It's been more than a year since I sent in my packet 3, so I barely remember everything that needs to be done. The information is out there, but scattered all over and I can feel my stress levels rising, and I'm already leaving hoofprints behind me, pulling my wool out, and bleating fearfully.

I need your help!

My interview is on Feb 6th. I plan to go up there via coach canada for $18 each way, and stay at the hotel across the street. Is it the:

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites
MONTREAL CENTRE-VILLE

155 BLVD RENE-LEVESQUE EAST


Is that the right hotel?

Also, where can I find the checklist of what documents, etc, I am supposed to bring? I remember there was a form in my packet 3 I was supposed to fill out and bring, the DS 230?? Is that the form that my interview letter asks me to fill out online and print out and bring?

Also, my medical was on Feb 4th of last year. My interview is on Feb 6th of this year. This means my medical is expired by 2 days, right? I know I have to get another to file the AOS, but do I have to get another before my visa interview as well? MTL screwed up my file twice and my interview should have been in Dec or Jan at the latest, when my medical was still valid. What should I do?

My letter from MTL states I can purchase the FedEx envelope from them: "Discounted Xpresspost traceable mailers will be supplied in the Visa Section at the time of the interview; payment by valid credit card is required. The price for a next day Regional service is $6.66; the price for two day National service is 10.08, plus applicable taxes and surcharges." Does that mean that I can just buy the envelope there?

I'm already feeling my stress levels redlining. It's been a year since all this was fresh in my mind and I'm feeling a little panicked. Please help!

Everyone gets nervous (I checked my parents' documentation at least 10 times)so take your time with reviewing documents and please don't stress out.

In the packet you were sent (on the page marked "Appointment Letter for Immigrant Visa Applicants") there should be a checklist with numbers (they don't all apply to every case) for each document (number one is appointment letter, number two is passport, number three is b/c, number four is adoption decree, number five is marriage cetificate, number six is death or divorce cert., number seven is police cert., number eight is court records, number nine is military records, number ten is updated I-864, number eleven is medical examination, number twelve is photos). I am speaking from an IR5 perspective. Get some post-it notes and label what you need in the order they advise you for presentation. Put everything in a clear accordian folder with tabs. If you don't have one you can buy one or I saw plastic bags and burlap shopping bags being used by some people.

There are some reviews in older posts that have the nearby hotels but I think that is the correct one.

With respect to the medical I can't say. I don't think that they're going to give you grief over a few days. If I was in your position, I'd take it with me and explain the situation. It's easier and cheaper than doing the medical again.

You can buy the envelope there if you don't have one. I have no idea what the price is with surcharges but I think it is about the same as at the post office. Take a credit card and some cash just in case.

Good luck and remember we're here for you!

I emailed the consulate and politely said "thanks to you guys screwing up TWICE, you've just f*cked over my medical. Not my fault. Can you accept it a few days expired?" but I don't have much hope as there has been a lot of stuff on this forum about people not getting replies.

Are you referring to the appointment letter than says "Dear LastName, FirstName MiddleName: This office is now ready to begin final processing of your visa application blah blah blah" with my interview date at the bottom?

I don't have a checklist with this one, it only talks about security stuff (what you can't bring in with you, bags, etc) and the fedEx envelope.

Thanks for being there, this process just turns the strongest people into panicked sheep, doesn't it.

This was my list... hope it hleps!

Good luck!
you'll do great!

1. Coach Canada e-tickets for travel
2. xpresspost envelope (314x394)
3. My canadian passport
4. 2 Passport pics (2x2)
5. $100 US
6. Packet 4 appointment letter
7. Sealed Medical (Seiden) File
8. My birth certificate & 2 copies
9. RCMP Police Certificate & 2 copies
10. I-134 (AOS) & 2 copies
11. Ol's Letter of Employment & 2 copies
12. Ol's Pay stubs
13. Ol's Bank Letter & 2 copies
14. Ol's IRS transcripts of past 3 yrs
15. Ol's Letter of Intent & 2 copies
16. DS-156K (unsigned) & 2 copies
17. DS-156 with barcode (just in case) & 2 copies
18. Tickets: plane, bus, train
19. Photographs of us together
20. Mass email sent to family & friends announcing our engagement
21. Copy of Ol's new lease (as of Oct 27th 2007) for our new place
22. Receipt for my wedding dress
23. Phone Bills
24. Wedding Program & Thank you card from Ol's brother's wedding
25. Ol's Birth certificate (just in case)
26. NOA2 Approval (just in case)

The hotel is actually La Tour Centre Ville, isn't it? At 400, René-Lévesque Blvd. West?

