Yup, they will stop processing visitor, work and student visas.- IMO... who cares he he he.... all I care about is OUR visas my dear VJ'ers!!!! selfish, yes, but priceless!




Wooohoooooo Super congrats!!!

Galateia........congrats on the interview FINALLY!! I was starting to worry about you.....thought you gave up on us or something.

So yeah I started a word doc with all the Montreal timelines listed and a few that werent. Riblet was doing the previous one right on the page but for some reason I can't get the format right when I try to add info.

anyway.......here's the word doc and if you have trouble I can email it to you directly Click to view attachment

Where did you see that info? If true, that makes me very excited. With the speed up at CSC and possibly now at Montréal, we may be able to get married at our wedding or at least very shortly thereafter.

Congrats on your interview date

I didnt calculate the number of days between Galateia's " received by consulate/interview and sent P3 / interview........they are 199 and 169 respectively

Congratulations on your interview Galateia!!

I wonder if Alan and Sharon have contacted Montreal recently?? It looks like they've been passed over even though their congressman contacted Montreal on their behalf I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong )

I had called them on Tuesday and they said no interview booked yet ... I'm really hoping for good news next week.

Hi Lynamon nothing yet You should be hearing from them very soon I'm really surprised you haven't head anything yet
Soon you will be getting the good news, hang in there

I have that feeling like your playing bingo and waiting for that last number to fill a card

Awww, you remembered me?

I did manage to download the file, but it seems to be only one page and I'm not on it anywhere ... maybe it's because I use Open Office? Also, what's the best way to find out who else has an interview on the same day? I was serious when I suggested Vjers get together after the interviews to relax and blow off steam! Who else would really understand the rollercoaster this has been!

Thanks for the congrats, everyone!

So far you are the only one in July, Hopefully we will get some more July interview dates soon

That's my prayer too Lance... planning to call MTL today!
L.

OK.... so I called MTL about half an hour ago. The usual 20 minutes on hold, then I was lucky enough NOT to get Mrs. Nasty. Interview will be in August. I give up. They keep changing the dates on me... she did however put a note in the file with "available on short notice" i.e. 24 hours, just in case.

Will call again in 2 weeks, and then again in another 2, and then I will go to West Edmonton Mall and start shooting badly dressed people (kidding).

Oh! and she repeated what we've heard b4: that people don't cancel, they just don't show up..... ARGHHHHH

(also posted in DCF thread...)

Lenina.

I was told July/August at latest today. They also put a note in file for cancellations (or atleast they said they did)

...good for you Lance27... though, it is funny that we have almost the same timelines/dates but the interview "likeliness" is one month apart!..... i was told Aug/Sep!

Yeah, I've learnt not to put too much into what MTL says... I will believe July or August when I see the P4 letter

Couldn't edit my previous post...

I would like to add that 2 weeks ago I was told 1-3 Months which would have been June-August and now its July/August. So as I said, I'll believe it when I see it

I called Montreal today really really hoping to get some good news because of the fee increase at the end of July .. nothing booked to date .. she says they only book after the 15th of the month .. people don't cancel .. they just don't show up .. and pretty much sorry about your freekin luck with the aos increases ... I really do believe that they should grandfather some of the files

According to what the lady said just a few moments ago "6 month" not 4 to 6 month but most likely 6 months before we are given a date, for me that would be sometime after October 16 since packet 3 was only returned on April 16. Since we have 49 days in we only have give or take 138 to go. So much for the garden wedding, it will be off to the chapel for us, it seems that the only constant right now is going backwards.

My dear friend,
I understand your frustration and I'm sending you hugs and good vibes. I also called MTL last week and got the same story. I am so fed up with them and the wait it's not funny anymore.... and some people in the forum are being less than supportive I'm sorry to say (no comment).
Hang in there amiga, you're not alone.
Len.

