Passport Fedexed

Barring weather delays, it should be there by 10:30am tomorrow. (January 30th). It's impossible to know how long it will take Detroit to stamp the visa, but hopefully not more than 10 days (which is what it takes if you go there and leave the passport, even though it seems that a lot of people have done it in just one day).

I included a return envelope as well, with Fedex and my account number on it (including a completed airway bill that has my address and phone number if the From and To fields). The waiting game still continues, but I suppose it's not that bad anymore.

EDIT (January 30): Passports were received by the reception at 9:31am today.

Passport and Photos Request!

The journey is almost over - I just got the Passport and Photos Request (PPR) today! Dated January 21st, it says that my visa is ready for issuance. I need to get a $490 money order, couple of photos and send the envelope ASAP to Detroit (all can be done in one morning, thankfully).

Figuring out how to get the envelope via Fedex is a bit too much trouble. I think I'll just let Canada Post deliver my passport. Mail seems to have about 6-7 days to come from Detroit, it's not really as bad as they make it sound. Hopefully my passport won't be lost anywhere :)

CAIPS notes, revisited

So I got the second part of the CAIPS notes today and it doesn't say anything interesting in there. The reason is probably because they are dated January 5, the date at which the Montreal office processed my query. However, somewhere in there it does say:

RCMP NAME CHK SENT
RCVD: RESULTS RCMP NAME CHK - NR/SUBJ

As far as I can say, they checked the RCMP database for anyone that matched my name and got a result saying "NR/SUBJ". Presumably this means "no record / negative result on subject", but I can't know for sure. If that is the case, it probably means that they won't need a fingerprint check on me.

They also acknowledge the fact that I did my medicals upfront, but don't contain the actual medical results (cause by that time they had not received them; they confirmed it receipt by email though). Also, the BFD date is still 19.12.2008 and that has to have changed since my file has been transferred since then.

In any case, in a few days from now I should receive the Initial Assessment letter from Detroit. I'm basing this on the totally unfounded generalization - that one guy one some forum, who got his transfer letter a week before me (and who applied a week before me to Buffalo), got the IA letter on the 21st of January. Maybe I'll get a nice gift in the mail on Wednesday (my birthday :) ).

File transfer to Detroit

As predicted, my file was transferred to the Canadian Consulate General in Detroit "to expedite the processing of your application" (that's what the CAIPS notes / bring forward date suggested). I got a letter to this end today, dated January 13th, 2009. Choice quotes:

• "[Detroit] will complete the analysis of your application and determine if a personal interview with a visa officer is required."
• "Do not request the status of your file within ninety (90) days of the date of this letter". (I fully intend to ignore this piece of advice if I don't hear anything from them within the next 2-3 weeks, cause the initial assessment should be done by then!)

Anyhoo, I'm happy that things are moving in the right direction! eCas status has not changed yet, but should soon (my bet - Monday).

EDIT (Monday, Jan 19th): eCas now says "We transferred your application to the Detroit office on January 13, 2009. The Detroit office may contact you"

Medical results received by Buffalo, CAIPS notes

Happy New Year and all that! Several things today:

• I got an email reply from Buffalo indicating that my medical results have been received by the consulate. About a month ago (on December 12th, 2008) they had replied negatively to the same question. Ottawa got the package on November 5, so it took anywhere between 5 and 8 weeks for them to be processed and uploaded to Buffalo. The oh-so-reliable eCas does not show any change (anecdotally, if it does show "Medical results received" it means that the file is almost done with processing).
  
• I had ordered the CAIPS notes by sending a fax of the required form to the Montreal office. They sent them to me ultra fast (considering the holidays) via courier (!). However, they were basically a waste of time since they contained very little actual information, apart from my name, DOB and such. The cover letter said that "some sections were removed and referred to our office in Ottawa... we trust that the office will reply to your request promptly" (NB: they have 30 days, by law).
  
• I should have been less of a smart ass and followed the normal route, as described here (short version for those that don't speak legalese: if you're in Canada and you want your CAIPS notes only, and only for yourself, it's free. Just fill out the form and mail it or fax it to Ottawa).
  
• The one thing that was interesting on those notes was the "PAPER FILE SENT TO: WL, BRING FORWARD TO: DET ON 19-12-2008" notice on each page. Some Google-fu revelead that WL is either the name of the officer that processed the paper file or the name of the "depot" that holds it and DET either stands for Detroit or for the initials of the immigration officer that would have looked at my life on December 19th (though the newly redesigned Buffalo consulate page---that has a pretty hot Canadian girl on it---does not list anyone whose name fits such initials, neither DET nor WL).
• For those that are not "in the know" - the mythical "bring forward date" is apparently some sort of internal "deadline" - if by that date no changes have been made to a file (medical results or other documents received, file completed, background check complete etc) the file is supposedly "queued" on the "todo list" of some immigration officer that would look at it and decide whether some action is needed. This is what I understood from the variety of forum posts on this issue, but there is of course nothing official about what I just heard (only third-hand "processing" by me).
  
• For now, there's nothing but waiting. Several things should happen this month: I should get the full CAIPS notes from Ottawa in the next few weeks, I should also get another letter from Buffalo stating that my file is complete and that I need to pay the "Right of Permanent Residence Fee" ($490), or a letter stating that my file is missing something (either of these would be called an "Initial Assessment" letter) and/or a letter that my file was transferred to some other consulate (Detroit or NYC, cause they are closest to me).
  
• Either way, things should move this month, as opposed to the dry spell in December. Hopefully no silly one-year background check will apply to me (not because I have something to hide, but because I don't want to wait that long).