len,

I will offer my two cents...I basically just set dates - like I would mark it on the calendar to call MTL on say the 17th of each month. That would give me something to look forward to and hopefully wouldn't pi$$ MTL off too much. At least that way I tried not to worry about it inbetween and made sure to be ready and waiting when the 17th came around.

I know it is insanely annoying - hang in there, lets hope for the 15th!

Darryl

OH MY GOSH DARRYL!!! You are so thinking like me!!!I have already made the point of calling back on the 17th LOL. I just don't want to be the number 1 harasser you know? He he.

I totally understand - I'm affraid of having a big red 'X' on my file for pestering them...but than I think - this is a governement service that taxpayers are paying for, plus we've paid for the service directly when we filed....we have the right to ask for status updates when the very vague timelines provided are ignored. For example when we originally applied we were told 4-6 months maximum for the entire process to be completed....we're now in our 9th month and our interview isn't until next month...so 10 months. Thats double the timeline given...and if we didn't call or email there would be no way to know when/why/how the process works or what the status is. They bring the calls on themselves.

If they had a decent system of notifying applicants regularly, explaining processes, and explaining delays thouroughly than they wouldn't get nearly the amount of calls/emails. No one ever calls the newspaper Sunday night to find out what Monday mornings top stories are...because they know first thing in the morning it'll be there and they will be informed.

hang in there, in a year from now you won't even remember the hassel and will be happily living wherever doing whatever it is you choose!

I've got my fingers crossed for your May 17th 2:00pm call!

Darryl

OMG !!!!!

Tennesse Senator's Office Just Called They have received a Interview Date for Me.!!

( after I got tried of the waiting Game I asked My new Senators Office to Help)

They have assigned June 13, 2007 8:30 AM in Montreal

Yes !! I have a confirmation email vis the Senators Office from Montreal.....stating That.

Montreal are sending the Package 4 interview Letter this week..

Ok Now I am getting Busy..

Colin

Congrats Colin, and thansk for the pic!!

That's great Colin ..

Congrats! I'm happy for you.

Congrats Colin! I hope it all works out great for you both!

Darryl

CONGRATS COLIN!!! Maybe pushing your elected officials buttons actually works..... I am really happy for you!!!!!

Congrats Colin!!

I am glad your senator's office was able to help you out. You must be sooooo excited! Hopefully I'll be getting some good news soon too

Matt

Yes thank you all for your support, It made the daily wait, fly by ( well some what )

and by reading everything on this site, I am soooooo prepared ..

I cant wait for June 13th ( It Is not a Friday ha ha) I have a reservation across the street

from the Consolate, La Tour Centre Ville.

I wait every day for the Mail for the interview Letter (Takes 7 Days via Snail Mail Montreal - Calgary)

Thanks again for this great site and the great people that take the time to help...

Good Luck, To all that are still waiting for their dates..

Colin

Well ..!!!!!!!

Packet 4 Arrived by snail Mail to day May 14-2007 ( Interview Letter ) seven days accross Canada..

But I am relieved to actualy have it in hand..

Regards



Colin

Awesome Colin!!!! I will be getting my medical at the time of your interview, but promise to send good vibes. HOW EXACTLY did you get your Senator involved???? DO TELL!!!!
I just posted in the Canada section that I emailed MTL just now to figure out if the "your interview should take place in June/July" will happen. my guess? Either they will blatantly ignore me, or they will say something completely ambiguous. ARGHHHH. I guess I'm not my usual cheery self, he he.

Well after fighting for weeks with Montreal we finally got our interview letter today. So now we are ready as we can be for the interview next week

Hello Fellow VJ'ers

So I finally have some exciting news to share with the group....... I couldn't wait til tomorrow and decided to call Montreal this afternoon. They informed me that I have my interview scheduled for June 13th as well!! I guess they decided to schedulde Colin and I together to get us out of their hair.

