Montreal Administrative Processing Timeline

[NVC 2]

Dear fellow Canadians, good morning/afternoon! (depends on where you are)

After I spent significant amount of time on visa journey.com, I have mostly focused on the Administrative Processing (AP) reports particularly from US Consulate in Montreal, in other words, immigrant visas and K1 visas. I have shamelessly come with a few bold points here...and any inputs/comments are welcome.

1. Most applicants don't know why they are put on AP.

2. AP is loosely linked to the counties where the applicants are born (Many people speculated the MENA countries born applicants may be likely to put on AP).

3. AP can be as short as a few days. Most applicants are under AP for a few months (2-3 months). Some are on AP for 6 months or more.

4. Montreal U.S. Consulate only communicates through e-mail, it is efficient to my experiences.

5. You can check your AP status by calling 1 202 663 1225 then press 1, then press 0, then you will be answered very quickly by a specialist, they are professional, accurate, patient and helpful.

Alternative, you can check your status online

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=o/iS8zDpeAKjMWCuebHqOw==

6. It may be frustrating. However, there is really not much you can do in order to expedite AP. It is to most extent a wait, while you are hoping it won't be too long.

7. Once NVC transferred the case to the Montreal U.S. Consulate, they don't handle the case anymore. All package will be mailed to Montreal.

8. USCIS doesn't handle I-130, I-140 anymore once they forward the case to NVC.

Edited April 11, 2013 by NVC

[Flames9_RN 358]

Some after awhile have contacted their congressperson//senator and have had them inquire and it seemed to "speed" up the process

[O&Z 1]

thank you for you for this post.

when you are in AP - you grab onto whatever you can, because it feels like a black hole.

in response to your post and applying it to our case:

1. Most applicants don't know why they are put on AP. - they told us at our interview as we were handing a 221g form

2. AP is loosely linked to the counties where the applicants are born (Many people speculated the MENA countries born applicants may be likely to put on AP). - my husband is CANADIAN born, but his parents are from india and pakiland - so obvi that makes him evil and he gets put in AP

3. AP can be as short as a few days. Most applicants are under AP for a few months (2-3 months). Some are on AP for 6 months or more. : it has been about 5 months for us now

4. Montreal U.S. Consulate only communicates through e-mail, it is efficient to my experiences.: they took about 5 weeks to reply to our first email. then 3 weeks for the second email.

5. You can check your AP status by calling 1 202 663 1225 then press 1, then press 0, then you will be answered very quickly by a specialist, they are professional, accurate, patient and helpful.
Alternative, you can check your status online
https://ceac.state.g...AKjMWCuebHqOw==

this website is much more helpful and i check it everyday; altho i have seen some posts that it can be misleading and inaccurate in their status.

already contacted a senator and they were given the same answer as we were.
spoke to a lawyer who said they have no time constraints, limits to finish this task in and there is nothing she can really do to help us.

i work for the Federal government, so unfortunately i have seen the inefficiency firsthand. not saying that there aren't hardworking efficienct ppl working in this department, but it's disheartening to wait so long when you know it could be done quicker.

if i waited this long to take action for my patients/clients, they would die (literally)

trying to keep a positive outlook and support each other on this forum.

[NVC 2]

Hi zubi2lute, I know your experiences and I hope you will be out of AP soon.

You are right on the info that ceac.state.gov provides and the DOS 1 202 663 1225.

Sometimes, ceac status is misleading.

But I realized sometimes, DOS's info is not updated immediately when ceac status is changing.

It seems ceac is real-time change, DOS has one day or half day delay.

Time will tell.

Best of luck with your case and hope your family is sound and healthy.

thank you for you for this post.

when you are in AP - you grab onto whatever you can, because it feels like a black hole.

in response to your post and applying it to our case:

1. Most applicants don't know why they are put on AP. - they told us at our interview as we were handing a 221g form

2. AP is loosely linked to the counties where the applicants are born (Many people speculated the MENA countries born applicants may be likely to put on AP). - my husband is CANADIAN born, but his parents are from india and pakiland - so obvi that makes him evil and he gets put in AP

3. AP can be as short as a few days. Most applicants are under AP for a few months (2-3 months). Some are on AP for 6 months or more. : it has been about 5 months for us now

4. Montreal U.S. Consulate only communicates through e-mail, it is efficient to my experiences.: they took about 5 weeks to reply to our first email. then 3 weeks for the second email.

