Jim Humphries

Non-accompanying dependents fall into two different categories - those who may wish to come later and those who will not want to come to Canada as PRs now or ever. Those who may wish to come later should know that if they do not take the medical along with their parents they will no longer be members of the Family Class and their parents will not be able to sponsor their immigration in the future no matter their situation. This very subject has been dealt with hear often. Heading West's daughter has protected herself in that regard and can be sponsored so long as she meets the other requirements of the Family Class.

james.mc

I hear that Jim and I am aware of previous discussions, but why don't CIC request this when the primary applicant medical request goes out?

The applicant would have listed the daughter in the initial application. Here is a couple that think it's all done and dusted and out of the blue (months after their medicals have been completed) comes another medical request that they (it seems) did not expect.

End result....More delays and extra admin on both sides of the fence - CIC and applicant.

Jim Humphries

My guess is that they expect the applicant to have all family members examined and then find out a few months later that they did not. If this situation is not dealt with in the guides then shame on them of course.

sdo1982

Just a quickie... In still around and thankful I did not do anything silly as it looks Canada is once again the plan!
Had an email from Mrs Arnott saying I should renew my TWP as I wouldn't have PR before it ran out (22nd May) and they should be sending med requests in the next few months.

However she has said the next few months twice before last year and the next few weeks, over 70 week ago...

Back to waiting! Still no request for updated forms yet!

james.mc

Good that they still see you as in the system and waiting.

There is a definite trend here that we all know but I might as well get it off my chest anyway!

When CIC want information applicants are committed to the 30 day or 60 day deadline they give you or their application will be closed.

No such commitment from CIC to work to any reasonable time frame though. They can say whatever they wish to fob you off, delay by up to three times the average processing time, lose documents, request medicals from other family members at the last stage, get it completely wrong in the assessment of an eligible application and not have to apologise or be held accountable for any of it. If there is no accountability or performance related reward/penalty system at CIC then how can they be expected to improve?

Yes, I get that CIC staff must deem that immigrants coming to Canada are doing so as a privilege that must be hard won. They are in many cases certainly making it as hard as possible. Boy! What a bad first impression this immigration system must create for those looking to move to a new country. Very sad

Jim Humphries

There is also the problem of the great excess applications compared to the desired level of intake. They are staffed to meet the target not the total number of applications on hand thus the chaos.
This has been a chronic and growing issue for many years and the result has been lengthy processing and a certain need to be hard nosed to get things done. This 2010 group has suffered badly but they are not the worst affected by any means. Citizens of some nations may see 10 or more years of waiting in an ever growing line.
I give the department some credit for taking this "bull" by its horns. We can hope for better treatment for others in the future. Apologies to all suffering at present are certainly overdue.

graham and george

Cic should have put on hold all new applications till the back log was clear.
When we first applied we were quoted 12 months,3 years on and still waiting.
Come on cic use your loaf.......

james.mc

Sure Jim,

Definite screw ups in 2010, and previous years, for accepting so many applicants without sufficient resources to process them. What were they thinking??
I do see signs that many wrongs have been corrected and the wait times are coming down. There is definite light at the end of the tunnel for the rest of the 2010 / MI1 group yet

I guess the ones that stand out for me as having really suffered, through no fault of their own, were the pre 2008 FSW group (and other streams no doubt). They got a really rough deal. I have yet to see anything online by way of an apology from CIC for that fiasco other than Minister Kenny suggesting (this year) that people have their life on hold and these waiting times are unacceptable (or words very much to that effect).

PMM

Hi


1. Ah but you have to remember that CIC has to follow the instructions of their political bosses. When the points system was introduced in 2002 the level for skilled worker was 75 points with no list. At this level, the no. of approved applications received were fairly close to the Quota of 50K per year principal applicants for the Economic classes. Compare this to 2012 Quota of 161K. CIC never received 3 times the staff to handle these numbers.
2. In 2003 the Liberals in anticipation of the Election, lowered the points to 67, making nearly everyone as qualified. Bingo, a backlog immediately grew to 400K applications in skilled worker.
3. If a department is constrained by the levels approved by parliament and staffed to that level what is going to happen? The massive backlog.
4. The introduction of the Ministerial instructions cut the no. of approval for FSW, but didn't address the backlog.
5. So what choice did Kenney have? Stop all new applications for 6/7 years while only backlog cases were considered, where there was no criteria as to the perceived skills required by employers for the applicants in the backlog or take the flack and eliminate the backlog through legislation,which he did. A harsh solution, but in IMHO a necessary one. Those applicants in the backlog who qualified under the Ministerial Instructions had an opportunity to re-apply, most didn't because they didn't qualify.
6. It appears that going forward, CIC will be going to the Expression of Interest model, similar to Australia. Employers will be able to pick (maybe) applicants with the skills they require and can't find in Canada. It may turn into a mess, with the buying and selling of spots by employers, but that remains to be seen.

kat-b

Seriously though so thankful for this forum! It makes everything so much easier knowing we are all going through the same thing.

2003 definitely looks like it was a huge mistake which just got out of control.

I really hope that those of us who have the tenacity to hold on make it though in the end!

