Moondoggy

I'm guessing there is no chnce of hearing anything today from the CIC in London, since it is Thanks Giving day in Canada....

Oh well, will have to hold out hope for tomorrow or the rest of the week!

Im gonna have no hair left soon,

irishgirl33

yes your right.they close for Canadian holidays.hope u hear something tom

RKS_in_Calgary

Just read your post (after you posted on mine!) - really hope you get something soon waiting is soooo stressful

Moondoggy

Still nothing! *cry* I am starting to lose hope now...

14 days since I emailed them directly, over a month since I wote them a letter. 17 weeks since our initial application was received...

Does anyone know how you would go about contcting the CIC in london for an emergency, like requesting the return of a passport? They dont seem to care about URGENT emails or letters... we need my partners passport back at some point!

irishgirl33

u might have to go to the embassy.

christmasoompa

Wouldn't be a good idea, there is no 'help desk' and they don't see people who just turn up ad hoc I'm afraid. Unless you've got an appointment or are just dropping something off, no point in going there.

Not sure what else Moondoggy can do other than send a weekly email, making sure she quotes all of the relevant info for her partner i.e. his DOB, address, etc, and keep fingers crossed she hears back at some point. But it has only been a few months - processing times for TRP's aren't publicised, but going on the assumption that it's a similar process as that for criminal rehab, you'd have to guess that it could be around a year, just as criminal rehab can be.

she hears back soon.

Moondoggy

A Year!!

I certainly hope not! No way can we wait that amount of time before hearing something back.

What I can't understand is how can something that can be obtained at the POE, in next to no time, (maybe up to a day or a few hours while processing)... take this amount of time if you apply via the embassy?

As irishgirl has stated, her husband was refused a work permit because of criminal inadmissibility, but then applied at the POE and was granted straight away.

Surely this is encouraging applicants to chance it at the POE more than anything else...

christmasoompa

I hope not, but I would guess it's a similar procedure to a criminal rehab application, and those can take a year.

Same as TWP's, they are issued within minutes at POE, but if you apply via the visa office, take around 10 weeks. I'm guessing it's just a question of backlogs.

Good luck, hope you hear soon.

Moondoggy

Wow, the embassy actually sent me a reply today! I think it was due to my email yesterday making it clear that we need my partners passport back.

Well it is somewhat good news. They are returning his passport today (since that isnt needed to "finalise the application"), but told me a decision about his TRP hasnt been made yet and they cannot advise on a date of finalisation.

I have also spoken to my employers in Canada and they have told me they are willing to wait as long as it takes and my job wont be cancelled due to delays with the immigration process.

So at least now we can get on and do other stuff while we are waiting, maybe get temp jobs...

So overall a quite good day for news today, not perfect but it feels a weight has been lifted somewhat...

irishgirl33

thats great.fingers crossed you get an answer real soon

Moondoggy

So its been 18 weeks now since our application. Its beginning to look like we might not actually get to Canada before Xmas at this rate.

Anyone else having any luck hearing back from the CIC London recently?

irishgirl33

have u had your partners passport returned to you

Moondoggy

Yes, they returned that the day after I finally got a response from them, they just said they didn't need it for their decision and sent it to us.

But all the response basically said was that my partners application for a TRP and TWP was still being reviewed and they "cannot advise on a date of finalisation".

Kinda cold and uncompassionate response really... If after all this time it turns out that he cannot be granted a TRP and we cannot go to Canada, I am going to be pretty angry that they couldn't at least have gave us some indication that it was unlikely weeks ago, or been more human about it and gave us something to go on...

irishgirl33

i know it is so frustrating.hope u hear something real soon.they really need to change there system.

Moondoggy

Thanks for your support

I really am starting to lose faith though, that we will ever get to experience Canada....

Yes I totally agree, they need to change the system. If there is one thing that has been the biggest frusutration which I think they could *easily* upgrade, it would be communication. It doesnt take that much to have pay some employees to answer all/most email queries, send update emails, and even have a phone line setup. I mean come on, this is 2011 not 1990!