Where will my interview be held?

[LonestarCanuck 0]

Hello,

My husband and I currently live in Canada (I am USC he is Canadian). His I-130 has been sent to Nebraska and the processing times chart is still processing from a year ago. My visa for Canada expires in August and I've used up my options for staying in Canada, meanwhile, my husband can't stay in the US while his I-130 is processing. We sent the I-130 from Canada, but we are thinking of going to Australia on working holiday visas during the time his I-130 is being processed so that we can stay together. 

When I call in to change the address, will that change where the interview will be held? Or will the interview be held in Montreal since we submitted the application from Canada?

[MrChamploo 45]

The interview will be held in Canada because he is Canadian.

You don't need to be there for the interview.

Edited March 8, 2017 by MrChamploo

[geowrian 22,337]

The interview will occur at whatever embassy you specified when submitting the petition. This can be changed at NVC, or you can request a transfer later. The at-embassy transfer can cause a pretty decent delay, and then you must do the medical, gather other necessary documents, and schedule the interview for the embassy in country where he will interview. I'm not too familiar with the AU working holiday visa, so I can't speak to specifics with that (but it grants legal status so I can't think of a reason off-hand that you can't interview there). Also, he will need to obtain a police cert for any country that he had presence within for at least 6 months. Assuming your VJ timeline is accurate, that may mean he needs to add one from Australia if going this route.

 

As noted above, the USC does not need to be at the interview. Keeping everything in Canada would be the simplest option.

 

Edit: One issue with transferring is that the working holiday visa is only valid for 1 year. It's possible that it could take longer than that, and he must maintain legal status there up until the time the visa is issued. So that is one risk to consider...you wouldn't want to have to start over because of a potential delay.

Edited March 8, 2017 by geowrian

[LonestarCanuck 0]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

The interview will occur at whatever embassy you specified when submitting the petition. This can be changed at NVC, or you can request a transfer later. The at-embassy transfer can cause a pretty decent delay, and then you must do the medical, gather other necessary documents, and schedule the interview for the embassy in country where he will interview. I'm not too familiar with the AU working holiday visa, so I can't speak to specifics with that (but it grants legal status so I can't think of a reason off-hand that you can't interview there). Also, he will need to obtain a police cert for any country that he had presence within for at least 6 months. Assuming your VJ timeline is accurate, that may mean he needs to add one from Australia if going this route.

 

As noted above, the USC does not need to be at the interview. Keeping everything in Canada would be the simplest option.

Thanks. We'll probably just fly back to Canada for the interview then. Of course keeping everything in Canada would be the simplest option, but that includes separating us. I would have to go back to US and he would have to stay here in Canada; we're married, so living apart from each other isn't really something we're willing to do. We'll probably just go to Australia and then fly back for the interview in Canada. 

[geowrian 22,337]

6 minutes ago, brownsabine10 said:

Thanks. We'll probably just fly back to Canada for the interview then. Of course keeping everything in Canada would be the simplest option, but that includes separating us. I would have to go back to US and he would have to stay here in Canada; we're married, so living apart from each other isn't really something we're willing to do. We'll probably just go to Australia and then fly back for the interview in Canada. 

That's probably best. Also note the potential impacts of leaving Canada for over 6 months in a year in terms of healthcare coverage. I'm not too familiar with Canada's healthcare system, but I know others have stated that you can lose access if you do not maintain enough physical presence within the country.