Wife already in Ottawa visiting, go to CPC Ottawa to receive visa directly?

[S_and_C]

Hi,

My wife just received her Passport Request e-mail from the Manila Office, indicating to send her passport to the CPC office in Ottawa. The thing is, she is currently here in Ottawa with me on a visitor visa (since September). I inquired to my MPs constituency office to see how we should proceed, and if we can simply go to the CPC Ottawa to get her visa instead. They indicated we can just reply to the e-mail requesting an appointment to go to CPC Ottawa directly, so that's what we did.

The issue is, how long can I expect to wait for them to read the e-mail reply and get back to us? We sent the e-mail on Dec 14 so it's been 6 days and no reply yet. We are a little nervous since it's the holidays and things may move more slowly. Plus we only have 30 days to get the passport to them and the manila auto-generated reply says their service standard is 28 days for a reply, yikes.

I've also tried calling the CIC help line, but couldn't get through today due to high call volume...

Should we simply go to the CPC Ottawa office with the PPR e-mail in hand? Should we wait for them to reply to our e-mail with an appointment date to receive her visa? Or should we just follow their process and send them the passport though we are in the same city? MP's office said just wait since we sent the e-mail already requesting an appointment, but want some more opinions.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Should we simply go to the CPC Ottawa office with the PPR e-mail in hand? Should we wait for them to reply to our e-mail with an appointment date to receive her visa? Or should we just follow their process and send them the passport though we are in the same city? MP's office said just wait since we sent the e-mail already requesting an appointment, but want some more opinions.

There is no in-person access to CPC-Ottawa. You need to mail the passport.

 

[Aquakitty]

Just courier it to the Ottawa office. As Canuck says you can't visit the office yourself.

 

[S_and_C]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe I should have said CIC ottawa vs. CPP ottawa. I've read that you can go there by appointment and receive the visa without flagpoling or anything like that. So really the question is how long can I expect the email reply to come?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe I should have said CIC ottawa vs. CPP ottawa. I've read that you can go there by appointment and receive the visa without flagpoling or anything like that. So really the question is how long can I expect the email reply to come?

CIC Ottawa is an administrative office. It does not process applications or issue visas.

You need to mail the passport.

 

[S_and_C]

OK we're confused now about what to do. McGuinty's office says to wait for the reply as they will make an appointment for us. It even states that the IRCC will make appointments when deemed necessary here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/help.asp

We're preparing to send it and hope this is the right move. I wouldn't want to delay processing because we sent it, and then they reply a few days later saying come in for your visa. Thanks again for the insights, and starting to think I should have just followed the procedure and left well enough alone.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

OK we're confused now about what to do. McGuinty's office says to wait for the reply as they will make an appointment for us. It even states that the IRCC will make appointments when deemed necessary here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/help.asp

We're preparing to send it and hope this is the right move. I wouldn't want to delay processing because we sent it, and then they reply a few days later saying come in for your visa. Thanks again for the insights, and starting to think I should have just followed the procedure and left well enough alone.

Yes, CIC Ottawa makes appointments; however, they don't issue visas.

 

[CDNPR2014]

as canuck suggested, you are talking about 2 different offices in Ottawa. While you can go to an office and officially land, the PR needs to already have the stamped visa and landing document (known as the COPR). You need to send in the passport to get this, THEN call CIC ottawa to make a landing appointment. you can't do both at CIC ottawa. so while you CAN call and make a landing appointment, you still need to send in the passport for processing. CIC ottawa will not be able to issue the visa - they will only "land" the PR. The MP's office is not completely familiar with spousal sponsorship. they know general immigration facts. it is not recommended to rely solely on what an MP's office is suggesting. if you do that, you risk having the timeline for visa issuance pass, which can create a larger issue.

 

[TANMEX]

Yes, CIC Ottawa makes appointments; however, they don't issue visas.

Ottawa must have a place like CIC Etobicoke where they issue Visas and CoPR .