Immigration Time Line

[Larry 0]

Congratulations Bianca & Co.

Is there anything special about the applications that have been approved in this time line?

[malinda 0]

Hi there Gary and Steve

Just want to congratulate you guys again, it was great meeting you before you leave for Canada. I am sure cant wait to start your new lives.

All the best and hope to see you on the next coffee club meeting.

Alwyn & Malinda

[Cathy 25]

I decided to be a good SACanada girl yesterday and sat through all the voice prompts on the CHC telephone. Someone mentioned ages ago that sometimes the automatic telephone answering machine is ahead of the website.

Well it is and it is say April 2002. 3 months ahead of the website but 8 months behind Bianca and Tanya. It is also still exactly 30 months processing time. Love it hate it those are the facts.

[Tracy 0]

Hi all

Received a letter in the mail today asking us to send in our passports for the visas to be issued.

Medicals were done on 23 September 2004.

Applied December 2001, began processing January 2002.

Regards

Tracy

[Nelia 0]

Tracy,

Congratulations and good luck with all the changes that will happen now.

[Gautenger 0]

Well done Tracy, good luck with the final preps, how are they going so far?

[frogprince 0]

Applied December 2001, began processing January 2002.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tracy:

You mentioned in September that yours began processing in Jan 2003 - which is the correct date?

It would be important for those of us wanting to know how far behind the CHC really is right now...

Thanks,

Frog.

[faizandjoy 0]

For those of you who are interested in our processing timeline... By the way, we applied independently of an agency who wanted to charge us in excess of R7000, and successful application was NOT guaranteed.

Jan 2002 - Sent, via registered mail, all application forms

July 2004 - received letter to indicate that we were provisionally accepted and that the interview had been waivered. Included was request for medicals to be performed.

26 July 2004 - Medicals was completed and documents sent via courier to Nairobi. At same time sent off ROL fees.

End August - Letter requesting passports.

Mid September - Visas received

[Tracy 0]

My apologies!

Our application began processing in January 2003. It has taken less than 2 years to process this far.

Sending off our passports for the visas over the weekend - just have to sort out those photographs.

As for the preparation - what's that!

We will only begin thinking about that next year. Planning to get there by August 2005. Boys already committed to school here and we have lots to do first.

Sorry about the error. Bit brain-fried.

Tracy

[Cathy K 1,139]

Tracy, you're going to make it by the skin of your teeth! Friends of ours didn't realise their year of grace expired exactly one year after the medicals! By the time they were ready to board the plane for Canada they found that their Landed Immigrant documents were no longer valid.

Cathy K.

[Ann 3]

Cathy, what happened then. Apparently they won't extend the grace period for landing.

[Cathy K 1,139]

They stayed in South Africa, nothing else they could do. Fortunately they resigned themselves to this, moved to a smaller town and are much happier nowadays.

Cathy K.

Edited November 9, 2004 by Die Kotzé's

[digin 4]

I would definitely leave at least a month's grace period if you can. So much can happen if you plan to arrive within 1-2 days of expiry: flight delays, illness. I remember doing this - I planned to arrive just a week before it expired in December 2001: Then September 11th happened while I was in Asia, and I brought my plans forward as I did not want to be caught with a massive flight delay if anything happened like that again.

[Guest Barbara]

Good luck Tracy all the best. Who know we might even manage to meet one day.

[Tracy 0]

Thanks all.

We'll arrive a month, to a month and a half before the visas expire - not to worry, we're well aware of the year rule!

Hope to meet many of you next year!

Tracy

[dlam 32]

What is the number that i can phone to ask CIC where our letter of acknowledgement is?

I get a call-centre number of 1-888-242-2100 on the website. Is this the number to call?

We sent in our application for citizenship on October 6th, they signed it off around the 9th I think, can't remember now.

The website say I should receive the letter of acknowledgement a month after they have received our application.

I have not received anything in the mail yet. Is it suppose to take so long? Do they now have a backlog because of the strike the government workers were on?

To be able to use the e-client, the office in Nova Scotia first have to send our application through to the CIC office in Edmonton and that can take up to 4 months according to the website.

