Well, as "well" as it can be considering that we're facing yet another Christmas on two separate continents, complete with missing each other through family time and that general, romantic holiday spirit. Not complaining... this should be the last one!
Despite various potential obstacles being thrown our way, David and the kids were able to get their medicals done successfully last Thursday. The clinic staff isn't allowed to give them the results, but David was told that everything looks good. We weren't particularily worried, but it's good to have some verbal assurance. Blood and x-ray results are supposed to be back to the clinic for tomorrow, and the doctor said the whole package should be sent to the CIC medical processing centre in France on Wednesday. From there, everything will be analysed and entered into the CIC database, and the reports sent to the Accra visa office. We're not really sure how long that will take, since it's unclear how much of a delay the holidays will cause, but this is the last step (barring something unexpected coming up) and it seems reasonable to expect to hear something from Accra by the end of January - hopefully a request for David to come get his visa and traveling papers.
David was at the visa office today to drop off the updated documents that were requested with his medicals. We were fortunate not to hit any delays with those documents either - the Ghana Police Department first gave David December 31 as the earliest they could get his background check done. A few extra dollars in the hand of a friend bumped it up a couple weeks, hehe. In all, it took six days from the time David received the correspondence from the visa office to get everything done and together. I'm just hoping Immigration responds in kind.
For anybody wondering about baby news: Everything seems to be well. I had my ultrasound a couple weeks ago - Baby has all its parts and is moving around. We're waiting until he/she comes out to find out whether this is a son or a daughter. I'm doing well; tired, but feeling good for the most part. And isn't being 'tired' a permanent state for the next 20 years anways? I have another doctor's appointment in early January; I'll get to hear what the doctor thinks of the ultrasound results then. Baby has been doing somersaults and tap-dancing, getting more and more active for longer periods. I've also been able to feel the occasional kick on the outside. We're just hoping David gets here before he misses too much more.
This will probably be the last update for 2009; I don't forsee anything happening Immigration- or Baby-wise in the next couple weeks. So Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year to all. May 2010 prove to be as bright as it's looking right now!
Monday, 21 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Step-by-Step
We're finally moving forward with this thing! And finally having something to do other than sit and wait.
David, at long last, received his medical redo forms today. With those in hand, and the other preliminary inquiring he's done, we're hoping to have everything that the visa office requested submitted to them by Monday, December 21. For a few days, I hadn't thought we would get anything done before Christmas, but it's looking like all our documents should be ready and waiting when the Immigration staff get back from their holidays. Hopefully there won't be too much of a delay and David will be able to get his visa by the end of January.
Not too much of an update, but it's something. I'm excited, anyways!
David, at long last, received his medical redo forms today. With those in hand, and the other preliminary inquiring he's done, we're hoping to have everything that the visa office requested submitted to them by Monday, December 21. For a few days, I hadn't thought we would get anything done before Christmas, but it's looking like all our documents should be ready and waiting when the Immigration staff get back from their holidays. Hopefully there won't be too much of a delay and David will be able to get his visa by the end of January.
Not too much of an update, but it's something. I'm excited, anyways!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
More good news!
After not hearing anything from CIC regarding our file's bring-forward date, which was November 29, I contacted Al from the MP's office to do another inquiry. I appreciate him so much; like I've said many times, he is the only government-connected person (not sure how else to phrase that, hehe) so willing and eager to help, the only one who seems actually concerned about our file, that I've met in this entire ordeal. I'm afraid I would still be despairing of ever hearing anything if I had not been connected with him.
Anyways, he got back to me yesterday with the result of his conversation with the Minister's office. Our file was actually looked at before the bring-forward date, on the 23rd. Everything in the file was approved on that date, and a request and forms sent to David for him to have his expired medicals and police record redone. David has been checking the post office for the forms as he's unable to do the medicals without those specific forms, but so far we have not received them. I think he may go directly to the High Commission later this week to get copies so that we can have the medicals in the system before Christmas. After he has his exam done, the doctor who does it will send the results to a central data-gathering office that will then enter the results into CIC's system and send them to the Accra office. David will have to drop off the receipt from the medical and his new police record at the Canadian visa office. (Tangent: Ironically, since he's dealing with Ghanaian officials to get his police record, that is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest thing to do in this whole process. What's this about African inefficiency?!) After the medical is done and documents dropped off at the visa office, we're back to waiting. Not enjoyable, but something we're pretty good at. There will be a delay because of the Christmas holidays (I think the High Commission was closed for more than two weeks last year over the holidays), but hopefully within a month and a half, David will be able to go get his visa!