I immediately e-mailed them afterwards for confirmation that my interview is for June 13th. I wanted to see it in writing before I set up my travel plans...... $580 for a flight from Vancouver to Montreal.... sheesh! Oh well, it will be all worth it when this ordeal is all over. I am happy for you Tracy, that you finally got your letter. Yikes, my interview is less than a month away!!

I will now have to schedule the doctor's visit..... I hope I can get in relatively soon. Any Vancouverites in this thread have any idea on the wait times for scheduling the physical?? I guess I'll call his office tomorrow.

Colin: they told me an 8:30 AM interview time..... what about for you? It would be nice to see you in Montreal, since I've felt we've been going through this process together...... Like yourself, I check my mailbox every day in anticipation for that sacred Packet 4, just to be let down every day. I hope it will come sometime next week just to be certain.

Hip Hip Hooray, the wait is FINALLY over....

Matt

Great new Matt! I'm very happy for you!!!! Congrats

Yea!!! Yes OMG !!!!!

Mat.... Yes 8:30 Am on The 13 June , looking forward to seeing you there... Congrats !!!!!!!!

Tracey

Great on the ( Packet 4) Letter Thing ... all's well now,, Good Luck on May 22, we will be waiting to hear ...

There is hope for all. ( We have been thru this waiting " adam Walsh " nightmare and we are coming out the other

end of the Tunnel and the Light is not a Train ha ha )

Best Regards

Colin

Tracy - Congrats on FINALLY getting the interview letter. I hope all goes smoothly from here on in. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the 22nd. Good luck

Matt & Colin - Congrats on the interview, hope all goes well with the medical, travel, and interview.

Looks like things are finally pushing through and getting going, lets hoope in a month we're all sitting happy with Visa in hand and on to bigger an better adventures....

Good luck everyone - keep us all here at VJ informed of your progress...

Darryl

Hi Matt, after sending the checklist, how lond did you have to wait for the interview?

Best wishes for the interview day!!

Thanks!
Sil.


Hello Fellow VJ'ers

So I finally have some exciting news to share with the group....... I couldn't wait til tomorrow and decided to call Montreal this afternoon. They informed me that I have my interview scheduled for June 13th as well!! I guess they decided to schedulde Colin and I together to get us out of their hair.

I immediately e-mailed them afterwards for confirmation that my interview is for June 13th. I wanted to see it in writing before I set up my travel plans...... $580 for a flight from Vancouver to Montreal.... sheesh! Oh well, it will be all worth it when this ordeal is all over. I am happy for you Tracy, that you finally got your letter. Yikes, my interview is less than a month away!!

I will now have to schedule the doctor's visit..... I hope I can get in relatively soon. Any Vancouverites in this thread have any idea on the wait times for scheduling the physical?? I guess I'll call his office tomorrow.

Colin: they told me an 8:30 AM interview time..... what about for you? It would be nice to see you in Montreal, since I've felt we've been going through this process together...... Like yourself, I check my mailbox every day in anticipation for that sacred Packet 4, just to be let down every day. I hope it will come sometime next week just to be certain.

Hip Hip Hooray, the wait is FINALLY over....

Matt
[/quote]

Vita : see my Signature line to see how long. since sent packet 3..Colin

Well my husband was approved today!!!! I can't believe this is finally over. My husband said the interview was a joke and that they were happy he was so organized for the interview. The guy who interview him even welcomed him when he walk in with "hey fellow American". So it is finally done and it feels so good. Good luck to all of you coming up real soon!!!!

Tracy,

That is sooo awesome!! I'm so happy to hear that your husband had a relaxing interview and that everything went well! Did they send him away with any documentation as to what the next steps are? Whats your plan, are you heading to the US right away?

Would love to hear the details of the interview and whats next!

Awesome news, congratulations to you both!

Darryl

From what my hubby said this is how the interview went. He lined up at 7:45am and got in to security a little after 8. Not many problems there just took his car keys because of the remote keyless entry on it. Went up to the 19th floor and went to the window to hand in docs and pay his fee. Was called into the interview shortly after that. He was asked 3 questions and was on his way back out. He was out by 9:15am all done.

