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

[ice-qube 648]

3 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

I believe there is an algorithm they use to determine whether it is a match or not. Should “John” be on the list for example, it’s not like every single John who applies for a US visa is flagged. It checks them on other parameters, and once it crosses a certain threshold, DS-5535 is triggered. It may be that being a Canadian citizen because of recent intelligence has been pushed to a higher risk parameter pushing Canadian citizen “Johns” across the threshold…

 

I am not sure about why it takes so much time, and it might be that they just sit on it (in fact I am quite sure there is a lot of that going on.) But they need to verify that the applicant is not the same person as the person on the database. Like you said, fingerprints may not be  available, and they need to check the past history and see if there are any overlaps to indicate it is the same person.

Well definitely is an algorithm, and perhaps Canada is involved as one criterion, but I doubt this increase in use of DS-5535 is explained only by "credible threat" which would not be vague but fairly specific. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,100]

6 minutes ago, ice-qube said:

Well definitely is an algorithm, and perhaps Canada is involved as one criterion, but I doubt this increase in use of DS-5535 is explained only by "credible threat" which would not be vague but fairly specific. 

Who knows. Frankly, I see merit in your theory too…

 

The security threat from Canada was just one of the possibilities I was thinking of.

 

But for your theory, that it is way to improve their KPI, to be true, other embassies who have sped up processing such as London would have seen an uptick of DS 5535 too. For example London. They cleared their backlog big time too, but there don’t seem to be too many DS-5535s issues there.

 

Then again, it may just be a strategy Montréal is adopting…🤷‍♀️

Edited January 1, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[ice-qube 648]

22 minutes ago, BatmanFlow said:

It’s crazy because said Canadians who are getting the 5535 can come to USA for 6 months at a time with no visa. My mom literally was in USA when her interview date email came. 
so if they gave my mom this due to some threat associated with something to do with her, then they’ve done a horrible job weeks before since they allowed her in the country. 

100% true. It is ridiculous. and now I am afraid to go visit my wife lest it aggravate my case more.

[ice-qube 648]

20 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Who knows. Frankly, I see merit in your theory too…

 

The security threat from Canada was just one of the possibilities I was thinking of.

 

But for your theory, that it is way to improve their KPI, to be true, other embassies who have sped up processing such as London would have seen an uptick of DS 5535 too. For example London. They cleared their backlog big time too, but there don’t seem to be too many DS-5535s issues there.

 

Then again, it may just be a strategy Montréal is adopting…🤷‍♀️

Yes there are a lot of possible theories, I am sort of guessing that at the consulate level, the bureaucrat in charge has some degree of leeway on how to meet targets.

[Federico 147]

1 hour ago, ice-qube said:

I don't believe this has anything to do with "credible threats" coming from Canada. The most likely hypothesis is that they decided to speed up clearing the interview queue  and used more liberal criteria for flagging cases to look at. The "credible threat" theory is only useful if all or a significant majority of the people who have connection to a particular country or region have been diverted to administrative processing. It simply is not the case. 

The problem is you think that it’s only Canada but if you search in Facebook you will find there are everyday more cases of the DS around the world I have seen comments for more than 5 people from my country, more than 5 from Mexico, recently one from Colombia, Central America, Mexico and I am sure mostly people probably are not blogging about this.

[ice-qube 648]

19 minutes ago, Federico said:

The problem is you think that it’s only Canada but if you search in Facebook you will find there are everyday more cases of the DS around the world I have seen comments for more than 5 people from my country, more than 5 from Mexico, recently one from Colombia, Central America, Mexico and I am sure mostly people probably are not blogging about this.

*I* think it's only Canada?? No... I have not been arguing any such thing. I have been arguing against the "credible threat from Canada" hypothesis, in fact.

 

 

[Danii 312]

22 minutes ago, Federico said:

The problem is you think that it’s only Canada but if you search in Facebook you will find there are everyday more cases of the DS around the world I have seen comments for more than 5 people from my country, more than 5 from Mexico, recently one from Colombia, Central America, Mexico and I am sure mostly people probably are not blogging about this.

