Some help deciphering when we will be finished

[MonicaCO 0]

Hello fellow VJers. There is so much wonderful information here but I could use some help figuring out what our end date could be.

We received NOA2 as of March 10th (NOA1 October 2)...which is incredibly wonderful and shows that Nebraska is performing within the time line. Now I am hoping to understand what our end date could be since we have our family wedding scheduled for October 17th. If we use this page http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/irstats.php it shows 214 days from now to the anticipated interview in Montreal....or somewhere around October 12th. Which would be far too close for comfort for the wedding.

Can anyone shed light on this? Is there somewhere else I should be looking for more accurate estimates?

With thanks,

Monica

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

So you can expect it to take 30 days for your case to get from Nebraska to NVC. Then another up to 30 days to receive a case number. It may then take 2 weeks to a month for you to be invoiced. Then it will take two months for them to review your paperwork from the day they receive the LAST package from you. Then you wait around two months for your interview date to happen. All told, NVC is currently about 5 months and Consulate is currently around 2 months, so you currently have about 7 months more to wait, provided you get no checklists and are on top of everything.

Oh wait, sorry, just saw you were K-1. Oops! Wait. Are you K-1? You were at Nebraska, which implies CR-1 or IR-1, but your profile says K-1, which is only processed at TSC and CSC?

[MonicaCO 0]

No, we are definitely CR-1. We looked at all of the process and decided it would be simpler to just go ahead and apply as already married. We didn't tell the family though since both mothers couldn't attend the wedding and there would have been hard feelings...hence the second "family" wedding.

Thank you for the thought process. So roughly 7 more months from now?

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Yeah, about that, provided everything goes perfectly. I would probably postpone the wedding in case of it not going perfectly, tbh, but I'm a super cautious person and you won't know if things are going slower than I say until too close to your date to be able to get all your refunds.

[MonicaCO 0]

The thought process at the moment would be to move it up to early September in Colorado and then come back for the interview and final stuff and the move. Getting in and out of the US still as a visitor is going to be the only hitch.

[NikLR 13,220]

The thought process at the moment would be to move it up to early September in Colorado and then come back for the interview and final stuff and the move. Getting in and out of the US still as a visitor is going to be the only hitch.

It's super easy to get in and out of the USA. I live in Colorado now. I found telling the CBP i was visiting my husband and then answering any questions they had ( which normally where do you work, when are you returning etc...) concisely (with proof that I would return like my itinerary and a letter from my employer stating when I was due back... which I never had to show but had with me just in case) I normally didn't get too much hassle. I made my trips short, under 2 weeks long and took only a carry on if I could. Returning was the easiest as you don't go through customs until after you hit Canadian soil. I was super nervous the first time I visited but it went just fine.

Without any hitches in your IV and AOS packages you should be done in the next 5-6 months at most.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I don't know where you're getting 5-6 months to visa in hand, NLR. It's taking well over four months to get CC at this point and the last time I saw a Canadian interview date announced, it was two months to the day after CC. That puts it between 6 and 7 months. Plus it's often been taking 2-4 weeks (2 being most common) for visa in hand after interview.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Not a Tailor

[MonicaCO 0]

Hello NLR...I hope we can get to meet up in Colorado once I finally get through all of this.

Visiting my husband hasn't been too much of an issue for the several times I've been back and forth already. I only got hauled into US Customs once and that was mostly a blunder on my part when talking to the customs agent...lots of lessons learned that time for sure.

My concern every time I cross the border is getting hauled into customs. I understand that I am to prove my ties to Canada but that can be very difficult for me. I don't work like normal people...only seasonally and, therefore, travel when I'm not working and between contracts. I don't own my own home but live with my mother. Since I'm going to be leaving the country, I've been paring down my life here and have less and less proof to offer them. Typically, when I go through customs, I tell them that I am going to visit friends and family and give them my return date if asked. The last time through customs they asked me nothing beyond that and if I have food with me. But its a ####### shoot as to who you get and what sort of mood they are in. I have read on this site that someone did try to cross close to their end dates and they were denied.

So hubby and I have a lot to discuss in the next little bit.

Thank you both for your input.