He did not say he got anything from them but I don't think there is anything else for us to do since we are IR-1 except cross the border right? He was told he should have his visa within a week.

I'm already here in the US and he is plannin on coming the first week of June. Now it is going to be waiting for the green card and SSN now....

Tracy!!!!

That is fabulous!!! I am so happy for you guys. And yes, being IR-1 you should not have any further cr@@@p to deal with (me thinksssss).

Great great news!!!! L&B

Tracy!!

Like I said in the other forum Congrats

all the Best !!!!!

Colin & Anne

Hey Everyone,

I have a quick question - I was sent an old-school carbon copy type I-864 with my packet 3 to be filled out and brought to the interview - I kind of messed it up a little bit and instead of calling Montreal to mail me a new one I looked online for that same form...there is one that you can fill out via a PDF file and it's much neater etc...does anyone know if you would for any reason "have" to use the carbon copy one, or can you just use the one off the official site?

Seems like a dumb question because they offer it online but I just wanted to see if anyone knew of some reason yoiu had to use the old school one

Our interview is one week from tomorrow - we're pretty excited!

thanks

Darryl

Hi Darryl we filed in the PDF version and printed it out. I got the same kind in packet 3 but thought it would be better to do the PDF one. No problems with I864 at all

Thanks Tracy! Thats what I figured but wanted to make sure just in case they were weird about it. I'll fill out the PDF and bring that instead of the one I messed up.

Thanks again

Darryl

Hi Vita

Sorry for the delay in replying..... I've been out of town the last week or so. I submitted my checklist in end of September 2006 and I got my interview on June 13th. My timeline was very similar to Colin's. Note: we had a delay due tot he Adam Walsh Act that set things back about 2 months or so. If you applied after Jan. 25, 2007 than you don't have to worry about the Adam Walsh and you'd be looking at closer to 6-7 months.

Good luck!
Matt

Hi Tracy and Darryl

First of all, congrats on your husband's successful interview!! That's great news......

Second, I don't remember getting an I-864 carbon copy in my Packet 3. Did you get one Colin? What is the purpose for the I-864? Is that the affidavit of support?? We sent that in with the original checklist if I recall....... Nevermind, I read the instructions and it says to bring an updated I-864 and DS-230. Duh!! Learn how to read the instructions Matt

Third, does anyone know what the process is ifwhen I applied for immigration, I was CR-1 status, but since than we've been married for over 2 years. Do I have to do anything to adjust to IR-1?? From what I've been reading, the Green Card is issued based on when I immigrate, not from when I applied. I should be issued an IR-1 right? I hope so, that will be one less headache to deal with.....

Matt

Hi everyone,

I just phoned Montreal to ask if we had an interview date. They would not comment. We submitted packet 3 the last week in September 2006. Is anyone who submitted in September or earlier still waiting for an interview? Judging by the posts in this thread they are not assigning interviews perfectly chronologically, but I can't help but feel left behind. Anyone else in the same boat? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Martha

Wow.., it does seem that they are not giving interviews then in chronological order - i am not sure how it works - what type of visa are you applying for? Sounds strange to me that you have not been interviewed if you sent your checklist etc, in September of last year. hmmm... what exactly did MTL say to you on the phone?
L.

We're applying for a CR-1 visa for my husband. Montreal just said that they couldn't commit to a timeline. They also wouldn't commit to saying when we wouldn't get an interview (we're trying to make vacation plans and wanted to make sure there would be no interview in June, and they wouldn't even say that that wasn't the case). This is all on top of my Congressman having sent them a letter after the Adam Walsh stuff cleared up. I'm not sure if there's a problem/mistake or if the interview order is just a mystery.

Thanks for everyone's help and support,

Martha

Martha - believe me, there will be no interview in June - all the june interviews have already been assigned, so go on your vacanza my friend, and keep waiting. Have someone check your mail in the meanwhile - or do as Bren and I are doing.... no vacations anywhere until this is done with.
Good luck, L.



