Handling paperwork online
Following an online application
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know how to follow up on a submitted application, understand your file's status, and respond to a missing document.
A submitted application isn't a finished one. It moves forward, and that progress is shown: in your personal account, each request carries a status, written in a few words. "Submitted" means the file has arrived. "Under review" means someone is examining it, and nothing is expected of you. "Needs correction" or "Awaiting documents" means the opposite: the ball is in your court, and the file won't move forward without you. "Approved," "Rejected," and "Closed without action" close the file. To find all this again, one thing is truly useful, and it's given only once: the case number. We're going to have you practice on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real, no application actually moves.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYou sent off your request three weeks ago, and since then, you've heard nothing.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
The number you only see once
Your turn Your request has just been submitted. Touch what you do with this case number.
We keep the case number right away: a screenshot, a photo of the screen, or copied into a notebook next to the date.
The one waiting on something from you
Your turn Three requests are shown with their status. Touch the one that's waiting for you to act.
The "Document renewal" line shows "Needs correction: a document is missing": it's the only one waiting for you to act.
What "under review" means
Your turn Your assistance file has shown "Under review" for three weeks. Touch what that means.
"Under review" means someone is examining the file. Nothing is expected of you, and waiting at this stage is normal.
The missing document
Your turn The office is asking for a document, with a response date. Touch what you do.
We upload the requested document to the relevant file, before the date given: the review then picks back up on its own.
When to follow up, and how
Your turn Your other file is under review, and the announced timeframe is two months. Touch what you do.
We wait for the announced timeframe, checking the file's status now and then, then follow up once in writing, case number in hand.
The sheet to keep
- The case number is given once, at submission: write it down right away, or keep the confirmation that carries it.
- A request's status shows in your personal account, under your current requests. That's where the truth is, not in a message you received.
- "Submitted": the file has arrived. "Under review": someone is examining it, nothing is expected of you.
- "Needs correction" or "Awaiting documents": the file is stalled and waiting for something from you.
- "Approved," "Rejected," "Closed without action" close the file. A rejection is always written down, with its reasons.
- A requested document is uploaded to the file itself, before the date given: it's the only path that restarts the review.
- For many requests made to government, silence kept for more than two months counts as approval. The timeframe announced on your file is the only clock that matters.
- Once that timeframe has passed, follow up once, in writing, with your case number. No serious office expects an answer within the hour.
The reflexes in this skill
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
No one serious ever rushes me
No threats, no countdown, no secret to keep. And asking for help is a reflex, not a failure: saying it out loud to someone makes most scams fall apart.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
Your file has shown "Under review" for three weeks. What should you conclude?
See the answer
Someone is examining the file, and nothing is expected of you for now
"Under review" describes an ongoing examination. It's a normal status, sometimes a long one, and it expects nothing from you. Statuses that concern you carry other words, like "needs correction" or "awaiting documents."
Your account shows "Needs correction: a document is missing," with a response date. What do you do?
See the answer
I upload the requested document to this file, before the date given
As long as the document is missing, the review is on hold and nobody will pick the file back up. Submitting a fresh request loses the date of the first submission: you complete the one that already exists.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.