I think part of what is so frustrating about the wait time is the MAJOR discrepancy between MTL and Vancouver. It all just seems so unfair and while I understand that the entire process is difficult no matter where you are, it is really hard to see the Vancouver filers getting their interviews two months after returning packet three. SUCKY!

I have no problem at all with Vancouver filers getting quick interviews... you'd think that would speed up DCF scheduling... unfortunately it does not... apparently even within MTL there is no difference or priority. And then the Adam Walsh debacle DID back MTL up for like 3 months (not their fault, I get that). Still sux, I am still upset, resentful, etc., but not at Vancouver filers! Only against bureaucratic cr@p that is keeping some VJ families apart. Sux, sux, sux, and I will keep venting.

This whole shebang is taking such a toll in our lives, in our marriage,, in our mental and physical health, our stress levels are to the freaking roof, weigh loss, hair loss, sanity loss. We've had it, we want to leave Canada asap and we can't (Bren can but won't leave without me) - and we know there's nothing to do but wait... wait.... wait... arghhhh.

done ranting. for now.
Len.

Im just surprised that you did not get scheduled for June since almost everyone who sent in their packet 3s in Jan have been scheduled for June Interviews. But then again we are dealing with MTL so I really shouldn't be surprised. Hopefully you will hear some good news in 11 days

Sorry to hear they still have you on wait. I thought for sure you'de have heard something right after mine was given,your timeline is almost identical to mine

Well it seems I made a faux pas and became a burr in someone's saddle. Len I am sorry that I'm not as supportive as you would like me to be but that is just how I am, when the time comes that I am feeling that suport is needed I will be there with all the sincerity I can muster, I am not one to say something just because it is expected and others do it. At this time everyone here is hoping for a quick fix, we are all waiting and wanting and in the same line for a date with Montreal. My post was as Lynette's about a conversation we each had with Montreal today.

Lynette as always and from the very beginning of our time here I am following your progress, in the past it was because we were always so close in our progress, the good thing now is you have continued to move forward to where you are soon to be home with Ed and that makes me very happy for you. I will be happy again when you get the much awaited visa for a selfish reason, it will mean that I am closer to getting ours.

Len I am glad that you pointed out my shortcomming, it is something that will work at to make better.

Ron

Reading your posts makes me . I feel all guilty about desperately wanting my interview when I know that there are others that have had so much waiting on their hands. I really am sincerely happy for all of you that have been moving forward and my heart breaks for those that are stuck in limbo .... I do know that my time has not passed me by as of yet and that I shouldn't get so caught up and I should just patiently wait my turn ... but my goodness .. Just Hurray up Montreal for craps sake .. for allllll of our sakes!!!!!!!!!! ... anything more than 3 months is way toooo long to wait for a GD interview!!!!!! Thanks for being there my VJ Canadian friends

Ron!!! Nothing directed at you at all - sorry if that's how it came across! I just get so teary when people tell me to just take it as it is. As if it made it any easier. I am going trhough a freaking nervous meltdown right now. I am.

Brian and I have often joked about the fact that our places of residence have caused us so many delays. Back when we filed our I-129F (in March 2006!) we were sent to Nebraska, which wasn't quite as slow as California, but still no where as speedy as Vermont! Then, lo and behold! We were transfered to CSC where we proceeded to wait even more before finally being approved (and let's not forget how wonderful CSC was for losing our petition after that too! ).

And now, simply because of where I live, we get to go through Montreal instead of the speedier Vancouver. It really is impressive.

Must be something about those "V"s

Still, we're patient. There may have been some "damn those Vermont/Vancouver people" comments briefly let escape, but we've never actually felt any true animosity towards the people fortunate enough to be processed through those locations... it's not their fault they live in prime immigration territory

Seee .... this is exactly what I mean about all of those poor souls stuck in limbo .. gawd I feel so guilty ... it makes me feel bad that I want that interview still sooo much ... but I want us to all have our interviews ... like .. yesterday

I don't think you should feel guilty. This process is hard on everyone, no matter what their wait time! None of us can be blamed for wanting to be with our loved ones as soon as possible

Something interesting I came accross on AFP about State Dept Staff Shortages

State Department hit by staff shortage crisis, Rice blamed Tue Jun 5, 3:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Saddled by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the State Department faces an acute staff shortage crisis amid "worsening morale," according to a study which blames Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the problem.

