Hello all
My I129 was approved last week and if all goes well I should be hearing from the consulate in Montreal in a few weeks. I know they send a checklist and package. Can anyone tell me exactly what forms or info I will need immediately to send in so I can have them ready ahead of time. I am getting my police certificate and vaccination stuff organized.
Also .. on the Montreal Consulate web page they are saying all nonimmigrant visa applicants have to have this printed DS 156. Has anyone had to fill this out for their interview? It almost sounds as if this is meant to be for someone who is already in the US......
Thank you all for your support and help in the past. My husband thanks you too as I would be really freaking by now if I didn't have this site to help!
Monica

Take a look at the guide here on VJ, it seems to do well for most of other VJ members:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k3guide

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=i130faq

Good luck

thanks jasman
I've been checking out the guides. I guess this I134/I864 is all we need for forms. I wonder if anyone has downloaded a copy of the checklist from the Montreal consulate or the contents of this "Packet 3" onto this site??

Well Monicatony.......

First of all Congrats!!

Now is when your true test of patience begins.

In the next 2-3 weeks you should receive packet 3 from Montreal which will include a checklist as well as a DS-230. Youre going to want to send those 2 things back immediately......dont wait. There may things such as your medical that are not complete but thats not an issue, send it anyway. Check off all of the items that pertain to you on the checklist even if you dont have them. The DS-156 is a form you will be required to have for your interview . You will complete that online as it will generate a barcode page with all of your info in the barcode and then you'll print off 2 copies of that.......do not send it in ......take it to your interview. You'll need the I-134 affidavit of support , again for the interview. There is no real rush to complete that and even may be more beneficial if you wait until your interview date is closer so as to have the most current information at the time.

Once you send the DS-230 and the checklist back , your real waitng will begin. The letter will suggest that you will get your interview within 2-4 months from the time your file is received in their office, but dont count on it. Not saying it isnt possible but counting on it is a recipe for very possible disappointment and stress. Montreal is painfully and historically slow.

Our best to you

Thank you very much for the helpful information CutienPurg. Knowing what to expect....what to really expect... helps the stress level. I appreciate the best wishes and too you as well.
Thanks lots!
Monica

you're very welcome

another thing........don't hesitate to ask any question you might have........rant ,rave, obsess about Tim Horton's, grumble about High fructose Corn Syrup and crappy American or Canadian food, gripe about ur hubby.......whatever........we're all there. The group around this forum is pretty laid back and wont chastise you ..........they'll help and support

Thanks for the good wishes

ha.. will do. My husband is an American who is addicted to Timmy's now. He always scopes out the closest one when visiting up here. Have you really not heard anything from the consulate since you sent your packet back in Nov??
Monica

Oh yeah we hear things ...... things like " you're still on the waiting list" " sorry no interview scheduled yet" oh and my all time favorite from late November " you will wait 4 months to HEAR of an interview "........looks like she wasn't lying.


dang another thing I forgot to add ............anytime you have a Tim Hortons coffee, it's mandatory you bring it to Flames' attention.......he lives vicariously through those of you still in Canada



(he's gonna get me for that )

hmmm.. sucks to have to deal with the Montreal agenda but what choice have we got. (A lot of people I speak to are suprised there is no where to go in Toronto to handle this.) I'll be pulling for you guys and hopefully we'll be right behind you... by a few months...
We drove from Toronto to Indiana last week and I swear we saw a Tim Horton's in OHIO. We are infiltrating state by state ha.

This is what my Letter said "Once we have received and processed the completed DS-230 Part 1, your DS-156 and your document checklist, we will send you an appointment letter with an appointment date and time and further instructions to prepare for your interview day." I am thinking they need the DS156 since this year too.

I am soooooo sick of people saying, "Why can't you just go to the consulate here? Why don't they do them here?"

"GEE, I DON'T KNOW, DO I LOOK LIKE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT????"

Sorry, I had to get that out, two people asked me that today. Again.

Well people here always give me that perplexed look and say " why is it taking so long? ........its just CANADA......not like its Iran or something" I say " well lemme tell ya, just because its CANADA , they get no special treatment....." then i go on a Montreal rant.. <sigh>

I think the stupidest question I get after EXPLAINING the whole immigration process is, "Why can't you just move there?"

Next time I think I'll just say, "Oh, I can, I just like waiting and filling out paperwork and paying loads of money for this". Either that or I'll just punch them in the face.

My husband (the USC) gets asked repeatedly, "When's she getting here?" A friend of his recently made the comment that U.S. immigration was really easy. My husband set him straight. If I had been there, I think I would have strangled him.

yeah immigration is really easy ...........if you're an illegal!!!