The thing is, when I search these FB groups, I rarely see any old posts from Canadians. Most of the posts are recent (since Sept/Oct, which lines up with the increase we're seeing here on visajourney). On occasion, I see a 1 or 2 older posts, but they tend to be more complex cases and are often tied to the travel ban which has expired. In the beginning, I also thought the cases flagged for DS5535 were often people who have ties to other countries, and while that may be the case for at least 50-60% of the people here, it's not everyone. I guess no one will ever truly know why this is happening at such an unprecedented rate at Montreal, but I think we can all agree that it sucks. 

[ice-qube 648]

12 minutes ago, Danii said:

The thing is, when I search these FB groups, I rarely see any old posts from Canadians. Most of the posts are recent (since Sept/Oct, which lines up with the increase we're seeing here on visajourney). On occasion, I see a 1 or 2 older posts, but they tend to be more complex cases and are often tied to the travel ban which has expired. In the beginning, I also thought the cases flagged for DS5535 were often people who have ties to other countries, and while that may be the case for at least 50-60% of the people here, it's not everyone. I guess no one will ever truly know why this is happening at such an unprecedented rate at Montreal, but I think we can all agree that it sucks. 

Indeed, that is true--it sucks big donkey balls, for lack of a more sophisticated expression.

[Federico 147]

1 hour ago, ice-qube said:

*I* think it's only Canada?? No... I have not been arguing any such thing. I have been arguing against the "credible threat from Canada" hypothesis, in fact.

 

 

Got your point.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Federico

[Federico 147]

47 minutes ago, Danii said:

The thing is, when I search these FB groups, I rarely see any old posts from Canadians. Most of the posts are recent (since Sept/Oct, which lines up with the increase we're seeing here on visajourney). On occasion, I see a 1 or 2 older posts, but they tend to be more complex cases and are often tied to the travel ban which has expired. In the beginning, I also thought the cases flagged for DS5535 were often people who have ties to other countries, and while that may be the case for at least 50-60% of the people here, it's not everyone. I guess no one will ever truly know why this is happening at such an unprecedented rate at Montreal, but I think we can all agree that it sucks. 

You re right, no previous case from Canada since sep, but same happened in my country, no previous cases since sept/oct, but it looks like the quantity of cases increased worldwide after sept. But honestly there is something rare in Montreal because the consulate o Santo Domingo handle more cases than Montreal an it looks like you have more DS issues than us.

[Federico 147]

Mostly of you have been previously in the US ? in my country mostly of DS have been related with people who has been previously in the US.

[ice-qube 648]

2 hours ago, Federico said:

Mostly of you have been previously in the US ? in my country mostly of DS have been related with people who has been previously in the US.

Yes I have been in US many times, as my wife lives there, but that is not suspicious at all in the context of Canada-- a good portion of the Canadian population goes to the US frequently. It's easy for us to visit.

[US2197 9]

Does anyone know if our spouse can travel to see us while waiting for this to get solved? 

[Federico 147]

10 hours ago, ice-qube said:

Yes I have been in US many times, as my wife lives there, but that is not suspicious at all in the context of Canada-- a good portion of the Canadian population goes to the US frequently. It's easy for us to visit.

I read that for the U.S a visa is considered a once in life opportunity for that reason people who get more than one type of visa in their lives some times are subjected to additional scrutiny, it’s like you are getting something exceptional twice in your life in an easy manner and for that reason they do the check, but for Canadians that’s very common to obtain a visa (implicit when crossing), if the flagging its based on software maybe they haven’t considered this could have a negative impact in country like Canada.

 

Let’s hope we get some good news in the next 2 weeks coming.

[From_CAN_2_US 1,100]

5 minutes ago, Federico said:

I read that for the U.S a visa is considered a once in life opportunity for that reason people who get more than one type of visa in their lives some times are subjected to additional scrutiny, it’s like you are getting something exceptional twice in your life in an easy manner and for that reason they do the check, but for Canadians that’s very common to obtain a visa (implicit when crossing), if the flagging its based on software maybe they haven’t considered this could have a negative impact in country like Canada.

 

Let’s hope we get some good news in the next 2 weeks coming.

Canadians do not generally need a visa to visit the US. They travel visa free.

 

I am an Indian citizen, permanent resident of Canada, and I have had B1/B2 visa with US before, but didn’t face any issues with CR1. There are others on VJ who are foreign citizens in Canada with previous student, worker and B1/B2 visa and also had no issues. 
 

Personally, I don’t think having a US visa previously, so long as you didn’t over stay affects your case negatively at all. If anything, I think it helps, because you have been vetted before.

Edited January 2, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US