The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (split)

[Twiz&Toz 240]

here’s a question have any of you seen your spouses threw covid??? I know my lawyer told me to bring proof of continued relationship threw covid. I wasn’t asked for it but I did fly down a few times to see mine and that would have shown on there end... part of me is wondering if no attempts to see them in x amount of time could cause a flag. 

[Danii 312]

2 hours ago, hkn1 said:

Hello all,

I was refused too, at my CR-1 interview on November 9th, and handed a 221g slip. The officer returned my passport and said I would receive the "questionnaire" in 2-3 days, however, I am seeing people have gotten the DS-5535 form within 24-48h from their interview date? Should I be following up immediately or wait to receive and fill out the form? Honestly, it's very unfortunate that there have been so many 221g related refusals lately from what I see here/the bigger DQ'd message group thread. I am Canadian born and raised, although I have ancestry from Southeast Asia, so I present as "Asian" and have an ethnic sounding surname. I had all the original documents and the only thing I can think of is maybe I wasn't enthusiastic enough when answering the questions? Anyway, it's comforting to hear that I am not alone and thank you all for sharing your situations. I hope we will overcome this final hurdle, fingers crossed!

Hey, sorry that you have to join this group too why are there so many of us, I wonder what changed at Montreal besides the fact that they've hired more staff. I received the next day but only after I sent two semi angry emails about how I haven't received the questionnaire yet. It may have made a difference, maybe not, but doesn't hurt to try. While you're waiting, find the form online and type out all the answers in a word doc. They're going to send you the form as text in the email body, so you can just copy paste your answers in once they send it so you can send it back ASAP. They may have some additional questions for you too.

 

All of us here had all our documents in order and had no problems during the interview, so it's really hard to know what triggered the refusal. It could be your background, your educational/work experience, or something else we haven't picked up on yet. 

8 minutes ago, Twiz&Toz said:

here’s a question have any of you seen your spouses threw covid??? I know my lawyer told me to bring proof of continued relationship threw covid. I wasn’t asked for it but I did fly down a few times to see mine and that would have shown on there end... part of me is wondering if no attempts to see them in x amount of time could cause a flag. 

Yep. I went multiple times and my husband stayed in Canada with me for 7 months. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Danii

[Danii 312]

3 hours ago, DS5535 said:

Are you that red haired guy? Or one of the 2 hijab woman?

 

The officer did take my passport and said "1-2 Months" so I really hope that's the case.

One of the hijabis. The other lady was approved. Wow, like the other user said, you're the first person who's been given a time. I hope they're right. 

[DS5535 135]

22 minutes ago, Danii said:

One of the hijabis. The other lady was approved. Wow, like the other user said, you're the first person who's been given a time. I hope they're right. 

That's crazy I was behind you sitting beside window 6.

Edit: They also took my passport but said "You can take your passport if you want" I of course let them keep it. But I need it by January 15* Same with you?

Edited November 11, 2021 by DS5535
Added more info

[Danii 312]

11 minutes ago, DS5535 said:

That's crazy I was behind you sitting beside window 6.

I guess we sat in an unlucky spot 😂 it is crazy, and pretty obvious now that the whole "only 0.5% of applicants are selected to fill out DS5535" is not accurate. I did hear one other person that day get refused/told they'll be sent more questions. There's no way Montreal interviewed more than 600 ppl in one day 😂 and no way that just the 3 of us got DS5535.

 

Edit: just saw the your edit. They also were going to return my passport but I told them to keep it cause I thought it would make things easier. I don't have anywhere to go, so it's not an issue for me. I read elsewhere that you can request to pick it up/have them send it back to you. Once they begin issuing your visa, they'll email you to send it back. I've seen some posts say it was received by the consulate in one day. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Danii

[Fna786 9]

5 hours ago, Danii said:

Ah we were interviewed on the same day. So strange cause I've been following the Montreal Visajourney thread for so long, and I had never seen a single person refused/asked for DS5535. I wonder why there are so many of us within the last few months. It's not a cause for alarm, everyone who gets DS5535 will be "refused" initially. Once they start processing/doing the background checks, it may go from refused to administrative processing. They might update your case multiple times during this time. 

 

Do you mind me asking your ethnicity/country of birth/educational background? Trying to see if there is any trend here or if we were all selected for random-ish reasons. 

I notice my case the date is updated every week...I think anytime they touch the file the date updates

[ice-qube 648]

5 hours ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

You are the first person that I know of was given a timeline!

 

I hope everyone gets through within 60 days…

It has really demoralized me that this happened, as I have waited way too long to rejoin my wife. A spousal visa application from Canada shouldn't take 2.5 years and counting. If it is only 2 months to find out, that will be ok, I suppose, but unlike that guy, they didn't even take my passport--so then I ask myself if that means that will be *more than* 2 months? How much longer should this expensive and time-and-mental-energy sucking experience go on? I suppose it is comforting there are other people on this thread, though I wish I could find any common threads between their cases and mine, just for the satisfaction of "oh that must be it", I guess. Nothing.

[ice-qube 648]

2 hours ago, Twiz&Toz said:

here’s a question have any of you seen your spouses threw covid??? I know my lawyer told me to bring proof of continued relationship threw covid. I wasn’t asked for it but I did fly down a few times to see mine and that would have shown on there end... part of me is wondering if no attempts to see them in x amount of time could cause a flag. 