I feel pretty lucky as my life is flexible and I have some plan B's, Canada would just be a really really great bonus :-) I do really feel for anyone with kids though as stability is important and its such an upheaval to take them out of school etc. Really hoping those if you in this position get there soon! :-)

unusual78

I agree kat-b! .. can't help but say that 'someone' 'somewhere' is definitely to be blamed for this mayhem .. and its certainly not us .. the applicants!

The first impressions of the 'promised land' are definitely

True said people who can afford flexibility are lucky - can't imagine what folks with kids are having to go through.

Here's hoping it all works out in the near future (one way or the other) for us all remaining on this forum

james.mc

Hey Kat,

We (Mrs & I) found the same. When we first started the application we had no clue as to how long it would take... We kind of thought maybe 3-6 months hah!
Then, once our application was in, we found that average processing time was stated at around 13 months. Way over what we first thought. If we only knew then how long ot really was going to take!

Here is are some quotes from very early in this thread (2010)...

Dec 20th 2010, 5:40 am
Dec 21st 2010, 7:01 am
I highlighted a bit in red .....
August next year being August 2011 of course
Wouldn't mind anunlikelyunion's comment on that statement made 2 1/2 years back

Who else kicked this thread off?
It was started by rubberduckofdeath on Dec 14th 2010, 2:18 pm
With a vey short post...
I bet rubberduckofdeath didn't expect the thread to last this long!

Then a few others (to name but a few over the years) quickly joined in. All appear in the first five pages of this thread:

• beckybev
• Bucks_Family
• CanadianDreams
• Dal_Boy24
• davidsk
• DoubleD
• haniyasin
• heading-west
• jamie677
• james.mc
• jobop
• LinsyPinsy
• Mandeville
• misskatpaw
• pfw
• princess caribou

Some usernames are pretty familiar, to me at least, as they have been posting regularly over the last 2.5+ years.

I agree with Kat. If it were not for this Forum, and this thread, we would have been pretty much totally in the dark as to what to have expected.

I did pick up on a few other forums, but they were very international all heading for Canada, so the flavour of threads was too diverse (choosing my words carefully here) as to be very useful to a couple of Brits having applied through CIC London. Actually reading other forums is a real eye opener.. things similar too:

• If I change the name on my brothers degree certificate and use it as mine will CIC notice?
  
• If I borrow the settlement funds from my father and send the money home after I land will CIC notice?
  
• My brother looks like me, could I land on his PR card?
  
• Can I pay someone else to take the English language test for me?

Kind of give you the flavour of what goes on elsewhere online. It just wasn't for me.

On finding the BE forum (Canada section) later in the year it seemed like a breath of fresh air compared to other online discussion sites on Canadian immigration. After lurking for a bit, I starting to post in Dec 2010 the suddenly the whole world of FSW Canada immigration along with revised timelines, trials and tribulations, refusals, lost documents, no CIC help line in London.. all opened up in one fell swoop. Boy! What an eye opener that was!!

The ever moving goalpost of average processing times just kept marching on. As we moved closer to the supposed completion of processing time it was extended. Then again, then again. Then we were rejected. Then back on again... processed finally, COPR's went missing in the post and finally landed pretty much three years to the day since we'd submitted our application.

The BE forum, along with some of it's very knowledgable members, and not so expert members, willing to add any snippets of information into the fray has really helped no end. Thanks to all for that!
I for one have appreciated the self help group that operates here.

As a result I am determined to add what little I can to help others in this thread see this through, until eventually life will move on and I will lose touch with the ever evolving immigration process so will be unable to offer much by way of experience on the actual application process.

I will help supply input based on my experience by way of the landing process and setting up after landing and as such have already added a link in the Wiki as to some of the things to look out for on Landing which hopefully is at the forefront of many posters in this thread.

kat-b

Thanks James Mc! :-)) yeah I was originally on another thread or two, maybe even a different one on this forum but this one definitely seemed to click with me. I'm sure some others on different threads migrated with me as I've been seeing the same names for years too! :-)) all hanging in there!!

Siouxie

Don't forget there is the bridging TWP now, if that is of use to you.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc...2012/ob485.asp

heading-west

James :-)
I'm so happy for you that you finally made it to BC! congrats!

My step daughter could have declined to have the medical but as Jim pointed out she would forfeit her right to apply for sponsorship at a later date. she would have to apply under her own steam.

The system is nuts and its hard to beleive that its around 3 years since we all applied. I really thought we would be done and dusted in 6-9 months!!!!

We took a gamble which thankfully paid off and we have been here 18 months now. I Love raising my chickens and turkeys. We keep bees and love the woodlands and way of life here. rural living suits us very well :-)
Its not been without its challenges, but we remain positive.

I wrote an ebook since I got here...settlement resources were few so I figured my experience would help others to get the best out of moving to Canada. check my sig below for the link ;-)

Jim, thanks for your input, what you say does make sense, but my step daughter would surely have to do another medical to process through family class. Is it more likely that they want to make sure she is not a medical burden and that we have not applied so that she can gain medically from our residency (suppose she had some rare expensive dis-order).