Are we being screwed by the consulate or is this normal?

[Clayton]

My wife lodged her visa application personally at the consulate on July 15th , It's now been three months and I'm thinking any day now we can expect a call from them for an interview.
Two days ago i bought the subject up while chatting with Yan and she said be patient honey , the consulate told her it would take between six and nine months for her application to reach the top of the heap.

Well that bit of news spoiled the rest of my day, I'm sure it only took about three months last time. Hell I've got a mate in Adelaide who's wife was here only two months after she lodged her application.
Yan has a different case officer at the Guangzhou consulate this time ,witch I thought was a good thing as she would be less likely to be bias to our case.
I've tried to find in the forums some time frames you other blokes have waited, 6-9 months seems a long time to me.
What do you think?
Cheers
Leeroy

[Neil]

Try the Hong Kong Canadian embassy with a 19 month wait time.

[Clayton]

Ok, Thanks fellas, I'll pull me head in then

Leeroy

[Jason B]

Mate, different times for different cases.  However I would have suspected your wife would have had atleast a phone interview by now, or it maybe that times have changed with different Government policies.

On the positive side (if there is one) if they have not rung up atleast you can rest assured that there is no problem with the paperwork upto this point, provided you followed the application to the letter and the info on here.

As for the time they give you when Xia and I went to the Consulate in Guangzhou there was a sign there saying typical application time is 10 months.  When Xia saw this she asked me why and I replied that way if our case takes 6 months and someone elses takes longer they can not ring up and complain as they will then say but you were aware that it can take upto 10 months.  But then we got very lucky with our application approval time.

[David E]

Yep

They now quote 9 th 12 onths which is the standard answer.

It is very likely that they will have your application dealt with in total by this amount of time from your application...it is known as their internal KPI and is what they are judged on by the Higher -ups !!!

After interview...phone usually, thay can get real speedy with the issue of the visa...so dont get worried yet. As Jason said, they will be on to you pretty quick if they find any problems/errors in your paperwork.

Guangzhou are usually a lot quicker than Shanghai (where all us Sandgropers must submit our documents)

[john1964]

Hey Leeroy, I agree with the other guys here but I am also happy that from the date of lodging my wife's application in Shanghai , It only took seven weeks for our interview , Even though I have employed a Immigration lawyer I have still have had contact with Joyce Wang who is our case officer in Shanghai, She was a little surprised that i was taking my fourth trip to China in twelve months to be with my wife so she told me she would bring the interview forward to co-inside with my September visit.
I did meet two other Aussies in the consulate just before we had our interview and they were pretty pisses when i told them that we had only waited seven weeks as they had waited for nine months.
I was initially told that the whole process would take between nine and twelve months but after the interview Joyce told us that it take around another three months but i am not holding my breath, As Jason said, They are usually pretty quick to pick up on any problems with the application or any additional information that is required as they found a few minor issues with ours which were quickly corrected,notarized and translated, Good luck to you both, MinYing and John.

[Chong]

Try the Hong Kong Canadian embassy with a 19 month wait time.

I was fortunate to wait only 7 months before my wife got her Permanent Resident approval without an interview. It helped that I stayed/lived in China with her during the 7 months.

On the other hand, I helped a friend in Toronto who's trying to sponsor her husband. We submitted her application last February. She and her husband had their interview this Sept. ( only 7 months' waiting ). But her husband fucked up the interview questions. When asked the question about their future plans in Canada, he replied ... "I don't know". When the Officer said he'll think about their application, her husband merely replied ... "How long ?". He didn't try to argue for his marriage. They were denied based on the Visa Officer's opinion that their marriage isn't genuine. Now she has to file an appeal which can take up to a year. Plus, my friend has to hire an immigration consultant ( for the appeal  ) that belongs to an association approved by the Canadian government. This will cost $ 3,500.

In 2008, the Canadian Consulate denied 48% of applications.

[Arnold]

Wow .. Chong , that was a Costly slip of the Tongue for your Friend's Husband . I guess the nervous part got the best of him that day ? Sad !

[shaun]

Yes you are being screwed by the consulate and yes this is normal!

[Pineau]

Gee, and I thought it was just me. 

Sorry, It's really not funny. But I think (at least in America) one in 5 gets screwed by the immigration process and I don't see any rhyme or reason to it. I think they pick you at random. 

Ten years ago when I brought Jing over on a fiance' Visa my friends were waiting up to two years for approval. But somehow I got lucky. I applied for Jing's Visa in January and less that 4 months later (April 12th) she was standing in my living room in Colorado.

 Now this time with Fiona applying for a spouse VISA we have been waiting 7 months already and still no indication when it will be finished. I know it has reached the top of the queue twice and put back into the stack waiting for my response to request for evidence. Their last request was very specific and they only wanted to see one particular document and that document is on its way to the USCIS processing center. I am guessing another 60 days to reach the top of the stack again, so that would put it at 9 months just to get approval of my application. I don't know what else is coming or how long it will take.

So good luck to you man.. waiting sucks.

[Willy The Londoner]

Immigration departments are the same the Western World over.  It is far easier to find faults with paperwork of couples applying as they have to send so much in to these places. That way the officials can scour through them with a fine tooth comb to find the one minor point that will enable them to reject an application.

Then one more success is notched up!   You are giving them the ammunition when the real immigration cheats are staying hidden out of site, out of mind.  So you genuine applications are in the front line.

Willy