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

[Bob30 2]

I was thinking the same so that I can join the job there, but looks like we establish the intent to immigrate once we go for the interview and become noneligible for TN

 

 

[cherrykixs 0]

1 minute ago, Bob30 said:

I was thinking the same so that I can join the job there, but looks like we establish the intent to immigrate once we go for the interview and become noneligible for TN

 

 

Are you under DS 5535 as well?

[Bob30 2]

Yes

[cherrykixs 0]

7 minutes ago, Bob30 said:

Yes

when was your interview?

[herecomestherain 77]

17 hours ago, Rosinasaur said:

I visited my fiancé in the US last week and got through the border no problem. The customs agent asked me where I was going and who I was meeting. ('Florida and my fiancé). He asked me if we were applying for the K1. I said yes. He clarified if we were planning on getting married during this trip. ('Absolutely not"). He asked how long I planned on staying.

He then gave me a recommendation of a bar to visit at my destination,  which I later discovered was a bikini bar lol. Either way, he sent me through and we had a great vacation together!

 

I just wanted to share the positive outcome so others may also feel comfortable visiting while still in AP!

How long are you staying for? Sorry for the questions lol

[Siarg 72]

54 minutes ago, PZibran325 said:

*Warning this is long and no one needs to read this beyond the first paragraph because the rest of it is just venting 😁

 

Not much of bandwidth with my current job. But definitely that advice is something to keep in mind. I appreciate it. I make a good salary but currently I am paying off other things. My father passed away last year and one of my half brother's passed away this year. Neither of them were expected and neither had anything saved for funeral costs etc. These two back to back deaths took a toll on my mother's health and so we had increased health costs for a bit. All of that compounded to be a pretty significant financial burden and so I am already paying off some debt from that and then adding a cost of a lawsuit where I will have to pay both our fees so it'll be at least $10k for me is not going to be an easy task, but being without him is not easy either. I am not getting any younger and would like to start my life with my husband but also I am taking care of a whole household by myself and I really need his emotional support.

 

I'm sorry, I'm just venting, I make a good amount of money but there were just some pretty big difficult things that came up that none of us were prepared for. Like one of the other members here, I have never carried debt until last year when my dad passed away and we had no way to pay the full funeral costs and then this year when my half brother passed away and there we still hadn't yet pulled ourselves out of the financial cost of my dad's funeral when we had to shell out money from that and then dealing with emotional toll it took on my mother it has all been too much.

 

I am not complaining but I sometimes feel like I'm hanging on by a thin thread and the only person that is able to keep me sane and grounded is my husband. He has a calm and soothing effect on me. I have yet to figure out how, but he has always known what I need to keep my sanity, even when I don't know what I need myself. From the first day we met, it was like we had known each other forever, I understood him. But more surprisingly, because I never thought anyone could understand me, he understood me better than anyone then and there's still no one else in the world who understands me the way he does or supports me the way he does. He says the same thing about me, but I know that I am the blessed one. So it's frustrating to be in this situation. It's even more concerning and disheartening when I come here and read about people who are even in worse situations than us like ice-qube. And hearing that no one (that we know of) has been approved since march without a lawsuit. We have only been in AP since this June, so I am not necessarily complaining about us yet. I am complaining about the people who have been in this situation much longer than us and how that makes me feel depressed even though for me it;s not even been a full month yet. I understand the need to vet immigrants, I also understand the compounded backlog due to the trump administrations restrictive immigration policies, and then covid, but that no approvals since March is really unacceptable. It's unacceptable that people are waiting years for familial reunification (re: ice-qube). The fact that we have to resort to law suits to get people who are funded by taxpayer dollars to do their jobs is even more concerning. Despite its issues and imperfections, I really love my country, but the I find it inhumane that families are kept apart like this and people's lives are on hold and it makes seeing cases who have been in this situation much much longer than some of us who haven't been in AP for too long is really concerning especially when there haven't been approvals without a lawsuit for three months at least in the small sampling we have here on VJ. 

 

 

Completely understand. It’s so unfair - I see other consulates handing out visas with basically no questions, and no issues. 

[OceanWater 60]

4 hours ago, Brbb said:

Completely understand. It’s so unfair - I see other consulates handing out visas with basically no questions, and no issues. 

My fiancé had to leave the general K1 visa group on Facebook because of how many clear fraudulent cases were being issued while we were being processed DS5535. The 19 year old marrying the 70 year old American sounds totally legit. It’s a disgrace. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by OceanWater

[ice-qube 648]

5 hours ago, PZibran325 said:

*Warning this is long and no one needs to read this beyond the first paragraph because the rest of it is just venting 😁

 

Not much of bandwidth with my current job. But definitely that advice is something to keep in mind. I appreciate it. I make a good salary but currently I am paying off other things. My father passed away last year and one of my half brother's passed away this year. Neither of them were expected and neither had anything saved for funeral costs etc. These two back to back deaths took a toll on my mother's health and so we had increased health costs for a bit. All of that compounded to be a pretty significant financial burden and so I am already paying off some debt from that and then adding a cost of a lawsuit where I will have to pay both our fees so it'll be at least $10k for me is not going to be an easy task, but being without him is not easy either. I am not getting any younger and would like to start my life with my husband but also I am taking care of a whole household by myself and I really need his emotional support.

