The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)

[ice-qube 648]

27 minutes ago, throwitaway said:

Ice-qube: I had to really fight to even speak to a lawyer and have them sort something out even though I paid lots of money. 

 

Jvisa: Cool cool, gonna sign with them. 

The main reason I signed with Hacking, aside from their good reputation in this forum, was they offered a payment plan instead of forcing me to pay everything up front. That’s really what it came down to. In addition, Goldstein Law, which I also contacted, was less responsive and wouldn’t even talk to me unless my wife was also on the call at the same time, and that annoyed me.

[throwitaway 189]

12 minutes ago, ice-qube said:

The main reason I signed with Hacking, aside from their good reputation in this forum, was they offered a payment plan instead of forcing me to pay everything up front. That’s really what it came down to. In addition, Goldstein Law, which I also contacted, was less responsive and wouldn’t even talk to me unless my wife was also on the call at the same time, and that annoyed me.

Oh, totally, I’m not questioning why you went with Hacking, I just got a chuckle out of how the conversation unfolded. You should be in sales if you’re able to close like that all the time haha

18 minutes ago, addpeace said:

Hi everyone-

 

I have mostly been a lurker in this thread since my husband and I got put into AP and given the DS5535 on August 1st 2022. We are officially signing with Hacking Law firm tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know all the steps we have taken and our timeline so far.

Steps:

Emailed Montreal consulate every week since interview on Aug 1st.

• Same copy paste emails
• Only email that actually was different was when I requested for our case to be reviewed by a manger or higher official.
  • This email stated that asking for our passport back does not stop our case from processing. (We have never requested it back though)
• Let them know 2 weeks ago that we were contemplating filing a Writ of Mandamus. (no response so far)

Contacted our MN senator and local congresswoman:

• Senator (never responded)
• Congresswoman
  • They sent 2 inquires to Montreal
    • 1 was the same copy paste response
    • 1 they never got back to them
  • Gave me a list of immigration lawyers I could reach out to.

Mailed hand letters to:

• POTUS* (3 weeks to respond)
• VPOTUS* (1 month to respond)
• Sec. of State* (3 months to respond)
• US Consulate General of Montreal (No response)
• Homeland security* (2 weeks to respond)

All the * letters were forwarded to USCIS who contacted us saying they would look into our case and we would receive a response in 14 days. The response came 5 days later saying they could not help us since this was a state department issue. They gave us a link to put in a email inquiry to the State department, which we did. 10 days later we got a response from the state department saying this is a consulate issue and to try contacting them. (These are all sent from No reply emails as well, so you can never talk to the same person or respond to them)

 

We have spoken to 3 local immigration attorneys who have basically all said the same thing. "Trinidad, Islamabad, and Montreal are the worst consulates to immigrate through right now." they also said "AP is getting out of hand, and with so many illegal immigrates coming in the families in DS5535 are pushed back because the illegal immigrate checks use the same system for background checks. (since they are in the country already I guess theirs take priority)"  They have all reviewed our case and found no red flags or any reason that we should have triggered AP let alone DS5535.

 

Thus with our 6th month mark coming up on Feb 1st Lex and I have decided to go the WOM route. Hacking Immigration has quoted us $5000 for the process. With 2 different payment options. $3000 down payment and the final 2000 paid over 4 months ($500 a month), or Pay full upfront and get $500 off, so $4500. Hopefully we are able to get out of this before the end of summer as my husband is in school and transitioning in the middle of a semester will be rough.

 

I wish everyone luck with their cases and their status updates.

 

Good luck! 

[ice-qube 648]

51 minutes ago, throwitaway said:

Oh, totally, I’m not questioning why you went with Hacking, I just got a chuckle out of how the conversation unfolded. You should be in sales if you’re able to close like that all the time haha

LOl thanks. You are, right the way the convo went was quite amusing. As far as asking for advice on which lawyer to use for these suits, I hope everyone remembers that advice is worth two cents, and less with inflation!

[ice-qube 648]

1 hour ago, addpeace said:

Hi everyone-

 

I have mostly been a lurker in this thread since my husband and I got put into AP and given the DS5535 on August 1st 2022. We are officially signing with Hacking Law firm tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know all the steps we have taken and our timeline so far.

Steps:

Emailed Montreal consulate every week since interview on Aug 1st.

• Same copy paste emails
• Only email that actually was different was when I requested for our case to be reviewed by a manger or higher official.
  • This email stated that asking for our passport back does not stop our case from processing. (We have never requested it back though)
• Let them know 2 weeks ago that we were contemplating filing a Writ of Mandamus. (no response so far)

Contacted our MN senator and local congresswoman:

• Senator (never responded)
• Congresswoman
  • They sent 2 inquires to Montreal
    • 1 was the same copy paste response
    • 1 they never got back to them
  • Gave me a list of immigration lawyers I could reach out to.