My appt is at 9:00 am as per the letter, should I take the coach canada departure that leaves at 1:30 pm or 3:30 pm to be safe?

Either way, plan to be there for 7 am despite your interview time..

MTL just replied to my email and told me to go f*ck myself in regards to my expired medical, because if I'd accepted my original July date, there would have been no problem.

So now I am in a panic, trying to get another medical at short notice and I can't call the doctor until Monday. Now I'll be freaking all weekend!!

If I think too much about this process, the blood pressure rises and I'm likely to pop a f*ckin' blood vessel. I don't feel panic, there's another word:sheer, atavistic RAGE. A pacifist with rage problems, imagine that. Galateia please do not freak. Do not let your love be defined by machinations of a self-serving, self-perpetuating and completely inane bureaucracy.

Deep breath, it will all work out.

Just another hoop to jump through, I'm sure when the Dr's office hears about what they are asking of you that they will be obliging and get you in there like - right away!

You are almost there, process almost complete and then you will on your way and immigration processing will just be an annoying memory - until you adjust status

That sucks

make sure you go to Seiden though!

sorry about the F&^% up with your medical ,
but do take liz advice and the list she gave ,
how I remember its the DS 156 + DS 156 K thats a must fill on computer and dont sign it till the interview ,also you probly need a updated police certificate if thats over a year old ,
and am not sure but can someone correct me if she needs an updadted I 134 ( notorized ) , and dont forget the NOA aproval letter , they askd me for it when i had the interview ,
sorry to slam all this on you but stay strong and try to keep a clear head , remember your love is stronger then anything and on the end you will be together , good luck

Ack, the NOA letter? He just mailed this off on Friday with his notarized support and letter of intent to marry, but he didn't mention anything about the NOA, is that going to be a big problem?

So far, I have:

La Tour booking for night before interview
Tickets to and from MTL
Long birth certificate
Co-sponsor's affidavit of support documents
Cdn passport
Copy of original petition
Interview letter from MTL

Will have:
new medical (with Laity again, becaise Seiden's secretary has something rotten stuffed up her... )
new passport pics, because my old ones are a year old, I have to get new ones, right?
new police report
new visa fee of $131 in USD
xpresspost envelope
letter of intent to marry from USC
affidavit of support
Online versions of DS-156 and DS-156k as soon as I get to someone who has a printer!

As for proof, we haven't been using the phone as I live with a friend to save up and I can't be tying up her phone or calling late. We talk every day via IM, but those are way too personal to be printing off and giving to a stranger.

We have some digital pics a friend took that I could print off on a coloured printer, would that be acceptable? One of those pics shows my engagement/promise ring. I also have his plant ticket from when he came up here from TX last summer to visit, and I believe he's sending me some Credit Card proof that he made a bunch of purchases up here, but I don't think he's got his statement from his holiday visit a few weeks ago. I worry if this is enough proof.

Is this going to be a huge problem? We included a huge amount of proof in our original petition basically documenting my financial presence in his town for the 3 months I was there: groceries bills, movie tickets, etc, his constant calls to me and mine to him, our petition was an inch thick. He also included original photos of us together.

What do you guys think?

Oh SH!T!!

Did I have the totally wrong criminal record check?

Do I need this one: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/crimrec/finger2_e.htm

That you have to mail away for? I don't think I have time to get it back before my interview date! My regional Police told me I could get the regular criminal record check for $35 like I did for the petition and that was okay.

HELP HELP!

I wish a dozen spiny, poisonous, amorous cacti on whoever writes the info out there about record checks!


So you only need the uber-long processing time of doom check if you're committed a crime/have a record, and just the local police station canada-wide "Name Check" is needed if you're clean?