Unless something else comes up to delay things, it looks like we're almost done!
Anyways, he got back to me yesterday with the result of his conversation with the Minister's office. Our file was actually looked at before the bring-forward date, on the 23rd. Everything in the file was approved on that date, and a request and forms sent to David for him to have his expired medicals and police record redone. David has been checking the post office for the forms as he's unable to do the medicals without those specific forms, but so far we have not received them. I think he may go directly to the High Commission later this week to get copies so that we can have the medicals in the system before Christmas. After he has his exam done, the doctor who does it will send the results to a central data-gathering office that will then enter the results into CIC's system and send them to the Accra office. David will have to drop off the receipt from the medical and his new police record at the Canadian visa office. (Tangent: Ironically, since he's dealing with Ghanaian officials to get his police record, that is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest thing to do in this whole process. What's this about African inefficiency?!) After the medical is done and documents dropped off at the visa office, we're back to waiting. Not enjoyable, but something we're pretty good at. There will be a delay because of the Christmas holidays (I think the High Commission was closed for more than two weeks last year over the holidays), but hopefully within a month and a half, David will be able to go get his visa!
Unless something else comes up to delay things, it looks like we're almost done!
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
News already!
Yes, updating two days in a row... pretty amazing, I know. Actually, I'm having problems sitting still from excitement. However, I've told a bunch of people about this now, so I'm starting to calm down a little.
I got a call from Al at Sukh Dhaliwal's office this afternoon. I was surprised to hear from him so soon, since I just talked to him yesterday, but, hey! I'm not going to complain! (It's not like anybody else is really good at getting/giving information quickly. Or, at all.) Kudos yet again to those wonderful people! It seems that he had a little chat with someone from "the Minister's office" (I'm assuming the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), and was finally able to get some information about our file! The interview that should have been done to determine the validity of our marriage has been waived - which means we satisfied them of our genuine marriage with the proof offered in the application and since. However, I had thought that's what David's March interview was; I've never heard of someone having two interviews unless there was a refusal and appeal in between, so I have no idea if there was a mistake made in our processing or what happened. Anyways, we don't have to worry about it since they've waived that second interview. Yay! I'm not sure if David could handle the stress of another one like the last one. It also looks like David's security/background check has been completed, which is usually one of the last steps in this process, and CIC seems to have all the information they need. The bring-forward date on our file is now November 29. That's a Sunday, so obviously we're not going to hear anything on that exact day, but I don't think it's unrealistic of us to expect to get some correspondence from CIC the first week of December.
Here's what I understand should happen next: Soon after our bring-forward date, Accra makes a *postive* decision, David gets a package in the mail from CIC-Accra with medical re-do forms, goes and gets his medicals done, and leaves the forms with the doctor, who sends them to a CIC office in Paris, France, either via CIC-Accra or directly (Not sure exactly how that works). Medical re-dos are said to get top priority at the processing facility in Paris, so hopefully within three or four weeks of receipt, David's medical information will be entered into the CIC database and an Immigration officer will access and assess them. Everything will be a go, and David will get a long-awaited email to bring his passport and receive his visa on any Monday after the letter is received. He will then have to wait at the High Commission all day (6 to 8 hours seems to be the recent processing times from what I've heard) to receive his traveling documents (I think I've seen a list of what all this includes, but can't think of everything off the top of my head) and a visa-stamped passport. I also forget how long the visa is good for; either three months or six months from the date he receives it. From there, he's free to come to Canada, provided he arrives before his visa expires (trust me, he'll be here ASAP). He will have to go through Customs and a landing interview with Immigration upon arriving in Canada, but I don't think there will be anything to cause problems in the landing interview unless he suddenly forgets his name, age, wife's name, the country she lives in... things like that. In which case, I think they'll probably stick him on the next plane back to Ghana. Hehe. And no, that would not be funny or ironic in the least. Please do not laugh if such a thing happens.