I haven't seen my spouse very much at all. One two week trip up here in January was all I have saw her this past year. And now because I got visa refused and the AP, it seems a dicey prospect to try to enter the US, even as a visitor, until this is worked out.

[From_CAN_2_US 1,097]

I came across this document that may provide some insight. Read under the border security screening process: 

 

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/03-15-17 Donahue Testimony.pdf

 

It explains how visa applicant’s names, date of birth, fingerprints and photos are checked against a database.

[DrJanko10 101]

The sudden increase in DS-5535s could correlate with the amount of cases they are now processing each month. Before October, they were only taking 2 weeks worth of people from the spreadsheet, with a rare person being placed in AP and never a mention of a DS-5535 (or maybe there was, I just don't remember). As of October, they are taking 2-3 months worth of people from the spreadsheet, and we're just a fraction of the cases that they process. Statistically it makes sense, but just a theory.

 

Everything I have found online states that they "should" process this within 60 days, so it is a little reassuring that the CO told @DS5535 that it will take "1-2 months". Now we just have to wait and see whether it does or not. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,097]

11 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

The sudden increase in DS-5535s could correlate with the amount of cases they are now processing each month. Before October, they were only taking 2 weeks worth of people from the spreadsheet, with a rare person being placed in AP and never a mention of a DS-5535 (or maybe there was, I just don't remember). As of October, they are taking 2-3 months worth of people from the spreadsheet, and we're just a fraction of the cases that they process. Statistically it makes sense, but just a theory.

 

Everything I have found online states that they "should" process this within 60 days, so it is a little reassuring that the CO told @DS5535 that it will take "1-2 months". Now we just have to wait and see whether it does or not. 

This is a good point and very possibly a contributing factor.

 

I am also wondering with new people hired since September, is some new recruit doing something wrong or applying the rules too strictly. I have a feeling that it is not up to the CO to flag an applicant as security risk, but chosen by the computer. But there is a difference between just regular AP (extra checks such as when someone has a history of refusal of entry at the border, which lasts just a few days), and DS-5535. Maybe teh computer is flagging for the former, but the newly recruited CO is issuing the DS-5535 either incorrectly or just to be extra safe.

 

The other thought that occured - the names, DOB and photos are checked for matches against a database of "persons found ineligible for visas and persons who are the subjects of potentially derogatory information." In 2017, this database had 36 million records, but I am sure it is updated regularly. One possibility is this database was recently expanded significantly or threshold for matches dropped, increasing the number of people being flagged.

 

All just speculation...

 

Question - Do you know if all of you who were issued the DS-5535 were interviewed by the same CO?

Edited November 11, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[From_CAN_2_US 1,097]

12 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

Everything I have found online states that they "should" process this within 60 days, so it is a little reassuring that the CO told @DS5535 that it will take "1-2 months". Now we just have to wait and see whether it does or not. 

@OG Fan will be approaching 60 days by end of November. Hopefully they will receive good news soon.

[From_CAN_2_US 1,097]

13 hours ago, Twiz&Toz said:

here’s a question have any of you seen your spouses threw covid??? I know my lawyer told me to bring proof of continued relationship threw covid. I wasn’t asked for it but I did fly down a few times to see mine and that would have shown on there end... part of me is wondering if no attempts to see them in x amount of time could cause a flag. 

From what I understand, DS-5535 is issued to screen applicants for threat against National Security. 221G can be issued if the CO has reason to believe a relationship is not bonafide. 221G can also be issued if the income requirements for the sponsor is not met or there are issues with medicals, 221 G can also be issued, but the reason is clearly stated by the consulate with requests to provide further information, and these reasons do not result in issuance DS-5535.

Edited November 11, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[From_CAN_2_US 1,097]

17 hours ago, ice-qube said:

Doesn't anyone find it darkly hilarious that in my case they also gave me a NEXUS card, which I have held since early 2020? I mean... security vetting is supposed to be done on THAT...

Yes, it is very strange, especially because you received it less than 2 years ago, which means you were throughly vetted not so long ago. That being said, I imagine the screening for immigrants is stricter than for visitors.

 

Also if my theory from my earlier post that the database of "persons found ineligible for visas and persons who are the subjects of potentially derogatory information" has recently expanded since September 2021, it could explain why you were flagged now and not before.

[Frankphoto 51]

Hi everyone,

 

My spouse had her interview on 11/8 and despite it going well, they asked "hey want your passport back?" oddly and then notified her that she would be emailed. We received the DS-5535 via email the next day

Does anyone know what information we should provide in terms of the travel details and source of funds? For ex. is it just a little paragraph "We went here for vacation, see the beach, and relax" or do they just want "business or pleasure"? 

Also for source of funds, do you think that saying "personal finances + spouse's finances" is sufficient, or have you all been supplying a lot more info, like CC numbers, bank accounts, etc.??? Its 15yrs of travel so honestly there are some trips where we can't remember, and many of these trips were financed via multiple sources (credit cards, family contributions, etc), I just want to make sure we submit the info correctly and in away that doesn't complicate things further

 

Thanks!