This is one of the most testing times to manage. You will be anxious and nervous and you may be spending too much time and attention in checking your application status every day. After all, you spent so much time and effort giving your language test, getting an education assessment, getting an ITA and submitting such a big application. It can be nerve wracking thinking about what’s happening with your application when there is a radio silence from IRCC and all you hear is crickets!
Well, there is nothing that you can do now about your application. You did what you could and now you just have to wait for the IRCC to announce whether they approve your application or not or if they want some documents from you. If you know that you submitted all the right documents, then you should not worry too much.
How long does it normally take
IRCC claims to process 80% cases within 6 months of Acknowledgement of Receipt (AoR) but not all applications are processed at the same speed. Some get their PR within 2 months and some have to wait for more than 6 months. This uncertainty is what makes people anxious. A lot of your decisions go in a limbo because you don’t know when you will receive your PR. What if you are not happy with your job and you know that you will get your PR soon but what if it takes 8 months? Should you change or not? Or what if you are getting a new job in a different city. Is it worth all that effort? It all depends on how long it takes to get your PR and unfortunately, you will have no idea about that.
Both of our applications were processed at exactly the same time, that is in just 4 months and 20 days. We applied individually as singles but we got it at the same time which worked in our favour.
Checking your application status
You will be able to check the status of your application as it passes through different stages in IRCC’s online portal. At one point you will see the results of your medical exam and background check. Depending on your country, you will also receive a request for biometrics during this period. A lot of times, IRCC does not update the portal. Your background check may have been completed a long time ago but it may still show as pending. So, don’t take that status too seriously and don’t worry if you don’t see any movement there. Things are quietly progressing in the background without you knowing it.
What can you do during this wait
Instead of worrying, you can do a lot of useful things that will add some value to your life. Most of these suggestions are applicable for FSW applicants. The CEC applicants who are already in Canada will have a lot of different things to manage.
To spend this time well, you can:
1. Connect with people
Make connections with others who have applied for PR around the same time as yours. Sometimes, having more people in the same situation helps relieve stress because you know you are not the only one waiting for it. There are various forums and networking groups on social media that can help you connect with others.
2. Learn more about Canada
If you are an FSW applicant, Canada is a new country for you. If you are planning to spend the rest of your life in a new country, you better start learning about it now. The time will fly before you know it. Once you get PR, you won’t get time to do this because you will get so busy packing your bags, saying goodbyes, etc.
3. Spend time with friends and family
Once you move to Canada, you won’t be able to meet your loved ones that often. It’s hard to take an international flight every 6 months. Your visits to your home country may happen only once in a year or two. So all those people you wanted to spend time with but were too busy, meet them now before you regret later!
4. Explore your home country
This may sound weird at first but once you realize that you will get only 3 weeks of vacation in a year when you start working in Canada, it will be hard to spend a lot of time in your home country. Let’s say you spend 1 week on vacation elsewhere and you keep 2 weeks for travelling to your home country. Do you think your friends and family will be happy when you visit them once a year for only 2 weeks and you don’t spend all that time with them? It will be hard to travel anywhere once you visit your home country unless you can manage their expectations. So this is the time when you can go for that road trip you always wanted to with your friends.
5. Explore career opportunities
Based on our experience, some people in the IT industry manage to get a job before getting their PR. But most of the other applicants can find a job only once they land in Canada because the employers want to conduct a face to face interview before offering you a job. You can spend this time exploring the online job sites such as ca.indeed.com and see what kind of qualifications and experience they are looking for in your industry.
Check if there are any courses or certifications available that will increase your chances of getting hired. Explore how to find a job in Canada and sharpen your interview skills. You can also connect with others who may have recently landed or who may be in your industry or field of work, which may help you once you land.
6. Order GCMS Notes
IRCC uses Global Case Management System (GCMS) to process immigration and citizenship applications. By ordering GCMS notes for a fee, you can get details about your application, notes made on your file by the case processing officers and other relevant information.
Only Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada or an individual or corporation currently in Canada can request for information from IRCC under the Access to Information Act. There are various agencies that can get this done while you are still waiting for your application to be processed. We got this done through an agency we found on Google because we just didn’t have enough patience.
But we recommend waiting for at least 6 months. If your application is still under process, go ahead and do it as it may help you understand the reason for delay, and tell you if there is any issue with your application. Ordering them won’t speed up your application but it may reduce your anxieties.
What you should not do during this time
There are some things that people do and you too will do it probably but you can try to consciously avoid doing them, such as:
1. Comparing with others
Some of the applicants will get PR sooner than you do. Some of them would have applied after you but may still end up getting it before you. Just think that they are luckier than you and life is not always fair and move on. On the other hand there will be people who will be worse off than you. Those who got it sooner doesn’t mean they were better or their applications were gold plated. Processing time can depend on many factors such as which office is processing your application, how many documents are there in your application, how much you have travelled, the immigration officer working on your file and so on.
2. Checking your application status every day
You should not worry about your application if it’s been under 6 months since you applied. Checking the status every day won’t speed it up. There is nothing you can do so just forget about it. No news is a good news when it comes to a PR application. We too were anxious about ours but we got it in 4 months and 20 days. It felt like years to us because we were getting too anxious about it. Finally everything ended up well.
3. Not preparing for your arrival
If you are an FSW applicant, then you are coming from outside of Canada and you cannot waste this time. If you don’t start learning about the country or your job market, you will fall behind many other newcomers who will have a headstart over you. It took us a few months after coming here to realize how important the CHRP certification is for an HR professional in Ontario. Trisha is an HR professional and she could have started preparing for her certification before arriving which could have landed her an HR job even sooner.
What if something changes after you submit your application
If anything changes such as your passport number, or your address, or if you get married, or you have a baby in this period, you will need to let IRCC know. If there is an addition to your family, IRCC will include them in the PR application process as well. Not updating IRCC may lead to rejection of your application.