The report by the influential Foreign Affairs Council, comprising senior retired American diplomats and ambassadors, said the department faced a shortage of 1,100 staff and that in the "first two years of Secretary Rice's stewardship almost no net new resources have been realized."

Rice took office in January 2005, facing the full impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"My own view is that the foreign service is at the front edge of a personnel crisis and if something isn't done about what we have identified here as 'job number one,' we are going to be in a very, very serious situation a year or so from now," the council's president, Thomas Boyatt, told a news conference.

"Job one" is to obtain 1,100 new positions needed "to move the foreign service from where it is to where it needs to be," said the council's report, "Managing Secretary Rice's State Department: An independent assessment."

Reinforcing the view that Rice had to bear responsibility for the crisis, Boyatt said, "Every cabinet level officer has the responsibility to taking care of the institution he or she leads.

"Every secretary of government has responsibility to at least lead that institution as healthy as they founded, if not to improve it," he said.

Boyatt stressed that the State Department was "more overstrectched" than the military.

The report said that some 200 existing jobs -- mostly overseas -- were unfilled and than an additional 900 training slots necessary to provide essential "linguistic and functional" skills "do not exist."

All 1,069 new positions and program funding increases between 2001 and 2005 had been absorbed by assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan and other "difficult" posts, it said.

"Morale of course is strongly impacted by the fact that we didn't have enough people -- which means that an awful lot of people are pushing it to the limit," Boyatt said.

"It is also impacted by the fact that it is even more stressful today in the foreign service than it has been in the past ... more dangerous," he said.

The council, which comprises 11 organizations, including the American Foreign Service Association, monitors the processes of US diplomacy and management of the State Department.

"I think our view is widely shared within the (foreign) service and within the State Department," Boyatt said.


Maybe thats why MTL cannot get additional help and their website did mention staff shortages during the summer.

Oh dear ... I think that my file will end up on the backburner .. I called again today (I really couldn't help myself) .. when I gave my MTL # the man that answered put me on hold .. for a moment there my heart was in my throat .. then he came back and burst my bubble by telling me no interview scheduled.

I'm a planner and not being able to plan anything is driving me crazy ....... Ed's not well right now from his radiation treatments, my landlord just sold the house I'm living in and I have to be out by July 31 ... soooo many things that need to get done that can't be planned .... all because I need a date. A solid date to organize my life ... a definite date to look forward to!

lynamon, sounds more like the guy didn't have a clue.
Looking at the timelines, it would seem it is Montreal, that your up next! You'll probably be July by what I'm reading on here.
*keeping my fingers crossed for you*

You have to be in July for sure since there is no one else left to be scheduled from Jan atleast not from VJ.

Hang in there your up next.

YES BE JULY!!....the sooner your BOTH through, the sooner I get through

Haha thats what I said back in Apr/May to people who were to get their interview dates before me.

The cycle never ends

Second that one!!! So we can go next
Hang in there lynamon - you're almost there- and you know we're all rooting for yah here!!!
Lenina.

Hi Lynamon hang in there I'm sure you're still right on the front burner They must have stopped right at me because you're next from me here on VJ
You'll be hearing some good news very shortly and then the planning will all start. You're almost there we're all in your corner hoping for your interview date to be given

Allie & Lorry

Thanks guys ... I'll tryyyyyyy to hold out until Monday to make another call

Sweetie... if MTL only schedules after the 15th (someone said that to me in one of the threads, think it was Matt and he was pretty sure) why would you spend money on a call that likely will give no results? Hang on til the 16th/17th me thinks - and in the meanwhile we can all plot how to sneak you in the July distinguished MTL VIP list.
L.

