Urgent eDecision Required for Al-Assaf Family Sponsoship Application

Post date: Jan 24, 2018 2:21:18 AM

Hi everyone,

We received a response from Canada Immigration and it is not what we hoped for. They returned the whole application and they stated that we will need to resubmit everything and start back at zero.

Here is a capture from the email:

“As this application is incomplete, it is being returned to you in its entirety. If you have submitted a paper application, note that you should receive it in the mail within 5-10 business days.

Please do not reply to this email or submit the missing documents listed below UNLESS you submit them as part of a new and complete application. In other words, if you want to submit the missing documents or information indicated in the list below, you MUST submit an entirely new and complete application which requires all forms and documents.

X - Proof of Funds

Reasons for return:

X - Did not have last year’s audited financial statement for the CS **The submitted report has not been audited by an external party.”

This is despite the fact that we explained the situation and that we are looking for some clarification to what they need. Here is a capture of the email we sent at the time:

“Please note that the resubmitted files include the updated financial statement for our most recently completed financial year, 2016/2017. This financial statement was audited by two board members and presented and approved by the board at our Annual General Meeting on October 22, 2018. If the attached Financial Statement does not meet your requirements for an “audited financial statement”, please provide an exact definition of what you require. For example, do you require an independent audit by CPA? If that is the case, we will need an extension as we likely cannot meet the 30 day deadline because we will have to hire a CPA, they will need time to do the audit, and we are coming up on the holiday season, etc.”

We now have two options:

1. Abandon the effort and the application: no further action will be required other than informing the family about the outcome.

2. Resubmit or restart the application using one of the following options:

a. Contact our local MPs and try to get the case reopened. For this we will still need to produce an audited financial statement (cost will be between $3K-7K)

b. Resubmit our application from start: This will involve re-doing some of the forms and some additional expenses in Lebanon if we have to get some forms signed again. We will also need to produce an Audited Financial Statement (see estimated cost in 2.a).

c. Resubmit the application under an agreement holder organization (i.e. Catholic Social Services or Mennonite Central Committee). For this to work we will need to be accepted by one of these organizations.

i. Catholic and Social services: We will need a church that is willing to go into an agreement with us who trusts that we will provide the sponsorship funds. Something like a MoU will be needed between the two organizations.

ii. Mennonite Central Committee: We will need to submit an application online before Feb 4, 2018 (quick action needed). I talked to one of their staff members and she stated that last year they managed to accept only 10% of the submissions because they exceeded their quota. If successful, this option will expedite the results by 6 months and eliminate the need for the Audited Financial Statement.

I apologize for the lengthy explanation. I wanted to make sure you have all the data to provide an informed feedback. Options A and B or A and C can be executed in parallel. Due to the shortage of time we will need quick decision on how to proceed forward. Please reply to this thread in the INTRAnet with your comments and feedback.