Armed with the information posted on CIC's website and their current processing times, I leave the CIC Call Center alone for a few more months. Around comes October 2006 and having been sitting in Canada for over 1 year, I feel that about now, CIC should be doing more of their vodoo on my file.
I contact the Call Center on a weekly basis now. I ask benign questions like "What is the status?" and I always receive the same response: "We started processing your file in June 2006 and it is still in process." On one occasion, I venture a bit from the norm and inquire about an overpayment of fees.
I paid my fees in October 2005 (see: Going to the chapel and we gonna get married) according to the current fee schedule at the time. In May 2006, CIC announced that they cut their fee for permanent residence from $975 to $490 (see: CIC Reduction of Right of Permanent Residence Fee). I paid the $975 and hadn't received Permanent Resident status by their cut off date of May 3, 2006 making me eligible for the refund of $485. So I enter this conversation with my friendly paper worshiping Canadian government employee thinking it is a very simple thing, getting this refund. The nice CIC employee politely tells me that the refund is automatic and I will receive this refund when they have processed my file. Which begs the follow up question, "When will that be?" with the canned response: "Your file is in process and current processing times are 8 months." "But," I argue, "it has been 8 months." And still, I receive the same response: my file is still in process.
I leave all of these CIC Call Center phone conversations the same way: dejected and depressed. I learn nothing new with every phone call and my ECAS still shows the same information. My wiser-than-his-years husband advises me just to drop the issue; it will be over soon. He understands that I am not a happy person just playing housewife. I want to get a job, start looking at houses to buy, to basically get on with my life. But, wait more we do.
Showing posts with label processing times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label processing times. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Milk In A Bag
The clock started on my immigration process Feb 13, 2006. We had been very thorough in supplying everything that CIC (Citizenship & Immigration Canada) had requested. We, in fact, supplied more than they asked for as a 'just in case they want it later' approach. Everyone knows that government employees absolutely adore their paper.
So, according to the CIC website and their processing times (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res ) I have a few months to kill while I wait for them to even acknowledge receipt of our application. This the time that I feel I can relax a little and explore my new surroundings.
One of the oddest things I have come across here is milk in a bag. I had never seen or heard of it before. Even now, every day when I look in the refrigerator, I see it, and I am puzzled by it. You can buy milk in quart or pint cartons, or even those single serving plastic bottles that you find mostly in convenience stores. If you want to buy a larger quantity of milk, you have no other option than to buy it in bag format. I have pictures here in case you don't believe me.
The concept is, apparently, you buy a bag that has 3 1-liter bags of milk inside. You buy a special pitcher and you place the 1 liter bag of milk into the pitcher. You snip off a corner of the bag and pour the milk from the pitcher that holds the bag. I suppose you could just pour the whole bag into a different pitcher, but the pitcher that is designed to hold the bag will not hold the entire contents of one 1-liter bag. Try saying that 3 times fast.
I debate the 'greeness' of this type of packaging with myself all the time. Which is better for the environment? The one gallon milk jug, or the bag of milk and its 3 smaller inner bags. Not to mention, the grocery stores only have plastic bags here; those brown paper bags are nowhere in existence here. So besides the milk bag, the 3 smaller inner milk bags, there is the bag the grocery store gives you to carry the other bags in (5 bags in all for what amounts to 1 gallon of milk). I haven't won or lost the debate yet: it keeps raging on.
So, according to the CIC website and their processing times (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res ) I have a few months to kill while I wait for them to even acknowledge receipt of our application. This the time that I feel I can relax a little and explore my new surroundings.
One of the oddest things I have come across here is milk in a bag. I had never seen or heard of it before. Even now, every day when I look in the refrigerator, I see it, and I am puzzled by it. You can buy milk in quart or pint cartons, or even those single serving plastic bottles that you find mostly in convenience stores. If you want to buy a larger quantity of milk, you have no other option than to buy it in bag format. I have pictures here in case you don't believe me.
The concept is, apparently, you buy a bag that has 3 1-liter bags of milk inside. You buy a special pitcher and you place the 1 liter bag of milk into the pitcher. You snip off a corner of the bag and pour the milk from the pitcher that holds the bag. I suppose you could just pour the whole bag into a different pitcher, but the pitcher that is designed to hold the bag will not hold the entire contents of one 1-liter bag. Try saying that 3 times fast.
I debate the 'greeness' of this type of packaging with myself all the time. Which is better for the environment? The one gallon milk jug, or the bag of milk and its 3 smaller inner bags. Not to mention, the grocery stores only have plastic bags here; those brown paper bags are nowhere in existence here. So besides the milk bag, the 3 smaller inner milk bags, there is the bag the grocery store gives you to carry the other bags in (5 bags in all for what amounts to 1 gallon of milk). I haven't won or lost the debate yet: it keeps raging on.
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