 

I'm sorry, I'm just venting, I make a good amount of money but there were just some pretty big difficult things that came up that none of us were prepared for. Like one of the other members here, I have never carried debt until last year when my dad passed away and we had no way to pay the full funeral costs and then this year when my half brother passed away and there we still hadn't yet pulled ourselves out of the financial cost of my dad's funeral when we had to shell out money from that and then dealing with emotional toll it took on my mother it has all been too much.

 

I am not complaining but I sometimes feel like I'm hanging on by a thin thread and the only person that is able to keep me sane and grounded is my husband. He has a calm and soothing effect on me. I have yet to figure out how, but he has always known what I need to keep my sanity, even when I don't know what I need myself. From the first day we met, it was like we had known each other forever, I understood him. But more surprisingly, because I never thought anyone could understand me, he understood me better than anyone then and there's still no one else in the world who understands me the way he does or supports me the way he does. He says the same thing about me, but I know that I am the blessed one. So it's frustrating to be in this situation. It's even more concerning and disheartening when I come here and read about people who are even in worse situations than us like ice-qube. And hearing that no one (that we know of) has been approved since march without a lawsuit. We have only been in AP since this June, so I am not necessarily complaining about us yet. I am complaining about the people who have been in this situation much longer than us and how that makes me feel depressed even though for me it;s not even been a full month yet. I understand the need to vet immigrants, I also understand the compounded backlog due to the trump administrations restrictive immigration policies, and then covid, but that no approvals since March is really unacceptable. It's unacceptable that people are waiting years for familial reunification (re: ice-qube). The fact that we have to resort to law suits to get people who are funded by taxpayer dollars to do their jobs is even more concerning. Despite its issues and imperfections, I really love my country, but the I find it inhumane that families are kept apart like this and people's lives are on hold and it makes seeing cases who have been in this situation much much longer than some of us who haven't been in AP for too long is really concerning especially when there haven't been approvals without a lawsuit for three months at least in the small sampling we have here on VJ. 

 

 

I feel this, of course. I used to think this was just a Trump problem too, but then Biden came in and I have now been waiting way longer under the Biden admin than I was under Trump. There is a larger problem. Whoever has been running things at Montreal consulate, or perhaps even their bosses at State Dept, have chosen to start issuing way more DS-5535s in the last year than was apparently common in the past. Everyone has their pet theories, but I think the most likely one is that it is bureaucratic sleight of hand to try to meet performance targets for clearing out the interview queue. Regardless, this is happening and we are victims of it. And it is quite frankly an outrage.

[ice-qube 648]

Just for everyone's idle amusement, today I received yet another meaningless but somewhat novel version of the copy-paste bureaucratese from Mtl consulate:

 

Good Afternoon,

 

Thank you for contacting us.

 

Please note that the current administrative processing of your case cannot be accelerated. While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you with the necessary instructions to complete your case as soon as the processing is complete.

 

You can refer to the following for more information on administrative processing by U.S. Embassies and Consulates. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/administrative-processing-information.html

 

We hope that this information is helpful in replying to your inquiry.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

[ice-qube 648]

18 minutes ago, OceanWater said:

My fiancé had to leave the general K1 visa group on Facebook because of how many clear fraudulent cases were being issued while we were being processed DS5535. The 19 year old marrying the 70 year old American sounds totally legit. It’s a disgrace. 

It is an absolute disgrace. I can tell you, as a person married to my wife for over 9 years and with no other known risk characteristics, it burns me up badly that these people are being approved and I am over three years waiting for my IR-1. 

[BatmanFlow 481]

4 hours ago, OceanWater said:

My fiancé had to leave the general K1 visa group on Facebook because of how many clear fraudulent cases were being issued while we were being processed DS5535. The 19 year old marrying the 70 year old American sounds totally legit. It’s a disgrace. 

90% of 90day fiancé cases are fake and yet it’s approved while on tv!!!!! Messed up 

[ice-qube 648]

17 minutes ago, BatmanFlow said:

90% of 90day fiancé cases are fake and yet it’s approved while on tv!!!!! Messed up 

Ya that show is full of #######... entertaining soap opera is all it is. Still, they seem to actually get the visas somehow!

[OceanWater 60]

Well, my time here has come to an end. My visa has been issued. 

[Bob30 2]

11 minutes ago, OceanWater said:

Well, my time here has come to an end. My visa has been issued. 

Congrats!!  That is great news! I think you filed WoM on June 3? Hopefully other see some action soon.

[mam521 1,779]

On 7/7/2022 at 10:11 AM, PZibran325 said:

*Warning this is long and no one needs to read this beyond the first paragraph because the rest of it is just venting 😁

 

 The fact that we have to resort to law suits to get people who are funded by taxpayer dollars to do their jobs is even more concerning. 

 

 

In general, there are a lot of user paid services that are being completely mis (or completely absently) managed.  If I'm paying, be it small or big like immigration, where's the service I paid for?  

 

Total first world problem here (not belittling anyone stuck in this I-5535 Groundhog Day nightmare), but I can't update my NEXUS online to add my greencard.  The only NEXUS offices open are on the State side at the northern border, COVID is still being used as an excuse for the offices in Canada and yet, it's a service I pay for.  The amount of hoops I've jumped through and the amount of security vetting between various visas, my greencard and my original NEXUS application - you'd think this shouldn't be so hard.  Yet, it somehow is.  

 

Epic fail, all around.  

 

Those of you filing your WoM, sincerest good luck.  You're 100% correct that it shouldn't cost additional fees from an unrelated lawyer service to be reunified with a spouse because the government can't get their proverbial sh!t together.