Hi Subrath,

 I applied to AINP-H1B stream on December 5th 2008. Then I got the following recieved e-mail. I am waiting for the nomination letter. It says it takes  up to 4 months. Howlong did it take to get your nomination letter??

Thank you .

Dear ......

This email is a confirmation that we have received your documents for pre-assessment. The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) Office will assess your application.

Provided you receive a positive pre-assessment, the AINP Office will send you an application package, and an invitation letter to apply for the AINP. Normally, AINP pre-assessments and invitations to apply can take up to 4 months to process.

Kindly do not call or email us to check on the status of your application, as this will increase our processing times of applications. Furthermore, we do not provide status updates during normal processing times.

Once you have completed all the necessary AINP/CIC forms, you will send your application package back to the AINP Office, whereby they will process your AINP application. Completed AINP applications can take up to 4 months to process before a positive nomination certificate is issued.

Once you have received a positive nomination and AINP certificate, the AINP Office will instruct you on how to proceed for the second phase of the process for permanent residence, which is processed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The second phase of the process with CIC can take 6 - 12 months.

This is a different and separate process from the regular Federal Skilled Worker Permanent residence program through the Canadian Federal Government (Citizenship and Immigration Canada CIC). The AINP is a faster, more streamlined process with different and less stringent requirements than the CIC process).

There are no fees for the provincial portion of the permanent residence application, although once you apply for permanent residence with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, then you will have to play those applicable application fees.

Please visit the following Citizenship and Immigration Canada website for more information on the immigration process once you have received a positive AINP nomination http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/index.asp

If you should require additional information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Foreign Worker Hotline at 1-780-427-6419 or Toll free from within Alberta 1-877-427-6419 or email us at immigration.info@gov.ab.ca .

Thank you for your interest in moving to Alberta