[macdonlg 29]

After 32 months of agonising we have finally recieved our PR visas. Very heartening though is that it took literally 2 weeks from having the medicals arive in Kenya to receiving the ok, & then 1 day later the visas were ready. I fetched them the next day.

There is definitely a bit more speed in the process now... good luck to all who are still waiting.

We will fly to Toronto on the 18th Jan. 05

My time lines:

Apply - 9 April 2002

More info requested - 26 September 2004

Submitted - 6 October 04

Medical instruction - 8 October

Medicals - 12 October to End October - there wer a few complications(We used Dr Lubbe in Pta who was excellent - he ensured we did all sorts of other tests as well to ensure there were no comebacks - the medicals we approved in 2 weeks flat.

Web update - status changed from "in process" to "decision made" on the 22 November.

Telephonic confirmation to CHC - I contacted the CHC on 23/11 to confirm the web change - they confirmsd

Visas ready for collection - 23/11 I recieved a call from CHC to say the visas are ready for collection - I went immediately.

[Guest Barbara]

Great news.

Good luck.

[Harry 52]

Congratulations!!

[dvanschalk 0]

What is the latest consensus/news/views on the applications being processed? Over and above of course the latest website update (16th of September) which states that April 2002 applications are being processed. Or are we all still in the dark whether CHC Pretoria has caught up a bit or not...

[Mossie 10]

He, Ha

We picked up our PR visa’s in Buffalo Tuesday (14/12/2004), this is 11.5 months after our application started the “ in process”……….we were either very lucky, or we had an excellent lawyer (Nico Breed) . You know I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…. You can do your own application, but some people (like us) need lawyers…..there is no way that we would have been able to do this ourselves…there was just to many things we did not know about….so thanks to good old Nico……we are “landed” at last!

17 Dec. 2003 = Started “In Process”

14 Sep. 2004 = Medicals

15 Nov. 2004 = Ask to pay “Right of landing fees”

30 Nov. 2004 = Sent the letter to say we can send our passports

(We have been in Canada on work permits for 2.5 years)

Vir die ouens wat nog wag……..hou maar net uit…..julle dag sal kom!

[whatzupdoc 0]

Hi All

I am a brand new member on this forum and desperately some help.

I'd like to know if anyone filed for PR outside of Canada, i.e. Buffalo, USA? If so, what was the procedure for you and how long did it take?

I applied in October 2004 (2 months ago) through the Buffalo CHC and to date have not received receipt of payment or any type of acknowledgement. I know that the paper work arrived because the money order was deposited. I have proof.

Should I call them? I'm told not to call because they will hold it against me and prolong the paperwork. I did tis individually and not through an attorney.

Desperate for help!!!!!

Henry

[Guest gigajoules]

Hi Henry

I thought that it was no longer possible to apply via an office outside your country of residence. If I'm not mistaken, it came into effect sometime in 2003...

However, we applied via Buffalo at the end of 2002. We received an acknowledgement from them (i.e. our file number) at the end of January 2003, telling us that they'll revert within 52 weeks. They kept their word and we received instructions for our medicals in January 2004. Final word from them came towards the end of May 2004. We then had to send our passports to the Buffalo office for our visas to be issued. They will only send passports back to an address within Canada or the USA, so we organised the passports to be sent to friends in Canada, who forwarded it to us.

[whatzupdoc 0]

Hi gigajoules

I should have given more details. We are currently living in the US for the next two years on a work permit. We hope that by that time the work visa expires we would have heard something or even better received our Canadian PR. Since I don't have much patience the wait is killing. Thank you for getting back to me.

The wait, oh man, the wait is going to kill me.

[whatzupdoc 0]

Hi there,

I have a few more questions which I need some help on PLEASE...

1. Should I contact the Buffalo office via fax since the telephone system is automated asking if they received my application and whether a file number has been allocated to me;

2. Should I just wait for the 52 week waiting period; or

3. Do I need a file number before the 52 week waiting period?

Any help in this regard will help a great deal. Being all alone isn't much fun.

Thanks in advance.

Henry