Beyond frustrated with Montreal

[pooj97 89]

So after having initial hope that the embassy in Montreal was going to start opening up after August 14th, my fiancé and I kept calling to confirm. Today we just got news from them that they’ve cancelled all interviews for August and this August 14th date was wrong. They say they don’t know when they’ll start back up for visa processing.

 

I’m honestly getting so frustrated at this point. I’ve started to call my representatives and senators so let’s see where that goes. After a long 4 years of long distance and seeing my fiancé only twice a year, I just wanted to move in  and start our life Together but looks like there’s low chances of that happening in 2020. Has anyone else called them today? Any chance the operator we called just had the wrong info?

[Alison + Rohan 4]

Hi, I am in the exact same boat. Crying right now at this news about August interviews. My husband and I have also been long distance for 4 years, waiting and hoping. I cannot believe they have not re-opened. I have also reached out to my representatives and senator. I feel like I am at a dead end. Hang in there, I will try too.

[AlexaC 28]

So I follow another thread here and apparently someone's congressman staffer has been speaking to Montreal and they're looking at an August start date. My thinking is that they have to cancel previously schedule August interviews to make room for the ones cancelled because of the pandemic? I might be being too hopeful but who knows, I just want this wait to be over. 

[pooj97 89]

26 minutes ago, Alexag said:

So I follow another thread here and apparently someone's congressman staffer has been speaking to Montreal and they're looking at an August start date. My thinking is that they have to cancel previously schedule August interviews to make room for the ones cancelled because of the pandemic? I might be being too hopeful but who knows, I just want this wait to be over. 

I hope that is the case. If they told a congressman of an august start date, it might be a good thing

[Zaraliaya 122]

1 hour ago, Alexag said:

So I follow another thread here and apparently someone's congressman staffer has been speaking to Montreal and they're looking at an August start date. My thinking is that they have to cancel previously schedule August interviews to make room for the ones cancelled because of the pandemic? I might be being too hopeful but who knows, I just want this wait to be over. 

That could be true, but most K1s that were cancelled, were for late march/April. Dates for interviews weren't open past April. Not sure how it works for CR1, but it could be the same as well.

[NoName70 22]

48 minutes ago, Zaraliaya said:

That could be true, but most K1s that were cancelled, were for late march/April. Dates for interviews weren't open past April. Not sure how it works for CR1, but it could be the same as well.

True, so even if they have to

 reschedule those ones. It’ll be a

around two months until normal visas can have their appointments booked but at this point anything we hope is not going to work. 5 months in dark and not sure how long this miserable timeframe will extend. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Ujjwal

[NikLR 13,220]

Considering the raised costs of the AOS you may want to consider getting married and going the IR1/CR1 route.  The AP and EAD will no longer be included in the cost of the AOS as of October 2nd, 2020. 

[pooj97 89]

8 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Considering the raised costs of the AOS you may want to consider getting married and going the IR1/CR1 route.  The AP and EAD will no longer be included in the cost of the AOS as of October 2nd, 2020. 

I mean my fiancé and I are midway through the process. We’re just waiting for P3 and the interview now once the embassy reopens. There’s no point in us applying for the spousal visa and doing it all over again waiting more years

[ashley_ann 179]

21 hours ago, pooj97 said:

I mean my fiancé and I are midway through the process. We’re just waiting for P3 and the interview now once the embassy reopens. There’s no point in us applying for the spousal visa and doing it all over again waiting more years

same boat we are waiting for our P3 as well and plan on taking the hit for the extra $ I'm not waiting any longer after dealing with this #######.

[Zaraliaya 122]

23 hours ago, NikLR said:

Considering the raised costs of the AOS you may want to consider getting married and going the IR1/CR1 route.  The AP and EAD will no longer be included in the cost of the AOS as of October 2nd, 2020. 

I also thought about that too, but since I'm waiting for p4, and super close to interview, starting over, and waiting probably more than a year because of all this backlog, I'd rather pay the 1k USD more or whatever, than deal with more waiting.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Zaraliaya

[NikLR 13,220]

Yup absolutely, at the end of the day, it's your journey and not waiting longer is absolutely your choice! Best wishes guys. 

[JacobP 185]

In a practical sense, we'd end up paying more in rent from the extra 500+ (and growing) days of waiting. It sucks a lot, but we're not strapped for cash enough to justify completely changing course.

[sscanus 15]

Our Congressman’s staffer connected with us today and noted that the issue is that much of the consulate’s staff was sent back to the US. They’re awaiting orders to come back - seems to be the case with many of the consulates.
 

Also confirmed that the border will not open mainly because Canada is not allowing them to reopen and will not open until there’s a drop in COVID cases in the US, which is not surprising. 

[murrv 8]

It's great to hear any information since Montreal has been so uninformative but wow, that really sucks. Thank you for updating us.

It's great to hear any information since Montreal has been so uninformative but wow, that really sucks. Thank you for updating us.

[pooj97 89]

22 minutes ago, sscanus said:

Our Congressman’s staffer connected with us today and noted that the issue is that much of the consulate’s staff was sent back to the US. They’re awaiting orders to come back - seems to be the case with many of the consulates.
 

Also confirmed that the border will not open mainly because Canada is not allowing them to reopen and will not open until there’s a drop in COVID cases in the US, which is not surprising. 

The Montreal consulate also posted on their Instagram today of one of their general consuls at the airport starting their assignment in Montreal. Hopefully this some good news indicating that at least SOME of their staff is going back and that they’re hiring