[NikLR 13,220]

I don't know where you're getting 5-6 months to visa in hand, NLR. It's taking well over four months to get CC at this point and the last time I saw a Canadian interview date announced, it was two months to the day after CC. That puts it between 6 and 7 months. Plus it's often been taking 2-4 weeks (2 being most common) for visa in hand after interview.

a month from NOA2 to NVC recieved

a month to received to numbers and AOS payment... IV and AOS are sent at this time...

2 months (60 days) to CC - during this time you also pay the IV fee and do the DS-260. Not sure if it takes another 2 months for DS-260 review but it doesn't seem like it

Montreal books 1-2 months out from CC date depending on if it's at the beginning or end of a month.

I was saying 5-6 months to interview not visa in hand, and this time of year NVC etc is historically faster than in the latter part of the year.

So we both said 6 months?

[MonicaCO 0]

What forms will we be required to fill in next? All of the AOS forms? I don't see a DS-260 in the list of forms...where do I find this? My train of thought at the moment is that if we are prepared to return things to them as fast as possible there hopefully won't be any delays.

[ChristinaG 91]

Once you get your Case # and Invoice ID number, you will be able to fill out the DS261 (Choice of Agent) if you're not using a lawyer and pay the $120 AOS fee. Once that is done, send in all the paperwork - AOS and IV. After a couple of weeks (possibly a month) the IV fee will be invoiced and then the DS260 will be available to fill out on their CEAC website.

It's a test of patience, but if you really read & research and be prepared for each step, you should be able to breeze through with no problems.

Be careful about those little white lies at the border though. We always have the risk (as small as it may be) of getting an idiot who could deny us entry..... best approach is to always be honest and don't give them a reason to become suspicious....

[Flames9_RN 358]

One should not be telling any white lies or any lies..if you do, you only have urself to blame........And they are not idiots--the border guards...the idiots are the ones that lie and break the rules..because of those people, it makes custom/immigration jobs a bit more challenging. Blame the law-breakers

[MonicaCO 0]

I don't understand where this conversation has strayed into the discussion that I have lied to anyone..especially a border guard. I fully understand that I can be charged for providing false information to a border guard...let alone what it will do to my chances of immigrating and being with my husband. If I am asked a direct question, I answer it to the best of my ability.

I was asked where am I going...replied Boulder, Colorado

What is the purpose of my visit....to visit family and friends

When are you returning...gave the date which was a month and a half (within the six month's visit allowed in a calendar year)

He said "have a nice trip...oh, do you have any food with you". I replied that I had half a cookie in my purse and he laughed and said "oh you rebel you" and waved me on.

I did not lie to any of his questions but I did not volunteer any further information than necessary either. I'm not going to stand in front of a guard and say "Good morning sir, and I will let you know up front that I am in the immigration process at such and such a stage..yada yada yada". I have been detained once and almost missed my flight. I understand the process and respect that the guards have a duty to perform but I am not going to take any more time getting through a checkpoint than I necessarily have to by providing information that is not requested. That does not constitute lying in my book.

[NikLR 13,220]

I guess I only said "friends" once when I first met my husband in person. At the time, we were just friends with hopefully more.

After that I always said "visiting my husband."

[Flames9_RN 358]

I don't understand where this conversation has strayed into the discussion that I have lied to anyone..especially a border guard. I fully understand that I can be charged for providing false information to a border guard...let alone what it will do to my chances of immigrating and being with my husband. If I am asked a direct question, I answer it to the best of my ability.

I was asked where am I going...replied Boulder, Colorado

What is the purpose of my visit....to visit family and friends

When are you returning...gave the date which was a month and a half (within the six month's visit allowed in a calendar year)

He said "have a nice trip...oh, do you have any food with you". I replied that I had half a cookie in my purse and he laughed and said "oh you rebel you" and waved me on.

I did not lie to any of his questions but I did not volunteer any further information than necessary either. I'm not going to stand in front of a guard and say "Good morning sir, and I will let you know up front that I am in the immigration process at such and such a stage..yada yada yada". I have been detained once and almost missed my flight. I understand the process and respect that the guards have a duty to perform but I am not going to take any more time getting through a checkpoint than I necessarily have to by providing information that is not requested. That does not constitute lying in my book.

I meant to quote ChristinaG......