Now, IF everything goes like this (minus the amnesia and being sent back to Ghana), it's very possible that I could leave behind this "single married" status by late January/early February. I hate to get too excited because this whole process has been so unpredictable and delayed. But, yes, I am just a little excited. Having heard SOMETHING after eight months of silence from CIC is incredible. So here's us eagerly waiting for the next three weeks, just IN CASE there isn't a delay and we get something from CIC.
I got a call from Al at Sukh Dhaliwal's office this afternoon. I was surprised to hear from him so soon, since I just talked to him yesterday, but, hey! I'm not going to complain! (It's not like anybody else is really good at getting/giving information quickly. Or, at all.) Kudos yet again to those wonderful people! It seems that he had a little chat with someone from "the Minister's office" (I'm assuming the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), and was finally able to get some information about our file! The interview that should have been done to determine the validity of our marriage has been waived - which means we satisfied them of our genuine marriage with the proof offered in the application and since. However, I had thought that's what David's March interview was; I've never heard of someone having two interviews unless there was a refusal and appeal in between, so I have no idea if there was a mistake made in our processing or what happened. Anyways, we don't have to worry about it since they've waived that second interview. Yay! I'm not sure if David could handle the stress of another one like the last one. It also looks like David's security/background check has been completed, which is usually one of the last steps in this process, and CIC seems to have all the information they need. The bring-forward date on our file is now November 29. That's a Sunday, so obviously we're not going to hear anything on that exact day, but I don't think it's unrealistic of us to expect to get some correspondence from CIC the first week of December.
Here's what I understand should happen next: Soon after our bring-forward date, Accra makes a *postive* decision, David gets a package in the mail from CIC-Accra with medical re-do forms, goes and gets his medicals done, and leaves the forms with the doctor, who sends them to a CIC office in Paris, France, either via CIC-Accra or directly (Not sure exactly how that works). Medical re-dos are said to get top priority at the processing facility in Paris, so hopefully within three or four weeks of receipt, David's medical information will be entered into the CIC database and an Immigration officer will access and assess them. Everything will be a go, and David will get a long-awaited email to bring his passport and receive his visa on any Monday after the letter is received. He will then have to wait at the High Commission all day (6 to 8 hours seems to be the recent processing times from what I've heard) to receive his traveling documents (I think I've seen a list of what all this includes, but can't think of everything off the top of my head) and a visa-stamped passport. I also forget how long the visa is good for; either three months or six months from the date he receives it. From there, he's free to come to Canada, provided he arrives before his visa expires (trust me, he'll be here ASAP). He will have to go through Customs and a landing interview with Immigration upon arriving in Canada, but I don't think there will be anything to cause problems in the landing interview unless he suddenly forgets his name, age, wife's name, the country she lives in... things like that. In which case, I think they'll probably stick him on the next plane back to Ghana. Hehe. And no, that would not be funny or ironic in the least. Please do not laugh if such a thing happens.
Now, IF everything goes like this (minus the amnesia and being sent back to Ghana), it's very possible that I could leave behind this "single married" status by late January/early February. I hate to get too excited because this whole process has been so unpredictable and delayed. But, yes, I am just a little excited. Having heard SOMETHING after eight months of silence from CIC is incredible. So here's us eagerly waiting for the next three weeks, just IN CASE there isn't a delay and we get something from CIC.
Monday, 9 November 2009
The Big Announcement
Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. I know what I REALLY want to be announcing. It's not that, but this is almost as good, trust me. Being the odd little person I am, I really wanted a more original way of doing this. I have tried, and failed, to be original in announcing this at any of the opportunities I've had. Well, so be it, I guess. Maybe next time...
So, if you haven't figured it out already, the big news is... that David and I are expecting a little addition to our family in late April 2010. It's unfortunate that I don't get to see your reaction; I've had everything from gasps and "you're kidding, right?!" to "oh, I knew this was going to happen as soon as you said you were going to Ghana," along with the usual grins and hugs, and Charles' confusion: "A baby's going to have Larita!" David and I have told close friends and family, as well as my employer, but were waiting until I really start showing before it becomes common knowledge.