Mailed hand letters to:

• POTUS* (3 weeks to respond)
• VPOTUS* (1 month to respond)
• Sec. of State* (3 months to respond)
• US Consulate General of Montreal (No response)
• Homeland security* (2 weeks to respond)

All the * letters were forwarded to USCIS who contacted us saying they would look into our case and we would receive a response in 14 days. The response came 5 days later saying they could not help us since this was a state department issue. They gave us a link to put in a email inquiry to the State department, which we did. 10 days later we got a response from the state department saying this is a consulate issue and to try contacting them. (These are all sent from No reply emails as well, so you can never talk to the same person or respond to them)

 

We have spoken to 3 local immigration attorneys who have basically all said the same thing. "Trinidad, Islamabad, and Montreal are the worst consulates to immigrate through right now." they also said "AP is getting out of hand, and with so many illegal immigrates coming in the families in DS5535 are pushed back because the illegal immigrate checks use the same system for background checks. (since they are in the country already I guess theirs take priority)"  They have all reviewed our case and found no red flags or any reason that we should have triggered AP let alone DS5535.

 

Thus with our 6th month mark coming up on Feb 1st Lex and I have decided to go the WOM route. Hacking Immigration has quoted us $5000 for the process. With 2 different payment options. $3000 down payment and the final 2000 paid over 4 months ($500 a month), or Pay full upfront and get $500 off, so $4500. Hopefully we are able to get out of this before the end of summer as my husband is in school and transitioning in the middle of a semester will be rough.

 

I wish everyone luck with their cases and their status updates.

 

@addpeace, I empathize with you, believe me, if you have at all been following what has happened with my case, you can well imagine, I am right there with you in the exasperation. The US immigration system is essentially broken.

[PZibran325 112]

3 hours ago, throwitaway said:

Oh, totally, I’m not questioning why you went with Hacking, I just got a chuckle out of how the conversation unfolded. You should be in sales if you’re able to close like that all the time haha

 

😄😄😄

3 hours ago, addpeace said:

Hi everyone-

 

I have mostly been a lurker in this thread since my husband and I got put into AP and given the DS5535 on August 1st 2022. We are officially signing with Hacking Law firm tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know all the steps we have taken and our timeline so far.

Steps:

Emailed Montreal consulate every week since interview on Aug 1st.

• Same copy paste emails
• Only email that actually was different was when I requested for our case to be reviewed by a manger or higher official.
  • This email stated that asking for our passport back does not stop our case from processing. (We have never requested it back though)
• Let them know 2 weeks ago that we were contemplating filing a Writ of Mandamus. (no response so far)

Contacted our MN senator and local congresswoman:

• Senator (never responded)
• Congresswoman
  • They sent 2 inquires to Montreal
    • 1 was the same copy paste response
    • 1 they never got back to them
  • Gave me a list of immigration lawyers I could reach out to.

Mailed hand letters to:

• POTUS* (3 weeks to respond)
• VPOTUS* (1 month to respond)
• Sec. of State* (3 months to respond)
• US Consulate General of Montreal (No response)
• Homeland security* (2 weeks to respond)

All the * letters were forwarded to USCIS who contacted us saying they would look into our case and we would receive a response in 14 days. The response came 5 days later saying they could not help us since this was a state department issue. They gave us a link to put in a email inquiry to the State department, which we did. 10 days later we got a response from the state department saying this is a consulate issue and to try contacting them. (These are all sent from No reply emails as well, so you can never talk to the same person or respond to them)

 

We have spoken to 3 local immigration attorneys who have basically all said the same thing. "Trinidad, Islamabad, and Montreal are the worst consulates to immigrate through right now." they also said "AP is getting out of hand, and with so many illegal immigrates coming in the families in DS5535 are pushed back because the illegal immigrate checks use the same system for background checks. (since they are in the country already I guess theirs take priority)"  They have all reviewed our case and found no red flags or any reason that we should have triggered AP let alone DS5535.

 

Thus with our 6th month mark coming up on Feb 1st Lex and I have decided to go the WOM route. Hacking Immigration has quoted us $5000 for the process. With 2 different payment options. $3000 down payment and the final 2000 paid over 4 months ($500 a month), or Pay full upfront and get $500 off, so $4500. Hopefully we are able to get out of this before the end of summer as my husband is in school and transitioning in the middle of a semester will be rough.

 

I wish everyone luck with their cases and their status updates.

 

thank you for sharing this is helpful info to have

[Tiabeanie 39]

4 hours ago, addpeace said:

Hi everyone-

 

I have mostly been a lurker in this thread since my husband and I got put into AP and given the DS5535 on August 1st 2022. We are officially signing with Hacking Law firm tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know all the steps we have taken and our timeline so far.

Steps:

Emailed Montreal consulate every week since interview on Aug 1st.

• Same copy paste emails
• Only email that actually was different was when I requested for our case to be reviewed by a manger or higher official.
  • This email stated that asking for our passport back does not stop our case from processing. (We have never requested it back though)
• Let them know 2 weeks ago that we were contemplating filing a Writ of Mandamus. (no response so far)

Contacted our MN senator and local congresswoman:

• Senator (never responded)
• Congresswoman
  • They sent 2 inquires to Montreal
    • 1 was the same copy paste response
    • 1 they never got back to them
  • Gave me a list of immigration lawyers I could reach out to.

