Anyone else having to pay a $9.95 fee to schedule an interview appointment via online system (with the consulate) or $2 an hour to call their consulate via a "1-900" number? That seems crazy to me. Guess it probably cuts down on telephone calls, though. This is what it says on the official websites for Ottawa, Ontario and for Montreal, Quebec (both in Canada).

U.S. Embassy information lines:

1-900-451-2778 from within Canada - you will be charged CA$1.89 per minute
1-900-443-3131 from within the U.S. - you will be charged US$1.89 per minute


1-888-840-0032
Call from Canada Call from U.S.
Visa Appointment Reservation System by credit card
Costs charged to credit card instead of phone bill
Live Operator / Calls from Canada & U.S.
CA $0.19 *IVR
CA $1.59 per minute

Web site
Online appointment bookings service
www.nvars.com CA
$9.50
each booking


You can't talk to anyone about anything without paying. Hope it doesn't take 30 minutes to reach someone like it does on the main USCIS "customer service" number! If so, I can't afford it!

I think my husband called one of those numbers before we started our applications (before we got married and before we found VJ). He just wanted to ask some questions that one time.

I think those visa appointments online are for non-immigrant (ie. visitor's, student's) visas. We usually call a local number for the Montreal consulate to inquire about the status of our case (once it gets there), or to ask questions. There's no charge for that. For K-3, the consulate will schedule your interview for you. For CR-1, NVC will schedule your interview.

The number we usually call is (514) 398-9695 ext. 3833. You can only call them between 2 & 4 PM EST.

That's news to me. I'd assume it was a scam of some kind.

The number is to make appointments for the Non-Immigrant Visa unit. Appointments for the Immigrant Visa Unit (which processes K visas and Immigrant visas) are handled either by the COnsulate themselves or the NVC...