I would assume that they should give you an IR-1 since the 2 year "probation" (he he) period has passed, but I'm, not sure.... with these folks, like misa said wisely the other day "who the hell knows". Congrats on the interview though!!!
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

will also post in Canada thread.

Lenina.

Hi Lenina and Martha

I found calling Montreal painful at times, because sometimes I'd have to wait so long, and second I never liked what they had to tell me until they told me my interview date.

If you've been following our thread, calling every 2 weeks is of little help. I've called them and they've said that they put a special enquiry into my file, and than when I call them the next month, I was stilll waiting for an interview. I really thought I'd get an interview notice in March for April, but I didn't end up getting a notice until mid-May for June 13th. That's less than 1 month notice, and I have to fly there from Vancouver!! So my routine calls in March and April were useless.

It wasn't until the help of Darryl and Colin Wilson on this thread that I revised my tactics. Please note that they only give out interview dates after the 15th of every month. So if you call them anytime before the 15th, it will be useless. The best time to call them is a day or two after the 15th.

So when I called them up shortly after April 15th, I talked to the lady on the phone and she told me I was still on the wait list. But knowing the information I learned from this site, I kindly asked her which applications are they scheduling interviews for. SHe informed me that there were scheduling interviews from Oct/Nov. So I caught her immediately and told her that I've been waiting since September 2006 (just like you Martha). She put me on hold and checked my file and when she came back on, she said she'd put an enquiry on my file. I thought an enquiry was put on my file after my March telephone call!! She assured me someone would look at my file.

I did call before the 15th of May to check that an enquiry was indeed performed on my file. They didn't have an interview date for me of course, but they told me somone has looked at my file and is aware of my wait and I'm still on the wait list. I asked her if I could/should be expecting an interview notice after the 15th. Of course, she couldn't comfirm, but that I could call back the following week. So when I called back the following week, they told me I had a date (finally). Ironically, on the same day as Colin Wilson.

You have to get someone on the phone who knows your situation and timeline. If they don't know you've been waiting all this time, sometimes they do "skip" over people like myself, Colin Wilson, and apparently Martha as well.

Honestly, if I didn't get an interview after the May notices, I was going to follow Colin's suit. He involved his Tennessee senator and the senator's office got him the interview date. I was going to ask the help from the more junior senator, as I figured the more senior well-established senator would have less time to help. I also would advise picking your senator, because they have specific forms and processes to handle immigration concerns. I'm not sure if Congressmen have these formal channels of communication with USCIS as well.

Martha, read carefully all of our experiences on this thread. Your interview should definitely be coming up in the June batch. HOw long do you plan on going for vacation? The only reason why I ask, is that you may find yourself to be in the situation as me. If I did not call Montreal (on May 16th) to find out I got an interview for June 13th, I would not have received the packet in the mail until May 24th (notiying me of my interview date) I think is when it came. That would have given me less than 3 weeks to scramble to make all the appointments before my interview.

I had to get my medical done and arrange for Tetanus and MMR boosters before my medical exam. The USA medical requires Tetanus and MMR boosters within the past 10 years, signed off by your physician or immunization record. Check with the doctor authorized to do the medical exam in your city. I know Colin did his medical in Calgary before he got his interview notice. Here in Vancouver, the office only needs proof of your MTL number, so any correspondence from the consulate would suffice. You also have to get 5 passport photos taken and filling out new DS-230 and I-864 forms for the interview. So if you have your tax returns for 2006 already, start working on those forms!! Also make sure you have your immunization records, as those can be difficult to get a hold of!!

Good luck to you both, and I hope all goes well.

Cheers,
Matt

Well guys we had our interview June 1st....it was semi-succesful I suppose. We basically had to get more documentation for the I-864, which we did so now we're waiting to hear back...hope all goes smothly. If you'd liek to see the full story check out our "full experience" post

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71772

Darryl