Hi, does the CHC adhere to the 18 month deadline on the AOR ? still patiently waiting

From submitting application to obtaining our visas took 17 months when we were quoted 12 - 18 months. Ours was very straight forward, no extra info required, no interview etc.... and it was posted to CHC the very second they lowered the points, so got in there quickly just as they opened the floodgates. Hang in there, as once you have your visa the excitement will push all this turmoil to the very back of your mind. We,ve been in Edmonton for just over 2 months now and loving every second of it.

R2D2

I'd say hang in there too, on the one hand, but then I've read some posts where people contacted the CHC and had been informed that something was posted out to them weeks ago and they obviously hadn't received it or their file was misplaced etc.

Personally, I would probably give them an extra four weeks after the "deadline" (which is just really a guideline), and then contact them. Surely, no one will think you impatient after waiting for that long.

See my timeline in my signature.

Good luck.

I may be wrong but it seems to me from what I've read on this forum, that a lot of people tend to hear from CHC towards the end of the x-months waiting time stated on the AOR.

We were told 18 months (AOR 2nd Feb 04), so 18 months would be this week-ish. This also ties in with an email reply we had mid June saying we'd get our medical instructions within 6-8 weeks. Why it takes 8 weeks to send out a few forms G** only knows ! However, the closer to the 18 months we are the more worried I get when I don't hear, incase it has gone astray!

We thought we were a "simple" skilled worker application, but who knows as people with later AOR's have heard. If we don't hear by a few weeks after the 18 months, I think I'll contact them again.

Its bizzarre isn't it? You had your AOR exactly one week before us, yet we were told 15 months (which it was) and you were told 18 months.

It can't be anything to do with the complexity of the case or otherwise, can it, as at AOR point they have not looked at that in detail?

We now have our visas .... not that we can go cos of blinkin' house!!! .... and you have not yet heard re medicals???

Bear in mind that when they lowered the points so dramatically, many people like us who didn't quite have enough points but had our application ready, would have submitted immediately, hence the waiting time would increase by the day from that point onward. If you were a few months later then you would have already been in a big queue, this could account for longer timeframes than first anticipated. I totally understand the worries about paperwork going astray etc, we would be the same in your shoes.
Try and stay

Hate to say this to ya,

Time to get AOR was quoted as 3 months, this came bang on 3 months.
AOR stated 15 months to next stage, yes you guessed it, it took 15 months.

Hang on in there.................

Bizarre it is! Actually, I know I've whittled about this before on the forum, but I'm convinced our AOR and E-Client refers to a family class application rather than a skilled worker one, but we decided just to wait the 18 months out anyway. We figured that we knew had filled in the correct forms etc., so it must be a minor admin error on their part and wouldn't really affect anything (HOPEFULLY)!

Can you post your timeframe re dates, just to compare.

With any luck you should hear soon - lots of Feb 2004 AORs have now had medical requests so maybe yours is in the post...

I'd agree with the poster who advised you to contact CHC after 19 months - just in case! In general though they seem to be sticking to their estimates.

Suze

Thanks for that, how would you contact the embassy? Do they respond to emails? We had our file processed 26 Feb 04, nothing since can't understand this as we are very straightforward. How do you find out if anything is lost in the post?

Unfortunately, you can no longer contact them via email until you have been in their system for 3 years! Fortunately for us (& a few others from this forum) we managed to get a sneaky email to them before they changed the rules. If we hadn't have dared to email them, we like you, would not have heard a thing since Feb 04. I think the only way you can contact them now is by fax or mail to see if anything is lost in the post.

The big question is how long do you wait before contacting them? On the AOR it says it may slow your file if you contact them before 18 months, so I guess we can legitimately get in touch soon! I really have no idea why some people in the same category who seem to have similar personal circumstances seem to get through quicker than others and I think that adds to the frustration. Perhaps we both just got allocated to a slow worker at CHC.

we applied dec 3rd 2003, aor feb 2004.

Really fed up of waiting and everyone asking whether we have heard anything yet!

I visited CHC early july to see what is the delay. I was told that its not delayed and should not be here asking such a question :scared: . I explaied that I thought cases were handled in a chronological order....having known many people to have heard already even though they applied after us. She then tapped in my file number and said my file has been scanned .... everything seems fine though just doing some checks and you should get a medical request by the end of the month. July has passed and we have still not heard a thing.

The only positive thing from this thread is that we now know were not the only one still waiting from AOR FEB 2003.....I'm sure you might have been thinking as I was in that that my case has been singled out for some reason!

Fingers crossed for all of you as I fully understand your frustrations!

Regards
Mans

Applied Jan 04
AOR feb 04
18 month processing stated on card.. and thats it !!

Thanks, good to know we are not being singled out, and not the only ones in this frustrating situation, let us know when you get anything through..