We realize that this is a very unstable and uncertain time in our life to be starting a family, but, really, how much longer are we expected to wait? Our lives have been completely on hold for the last year and a half. Though this baby wasn't really planned for, we are both thrilled that it's coming and that we can feel like we've actually taken a step forward in our lives. However, I'm not quite in the position of feeling anxious to meet our little one; I wouldn't mind being pregnant until David gets to Canada, no matter how long that takes :D
For those of you who are wondering about details, my exact due date is April 24th. I'm just through my first trimester and, so far, have had an easy, trouble-free pregnancy. I've had my share of nausea, loss of appetite, headaches, tiredness, soreness - enough that I'm glad that part seems to be over with - but nothing serious. I've had my first doctor's appointment and everything seems to be progressing normally. However, I haven't had my ultrasound (another month before that happens), and haven't heard back on the results of my blood tests yet. I have another doctor's appointment in two weeks, and I'm sure if anything else has come up since the last one, I'll hear about it. Other than that, there's not much going on. I do have a bit of a bump now; it comes and goes, so seems to be mostly fluid. However, enough that I've had to pack up my pre-pregnancy pants and find some with elastic waists :D I could go on and on with all the little changes I've noticed, but, really, does anybody need that much detail? I guess if you do, feel free to email me!
I'm sure there will be more pregnancy/baby updates as they become necessary - pregnancy is actually fairly uneventful. And I sure hope there will be some updates as far as Immigration goes. I have contacted the MP's office again today to have another inquiry done, but not getting my hopes up that anything will have changed. After all, nothing has changed since last March, so....
So, if you haven't figured it out already, the big news is... that David and I are expecting a little addition to our family in late April 2010. It's unfortunate that I don't get to see your reaction; I've had everything from gasps and "you're kidding, right?!" to "oh, I knew this was going to happen as soon as you said you were going to Ghana," along with the usual grins and hugs, and Charles' confusion: "A baby's going to have Larita!" David and I have told close friends and family, as well as my employer, but were waiting until I really start showing before it becomes common knowledge.
We realize that this is a very unstable and uncertain time in our life to be starting a family, but, really, how much longer are we expected to wait? Our lives have been completely on hold for the last year and a half. Though this baby wasn't really planned for, we are both thrilled that it's coming and that we can feel like we've actually taken a step forward in our lives. However, I'm not quite in the position of feeling anxious to meet our little one; I wouldn't mind being pregnant until David gets to Canada, no matter how long that takes :D
For those of you who are wondering about details, my exact due date is April 24th. I'm just through my first trimester and, so far, have had an easy, trouble-free pregnancy. I've had my share of nausea, loss of appetite, headaches, tiredness, soreness - enough that I'm glad that part seems to be over with - but nothing serious. I've had my first doctor's appointment and everything seems to be progressing normally. However, I haven't had my ultrasound (another month before that happens), and haven't heard back on the results of my blood tests yet. I have another doctor's appointment in two weeks, and I'm sure if anything else has come up since the last one, I'll hear about it. Other than that, there's not much going on. I do have a bit of a bump now; it comes and goes, so seems to be mostly fluid. However, enough that I've had to pack up my pre-pregnancy pants and find some with elastic waists :D I could go on and on with all the little changes I've noticed, but, really, does anybody need that much detail? I guess if you do, feel free to email me!
I'm sure there will be more pregnancy/baby updates as they become necessary - pregnancy is actually fairly uneventful. And I sure hope there will be some updates as far as Immigration goes. I have contacted the MP's office again today to have another inquiry done, but not getting my hopes up that anything will have changed. After all, nothing has changed since last March, so....
Thursday, 29 October 2009
I'm obviously forgetful
I realized the other day that I never followed up with the response we got from Sukh Dhaliwal's office at the beginning of the month. Unfortunately, as helpful as his staff is (Al, the guy helping me out, actually took the initiative to call me as soon as they heard back on their inquiry!), CIC is not overly helpful. We received the same response as we did to our inquiry in May. Four months later, they're still expecting to reach a decision "very soon." So, there seems to be nothing to do but sit and wait some more. Fortunately, it seems we're getting pretty good at that. Dhaliwal's office asked me to contact them in a month's time (I'll be calling them next week) if we hadn't heard anything so that they can do another inquiry for us. I may possibly be able to convince them to get an answer directly from the Accra office, rather than going to the database in Vegreville, AB. And since foreign offices are required to get back to MP inquiries, we might actually be able to hear something helpful!
