Discuss BCrabbit's Federal Skilled Workers USCIS Case

Hi
I bet it feels great to have been asked to update your documents. Can I be nosey and ask what documents you were asked to update. If you view my timeline under stef6262 in trackitt you will see that we are only a couple of months behind you, and I'd quite like to have everything ready if possible
Good luck with the rest of the process
Stef and Lins

Hi Stef and Lins

I have to say it feels amazing although for the first few days I was still checking the post on auto-pilot... it has taken a while to sink in!

As a minimum they have asked for;
Updated Immigration Application Form - NB this has changed from 2 years ago and now includes some similar information to Schedule 3
Updated Schedule 1s
Updated Schedule 3
Updated Police Certs
Updated Proof of Settlement Funds

As we have both changed jobs and been abroad in the last 2.4 years we are also having to update
Immigration Forms and Supplementary Forms
CVs
Job descriptions
And, although they haven't asked for this we are getting our photos redone as the requirements state they should be taken within 6
months.

Finally its worth noting that the police certs process seems to have changed (well for Hampshire anyway) and you now need to submit authorised photos (signed by doctor, magistrate etc)

You can really appreciate why they moved to the simplified application process!
Hope this helps - we are planning to move to Okanagan, BC...where are you guys off to?

best wishes
BC Rabbit

Hi
Thanks for that info. We are planning to go to a place called LaSalle in Windsor Ontario. It is just over the US border of Detroit. We did go to Calgary in July 07 as a comparison exercise and drove through the Okanagan area on our way to see friends in Abbotsford BC. Without doubt The Rockies and their various changes of face through our journey was simply stunning. We ruled out the area as a whole coz the prices of housing was double that in Windsor and the weather a tad unpredictable. In Windsor most homes have Air Con and swimming pools and get the 4 seasons. We are looking to build a house which has 4 bedrooms over 5 levels with a double garage and should pay in the region of $300,000. We looked at property in Calgary and couldn't match the value and the same went for BC.

We are really glad we submitted the full application form at the beginning, just imagine the panic to get it all together at this stage....at least the updated information won't be as difficult, especiall as for us not a lot has changed.
Good luck with the rest of the journey. Do you have friends, family or property in the Okanagan? What attracted you to that area?
Kindest regards
Stef and Lins

hello BC Rabbit,

Congratulations on getting your update letter! I doubt you'll see this message for a while now as you'll be busy getting all the documents etc sorted. Our AOR is 10 days after yours so as you can imagine my post checking is on hightened alert now!

Good luck with everything else,

Natasha (aka wife of Jonathan, who has more patience than me and doesn't check tracker every day!)

Hi Stef and Lins

Love the idea of building our own home, partly because the house prices are mucher higher in BC as you've noticed! We were originally looking at Vancouver but that was too scary in terms of house prices - we both would have needed high paid jobs and part of the reason for Canada was to get the jobs we wanted rather than the ones we needed. So looked in land and found the Okanagan Valley.

Visited in the summer and it was very mediterrean in feel around the lake, especially with all the vineyards - had to do a bit of wine tasting on the patio! also we are really keen skiers and there are 5 or 6 ski resorts within reasonable driving distance - a 'little' bit further and we can ski Jasper and Revelstoke.

The final tick in the box is that there seems to be a fair bit of land for sale so we can have the option of self build - have you seen this website http://www.orderhomeplans.com/exec/action/welcome/hspos/E249NET ? Its fab - loads of house plans - you can specify by bedrooms, patios, whether you want a fireplace or not and/or style/cost, bill of materials, copies of plans available, alteration service and case studies of people who have built their own house using these plans....

Makes a change from checking trackitt!!! Now off to Google Windsor Ontario as $300k is an absolute bargain!

BC Rabbit aka Cara!

Hi Natasha

Spent Sunday doing the documentation (7hours and a shortened temper afterwards!), police certs requested so hopefully will be able to get package number 2 off before the end of Feb.

In case it helps these were the links the letter contained to the new forms
www.canada.org.uk/visa-info/forms/skilled/e_skill.htm

Hopefully yours will be with you soon...

BC Rabbit (aka Cara whose husband is confused by my addiction to the bubbles game on muchmor.com!)

