SchnookoLoly

Added you in! As for your application, hard to say. ECAS is notoriously unreliable... now that you're officially In Process, thoguh, chances are you should hear something pretty soon, so just fingers crossed for a quick Decision Made!

No offense taken at all, quite the opposite!! There have been quite a few updates recently and I figured at some point I would overlook one or two, particularly when 2-3 pages of new posts get created between when I am able to check! I read and respond often on my phone, but I can't do updates to the spreadsheet on my phone as Google Drive mobile functionality is pretty limited. As a result, when I get on the laptop or desktop I trawl through the past few pages to find the updates I missed, and sometimes it does get overlooked, so I'm happy to have them flagged up!!

Jim Humphries

June is an unfortunate month to go into process as there are other priorities that take some of the resources from spousal processing. That would be time sensitive student and employment visa applications. On top of that there is the summer holiday season and departures and arrivals over the officer posting season. All reduce the resources available and add a month or two to processing of spousal applications.

John_01

I keep seeing references to the "notorious unreliability" of ecas. Is this unreliability in the sense that people have had paperwork arrive while it still says "application received", or are people just referring to how finnicky it is about picking "UK" vs "England/Scotland/Wales", it's refusal to work on mobile devices and how it doesn't like being in a re-sized browser window?

Siouxie

From a personal point of view, notoriously unreliable was the fact that it still stated 'in progress' well after I had actually landed; throughout the process (which for me was several years) it never updated correctly.

cansco

Hi there,
New to the forum and trying to find some advice on landing in Canada. Applied for sponsorship in September and received my COPR much earlier than expected. I had already booked a return flight to Canada to spend Christmas with my partner.
Is it ok to travel to Canada without officially landing as a PR? I plan to move permanently in March but have much to do in packing up my life in UK, selling car, renting out property, etc.
Grateful for any advice on this.

SchnookoLoly

In our case, ECAS never went to "In Process" at all. It only changed to "Decision Made" four days AFTER we received COPR in the post. I know from our case notes that they started processing our application in June, and then asked for a copy of my husband's passport, and we had COPR in August. So it should have been "in process" for about 2 months, and it never updated. Hence why we tell people not to freak out if it's not changing. If it HAS changed then it's probably an accurate reflection of your actual status, but if it has NOT changed, it's not necessarily an accurate reflection. It might be, but as we've said, it's unreliable.

Welcome!

I'm assuming your COPR expires after March, so from that point of view you don't HAVE to land sooner.

The most important thing to know is that LANDING is not the same as MOVING. If you want, you absolutely can land this month, and then go back to the UK and move in March. Alternatively, you can still just enter as a visitor, if you are asked at the border just say you have been issued COPR but are not landing yet, you'll be doing that in March.

Really, it's up to you, just weigh the pros and cons. When does your COPR expire? What if it takes you a bit longer to move, and you don't end up being able to move until, say, May? Is that then too late to land? You can land this month if you want to but not take up residency (just make sure you have your goods to follow list sorted, there's an article in the Wiki about landing), and then it means you can move whenever as your PR will be activated. Do be aware that it does start your "clock" for fulfilling 720 days in a 5 year period, but if you're planning on moving within a few months of landing, then that doesn't matter.

So really, it's up to you! Hopefully that makes sense, post back if you have more questions.

Also, if you want to be added to the PR Spreadsheet, linked in my signature, let me know all your dates and I'll add you in - it's always helpful to have as many timelines captured as possible!

markstimson

Landed Oct 20th and still waiting for my PR card...should I have received it by now on average? Travelling back to the UK for Xmas next Monday and would have been nice to have it in my wallet!

SchnookoLoly

Hmmmm not necessarily, it's pretty well 8 weeks like clockwork... and you're just about on the 8 week mark now, you'll probably have it pretty soon, though a toss-up whether you'll have it by Monday.

I wouldn't worry if you don't have it, if you don't just make sure you have the rest of your documentation with you. When you re-enter Canada, just say you're a PR, but you haven't received your card yet. You have the paperwork to back it up, and you'll come up in their system as being a PR anyway. (My husband did this last year, we landed in December, and the card was sent to my parents' house. We came back for a visit in June, and my husband just said the card was with his in-laws, and it wasn't a problem.)

cansco

[/QUOTE]Welcome!

