Greg Webster

Hoping someone might have some words of encouragement here...

I'm a Canadian living in the Vancouver area. 13 months ago I married an
American citizen and moved her here with me to submit an 'inside'
application for her permanent residency. It was submitted July 22nd
2003 (took us that long to get her paperwork, FBI certificates, state
police certificates, etc.).

And then the waiting began........

Every week we check the status of her application and the wait times, and
every week the wait gets one week longer. They are losing ground on the
applications and by all appearances we're -never- going get this
application through. She can't work until she gets this through (as we
understand it) and while I'm able to support us, it certainly isn't easy.

Has anyone recently received their Permanent Residency letter? Are their
any hints anyone can give us to make this wait easier? Are there other
ways she might be able to work?

Thanks for any encouragement!

Greg

Jim Humphries

It is hard to imagine why your wife's case is taking so long. Have you
checked the eclient system for some indication? I suggest you get in touch
with your MP for assistance, unless there is some substantial problem you
have not mentioned.

Greg Webster

There's really nothing that I think could be affecting this (no criminal
record on either side, lots of documentation and photos of our
relationship, nothing unusual about the application).

Here's what we know about the times so far:

- We mailed the application June 27, 2003 and they received it June 30,
2003

- They started processing it July 22, 2003

- They received a letter to attach to our application Sept 23, 2003 (we
believe that was an Alabama police certificate that Alabama took a long
time to send directly to immigration)

Currently, the website says that they are processing applications dated
May 24, 2003 and the wait time is 200 days (was 194 days week before
last).

We're currently worried about even calling them because we read somewhere
on the website that calling may cause delays in the application (nasty
catch-22).

Thanks for your response!

Greg

On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 23:01:11 +0000, Jim Humphries wrote:
    > It is hard to imagine why your wife's case is taking so long. Have you
    > checked the eclient system for some indication? I suggest you get in
    > touch with your MP for assistance, unless there is some substantial
    > problem you have not mentioned.

Andrew Miller

July 2003 is pretty new application - inland cases currently take about 7
months at best and may take quite longer as priority for such cases is
rather low. If you would have applied through Buffalo then you should expect
landing papers any day now as offshore spouses' apps have the highest
priority, but with inland case you may wait for another 3 to 5 or so months
if everything goes smoothly.

Greg Webster

Thanks for the info...not the best news, but I suppose we'll plod along.

The worst part is what I mentioned in my other post...that for every week
that goes by, another 7 or more days is added to their wait time. It's so
discouraging sometimes.

I wondered about the offshore applications. Friends of ours did that and
she got her letter within two months.

Greg

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 00:59:49 +0000, Andrew Miller wrote:

    > July 2003 is pretty new application - inland cases currently take about 7
    > months at best and may take quite longer as priority for such cases is
    > rather low. If you would have applied through Buffalo then you should expect
    > landing papers any day now as offshore spouses' apps have the highest
    > priority, but with inland case you may wait for another 3 to 5 or so months
    > if everything goes smoothly.

Pmm

Hi Greg

"Greg Webster" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Thanks for the info...not the best news, but I suppose we'll plod along.
    > The worst part is what I mentioned in my other post...that for every week
    > that goes by, another 7 or more days is added to their wait time. It's so
    > discouraging sometimes.
    > I wondered about the offshore applications. Friends of ours did that and
    > she got her letter within two months.
    > Greg
    > On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 00:59:49 +0000, Andrew Miller wrote:
    > > July 2003 is pretty new application - inland cases currently take about
7
    > > months at best and may take quite longer as priority for such cases is
    > > rather low. If you would have applied through Buffalo then you should
expect
    > > landing papers any day now as offshore spouses' apps have the highest
    > > priority, but with inland case you may wait for another 3 to 5 or so
months
    > > if everything goes smoothly.

In Canada spousal applications are not a priority (as has been mentioned
numerous times) because the spouses are already together in Canada. That is
why the priority is for overseas spousal applications where they are
separated.

PMM

Jim Humphries

I see I misread your first post. It is certainly too soon to expect the
application to be completed.

Http://Www.Iamnotamerican.Com

in a recent article, Greg Webster () said:

    > I'm a Canadian living in the Vancouver area. 13 months ago I married an
    > American citizen and moved her here with me to submit an 'inside'
    > application for her permanent residency. It was submitted July 22nd
    > 2003 (took us that long to get her paperwork, FBI certificates, state
    > police certificates, etc.).
    >
    > And then the waiting began........

Inland applications take longer generally, because the higher priority
is on getting families together that are apart, whereas you're already
together. July 23 of this year is only five months. I have read elsewhere
that the average time for an inland app is about 8-12 months. Be patient,
your time will come. As for checking on the status...if you're doing it
online, great. If you're phoning the office and asking...don't. That may
actually cause it to take longer.

Good luck. Here's hoping it's completed soon.

Robin

    > In Canada spousal applications are not a priority (as has been mentioned
    > numerous times) because the spouses are already together in Canada. That is
    > why the priority is for overseas spousal applications where they are
    > separated.
    >
    > PMM
    > >

I would love to agree with that logic. However (and it's truly
unfortunate), for many cases, overseas applications aren't exactly a
priority for CIC either. Buffalo, in particular, isn't very efficient
in their processing. They really can't be relied on to provide
consistent and timely processing. Timelines in general are very
inconsistent; and one cannot rely on them, sad to say. The entire
department is so lopsided and inefficient. Some outside applicants
have to wait years for a simple, routine family-class
application--while others, for no sufficient reason, get the free ride
and get their visa in 4-6 months!

There have been inside applications that get completed long before
routine outside cases--and it's due partly to an inefficient (and
sometimes incompetent) system, where simple procedure gets bogged down
by bureaucratic messes, and incomprehensible heel-dragging (not to
mention, in some cases, the government losing people's
medicals/documents/etc, and then making the applicants pay more money
to retrieve new documents! Now THAT is incomprehensible!!)


Robin