New member, NOA2 received- Hi Everyone!

[Happy75 2]

Hello everyone,

This site has been a godsend to me and my fiancee. Our process started seven months ago and we are currently waiting for Packet 3 from the Montreal Consulate. I am the petitioner and a U.S. citizen applying for the visa for my fiancee who is a Peruvian citizen and a permanent resident of Canada. I have posted our timeline in the signature section. Like many of you we have a host of questions and have found a lot of guidance on this site. I thought perhaps our story would help others currently in the process or thinking about it. Right now my biggest concern is the Montreal Consulate. They do not answer the phone, have a rude message about huge delays on their answering service, and take 2 weeks to answer an email if you are lucky. I have looked a little at the Montreal Forum on this site and not not seen much encouragement there, I notice that some with a similar timeilne (a month ahead) to us have an interview in May. I think that is beyond ridiculous. I'm sorry for any of you that have to deal with this Consulate. I am praying that everything will go smoothly for us and we will get Packet 3 and an interview soon. So concerning all this I do have a few questions:

1) When can you actually schedule an appointment? I have a Montreal Case number from NVC- MTL xxxxxxx. Is that the one I would use to make the appointment?

2) What is a reasonable amount of time (considering it's Montreal) for getting Packet 3? What if you don't get it?

3) Besides the medical , are there more Visa Fees to pay? I paid the $455 when I sent the I-129F packet in.

Thank you and good luck to you all. So far we have had a smooth but very long wait with our K-1.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

You can schedule an appointment once DOS has confirmed Montreal has logged Packet 3 and sent Packet 4.

It took me awhile to get Packet 3. The Montreal consulate's website details everything needed in Packet 3, so there is no need to wait for the hard copy if you don't want to.

Here's the link to Packet 3.

Yes, there's $350 fee that you can either pay when you book your interview or pay at the time of interview.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Coconuts

[Happy75 2]

Thanks Coconuts. I hope our timeline stays close to yours at least. Best of luck to you both.

At the moment we are considering whether or not we should try and have her visit the U.S. after we get our interview date. I read the "Yes it is ok to visit" thread somewhere on here and while most of the stories were positive, some scared me silly. I'm going up to visit her this weekend in Toronto

You don't know how surprised I was to find out that Toronto doesn't do K-1 visas. Very little in this visa process makes any sense at all.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I visited my fiance once for a little over a month during the Visa process. There's no harm in trying. Have her bring ties to Canada in case she gets questioned about her intent to immigrate. Even if she gets told no, she can't get in, it will have no impact on the Visa application itself. It's no big deal.

Yeah, unfortunately, for most people things go quickly after the NOA2. Not for those of us stuck in the Montreal abyss. Good luck to you!

Edited February 16, 2011 by Coconuts

[s&c1 3]

Congrats on the NOA2!! And welcome to this wonderful resource.

As for visiting the USA during this whole long process, your fiance can

visit. I visit my fiance all the time. We live in a border town (We are very lucky)

I bring with me current pay stubs, bills at my current home, and the NOA1 to prove

we are doing things the "right" way

They all know us and we rarly get a hard time (again very lucky).

So as long has she has strong ties and has proof of this on her. There

should be no worries. Good Luck in your journey!!!

[Happy75 2]

Well s&c1 my fiancee isn't working at present so she doesn't have that. She does have a track record of always coming back in time. She will have either the NOA2 or interview letter, a car title and her word. I would think that having a Fiance visa appliction pending at the Consulate would tell the border agent that she HAS to go back to finish the process and that an overstay would risk everything... but of course it's all backwards. So she will be open and honest with all questions and say that she has time to visit me while we wait for the Montreal Consulate to do their job sometime before we all die of old age.

By the way the Department of State Visa Service will be able to tell anyone their current case status at the Consulate/Embassy. Their number is 202-663-1225. Ours hasn't been received yet even though it was sent on Jan31st.

Good luck to all of you!

[Happy75 2]

UPDATE:

I posted a question titled RFE Please help in this K-1 foum today regarding this:

I received a letter from the Montreal Consulate-but it's from the Consulate General office in Champlain NY. It asks them to supply them with the Canadian beneficiary's proof of Citizenzhip or residence. There are no specific instructions as to how to send it to them- or where. I am currently trying to figure that out.

The letter has 6 numbered options. First it says "Thank you for your communication regarding the below-referenced immigrant visa case(what communication?- I did send them an email asking for status update, but that's it.) . The following check marks pertain to your case.

Mine has #1 checked: PLEASE FURNISH THIS OFFICE WITH PROOF OF YOUR CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP OR PROOF OF RESIDENCE.

Currently my fiance and I have not yet received packet 3. The consulate sent this letter the day the received our case from NVC.

I don't recall ever seeing instructions to include the beneficiary's proof of Citizenship or residence in the I-129F, G-385 or anything else. So is this an official "RFE" that will delay our process or something else?

I have emailed scans of her resident card. I will fax it to them as well. I suppose my fiance will also send it to them from Canada via DHL. Anyone have any advice. Thanks!