5. You can check your AP status by calling 1 202 663 1225 then press 1, then press 0, then you will be answered very quickly by a specialist, they are professional, accurate, patient and helpful.
Alternative, you can check your status online
https://ceac.state.g...AKjMWCuebHqOw==

this website is much more helpful and i check it everyday; altho i have seen some posts that it can be misleading and inaccurate in their status.

already contacted a senator and they were given the same answer as we were.
spoke to a lawyer who said they have no time constraints, limits to finish this task in and there is nothing she can really do to help us.

i work for the Federal government, so unfortunately i have seen the inefficiency firsthand. not saying that there aren't hardworking efficienct ppl working in this department, but it's disheartening to wait so long when you know it could be done quicker.

if i waited this long to take action for my patients/clients, they would die (literally)

trying to keep a positive outlook and support each other on this forum.

[Ms Hogan 295]

The CEAC site is not always updated for everyone. Some people who were approved a couple years ago can still see it saying "In Progress."

[Faizan89 6]

Hi NVC,

Based on your research, do you know what's the maximum time the AP can take from Montreal? I've been in AP for almost 9 months now

[savtage74 0]

AP for 5 months

[Vee506 0]

I just want to confirm, that when you all talk about going "administrative processing", this is after you have been approved at the interview?
That is currently my status as well, post interview approval. And they have my passport... It doesn't seem right that they keep some of your passports up to 9 months!?

[Flames9_RN 358]

If one is in AP--you can request your passport back until it is complete

[mufa13 0]

Hello All,

Wondering if the individuals that were in AP could update weather they are still under going AP or the amount of time it took for them to get approved. We are at 3 months, just looking to see how long we could be in for.

At time of interview my fiance was told that the reason for AP was that there was not sufficient evidence that the translation of her birth certificate was in fact of the original. She was further instructed that she should get it re-translated and submit the translation, along with the original and passport and she should have the above items with the visa in 14 business days. Well those 14 days are now 3 months. Just looking to get an idea of the current AP timeline.

[O&Z 1]

hey there mufa-

so you prob dont want to hear this, but we are 11 months in AP from montreal.

ours is due to 'security checks' from washington.

it sounds like yours is a bit more of an internal AP and if you resubmit information, it may not take too long.

have you resubmitted what they requested?

they also told us the same timeline at the interview lol. but they can't really predict timelines and if they said it'll take a year, we would probably have some choice words for them.

once you do mail stuff in, it goes through security and takes about 4 weeks to actually get to the officer.

best of luck to you.

[mufa13 0]

O&Z,

Thanks for the reply and best of luck to you as well. Hope you guys are out of AP very soon. Yes we prompted submitted the requested items. Had an express translation done and overnight-ed the items. Interview was on a Friday, delivery confirmation showed the items delivered on Tuesday.

[O&Z 1]

ok so add abt 3-4 weeks from the Loomis delivery confirmation to when the OFFICER actually gets the paperwork.

it may be a good idea to email using the public inquiry form asking them to confirm receipt of your documents.

that way you will know when the CO has seen that paperwork.

for example, we sent stuff in october 4th but they said they didn't get it until oct 25th.

[Faizan89 6]

Hi,

I was in AP for more than 12 months and finally received a letter from Montreal requesting for passport.

My only concern now is how to send the passport and how will they send it back to me? i tried registering for Loomis courier service but it gives me the same info as last year because I already registered before. Should I use the same reference ID as last year to receive my stuff back?? You think you have any info on that?

I would really appreciate your help.

THank you so much.

[mufa13 0]

Thanks again O&Z,

I did call and confirm that they have received the requested items. They also sent back her passport, stating that they will ask for it when they are ready for it.

I have used the public inquiry form for a general update and also contacted my senator. Both yielded standard replies of essentially we'll get to it when we get to it.

I guess we were just thrown off by them initially saying that it will take 14 business days......