(Ironically, despite going in personally to see my local MP's staff the same day I called Dhaliwal's office, asking them [read: forcing them] to do an inquiry, and asking to have the email response forwarded to me, I have yet to hear anything from them at all. So much for being concerned about the concerns of their constituents.)
(Ironically, despite going in personally to see my local MP's staff the same day I called Dhaliwal's office, asking them [read: forcing them] to do an inquiry, and asking to have the email response forwarded to me, I have yet to hear anything from them at all. So much for being concerned about the concerns of their constituents.)
Friday, 2 October 2009
Here we are in October...
While I was in Ghana and we visited the Canadian visa office there, we were told that we should expect to hear from them by September and if we hadn't, then we should start making enquiries. After I recovered from my astonishment at actually being told BY Immigration Canada to MAKE ENQUIRIES, I was more than happy to follow those directions. So, September 30, I dropped by the local MP's office to have them make an enquiry for me (since Accra stopped responding to my personal enquiries several months ago). Not surprisingly, since this office has never been overjoyed about helping me out before, they were rather reluctant to help out. The woman even said, "well, maybe we should wait a few days, until the end of the month." Um, excuse me, but did I look at my calendar wrong? Does September not have only thirty days? And if these people have had three and a half months to get me a response to some submitted documents and haven't done it by now, why on earth would waiting another few days make a difference?
Yes, I got a little bit in her face.
I was then rather hautily dismissed from her presence, and while she agreed to do the enquiry, she sure didn't agree to do it cheerfully.
I've read through the CIC operational manuals available on their website, and, as far as I can figure, according to their own guidelines, we're due, even slightly overdue, for a final decision on this application. I would have been happy to point that out at the MP's office and ask them to challenge the visa office on why they're not adhering to their own rules, but with the prompt dismissal I received, I figured that the staff working for my MP (and from his well-known reputation, the MP as well) really couldn't care less.
So I picked up the phone and called the closest MP of the opposing party. And had a wonderful conversation with the first government-related person in this entire process who actually wants to help me: one of the staff working for Sukh Dhaliwal's local office in Surrey, BC. I will tout this guy's name for all it's worth just for the fact that they were polite to me on the phone, interested in my situation, had a desire to help, and made an enquiry with CIC's main database without me even having to ask. And if these people come through on their words ("I will personally pursue this until it's resolved."), I'm thinking I just might send them chocolate every week, possibly for the rest of my life.
Not much of an update, but right now, we're taking everything we can get in order to stay positive. I'm just looking forward to next week, when we'll hear the response to the enquiries and hopefully find out exactly what is going on with our file.
Yes, I got a little bit in her face.
I was then rather hautily dismissed from her presence, and while she agreed to do the enquiry, she sure didn't agree to do it cheerfully.
I've read through the CIC operational manuals available on their website, and, as far as I can figure, according to their own guidelines, we're due, even slightly overdue, for a final decision on this application. I would have been happy to point that out at the MP's office and ask them to challenge the visa office on why they're not adhering to their own rules, but with the prompt dismissal I received, I figured that the staff working for my MP (and from his well-known reputation, the MP as well) really couldn't care less.
So I picked up the phone and called the closest MP of the opposing party. And had a wonderful conversation with the first government-related person in this entire process who actually wants to help me: one of the staff working for Sukh Dhaliwal's local office in Surrey, BC. I will tout this guy's name for all it's worth just for the fact that they were polite to me on the phone, interested in my situation, had a desire to help, and made an enquiry with CIC's main database without me even having to ask. And if these people come through on their words ("I will personally pursue this until it's resolved."), I'm thinking I just might send them chocolate every week, possibly for the rest of my life.
Not much of an update, but right now, we're taking everything we can get in order to stay positive. I'm just looking forward to next week, when we'll hear the response to the enquiries and hopefully find out exactly what is going on with our file.
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