CIC Passport Submission

Receiving a PPR from CIC will not let us think twice to submit our passports, LOL. If only we did not received it on a Friday then maybe the next day, we went directly to VFS.Global Makati, Philippines (VFS.Global) to submit it. Imagine waiting for the PPR for how many days and months.

Anyway, VFS.Global is one of Canada's Visa Application Centres (CVACs) designated to accept applications for study permits, work permits, visitor visas and travel documents for permanent residents. I believe we fall on the highlighted and underlined words. So, VFS.Global Makati is located at:

Canada Visa Application Centre

VFS Service Phils. Pvt. Inc.

Mezzanine Floor Ecoplaza Bldg.

Chino Roces Ave. Ext.

Makati City, 1231 Philippines

Website: http://www.vfsglobal.ca/canada/Philippines/

So, last Monday, 14 March 2016, I went down from our province (Baguio City) to Manila to meet my husband to prepare our documents before submitting our passports to VFS.Global. I forgot to blog that I tendered my resignation last January and had my last day of work last 26 February 2016. As advised by our soon to be neighbor senior member in NB, fjd2011, I informed CIC via their Case Specific Enquiry (CSE) about my resignation and requested for a change of address since at first I opted to use my office address. I did not receive any confirmation from CIC but in our PPR letter, they have already used our home address. Thus, confirming our CSE for said resignation and change of address.

Going back, yesterday, 15 March 2016, we went to Great Image for our photoshoot, LOL. First, we printed the pdf specification which is attached as a link in our PPR letter. We told our official photographer, LOL, to strictly follow what is stated in the photograph specifications as shown below:

Note that our photographer was the one who printed the specifications needed at the back of our photos as shown above. So better check the details written there.

Afterwhich, we printed our PPR letter and filled up Schedule A (also attached in said letter), signed it and there, we have all the required documents as specifically stated by CIC in page 2, step 3, as follows:

Then today, 16 March 2016, we went to VFS.Global Makati to submit our passports for permanent resident visa stamping. Can you feel the excitement? LOL. Funny that I literally felt nervous the whole time we were at VFS.Global when all we have to do is submit our passports. Good thing the staffs there are all kind so the anxiety is much bearable. And oh, I was again teary eyed when we went out of said room. I am still overwhelmed with all that is happening and cannot still put in my mind that we are actually going to Canada. Thus, the explanation why I am too emotional. 

First, we have to pass on the guard who will tell you to "please surrender your bags to the baggage counter and only the required documents are allowed inside the vicinity of CVACs". We were charged P100.00 at the baggage counter. Secondly, we were directed to the CVACs room. Note that at VFS.Global, they cater visa applications to different countries and not only for Canada. At CVACs, the guard told us to switch off our cellphones and we have to show him we are turning off our phones, LOL. Thirdly, we were directed to the receptionist who will then, in our case, check on our PPR letter, Schedule A, passports and photos. She was telling us the kind of service they have but since our future neighbor member in NB, neilyong7, shared to us that they paid for P605.00 package which are:

1. P537.00 per passport - Secure transmission of passport to the Embassy of Canada in Makati City, Philippines upon request by visa office.
2. P68.00 per person - SMS notifications once our passports are ready for pick-up.

I told the receptionist right away that we wanted to pick-up our passports and we only wanted the package above, LOL.

There is no queue at CVAC. When the staff called us, we submitted only our PPR letter and Schedule A (2 copies each), photos (2 copies each) and passports. We have a brown envelope with us just in case they will ask for one but no need to bring one. They actually have a long and transparent plastic gray envelope (upper and lower are colored gray, LOL) and a colored pouch (I think) with a size of a letter envelope. The staff put our documents separately in two envelopes and zip locked it. He then printed our receipts plus I think barcodes which he put in each of our passports, then viola, we have submitted our passports in more or less 15 minutes. We paid for a total of P1,210.00 for their service. Below is the instruction once our passports are ready for pick up:

Thus, another waiting game for the both of us and hopefully all will go well on our PR visa stamping. Bye for now our passports, the next time we will see each other, you'll be more beautiful with a visa stamped on it.

