(I posted this on the DCF board but thought it would be helpful here, too.)

September 8th, 9:30am.

FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS after Montreal's confirmation of receiving Packet 3. After reading how the average timespans b/w Montreal getting Packet 3 and the interview date was about three months, I figured it would be late July to mid August at the latest. (Doubted that after still not receiving Packet 4 by last week.) But September 8th is much later than we'd anticipated. We'd hoped to move to the States by October 1st, but I highly doubt we'd be able to sell and pack up the house in three weeks' time.

It's not all bad news, though... the Calgary housing market is absolutely booming, so the longer we stay in our house, the higher our asking price will be. But you know, we're just ready to go. Like, now.

Incidentally, I haven't received Packet 4 yet. I called about three weeks ago and was given no timeline as to when I'd get it. When I still hadn't received it last week, I decided to email. Did that on Monday (which was a statutory holiday in Quebec), and got a response today, so about a 24 hour turnaround time... not bad. I was given the interview date and was told that I'd be getting Packet 4 soon.

BTW... thought I read this somewhere but would love confirmation...

As my husband's interview date is on a Friday, we really don't relish the idea of spending lots of money on Saturday and Sunday night stays at a hotel. Does Montreal give you the option of having your visa mailed to you instead of needing to present to collect it?

Congratulations, and good luck with the interview!
I was just looking at my list of people waiting interviews and I noticed you have been waiting for a long time. I'm having my K-3 interview on August 8, and they do mention that applicants have the option of getting your visa mailed to via Xpresspost!

Oh thank you, that's great news!

Yep, give them a pre-paid express post envelope and they will mail it to you.

What could be better than a romantic stay in Montreal in September? What could be more advantageous than having a house to sell in a hot market? You could put your house up for sale now and arrange the closing for September, which isn't far away. Perfect timing.

Well, maybe if we didn't have a two and a half year old and six month old to tote along.



It's a good problem to have, I admit. But we do have to wait to sell... we can't accept any offers until we know for sure that my husband's visa has been approved. If it's not, and we've sold the house, we've lost our advantage in the hot market that Calgary is, without a house, the appreciation OR the visa. And that just wouldn't be good. We know we'll be able to sell quickly... right now, the average listing time is around 11 days. It'll probably go up a bit by then, but we're in a great location in a high demand area, so I'm not too worried about selling it quickly. It's just the packing in a few weeks while caring two little ones I'm worried about... think I'll start now.

It's hard for me to feel bad for you considering in the time it took you to get an interview, that's how long it took just for us to get our I130 approved. Add in NVC and the 4 months til interview and our wait is 16 months from NOA1 to interview.

So be thankful it took you only 7 months.

Absolutely... I'm totally grateful that DCF was introduced in Canada when it was so that we could take advantage of the quicker route. I have a friend who is going through the same thing you are... her husband's interview is only six weeks before ours, and they applied early last year. So I do understand. Not trying to minimize the frustrations of those going other routes with longer wait times... but when you have expectations, however, and those are extended, it's still disappointing.

But yes, we are thrilled to have our interview date.

The GOOD news is that in 5, 10 years we'll all look back on this immigration process and think "wow, that so long ago." It'll be just a distant memory, thank goodness!