Hi Cara
E-mail me and I will let you see some pictures of where we want to go
[email protected]
Cheers
Stef and Lins
I have added the home plans site to my Favs....so thanks for that!!!!

You should be getting your letter soon, maybe it's arrived today??
AmandaUK

Doh! @ me!!! Should have checked your profile before sending that last post - you obviously got your 90 day letter already!! Sorry! Would you have a mo to check a couple of questions I posted on my profile about the docs requested in the letter?
Thanks!
AmandaUK

What happens next, do you know? Do you receive a letter from the Embassy asking you to get your medical(s), or is the interview first? I'd like to think, once you send off your updated documents, the process if pretty speedy? Relatively speaking at least!!
All the best
AmandaUK

re medical requests today: oh my god - how exciting!!! we sent our update docs back 2 weeks after you, i hope we hear soon too! i read somewhere that it pays to shop around for medical appointment because some quoted far less waiting times than others. i seem to remember reading that birmingham was quicker than london. depends whether thats convenient for you i guess - i'd go to lands end if it speeds things up! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Natasha (Jonathan's wife)

Hi Cara
Congrats on the med requests! Can you tell me, is there a list of approved Dr's who can carry out the required medicals? Do you know if we can find out in advance who we could go to and what needs to be done? I'd appreciate your reply, thanks.
AmandaUK

Hi Amanda, Natasha

I have used the list on the CIC website
http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medical.aspx

Select Europe/England
http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medicalinfo.aspx?CountryID=1872&ProvID=&CountryName=England&ProvinceName=

And it will give you a list of all the 20 or qualified doctors. We have one fairly near us in Winchester - am ringing them tomorrow so will post what information I get on this site and the timeframe we got for an appointment.

Also on the subject of getting prepared ...guess what more photos! Same regulations as last time but you need 3 each for the medical and a further 2 each when you get the request for passports (fingers crossed!) so definately worth getting them done all at once.

They are also requesting the right of permanent residence fee ($490 each for main applicant and partner) so am getting a bankers draft raised for this.

Also went into HSBC and got a Personal Account in Canadian dollars set up in the UK so we can start transferring funds before the exchange rate goes any further south. Service on the phones was pants apart from one chap who was exceptional and also the service at the branch was amazing - account set up in 20 mins and bank details in the post to me...definately worth a visit direct than trying to go through their frankly hopeless telephone process.

Will keep you posted on progress and may yours arrive soon -its small A5 brown envelope btw!
Rabbit

PS: Best way is to get your husband to jinx it... I did a project plan of all the stuff that needed doing before we went last week and had a major paddy that we could n't do it all in the autumn and by time we thought we would be leaving (Jan 2009). Hubby told me to chill, relax - 'hey, we've got all summer to go yet before we are able to do anything definate!' or similar words...! I could (actually, have) kissed him!

Hey there - thanks for all that, very helpful!! I'll look out for your next posting of valuable info! This is all very exciting, it IS going to happen before 2010 afterall!!!?!
AmandaUK

Could you email me direct ([email protected]) - I have a radio transcript about the Immigration process and backlog that you may find encouraging!
:-)
AmandaUK

Amanda, Natasha,

Great news on the medical front - we have one booked for next week - Amanada I will email you the details, Natasha if you post your email i will send them to you as well.

Rabbit

Hi, great that you got an appointment so soon!
my e mail is [email protected] we had checked the approved list on the website last week and phoned one near us today (just speculatively) - they charge £250 per person and first available appointment is may. i know it seems crazy to try and get ahead of ourselves (given that we haven't been asked to get them done yet!) but it makes the waiting game easier!!

natasha

congrats on getting your med requests. have you got arranged employment in canada? i was wondering if the stage between updating info and getting med requests is usually this quick or if it is because of some other reason. hope you dont mind me asking!! well done you, you lucky thing.

aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! we got our medical request today! thanks for your e mail too. have been in the pub celebrating, planning leaving do, getting stupidly excited............... getting meds done in 3 weeks as husband away for next 3 weeks (unfortunate coincidence). never mind - we're so happy to be getting closer to our long long long term goal!
natasha

Hi Natasha,

Congratulations!!! those little brown envelopes are just magic! We had ours done on Wednesday - took about an hour and they said the results would be forwarded to the embassy in about 4 working days.

