8 months and counting

My Canadian immigration medical expired today.  Had I not received our file notes 3 weeks ago and learned that absolutely nothing has been done towards the processing of my file, other than the obligatory "initial screening" of the paperwork, I might be more depressed than I am right now.

Each applicant is subject to 4 checks:

• eligibility (is our relationship valid and genuine?), 
• background (am I inadmissible for any reason relating to my affiliations with organizations, have I disclosed everything I am required to?)
• criminality (am I inadmissible by reason of any criminal charges or convictions?)
• medical (am I inadmissible by reason of any medical conditions?)

As a spouse, I am exempt from being medically inadmissible, but if I had any conditions which might present a threat to the public, I would be subject to "medical surveillance", or the care of a specified Canadian doctor and conditions which I would have to comply with.

None of these checks have been initiated.  In the eight months since CHC-Kingston received my file, exactly nothing has been done with it.  At this point I can now understand why Kingston needs an average of 16 months to process 80% of files, they apparently spend the first 8 doing nothing with the vast majority of them.

What makes this pill so particularly bitter to swallow is I have watched husband after husband after husband sponsored by their Canadian wives AFTER me be processed BEFORE me.  I have cynically concluded that they are rushing these men out of Jamaica in 6 or 7 months in order to prevent them from getting too restless and cheating on their absent wives.  Meanwhile, as a wife, they are leaving me here in excess of 9 months in order to ensure I haven't gone and cheated on my husband and tried to present him with a "jacket" (illegitimate child, in Jamaican parlance).  

Yes, I am bitter, but I am not talking without some numbers to support this.  Of all the cases listed on visa forum, most are husbands.  And the few wives listed have all been subjected to processing that lasted more than a year, for some reason.  Except one, and really, she doesn't count as she was Bahamian and is visa-exempt, and they tend to push those through quickly.   

The only upside to this delay is that my current employer is amenable, is encouraging me to pursue my qualifications to membership and providing a great deal of support for me to do so.  I can't complain, job-wise.  

But I miss my husband, I really do.  It's been 7 months since we've been together, and I have no idea when next he's going to be here, as the recent developments in his family mean he's bound in Canada at least until March.  So, now is the winter of my discontent.  Maybe things will be better in spring.