The key is that it works only if you have NOT paid the fee and submitted it.

I missed that part. Makes it pretty pointless then...if you havent submitted it yet, you are not waiting for anything yet.

The text is incorrect too. It may be good for as long as twelve months from submitting a renewal application along with having paid the fee.

I was wondering about paying the fee and the advice to "cancel". It is my understanding that your fee is non-refundable. So, if you cancel your application (or if your application is rejected) y:(u forfeit any fee paid.

Data point:

apply to renew : mid-August, 2019 (exactly don’t remember), with expiry April 2020
conditional approved : Dec 23, 2019
interview : Jan 4, 2020
approved : Jan 5
card received Jan 11

I am now 193 days in with no movement.

Don't lose faith.

Look above at my posts, I was 197 days before I got approved.

Hopefully, it will be any day now.

Also, in one of my posts, I reported that some applications are in process for eight months of waiting for approval.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

It does mean forfeiting the fee paid, but I would suggest for those in the Congressperson’s constituency to hit up constituents relations staff in the relevant office and see if they can assist with problems arising from following that advice.

I appreciate the support. I will be happy if it comes through in the next 30 days, before my first international travel of the year.

And then I will renew on the first day of my last year of membership!

Datapoint
 

Hi, I can add one more datapoint....

Expiration: 26 Nov 2019
Renewed: 8 July 2019

I have moved since first approved.

Still awaiting conditional approval. 189 days by my count.

[whoops - replied before seeing a bunch of other responses making the same points]

Letter added for anyone unable to access link.

It also seems like the "bug" is a pretty narrow one - from the description it seems to apply to people who have stored passport information (and maybe DL?) from a previous application who do not update GOES with the new passport number before submitting the application. The fix is simply to update with your new passport information before submitting.

I'm having a hard time believing that applies to the many people here facing 6 month delays - we're mostly savvy travelers who probably updated GOES within days if not hours of receiving their new passport.

(deleted)

I'm not sure that's the problem being described - it sounds like it's a problem for someone who has already renewed their passport, but didn't update GE before renewing. In other words, the system may be seeing the passport as "cancelled" (which it is upon renewal) so doesn't transmit the application. If you applied for renewal of GE and then renewed, you should be in the same bucket as everyone else who has done the same thing.

It must have been in August, but can't remember exactly.