Gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em

Late June 2007 has a flurry of activity, on my part at least. Through this forum, I learned about ordering FOSS notes. These are the electronic notes made by immigration officers regarding an immigration file. I quickly mailed off my request for them. Perhaps these notes can shed light on what exactly the issue is any why my application is still sitting, virtually untouched for 16 months. I hope that these notes do not take years to get, but I don't count on it.

Also, I investigate the idea of withdrawing my application in whole and reapplying an 'outside' application, namely through the Buffalo NY CIC office. The outside applications have a consistent history of being processed faster than the 'inside' applications. I believe this is due to the way CIC frowns upon 'inside' applications, but who really knows for sure. In order to make an informed decision, I contact the friendly paper worshiping Canadian government employees and the Call Center. You would think that we are on a first name basis now, but sadly, we are not. I inquire about the withdrawal process and getting a refund. If Nemo has shown me anything, it is like bailing the Titanic with a thimble, and not likely to be successful.

I mentally prepare myself for the lack of information I am about to receive from the Call Center. Imagine my surprise when I reach a *gasp* helpful agent! His name is Phillip. I quiz Phillip for almost 45 minutes. He researches all my questions and takes at look at my file. He informs me that based upon my file, he thinks I should be eligible for a complete refund (less $75 processing fee that CIC keeps in any circumstance). He says that nothing has been processed on my file. He sees no notes on the medical exam either. I find this rather disturbing, that my file has been there for 16 months and some paper worshiping government employee took it out of one pile in Alberta and stuffed it into an envelope and whisked it away to another CIC office in Ontario where it sits unopened. I inform him that I had recently ordered my FOSS notes and I was curious if those notes would indicate the reason for this dreadful delay. He states frankly: 'No, the FOSS notes won't help you figure that out.' Phillip also kindly states that any request to withdraw and subsequent refund takes about 12 weeks. (I ponder this and come up with the formula of 12 weeks in CIC time equals about 1 year in Earth time, based on my experience.)

At this point, my husband and I have to determine what kind of gamblers we are. Do we withdraw an application that is, perhaps, ~5 months (November 2007) from being looked at in Ontario or do we withdraw the whole thing and start over in Buffalo which also seems to be running at about 5 months initial processing time? Other factors include the fact that the medicals would have to be redone ($600) and new fingerprints ordered from the FBI ($40 but at least 3 months of waiting time), and we would be out the application fees until CIC refunded the original fees, if they ever do. We mull this dilemma for a few days and elect to keep the original application going. Emotionally, I want to wrestle my file from the wretched, cold hands of the Alberta and Ontario CIC immigration officers while beating them with a wooden spoon, but we can't always have what we want, can we?