Best wishes and enjoy the final push to the fun stuff...!

BC Rabbit

hi bc rabbit

i've noticed you haven't had your passport request yet. chc would have received our medical results on 29 may, we haven't recevied our passport request either. we e mailed them a while back - before getting our meds done to see if they could give us an indication of when we might have the entire process completed (i needed to know for work purposes). they responded to my e mail the following day by phoning us!! they said that all was fine, they were just waiting for our medicals. they asked when we were having them done and said, in that case you can expect to get your visa by the end of june. impressed by their speedy response we kind of expected to hear from them the first week in june but we haven't. i sent an e mail on 29th may but i'm going to e mail them again today.

natasha

Hi Natasha

I don't know what we are doing wrong - I email on the 26th May and have had nothing back except the automated email - Bob said he got an email within 5 days, eveyone else in April has already had their requests - we are really worried.

The 28 day deadline on the email response runs out next Tuesday so I don't want to trouble them with a followup email in case it sends us to the back of the queue!

Would love to hear what they respond to you!

kind regards
BC Rabbit

hi bcRabbit

CHC replied to my e mail today saying that a letter has been sent to us (yesterday) requesting passports!!! so it should be with us today or tomorrow. in the e mail they also attached a copy of the letter. hopefully you should have yours in the next day of two too. maybe they do them in batches.
waaahaay!!!
natasha

Hi Natasha

Sent an email yesterday after re reading your post and thought what the hell, I can only try - no response from CIC, just the automated email, we are losing hope.....

But fantastic news for you!!! Well done and go book those plane tickets....!!

BCRabbit

don't loose hope, i think that it's luck of the draw who you get processing your case. maybe the person doing ours is a bit quicker. re your e mail today: my husband jonathan has 10years experience in the travel / airline industry. he said i wouldn't touch globespan with a bargepole - they have a reputation for using very old aircraft and having frequent delays. they are mainly a holiday charter carrier who specialize in european destinations. they fly from gatwick once a week, and as mentioned, are known for delays and cancellations. their in flight service is basic.
scheduled airlines such as BA and Air Canada will always charge more for a one-way than a return. the cheapest returns will most probably be non changeable but some will be valid for a year. the standard cost to change the return date is £50. so if you think you're likely to come back within 12months it may be worth considering that. out of the 2 BA are better than air canada in terms of comfort on board, in flight entertainment, service etc.
zoom are a low cost carrier serving north america. they fly from cardiff (which we'll be doing) and gatwick. the advantage of using them is that they do good one-way fares and they do not have a rep for delays or poor aircraft. i know a few people who have used them and said that they were good for what you pay. you wont get the seat back tv's that BA do and you'll have to pay for alchohol but otherwise they are fine.

good luck!
natasha

So ... can you book an open-ended return flight, but I'm guessing from what you say it has to be taken within 12 months? I will be back and forth from time to time (elderly parents being the primary reason) so I know the flight would get used.
I have flown mostly with Air Transat - Economy is really grim, but Business Class was surprisingly pleasant and cheaper than BA etc, and from our perspective, it was an advantage that they fly direct Manchester to Toronto.
Cheers girls, we're getting closer!!!
AmandaUK

you would have to book a return date for within the 12 month period at the same time as actually making the original booking, you are not allowed to leave it open. if you wish to change that return date you can for the fee (but yes, only so long as within the 12month peiod). must get to bed now. i'm addicted to this bloody site and thinking of a million other things i need to search on the web (most of which do not need to be done this instant!). currently trying to work out leaving do invitations!
natasha

Hey fab news Natasha!!!

:-)

BCrabbit, excellent news, congratulations, we wish you all the best with the move and the start of a new life - go forth, enjoy and explore (o:

well done so pleased for you. have a great life. looking forward to being in the same boat!! vicki

Yes! you are absolutely right, Best post ever... Congratulations !!!
Candream.

Woweeee that's wonderful!!!
Keep in touch
AmandaUK

Hiya and a BIG CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Good luck with your exciting new future! What date are you flying? - Natasha

Well done you........
keep in touch.
What is the G2F form? Is it Goods to Follow?
lol
Stef