I'm assuming your COPR expires after March, so from that point of view you don't HAVE to land sooner.

The most important thing to know is that LANDING is not the same as MOVING. If you want, you absolutely can land this month, and then go back to the UK and move in March. Alternatively, you can still just enter as a visitor, if you are asked at the border just say you have been issued COPR but are not landing yet, you'll be doing that in March.

Really, it's up to you, just weigh the pros and cons. When does your COPR expire? What if it takes you a bit longer to move, and you don't end up being able to move until, say, May? Is that then too late to land? You can land this month if you want to but not take up residency (just make sure you have your goods to follow list sorted, there's an article in the Wiki about landing), and then it means you can move whenever as your PR will be activated. Do be aware that it does start your "clock" for fulfilling 720 days in a 5 year period, but if you're planning on moving within a few months of landing, then that doesn't matter.

So really, it's up to you! Hopefully that makes sense, post back if you have more questions.

Also, if you want to be added to the PR Spreadsheet, linked in my signature, let me know all your dates and I'll add you in - it's always helpful to have as many timelines captured as possible! [/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for the quick and very helpful response. My COPR is valid until the end of June so I do have time. I just wasn't sure whether I would have to land as I was travelling to Canada or if I could still enter as a visitor. Further complication is my UK passport expires at the end of June so not sure whether to apply for a new one in the UK before I travel or wait and apply from Canada.

Happy to give my dates - still in shock at how quickly it happened based on official CIC processing times and the spreadsheet. Application was received in Mississauga on 26/09/2013. Sponsorship approval received on 21/10/2013. COPR received in post on 28/11/2013. We are CL and have been together almost 14 years.

Thank you again.

SchnookoLoly

IF it were me, and this is just my opinion, I'd renew the passport ASAP, and then land with your new passport so that your stamp goes into your new one instead of your old one. Just makes things a bit easier.

Updated you on the spreadsheet, thanks for the info!

TO others looking at the spreadsheet: Someone broke it what must have been yesterday, a few of the dates were messed up (average processing time was coming up as 33 months), and some of the colours were re-painted incorrectly. Not sure who's done it, but if you guys wouldn't mind letting me know when you notice it's broken... I don't know who all the spreadsheet editors are, I think I'm the only active one from BE, and there are a few on CanadaVisa, but someone has broken it a few times in the past week...

Orlaith

Hi Jim,
You certainly seem to be very experienced in all this! You have mentioned a couple of times that June is an unfortunate month to go into process and have sited reasons for this. I was wondering though if, as in my case, my file was received in London in June and ECAS reads that I went "in process" in December, your comments might be relevant to me? I notice a number of the June applicants (like me) have gone "in process" in early December. This has obviously got a lot of hopes up of hearing something soon. If I need to readjust my expectations (again!) I'd be happy to get a reality check! Any advice at all would be very welcome.

Many thanks

Jim Humphries

The most important entry in eCas is decision made. But for spouses "In process" is almost the same in most cases. The slow step is usually the background and security check which can be lengthened by residences in different or multiple countries. If that does not apply to you then your are close to the end.

markstimson

Someone from CanadaVisa (ID is Sweden) said they had made some changes to the formulas. Not sure what they did. I'm also an editor and fairly active on here.

Ralphstars

I have a passport renewal question if I may :
Mine does not expire until 2016 but it was last renewed 27/10/2005 which is the day after the passport rules changed for acquiring an ESTA for the US so it no longer complies with the passport requirements.
I am thinking of renewing it now so it will be a biometric version and also to put my married name on - I never changed it at the time of my marriage because i wanted to keep my name the same as my children's and for professional reasons it was easier to keep my original name .
I am almost 5 months in to my spousal PR application -will it matter that I will have a new passport that doesn't match the one in my file ?
Do I need to send a copy of my new one to CIC London ?
If I have a new one I assume it's better to have that one stamped when I land - but do I carry the old one with me to show that it's still me ?

Many thanks

Nicky

Mary louise

Hi Guys,

Update to my spousal application (Married) - sponsor approval received, via email, December 16th

It's starting to feel real !!!

Next step - apply to schools, when they are back in action in January, so kiddies hopefully have a place sorted come next September, assuming we are able to move in summer holidays 2014, which is the plan.