My husband (the Canadian and will be assigned to the Montreal Consulate) just overnighted his G325A and photos and some other 'proof of bonafide relationship' type docs to me, so I should have them by Thurs. I am thinking the CR-1/IR1 (whichever is for the married 2+ year) option is the way to go and he thinks we should do the K-3 route simply because he is not the patient type.

I ( or we, rather) just don't want him to come here and sit around for god knows how long for AOS +EAD + whatever else you have to do, for months or years. We just did that with CIC and me sitting in Canada for 2 years waiting. Something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

If you knew then what you know now, which route would you take?

If you're stuck with Montreal regardless of K3 or IR-1 (since you've been married 2+ years), go with the IR-1.

If I was doing this all over again, I'd stick with what we did (K3 then AOS). I went through Vancouver though and my entire process was really fast compared to many others (8 months - 4 for K3 and 4 for GC).

Good luck for a speedy approval, whichever route you chose to go.

Your comments about not being able to work for 2 years in Canada scare me, as my U.S. citizen husband and I, the Canadian citizen, are hoping to move back to Canada at some point. I am awaiting my U.S. citizenship and then we will start looking into the immigration process to Canada.

CIC is no friend of mine. I wrote a blog about my Canadian immigration process if you want to see the full time line of events. http://deliciasblogaboutcanada.blogspot.com/ Needless to say, that I withdrew my application in September and moved back to the U.S. after I landed a job and am working on getting my husband into the U.S. now. CIC, my old buddy, says it could take a year to get my fees refunded (almost $1700). Fees that we paid in October 2005. Boooo Canada!

At least there's the option for a refund which is way more than what USCIS will give you (which is nothing if you withdraw a petition/application or if you are denied).

The U.S. process may or may not be faster for your husband. It will be faster if he doesn't get caught in namechecks/security check holdups but if he does, there's no telling how long it could take. At least you were able to live there with him through it which is still a bonus.

For clarification, were you able to get a work permit while your application was pending? Because if you were, it sounds like you were in a similar situation as those here in the U.S. waiting years for AOS approval. They are able to work with an EAD.

No, I never had a work permit as my case never reached first stage approval (which means no work, no ownership of property, no medical, nothing). After sitting in Alberta for 9 months, my file was transferred to a local CIC office in Toronto where it sat untouched until I gave up. Even the MP was baffled but unable to help.

Hmm... interesting. Well hopefully they will get your refund to you soon and good luck with the U.S. process!

I've heard so many horror stories with Canadian immigration regarding long delays, losing petitions, etc etc, so I really don't blame you for opting for the US route! <--- (pronounced "root" not "route", btw.)
In my opinion, you will be best off going for the IR1. Either way, you are going through Montreal, so there is no avoiding the delays there. However, you may not be caught up in the delays if you have any of the luck that Karina had. She was an IR1, and got scheduled her interview the month after case completion, while all the CR1's waited 4-6 months. Being an IR1, you may get the same good fortune:)
Anyways, whichever visa you choose, best wishes on your journey

Funny when you mentioned the route vs root pronunciation thing it made me think of a time when I was in New Zealand and I said something like which 'root' are we taking - in NZ 'root' has a completely different connotation, but they all got a laugh anyway (and I have since always pronounced it route).

Anyway, I read your blog Delia and it is very well written. I can understand your frustration with CIC, although we had no problem at all (with my Husband's perm residency that is) - I'm sure it's no different from the bureaucracy that is USCIS/NVC. For the record we don't have bagged milk in Alberta, it was kind of an experiment back in the early 80's here I believe and disappeared after a year or so (oh and no one I know says "eh" haha).

Anyway, if we were going to start this all over again I have said we would have chosen the K3 (for a Vancouver interview) - however, now that Montreal is moving faster with their interviews I would still choose IR1 (which is what we are doing). Seems to be much less hassle than doing AOS later.

View my signature below to see the hoops to jump through to get to the interview and good luck!

Just wanted to say good luck with this process!, I had no problems with CIC when I Immigrated almost 6 years ago...but have heard of others that have..I will be dealing with CIC again at the end of the week when I send off my PR card renewal forms, as my card expires in January..

also read your blog about milk in the bag and had to laugh... I made my husband pose with the milk bags and demonstrate how to use them for all my friends and family back home because they thought I was lying..LOL..I also scrapbooked about it, heres a link (also had to say that the first time I cut the milk bag open, I did it on the wrong end and my husband had to pour the milk sideways..LOL..I was banned from opening the milk for many weeks!..LOL)

"Got Milk?, IN A BAG!"
http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/108145/...483/0/40/1.html

Sorry about the cdn process!! I dont think the time difference is that huge with regards to K3 vs the IR-1 going through montreal! If you had lived in the Bestern (west) provinces, u could have gone through vancouver,which is much faster at giving out K3 interviews!! Montreal is the ONLY consulate in canada that does the cr-1/ir-1 interviews (ir-1 in ur case) Best of luck

Well Delicia....I have just spent 2 hours reading your blog. It's very well written. And I am sad for you that it turned out this way. Now I hope that your husband will get his Visa quick enough and that all that time wasted will be forgotten. I wish you both the best on your (second) immigration process

I did like the Milk in a bag part.....The first time Josh visited me In Montreal and I offered him a glass of milk, I didn't know and didn't warn him of what he was about to see.... so he spontaneously said " What the F*ck is that !?!?!?!?"

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