PAL Wait Time

[Sizotsm]

Hi All. This is my first post. I have been reading this forum for several months now and have found all the inputs shared by this group extremely useful. I am from Ontario. My NR-PAL was received in Mar 2022 and current status is "Initial Review Complete". As experienced by others I have emailed and called several times but in vain. Finally emailed to CFO-ON last week and followed up today and got a reply saying that my case is received by them but is not assigned a CFO yet and they cant provide a timeline. I am loosing my patience now. I check this forum several times a day and also my application status.

Don't know what to do next. Planning to email them again in a few days.

PAL's can take 1.5 years or more now, relax.

[rainbird]

I've emailed the AB CFO twice now, I don't expect I'll get a response, but I will post if I do. The whole thing is a joke, it'd be nice if the people who steal a quarter of my money can give me absolutely anything in return, can't even get the time of day out of these... people...

The last time I emailed the ABCFO, I got a response after exactly one month. The time before that, a few weeks.

They've had my application since March, 2022 and it still apparently has not been assigned to an officer. Their last email to me implied 16-18 months wait for reviews once assigned. I don't understand how that can possibly be, it seems just completely absurd.

Who is your MLA?

[Ryinski]

The last time I emailed the ABCFO, I got a response after exactly one month. The time before that, a few weeks.

They've had my application since March, 2022 and it still apparently has not been assigned to an officer. Their last email to me implied 16-18 months wait for reviews once assigned. I don't understand how that can possibly be, it seems just completely absurd.

Who is your MLA?

That's a crazy amount of time. I don't get why there's massive variations to the time frames people are reporting. I wish there was some transparency to this whole thing.b
My MLA is NDP �� don't know what he specifically thinks on this issue but I don't think I would be surprised.

[Sizotsm]

Don't mind me asking if your history is clean? I would assume you know, but if you have any boxes it takes much longer.

I've heard extreme cases of 3 years, though those are ofcourse rare.

[rainbird]

That's a crazy amount of time. I don't get why there's massive variations to the time frames people are reporting. I wish there was some transparency to this whole thing.b
My MLA is NDP �� don't know what he specifically thinks on this issue but I don't think I would be surprised.

Haha I understand but you should still reach out to them IMO. My NDP reps have been very sympathetic and are aggravated by the situation as well, because the ABCFO won't give them the time of day which annoyed them and made it more interesting for them. Made it personal maybe lol.

NDP or no, it's a government process not working like it should be and that's a non-partisan issue!

[Ryinski]

Haha I understand but you should still reach out to them IMO. My NDP reps have been very sympathetic and are aggravated by the situation as well, because the ABCFO won't give them the time of day which annoyed them and made it more interesting for them. Made it personal maybe lol.

NDP or no, it's a government process not working like it should be and that's a non-partisan issue!

Can't argue with that.

[HalRexnar]

Mailed application: 2022-09-08
Application received: 2022-09-15
Credit Card Charged: 2022-11-03
Still at "Completed Initial Review"

I had a couple of questions about what to do if I need to change my address during the process because I might be moving soon.
Couldn't get through to the CFP to ask, so I emailed my CFO who got back to me within an hour, and also offered (unprompted) to check on my application status again at the end of November and update me. SK CFO are far and away the most helpful bureaucrats I have ever interacted with.

[rohanrele]

PAL's can take 1.5 years or more now, relax.

Oh no! This is absolutely insane! I think I should then forget about this PAL thing looks like. Just getting very desperate now. Can anything be done to expedite this? I am going to email them every 15 days.

[thegazelle]

Mailed application: 2022-09-08
Application received: 2022-09-15
Credit Card Charged: 2022-11-03
Still at "Completed Initial Review"

I had a couple of questions about what to do if I need to change my address during the process because I might be moving soon.
Couldn't get through to the CFP to ask, so I emailed my CFO who got back to me within an hour, and also offered (unprompted) to check on my application status again at the end of November and update me. SK CFO are far and away the most helpful bureaucrats I have ever interacted with.

We are very similar in terms of processing times. Mine (restricted upgrade application) was received 9/21, card charged 11/8. Did they tell you where your current status is at?

Agree, provincial CFO's office replied to me quickly and gave me a current status even though the application hasn't gotten to them yet. They replied to my email within an hour or so. CFP has never replied to any email...

[bondylee]

I just called using general query, they just said in final review by CFO. when I call 7503 extension, no one answer and hangup after a few minutes.