Lynamon.....I understand your frustration. I couldn't resist emailing yesterday (and my timeline is after yours)and the response I got was a 1 liner:

Right now you are on the waiting list

Well...gee, thanks. No pleasantries needed, no...thanks for contacting us. My fiance is beginning to wonder why he loves his country so much when they seem to treat immigrants so badly...at least the ones who want to enter legally (yes, we could go down that ugly road, but I won't!)

I agree with the last comment about trying to hold off till after the 15th...at least they could tell you conclusively if you had been scheduled, right!

I should hold off until after the 15th and quite frankly I probably will .. only thing is is I know that you can't trust Montreal because others here have gotten their interviews without it "being after the 15th". They say that they never get cancellations .. that people just don't show up .. then how does that explain when people get an interview within 2 weeks when they call and are persistant ... mysteriously squeeeeezed in. I wonder that if it's because they call at the right time?

Maybe email them today, might get something Monday and then call on Tuesday.

Yup, I would agree... Email them tomorrow or Monday and hopefully you will have some good news. If not then you can call them after the 15th.

Hello everyone.

Sorry it's taken so long to get back on here, but work has kept me pretty overwhelmed. Just to update you on OUR situation, I've just gotten off of the phone with my Senator's office, (obviously because nothing has moved forward on our case yet) and Montreal has given her yet another story. First, they are telling her that our process was completed on FEBRUARY 7th. I'm not exactly sure how this part of the process goes, but we had received notification that our packet had been received and entered into the system back in December. They also indicated that they had received an inquiry from our congressman. They promised that the case would be processed as fast as possible, but that no one receives preferential treatment (we all get the same shitty treatment in other words). I was really freaking out seeing all the January applicants getting interview dates while we sat here wondering wtf was going on up there. Well, I guess it makes perfect sense if our packet had been laying on someone's desk for 2 months. I'm dreading the call to Sharon to tell her this latest news, as she's been at her wits' end for the last 3 months. But what can you do........

Once we DO have an interview date, I'll be driving 1300 miles to pick her up, then head to Montreal, get the visa (hopefully), and then we plan on driving back via the Blue Ridge Parkway and camping for a few days before getting back into MORE Government paperwork and waiting.

Keep your smiles on, this has to end sooner or later for all of us

My fiance has contacted her senator twice and the we kinda got the same story...as 'Alan & Sharon''s .... I think MTL has probably come to reply all "status calls" with more or less the same "crap"!

Anyways, none of us want this to extend beyond their "expected times"!... let's pray MTL gets their act together and hires/speed up the back logs!

Hey Allan and Sharon ... I can only imagine how you're both feeling right now. I so hope that you get that date before mine otherwise I will definitely be guilt ridden. Montreal had advised that they had processed our package on February 7th (I had sent it Jan 26 .. they received Jan 31) so it looks like we are in line on the same date.. I really do think that they do the mass booking for the following month on the 15th of the month .. somebody reallllly dropped the ball putting you in line for an interview! So here's crossing fingers for you both ..

Im sorry to hear that your packet was not processed till Feb. The only positive thing I can say is that Feb Interviews would now be scheduled for July (crossing my fingers)

Good luck

So I emailed MTL and I asked if an interview was scheduled and was told no date yet. Then I replied to ask when I can expect one and I got a quick reply in about a minute "we do not know when it will be"

on your behalf ... grrrr

I emailed Mtl and they said packet 3 was mailed out to me on the 29th.. but I still haven't received it!

I don't see how an envelope is taking this long to arrive when it's only a six hour drive away! (I realize they don't put just my mailing in a truck and drive it specifically to my house but you get what I mean! )

Mail gets around the WHOLE WORLD in shorter time!

Sorry, crabby and venting and want to move out of my parents' house cuz I haven't lived at home in years and it sucks