Even more mail from CIC

Wow, those paper worshiping government employees at CIC are now working overtime on my case. Too bad they couldn't have done this, say ummmm, when I actually applied for the immigration 2 years ago. I withdraw the statement as I forgot who I was talking about.

November 16, 2007

Dear Ms. CXXXX & family

This is in reference to your application for permanent residence under the Spouse or common-law partner in-Canada class, received at our Central Processing Centre-Vegreville on 15Feb'2006.

We have received the correspondence dated 19Sep'2007, from yourself and your sponsor, MXXXX CXXXXX, indicating your sponsor's desire to withdraw or cancel the Undertaking he submitted on your behalf. His request is accepted and a copy our letter to him is attached.

I noted that you also have requested withdrawal of your application for permanent residence and indicate that it is your intention to leave Canada. As such, no further action will be taken on your application for permanent residence.

As you are currently in Canada without Immigration status, you are required to verify your departure from Canada. Please submit the attached Voluntary Departure Letter, for yourself and your son, to the Immigration authorities at your port of exit from Canada. Failure to verify your departure could result in you becoming the subject of a report under section 44 of the Immigration Act.

The cost recovery fee of $700 that was paid on this application is non-refundable. The Right of Permanent Residence fee in the amount of $975.00 will be refunded to your sponsor as he was the payee. This process has been refered to our Vegreville office as that office recieved the original payment.

The client number in the upper right corner of this letter is your personal identification number and it provides access to information on your file. For your own protection, do not allow any other person to use this number. If you require any further information, please contact our Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100.

Yours truly,

D.M.Salmon
Immigration Officer
Citizenship & Immigration Canada
5343 Dundas Street West
Etobicoke ON M9B 6K5

cc: my spouse

Where to start with this.... First, the fees were charged on my card, not my husband's. My daily card limit is at $1,800 while my husband's was at $1,000, so we opted to use mine. No matter, we have a joint account and the measly refund will go directly in our savings account to be used on our soon-to-be house.

Secondly, I left Canada in September 2007. Kind of hard now to provide this form they want. I am debating calling the Call Centre and informing them of such, but as is the completely inefficient CIC way, their toll-free number doesn't work outside of Canada and I do not feel like putting one more ounce of money (long distance fees) or time (an hour on hold is fairly average) into this process.

Thirdly, CIC will not issue refunds outside of Canada. So, if I give them my true and correct address in the U.S., I do not get a refund. Go figure this logic out, someone, and get back to me because I just cannot get my mind wrapped around it.

My husband's correspondence is nearly identical to mine with a few minor and unimportant changes so I will not bother with it.

The form they want to me to have completed is an IMM 5021. It just requires me to sign it and for some immigration officer to verify my airline flight number, date and time of departure and location of departure. So, bring on the report under section 44 of the Immigration Act and let us see if these officers can reach me here in the U.S. is what I am thinking now. I certainly won't make any effort to have it completed anytime before the Right of Landing Fee has been deposited and cleared our bank account.

Yippee! More mail from CIC

It appears that the one sure fire way to get a response from CIC, since it isn't by filing an immigration application, is to withdraw an application. I received this letter recently:

16 November 2007

This refers to your request for a refund of fees paid for Right of Permanent Resident Fee.

A refund in the amount of $975.00 has been requested. This refund cheque will be sent to the original payer of the fee who in this case is your sponsor MXXXXX CXXXXX.

The client number shown in the upper right corner of this letter is your personal identification number. This number provides access to information on your file and for your own protection you should not allow any other person to use it. If sending correspondece to Citizenship and Immigration Canada please include your personal identification number. Failure to include this number could result in the return of your correspondence unanswered.

Please note that if another person has paid the fee on your behalf, the reufnd will be issued to that person.

If you require further assistance, please telephone the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Call Centre, toll-free at 1-888-242-2100 and be prepared to quote your client number and your date of birth. General information and application kits may also be obtained throught our Internet Web site at http://www.cic.gc.ca.

Please notificy this office, in writing, or any Citizenship and Immigration Call Centre, by telephone, of any change in your address.

Yours truly,

Officer LWE/CSU
Case Processing Centre
Vegreville, Alberta

Very disappointing, but not unexpected, indeed.

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?