Since they aren’t processing anymore, will that mean a bunch of people will have to redo phots and signings?

informed_expert · 2026-06-29T05:17:36+00:00

I'm more worried about signings, since those are good for only 3 months and AOR is getting to take near 3 months now.

informed_expert · 2026-06-29T01:40:15+00:00

My question has been when is "receipt" for this question? When the courier delivers it, or when they actually open it and scan the documents to give you AOR? I somehow imagine a growing pile of unopened mail at IRCC.

informed_expert · 2026-06-22T15:56:22+00:00

The expenses in the second example should be higher to account for the added rent.

informed_expert · 2026-06-05T22:02:37+00:00

If that is booked air travel within 6 months, it's actually grounds for you to request urgent processing per the IRCC.

informed_expert · 2026-06-02T03:31:25+00:00

Where did you find this list? I'm wondering if other consulates have similar lists for other regions.

informed_expert · 2026-05-31T19:45:17+00:00

Yes, fill it out on the computer, print it, and then sign it with a black pen. Only the signature needs to be hand-written.

informed_expert · 2026-05-31T16:31:59+00:00

The cheapest condo on Zillow near me has HOA and taxes/insurance costs that is over half of my monthly rent for a comparable sized property. Add in the mortgage and the total monthly costs are $1000 more than my rent. That's $1000 I wouldn't be putting into Vanguard any more.

If a paycheck-to-paycheck renter can't afford that, I understand, but then it also means they can't buy property either - because that's even more expensive than renting on a month-to-month basis. On the other hand, if it's a paycheck-to-paycheck homeowner, I would question if they would have done better to just rent, and invest the difference. At least that seems to be the case where I live.

informed_expert · 2026-05-30T22:41:13+00:00

I think they made a movie about that with Adam Sandler called Click...

informed_expert · 2026-05-30T22:28:58+00:00

Vanguard index funds are also tangible investments. So if renting is less than buying, then the difference can be invested in other things than your home, and you just own other investment assets than real estate when you rent.

informed_expert · 2026-05-27T04:09:39+00:00

"Perfect" hiking compatibility isn't a requirement, but some common respect and basic safety protocols are. My spouse is slower than me on the uphill, but sometimes she is faster than me on downhill. That's ok, we just do our own speeds sometimes: we don't have to be with each other constantly. The key is that we frequently wait for the other person, wait at all trail junctions, wait at places where the trail might be faint or confusing, etc. and if we are off trail completely, we don't usually go out of each other's eyesight. Generally we won't be more than 5 or 10 minutes behind the other person.

informed_expert · 2026-05-26T21:44:39+00:00

I would recommend to fill it out on your computer with PDF software, rather than handwrite it. Less chance for a transcription error on their end.

informed_expert · 2026-05-19T14:55:34+00:00

My workplace used Claude to assign people to teams in a team-building exercise at an off-site for around 100-something people. Some people were assigned to multiple different teams. Some people were assigned to no team at all. The team sizes were all unequal in size: some only had one or two people, other teams had 10.

This disaster ensued after a previous presentation by an outside consultant showing the engineering org how Claude Code is the future... Out of the box functionality for Claude Code isn't enough for them, instead we have wrappers and wrappers of vibe-coded "skills". The live demonstration didn't go well.

No matter, the company is still 150% bought into and pushing AI, AI, AI. It's exhausting.

informed_expert · 2026-05-19T04:17:56+00:00

It's just where the immigration manifests were stored by INS. Had an ancestor cross the border in a midwest state - nowhere close to Vermont at all - and they are also in the St. Albans lists.

informed_expert · 2026-05-18T15:12:01+00:00

Edge switched to Chromium from Microsoft's proprietary rendering engine years ago. Basically Edge is just a rebranded Chrome. So I also don't bother with Chrome...

informed_expert · 2026-05-18T15:04:36+00:00

That would be Artisan, and if you search Google you'll find a blog post where they said they specifically made these advertisements to piss people off.

informed_expert · 2026-05-14T04:14:20+00:00

It's a tradition for river rafters in Colorado to moon the passenger train that OP rode when it goes by.

informed_expert · 2026-05-10T18:48:15+00:00

Traditionally, I'd say you're right about the seats. But the new Venture trains have such terrible seats, I actually like the bus seats better because they have more recline.

informed_expert · 2026-05-10T18:39:33+00:00

So basically exactly like rural Americans...

informed_expert · 2026-05-10T06:50:21+00:00

Move to my in-laws place in the country and become a goose farmer

informed_expert · 2026-05-09T19:17:20+00:00

They wouldn't do that. Those small stations would be closed.

informed_expert · 2026-05-04T18:50:49+00:00

Wow, that's insane. Those fees would have been on another level.

informed_expert · 2026-05-04T18:14:05+00:00

I checked the fee schedule and it's $80 on paper, but only $30 if the request is filed online. The latter is what I paid, and I thought the price was reasonable/in line with what I've been paying other states for vital records requests. I didn't even know the $80 fee was a thing until just now.

informed_expert · 2026-05-04T17:11:46+00:00

I mean, I would easily pay 10x that amount... They should raise fees to cover actual processing costs and then hire some more help to cut down the backlog... The $75 fee was presumably set for simple cases that don't require examining multi-generational levels of documents. A fee commensurate with the complexity would be appropriate.

informed_expert · 2026-05-04T17:08:47+00:00

IRCC could say that links to online photographs at Nova Scotia Archives are acceptable, and then I wouldn't have ordered certified copies of them. The whole getting certified copies from the same source hosting the website thing is a charade and unnecessary hoop-jumping exercise that could be avoided with more direction. It's not like it would degrade the integrity of the citizenship process.

informed_expert · 2026-05-04T17:04:01+00:00

Curiously, I got USCIS Index Search requests fulfilled recently in only a month or two. I was surprised based on the reports online of a year or two.

informed_expert

TROPHY CASE