Hello All!
Just wanted to give you a quick view of how my process (skilled worker)went. I sent my application in May 2004. AOR was June 22, 2004. I got my IA at the end of January 2005. I had to move to my home country (Brazil) before sending the requested documentation shown in the IA. I did my medicals in Brazil on March 10th 2005 and sent the rest of the docs (Proof of funds and Letter from current employer) the first week of April 2005. By that time I already was in Brazil, and I had sent a letter to buffalo explaining the situation before moving. And the employer letter stated that I was moving back to my country because my work visa was expiring. We got our passport request around April 20th. Now, contrary to what was said here before, you CAN send you passport overseas to Buffalo. I called the embassy in Brazil and they just recomended me to use a secure courier like Fedex. You'll just need to give them a USA address for them to send the passports. I did that and on May 10th I got everything in Brazil via Fedex. The whole process took about 10 months. I'm planning to land with my family in January 2006. I have until March 10th 2006.
Hope this helps.
Good luck to all!
Daniel