Nirvana, Sorry for the late response. I donot remember the exact date but it was sometime after I applied in June 2004. All together it took about 25 months to get my PR approved. Yes it is lengthy process I used to think until I met a person at Canadian Consulate in Buffalo who got it after three years even though his wife and kids were Canadian Citizens. But I also know that it took less then 18 months for one of my friends. I guess it all depends on the documents you have submitted and efficiency of the people looking at them at consulate. Good luck