. Personally, I don't think they are slow in buffalo, they just have a lot more application than other visa offices and they have CEC. They have processed a lot of applicants who applied between Feb and Nov 2008, (i think more than other visa offices). Remember they could only start processing these from Dec 2008 even if a person applied in march 2008.


I would suggest applying for FSW 3 at your visa office. If you work on a temporary contract, maybe your processing time could be faster from the date of application (i dont know if it is true) but it would take longer in terms of the time you have to wait as a temporary worker. Anyway, I am not qualified to answer your question. Maybe someone else will reply.

Good luck.

 

[kisunja]

Thanks!
I hoped that if they see that I have a job in Canada, even a temporary contract, the home visa office might place my application closer to the beginning at the queue, which Buffalo would not do.

 

[Sonu81]

go for local office. buffalo is dead slow now a days....

 

[maple]

I agree with you.
Although I complained from Buffalo, but I think you are right. they are working, and we all should remember that for applications between 28 Feb 2008, Buffalo, like other offices was waiting for the instructions of the minister and the list of highly needed occupations, so Buffalo could not do anything until Dec 2008 after the list was released, besides, we do see some kind of moving along as people started getting visas and applications approved.

Good luck for us all and I hope the journey of waiting will end successfully soon for everyone

its hard to say whether it will or not. Personally, I don't think they are slow in buffalo, they just have a lot more application than other visa offices and they have CEC. They have processed a lot of applicants who applied between Feb and Nov 2008, (i think more than other visa offices). Remember they could only start processing these from Dec 2008 even if a person applied in march 2008.


I would suggest applying for FSW 3 at your visa office. If you work on a temporary contract, maybe your processing time could be faster from the date of application (i dont know if it is true) but it would take longer in terms of the time you have to wait as a temporary worker. Anyway, I am not qualified to answer your question. Maybe someone else will reply.

Good luck.

 

[NewYorker]

Folks, don't forget we are going through tough economy as well. Canada is not immune, so the visa issuance is slow as well. Other offices would be slow also if they have had a burden of thousands of applications like Buffalo. There are too many factors associated with this.

If I would have a choice, I would selected the one which is faster so its a no-brainer - there are reasons for Buffalo to be slow and I am one of the victim, it is not because they just purposely slow everything.

 

[rupeshhari]

i agree with new yorker. I bet buffalo might be one of the hardest working visa office but they do have more applicants. Its not slower because they are slower. Its slower because of the number of applicants.

 

[Sonu81]

i agree with new yorker. I bet buffalo might be one of the hardest working visa office but they do have more applicants. Its not slower because they are slower. Its slower because of the number of applicants.

Do u really think applicants from US+Canada are more than applicants to New delhi. NO WAY. If that would have been the case, some years back Buffalo timeline wont have been better than new Delhi. Buffalo was 1 year and ND was 7 years...

If u think Buffalo had applications from feb'2008 to Nov 2008 to clear, New Delhi and Islamabad had even more in the same period.

I dont think buffalo have more applicants, I think they have taken resources from Buffalo to New Delhi and Islamabad just to prove Jason Kenney's point that his policies have resulted in just 4 months of wait time in places like New Delhi where earlier wait was 7 years....while doing so he f*k*d Buffalo up...September 2008 people's file are now being transferred to NY, LA etc local consulates and they will take their own time. Wait time is easily 16+ months.

 

[rupeshhari]

yes i do believe buffalo has more applicants. they have applicants from Canada and the US and there are lots of H1Bs and F1s applying to go to Canada.

 

[rupeshhari]

if total processing time is 16months, he hasn't messed up anything. it is still status quo.

 

[Sonu81]

...... it is still status quo...

maybe for you....

 

[NewYorker]

Buffalo has more applicants or not but it has a lot of international applicants pressure. Its easy to finalize a application in a country then getting applicants from another country and researching them, and those applicants are from several different countries also.

In New Delhi and Islamabad, they only deal with locals..

I know why my application has slowed down, the reason is because they want to push the new rules applicants faster and in-Canada applicants CEC class, ND or Islamabad doesn't deal with them, so the applicants who were waiting according to the old rule or lets say Pre Nov'08 rules, got hit badly by this.

Every dog has its day, mine and your will come soon as well, I am just explaining what I think not because I want to prove you are wrong.

 

[kisunja]

New Yorker, this was exactly my line of thinking, too! I ultimately decided in favour of my home country, but I do not know how long it will take! cause its not New Dehli...
Now I even regret this. I think Buffalo would have been easier for "logistical" reasons. submitting all the docs going to an interview and waiting for mail from embassy to travel accross the ocean is not exactly fun... there are people on this forum who had their applications lost by fedex!
One thing more to remember: even though Buffalo has the most qualified applications, it also has the largest quota.
Anyway fingers crossed for you and other Buffalo applicants! Let us know when you hear from them.