Immigration Forum / Canada / October 2008

Please confirm whether you applied under Family Class (outside
processing) (applications sent to CPC Mississauga) or unde
Spouse in-Canada Class (applications sent to CPC Vegreville)?
The norm will be different for each kind of application.

An PR applicant under spousal sponsorship who happened to be in
Canada can apply both under Family Class (outside processing) -
which generally be faster - or under in-Canada Class - which
guarantee you can keep extending your status. Depend on your
situation, the CIC clerk advise could be a correct one or not a
correct one.

Generally for Spouse in-Canada application:

 - Application received.
 - After a couple of month from received: application opened by
a clerk and typed into the CIC database system. Administrative
error (lack payment, lack primary forms, lack signatures) can be
found here and the application with such error will be returned.
 - After around 3 months from received: medical opinion is made
in CIC Office in Ottawa.
 - After sometime an immigration officer will actually review
the case. He/she will immediately make a decission whether to
grant first stage of approval (so called Approval in Principal /
AIP) of the PR application, or not grant it and instead transfer
the case to a CIC local office which will do further
investigation. Either way, a letter to be sent to the applicant
about the decission. The best case recent timeline for this to
happen can be seen here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res
This first stage of approval will allow the applicant to apply
for open (unrestricted) work permit or study permit, and
combined with medical approval will definitely allow the
applicant to get provincial health care (some provinces does not
need it and the applicant can get it earlier).
 - Without the first stage of approval, the CIC local office
investigation may include interview with PR applicant and
sponsor.
 - After the first stage of approval, the case may still wait
for background / security approval. No real timeline here, but
expect around 6 months.
 - The case will be tranferred to a local CIC office which will
schedule a landing interview. The interview will mostly
pro-forma - confirming all the fact that should already be
submitted - and PR status will be granted. PR Card application
will be initiated in this landing process.

Are your sure that what was happened? In normal in-Canada
application there is NO specific approval of sponsor, it will be
included in first stage of approval of the PR application (which
will grant you other rights, read above). Assuming you
mistakenly meant first stage of approval, then the timeline is
normal.

Assuming you got first stage of approval, then this is rather
long. However, if you did not get first stage of approval and
your case transferred to a CIC local office, then it means they
still check whether you are qualified (not only background
security check), and it is normal to take months (even years).

Either way, you should submit an ATIP request to ask for copy of
your FOSS records, along with copy of CAIPS records and all your
file in CIC.

This is normal. Read above.

You read wrongly. Normally a couple go to landing 'interview' in
the end of the process, to actually get PR.

For some home country, there is no typical.

You should never get hold of your medical examination reports,
only the form / receipt proving you already do it. You are
required to the medical examination before submitting the
application and include the form / receipt with the application.

Normally medical report will only valid for 1 year, and
therefore you may need to redo it again. However, assuming you
get that first stage of approval and therefore have been covered
by provincial health care ever since, CIC officer may decide to
extend your medical report validity. But it is entirely up to
them.

Get your copy of your FOSS records and files first, the reason
will be there.