<ducks and runs>

oh I hear ya! I think my husband's friends assume we must be doing something wrong because it couldn't possibly be that hard My Aunt did the "just move there" thing and it took her over a year and mucho hassles to get her status and permission to work and stuff. Not all of us can survive on one income while the system plods along! " Ahhhhh.... one day".. my husband and I are always saying to each other.... Hopefully going through these hardships together creates a special bond between us and our loved ones..... grasping for silver lining!!
ps. thanks lance27 for the additional info on the forms

Hi Monica and welcome to the waiting game. CutenPurg said it all, but I wanted to stress that you do not have to have everything asked for on the checklist to send it back. Send it back iASAP after recieving it and then start working on your stuff.

What I did during this period was stress, practice filling out all the forms for this stage and the AOS stage (unfortunately I did not practice gathering the information from my co-sponsor and have gotten delayed), stressed some more, and came here for support.

Make sure you have a valid passport, a long copy of your birth certificate, and if you have a criminal record then you will want to get started on your police check now. Also think of all the things you will need for your big move. University transcripts come to mind.

The other thing you can do is buy a bottle of whatever you like best. Hell.. if it's only chocolate milk it wil do to have some on hand for those moments that you just need some comfort.

Monique

thank you. The support from you all is invaluable. My husband has neither the time nor the patience to research and obsess so it's left to me and at least I have others who can relate!
Monica

mozplay is right. What I did was take a copy of the checklist for myself, check everything on the list which was applicable and put a N/a on items that didnt apply and sent in the checklist back along with the DS-230 and the DS-156 2 copies (filled out online) and sent it in last week. I called Montreal and asked about the interview date and was told the same thing as everyone on here. It will take upto 4 months to schedule an interview, so going on when I sent in the checklist, I am hoping end of June. This seems to be the hardest part of the wait and its only been 3 days since I sent in the checklist

Lance

P.S If you want to have a look at the checklist, I have it scanned. Im gonna try upload the file here.

thank you for the peek at the checklist Lance. I think I understand that you don't have to actually send the birth/marriage/divorce/police certificates in with the checklist ....just check that you have them. Is that correct? Do I bring them to the interview or do I send the originals back with the checklist right away? Also... I read elsewhere that a nationwide police certificate from the RCMP is okay....rather than the checklist suggests.. having something from every local police service where you've lived since 16.
thanks Monica

Yes 1 Canada Wide background check by the RCMP or thr city police will suffice!!

That is correct. I just checked off everything on the list that was applicable to me and sent it in along with the DS-156 and the DS-230. I have all the original paperwork with me and my medical is scheduled for March 12. Police certificate from the RCMP is good enough. Here is the website where you can contact the office closest to you. I was told it would take 5-7 business days to obtain one. http://www.fingerprintingservice.com/index.html I must say however that you do not need to get fingerprints done as this is taking about 120-150 days to get. Just ask for a police clearance based on your name check. Tell them it is for US immigration and take your checklist and letter you receive from Montreal.

It said take originals along with a copy to the consulate on the interview date. I am assuming that they verify the copies with the originals and keep the copies, but I am not sure, someone who has been to the interview may be able to help on that point.

1 only requires fingerprinting if they have ever had a criminal record. No criminal record, NO fingerprints. And each RCMP/police detachment is different. Some charge a fee, some do not (fee varies as well) some you get the cert on the spot, some take a few days, other longer. And the cert appearance varies as well, even among RCMP detachments!! Soem include ur pic, some do not!! No such thing as uniformity!! lol But it is a fairly easy document to get.

thanks guys.
the police check I'm working on. I need to renew my passport as it expires in Sept. Waiting for this mad rush of spring breakers, trying to get a passport to fly to the US, to die down a bit. And to further complicate things, I've moved since filing everything so now I need to tell someone my new address. I am going to visit hubby tomorrow and will try to phone NVC or customer service, from the US to give them my new info. Always the drama....

Personally, if I had to do it again, I would ask from file to be transferred to the Vancouver Embassy ASAP!!!!!!!! They are SO MUCH FASTER with appt's its crazy.

It will cost more in terms of travel etc... but from what I've seen, it cuts down the wait from 4 months (MTL if your lucky) to apprx. 1.5 months (from the date that they recieve your hard copy file).

But that's just my two cents. Maybe it has changed but I doubt it. They said your Packet 4 very quickly.

Vancouver is still really quick (see my timeline).