I hate how hair-triggered I am, the stress is starting to get to me. Sure enough, he didn't send me the NOA2 because he didn't know I needed it. He sent me the letter from the employer, the bank, and the forms, and the credit card stuff showing his most recent trip's purchases in Canada.

What else should he send aside from the NOA2?

You are correct about the police certificate - no criminal convictions - name check only.

Take your IM conversations just so you feel like you have more "evidence" if that helps you.. chances really are they are NOT going to ask for it.. so it will probably never be read by a stranger. If you have any e-mails etc. those will work too.. We took printed Dig Pics printed off on our computer printer for evidence, and we had the receipt for my ring as well.. we never had to show any of it. The plane tickets are good as well. I had cards etc, that were sent from his parents, and cards that my fiance sent as well.. anything that shows an ongoing relationship and proof of meeting You are going to be JUST fine!!

They don't ask for additional evidence when you are at the document submitting window.. so it's not like you hand it all in - you only give it to them if you ask for it (probably during the interview although it was never asked for in our case).. so it just sat in our accordion folder and i never had to show it.

Hi Liona,

is it still the same ds-156 and 156k ur referring that we included in the packet 3?

Sweety, I think the photos should be 2x2( required in the checklist not passport)please recheck your pictures before going to MTL

Oh crap!

I just got my guy's package in the mail, on the I-134 he filled out his annual income as $1,344, and he has a letter from his employer stating that he makes 1,344.44 for 20 hours per week. I have no idea if this is per week or per term, but I am quite certain that it isn't per YEAR because he just told me that he's made too much to get anything back from taxes.

He's at work and thus not replying to my increasingly shrill IMs, is this form totally screwed and he'll have to send me another with his TOTAL INCOME FOR THE YEAR (aka Annual)?

I'm feeling the need to have a small freak out. I love my fiance, but this process is a nightmare and the tiniest mistake can cost you everything.

Personally I would just write it underneath what he has put, like:

$ 1344.00 per week
$ 69,000.00 per annum (or whatever it really is).

So put a slash '/week' beside what he's put and then tally it and write it beside that? He's written 0 underneath because the next thing down is different info. Does it matter that I am altering his document?

I don't think it matters, since what he is signing on page 2 is an acknowledgement that he understands his financial liability - he isn't actually signing that the data in the form is correct.

If he has printed it and not hand written it I would just redo page one and re-print (1699.00 wk/69,000 yr). If hand written I would do as you mention above.

Hi,

Since April 2007, I have been going through this whole process thinking I was alone and here I stumble upon this forum and see how great it is to find ppl going through the same thing as me. Not only do I find that, but find someone who's interviewing in MTL the SAME DAY as me - that's just crazy!

I'm going through ALL of the SAME panick attacks as you are and I'm scared $h*tless about this interview. I don't even know how I'm going to keep myself composed when I'm being asked questions.

I am also going via Coach Canada as well!! This is so funny.

I'm so scared about this whole thing. I don't think i'll be able to sleep a wink that night...

Hey, interview date buddy! What time is your interview? We should meet up for moral support if you're in there the same time as me.

Uh, guys? I haven't got my medical in the mail yet and I leave Tuesday.

What happens if I don't have the updated medical in hand when I go, will they reject me or just put it on hold pending receipt of the medical which I could mail to them?

Crap - when did you go? I would call pronto and if you can't get them..go to the office Monday. Did you get a tracking number from them?

Already called, closed until Monday morning. I cannot go there as it is 1.5 hrs away and I have no ride and no time to take 4 hr busride that doesn't even run often enough to get me there and back.

I went early in the week and they said it would be mailed out friday. As in mailed out LAST friday. London to KW is not the ends of the earth, it should be here by now. My guy mailed me some stuff on freaking MONDAY and it's already here .. from TEXAS. No tracking number.

I have my x-ray from that day and the receipt. I plan on bringing my old medical, old xray, new xray, and receipt to show that yes I DID get it done again, here is my proof, it's not my fault it's not here yet, and can I mail it to them when I get it.

Do you think they could approve the visa pending the receipt of an updated medical?

I was looking at the "example forms" section and came upon the DS-158... we dont need that for a K-1 Visa, right? ive never come across ANYTHING that mentions 158 needed to be filled out

Okay, this is what I have so far:




How did I do?