Thank you again dear Father God for all the guidance You have given us throughout our Canada dream journey for our little R. All of these are not happening right now without You by our side.

CIC PPR

Please pardon me, this post will be very emotional.

Exactly ten days after our BG went to in progress, we finally received the golden email from CIC. Our PPR (passport request).

I received the golden email at a time when I am so busy with our high school grand reunion. I volunteered myself to be the head coordinator just to make an excuse of not checking our MyCIC from time to time but obviously I failed, LOL.

Here is the story. I always check our MyCIC for I do not know how many times in a day. Believe me, I wake up in the wee hours from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM just to check on our MyCIC. I tried to stop myself but I cannot hold it but opens it just to check for  a "new message". Not "updated" anymore, yes, because in my heart, I believe God has worked on our PR applications. My prayer to our Father God (because honestly there is so much anxiety in this waiting game) is for Him to please send the golden email to my personal mail if it is a PPR and not in our MyCIC. Still, as a human being, I open and ends up saddened every time I check on our MyCIC for any "new message" but none at all.

Today, I am in McDonalds ( a food chain here in our country) having lunch and waiting for my friend (a fellow coordinator in our reunion). While eating, I checked on our MyCIC for any good news but there is none. Then out of nowhere, after almost 30 minutes, a notification came. I saw it, it is the donotreply email address from CIC (I accidentally cancelled it because I am busy checking on my IG, LOL). Oh my, I sit straight, opened my yahoo mail and there is the donotreply email which I missed so much. Here it is:

Goosebumps to the highest level but inside me, I was so nervous. I managed to go to whatsapp and told my NB friends that I just received an email from CIC. Thank you to Globe for giving me an LTE connection and not just the 3G one so I went on to MyCIC. I am praying so hard during that time and PPR is the only thing on my mind because it was what I prayed for. The image below made me faltered for a while because I read first the "submitted" before the "new" under messages. See below:

After clicking on the "check status and messages", I saw a new date in our messages. I clicked on it, opened the pdf and oh my God. I did not read everything but scanned for anything that is familiar when it comes to PPR just like those that are shared in our group and in forums. I did not bother reading it but dialed my husband's number and I was crying at McDonalds (I do not care) because what registered on my mind is not snow or maple leaf or Canada but an image of a baby. It is actually coming just like what God has planned for me and my husband. Afterwhich, I called my mom and told her the good news. Then back to my duties as a coordinator. I need to finish everything because tomorrow will be our grand reunion.

Going back on the PPR letter, what I saw first is the highlighted 30 days and since I did not read properly, I am doubting now as I write, is it really the PPR? I will read and download the pdf for a while, LOL.

So, it is really the PPR, LOL. It is a 6 pages pdf letter from CIC. I will not attached page 6 because it is blank but here is our PPR letter:

It is much beautiful than my IELTS report.  It is indeed.

This afternoon when I got home, I prayed and thanked our Father God for the nth time. I cried again. I was so eager to go home to cry out all the anxiety, happiness and everything in our PR application which I kept in my heart since this lunch time. I called my husband again. We were talking about our little R. This is it, we are going to a place where we can fight and defeat infertility. A place where we can have a child. A place where we can be called mama and papa. A place where we can build and have our own family. Above all, a place prepared by our dear Father God for me, my husband and our little R.

I learned blogging because of our infertility ordeal. I blog because this is my only way to vent out all my feelings with us still childless for 7 years without hearing so many insensitive words from other people. I told myself, someday, when we come to reach the most coveted words "in God's perfect time", I will show all my blogs to our child. I will have him/her read all of it. How we struggled but most of all how we never lose our faith and hope that someday we will get to hold him/her in our arms.

