Not allowed to submit K-1 at Vancouver Consulate.

[jenjens 0]

Hey guys

I've been snooping around this forum for a while and reading everyone elses questions - but i've never actually had anything to ask!

Well, except for now.

I'm an Australian citizen living in Vancouver, Canada on a working holiday visa - however I just read on the Vancouver Consulate website that they will not process K-1 visas unless you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

I am neither of those, so they're saying I need to use the Montreal Consulate.

The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver processes fiancé(e) (K1) and spouse (K3) cases for citizens of Canada, or aliens who are Canadian permanent residents. Applicants must also be residing in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon or the Northwest Territories. All other applicants in Canada are processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal.

My question is - would I actually need to go to the consulate for anything other than the interview? If it's just a once off trip where I actually have to go in person I can handle that, but otherwise I'm probably going to have to head back home and do the whole process from Australia.

Please advise?

[amykathleen2005 441]

One time trip for the interview, although you will somehow need to get the medical done too. So maybe two trips, but that's it.

[Inky 1,111]

Nope, all you go to the consul for is the interview. Nothing else!

You could have your medical in Vancouver and go to Montreal for the interview.

I'm not sure about you having to use Montreal because your not a PR or such.

One time trip for the interview, although you will somehow need to get the medical done too. So maybe two trips, but that's it.

Medicals in Canada can be done in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. The OP would not have to make two trips.

[jenjens 0]

Fantastic! Thanks for the quick responses

& Inky, the Vancouver website implied that all other applicants (non citizens or PR's) are processed in Montreal.

I'll give them a call to be sure, but otherwise thanks for the help!

Edited April 23, 2011 by jenjens

[Inky 1,111]

Here is the website for the medical clinic in Vancouver that does the immigration medicals. A little early in the stage for you but you can book mark it and save it for later!

http://www.wokingmedical.com/

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Fantastic! Thanks for the quick responses

& Inky, the Vancouver website implied that all other applicants (non citizens or PR's) are processed in Montreal.

I'll give them a call to be sure, but otherwise thanks for the help!

You might be misunderstanding the meaning of the text on the consulate website. They might mean that only a citizen or permanent resident of Canada can interview for a K1 anywhere in Canada, and residents of the listed provinces and territories interview in Vancouver, while residents of other parts of Canada interview in Montreal. US consulates in most countries require you to be a legal resident of the country where you are applying for a visa, and not merely a visitor. This is meant to discourage people who live in countries that have a high level of visa fraud from going to another country as a visitor because of the perception that it will be easier for them to get a visa to the US. Neither Canada nor Australia are considered "high fraud" countries, but consulates apply this rule uniformly.

You should check with the consulate and see if they will allow you to interview for a K1 in Canada, based on your current visa status in Canada.

Also, Inky was talking specifically about the medical exam. Those aren't performed by the consulate. They are performed by approved panel physicians. Any panel physician approved by the consulate can perform the medical, which means an approved panel physician in Vancouver could do the medical even if the interview were in Montreal.

[catnipyosh 1]

I'm an Australian citizen living in Vancouver, Canada on a working holiday visa - however I just read on the Vancouver Consulate website that they will not process K-1 visas unless you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

I am neither of those, so they're saying I need to use the Montreal Consulate.

My fiancee is in the same boat (she's a Japanese citizen, but is on a working-holiday visa). We asked for the interview to be in Vancouver on the I-129F, and it was in fact sent to Vancouver. My fiancee got a letter yesterday from the Vancouver Consulate, which said:

We do not process applications for fiancee visas unless you are a canadian citizen,a landed immigrant in canada, on employment authorization, or are pursuing a full-time academic program of at least a year's duration. If you are in one of these categories, please provide evidence from a canadian authority.

I emailed the Consulate a copy of my fiancee's work permit, which should do the trick. Given that it takes about 3 months to get an interview at Montreal, you're better off at Vancouver if they will take you.

One last thing you will want to keep an eye on is when your work permit expires. It's taking USCIS like 5 or 6 months to process the initial I-129Fs, so if your visa expires before then, you'll probably end up having to go back to Australia. (But if I remember right, you guys get a 2-year work permit! For the Japanese working-holiday program, it's only a year...)

Good luck!

[pushbrk 12,977]

You might be misunderstanding the meaning of the text on the consulate website. They might mean that only a citizen or permanent resident of Canada can interview for a K1 anywhere in Canada, and residents of the listed provinces and territories interview in Vancouver, while residents of other parts of Canada interview in Montreal. US consulates in most countries require you to be a legal resident of the country where you are applying for a visa, and not merely a visitor. This is meant to discourage people who live in countries that have a high level of visa fraud from going to another country as a visitor because of the perception that it will be easier for them to get a visa to the US. Neither Canada nor Australia are considered "high fraud" countries, but consulates apply this rule uniformly.

You should check with the consulate and see if they will allow you to interview for a K1 in Canada, based on your current visa status in Canada.

Also, Inky was talking specifically about the medical exam. Those aren't performed by the consulate. They are performed by approved panel physicians. Any panel physician approved by the consulate can perform the medical, which means an approved panel physician in Vancouver could do the medical even if the interview were in Montreal.

Jim is correct. Here's what the website has posted. The context of Montreal is geographic not status related.

The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver processes fiancé(e) (K1) and spouse (K3) cases for citizens of Canada, or aliens who are Canadian permanent residents. Applicants must also be residing in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon or the Northwest Territories. All other applicants in Canada are processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal.

I would contact the Consulate directly, by email, with regard to whether a person with your status in Canada can interview for a K visa in Canada, period. I think you can if your status is the same by the time the interview occurs, but check directly.

[AlinaH 38]

Email them. I had to email both Vancouver and Montreal with questions and they were both very quick to respond. What kind of visa are in Canada on?

[KiwiBird 132]

I know from experience that even the 'mail' from the Sydney (Australia) Consulate isn't paper mail. It's all email. So you'd really only have to go there for your interview, and not wait around in Australia for Packet 3 and 4.

[catnipyosh 1]

I know from experience that even the 'mail' from the Sydney (Australia) Consulate isn't paper mail. It's all email. So you'd really only have to go there for your interview, and not wait around in Australia for Packet 3 and 4.

So actually I would be reluctant to move back to Australia with the idea of still having the visa interview in Vancouver. As I mentioned in the previous post, the Vancouver Consulate sent my fiancee (a Japanese citizen in Vancouver on a working-holiday visa) a letter by snail mail to her address in Canada asking her to send evidence that she actually has a work permit.

Also, if the beneficiary moves, he or she is obligated by law to inform the government of the address change. And when you fill out the paperwork for the visa, you have to list your current address, and if it's not in the country where the embassy is located, they won't process you there.

That being said, if you are currently living in Canada on a working holiday visa, and think there's a good chance that the fiancee petition will be approved before your visa expires or you plan to move back to Australia, by all means list Vancouver as your consulate of choice. If it turns out that processing is slower than you thought, you can always contact USCIS/State Department and change your requested consulate to Australia.

One final note -- if it looks like it's going to be a tight turnaround (i.e. your petition will be approved only a few months before your visa expires), I would definitely recommend having all of the paperwork you need for the visa interview in order, so that as soon as you receive Packet 3, you can send it back and schedule your interview date, and not have to be scrambling to get your police certificates (Australian AND Canadian), birth certificate, etc.