Unknowingly, my one place of venting out all my emotions will become a source of inspiration and help to other applicants like me and my husband. To all my readers, I always say this, do not give up on your dream just like what we did. We have not yet achieved our dream but we are getting there. I know we have different stories but when you dream, strive hard to achieve it. No one says that your road will be easy, ours is a painful one, but we never lose hope and faith to our Father God. We breakdown, once in a while, but we stand again and we keep on fighting. Thus, keep on striving. Keep on believing. Keep on hoping. Keep on praying.

Here is our timeline in our PR application:

ITA: 12/18/2015
AOR: 12/28/2015
Schedule 4/4A: 12/31/2015
Medical Passed: 01/06/2016
BG 1st Update (Not Needed At This Time): 01/12/2016
RPRF Request for Payment: 01/26/2016
BG 2nd Update (In Progress): 03/01/2016
PPR: 03/11/2016
Exactly 2 months and 2 weeks

For our little R. I posted this on my infertility blog but this time I have a good answers to it all:

Indeed, love is blind because mama and papa loves you so much even if we do not know you yet physically but mentally and emotionally we have loved you so much. In God's most precious perfect time little R, we will come to cuddle, pamper and love you more with all our hearts. A little more little R. A little more. Winter is coming for you our little one. Thank you again dear Father God.

CIC Background Check Updated (Part 2)

Happy first day of March 2016. Indeed, what a happy first day of March.

So, in my previous post, I was just complaining about CICs ghost email, anxiety and stress. Guess what? I honestly cannot go over with it and constantly check on our MyCIC and my yahoo account, hoping and praying that said ghost email will also do magic in our PR visa application. In fact, I did not sleep well last night and even managed to check our profile this morning at around 4:30 AM. Okay, don't laugh, LOL.

This afternoon at past 2:00 PM, while I am at the hospital accompanying my dad in his regular dialysis, I checked our MyCIC and saw this familiar word once again, "updated". Oh my, another ghost email. Yes, that came first on my mind but my heart and mind says, Lord please. I took the courage to calmed down, a little, huh, and took the regular MyCIC selfie but cannot do the correct screenshot because I am using my phone only. Nevertheless, here is the screenshot:

Then I clicked on the "check status and messages".  Since, I have a low connection inside the hospital and the next page is loading very slowly, I closed my eyes and called our Father God. When I opened my eyes and scrolled down, boom, there goes the second update to our background check. Again, here is the not so good screenshot of my CIC selfie but has motioned me to jump on my feet and run as fast as I can to where my mother is. Then I hugged her so tight and told her our background check just went to in progress. We were both in tears of joy. Who would not be?

Then after gaining my composure, hahaha, like a beauty queen, I called my king and told him the good news. Yes, we are on LDR at the moment. We are overwhelmed with so much happiness. This only means we are closer to our little R. Just like what I have told my mom a while ago, our journey to Canada is really what God has planned for me and my husband. When we were having our work ups due to infertility, we always end up as one of the clapper even if all medicine intake is at maximum level. We were always lined up back at the end of the line. I am actually crying while writing this post.  In our journey to Canada, everything is just coming so fast. Thank you dear Father God.

Forgive me if I am very emotional. Anyway, as soon as I got hold of my ipad, I took another CIC selfie with HD equivalent hahaha. Just for me to post on this wall.

There you go it's posted. My evidence to CIC just in case they take the "in progress" back from us, LOL, smiley, smiley.

I am ending this post by saying that if you have a dream, chase it. No matter how rocky and painful the journey is, do not give up. Ask our Father God for guidance because humans will always come to a point that we give up. Pray even if you are hurting so much, talk to our Father God. He listens. For the past 7 years of being childless, all I ever say to Him is to hold my hand and never let it go. I always ask Him to help me stand and try again. Cry if you must but never let go of your dream. My husband and I has always dreamt of a child, our own family, which led us to our Canada dream for our little R.

So, hold on to your dream and never give up. It will come in God's most precious perfect time. A little more little R. A little more.