Mailed hand letters to:

• POTUS* (3 weeks to respond)
• VPOTUS* (1 month to respond)
• Sec. of State* (3 months to respond)
• US Consulate General of Montreal (No response)
• Homeland security* (2 weeks to respond)

All the * letters were forwarded to USCIS who contacted us saying they would look into our case and we would receive a response in 14 days. The response came 5 days later saying they could not help us since this was a state department issue. They gave us a link to put in a email inquiry to the State department, which we did. 10 days later we got a response from the state department saying this is a consulate issue and to try contacting them. (These are all sent from No reply emails as well, so you can never talk to the same person or respond to them)

 

We have spoken to 3 local immigration attorneys who have basically all said the same thing. "Trinidad, Islamabad, and Montreal are the worst consulates to immigrate through right now." they also said "AP is getting out of hand, and with so many illegal immigrates coming in the families in DS5535 are pushed back because the illegal immigrate checks use the same system for background checks. (since they are in the country already I guess theirs take priority)"  They have all reviewed our case and found no red flags or any reason that we should have triggered AP let alone DS5535.

 

Thus with our 6th month mark coming up on Feb 1st Lex and I have decided to go the WOM route. Hacking Immigration has quoted us $5000 for the process. With 2 different payment options. $3000 down payment and the final 2000 paid over 4 months ($500 a month), or Pay full upfront and get $500 off, so $4500. Hopefully we are able to get out of this before the end of summer as my husband is in school and transitioning in the middle of a semester will be rough.

 

I wish everyone luck with their cases and their status updates.

 

Hi there thanks for an update on your case. I have been under AP since October 31 and submitted a missing document since December 5th(when I emailed them initially they told me they're waiting to receive my police record) and last update to my case has been December 15th. 

 

It's been about 6 weeks since submitting my document I haven't heard back from the embassy and this whole process has been emotionally and financially exhausting. Quite frankly I've ran out of patience. I've been reading on this thread that the embassy takes 4-8 weeks to issue over a missing document and that shouldn't be acceptable to wait this long. When I do email the embassy I get a generic "We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail and the additional documents the applicant has provided. This case is currently pending to be reviewed by a consular officer" message. 

 

Obviously my wait is nothing compared to yours (and others on this thread) and I cannot imagine the frustration and anguish that your spouse and yourself have been going through the past 6 months to now go through proceeding with a WoM. Sorry for the rant but I'm pissed off people are being put into AP/DS-5535 for no damn reason and having to wait an unnecessary long time and to have their finances drained in the process and be split from their families. Please keep us updated and I pray that this AP ends soon for you.

 

 

 

[Montreal514 0]

It seems for most people that your passports were kept/held when given the DS5535. Is it uncommon for your passport NOT to be held and given back on the spot?

[throwitaway 189]

57 minutes ago, Montreal514 said:

It seems for most people that your passports were kept/held when given the DS5535. Is it uncommon for your passport NOT to be held and given back on the spot?

This varies by embassy. At Montreal it’s usually kept. I only know of one person where it was given back at interview.

[ice-qube 648]

1 hour ago, Montreal514 said:

It seems for most people that your passports were kept/held when given the DS5535. Is it uncommon for your passport NOT to be held and given back on the spot?

My passport was given back on the spot. I knew right then it wasn't going to be good.

[AnimeLover89 2]

Hey guys just wanted to ask that should I email the embassy again? My CEAC is updating constantly so is inquiring them a good idea? 

[Montreal514 0]

9 hours ago, throwitaway said:

This varies by embassy. At Montreal it’s usually kept. I only know of one person where it was given back at interview.

Thanks. Does this mean anything extra? Or just a coincidence? 

[throwitaway 189]

Just now, Montreal514 said:

Thanks. Does this mean anything extra? Or just a coincidence? 

It’s all the same in the end. 

[BrownM 1]

Hello,

 

first and foremost, I am thrilled that @ice-qube is finally getting some traction on his case!!!

 

for ones that file a WOM, obviously a lawyer is now involved.  But did any of you enlist a US lawyer at the start of the application process or did you apply on your own?  
 

if you enlisted with a US lawyer from the start, and got thrown into AP, were they able to help?

 

thanks 

Edited January 16, 2023 by BrownM
Update

[ice-qube 648]

12 minutes ago, BrownM said:

Hello,

 

first and foremost, I am thrilled that @ice-qube is finally getting some traction on his case!!!

 

for ones that file a WOM, obviously a lawyer is now involved.  But did any of you enlist a US lawyer at the start of the application process or did you apply on your own?  
 

if you enlisted with a US lawyer from the start, and got thrown into AP, were they able to help?

 

thanks 

Thanks @BrownM! I don’t know if having a lawyer from beginning would have helped anything—I suspect not, to be honest. Personally I didn’t get lawyers involved until WOM suit.

[ice-qube 648]

3 hours ago, AnimeLover89 said:

Hey guys just wanted to ask that should I email the embassy again? My CEAC is updating constantly so is inquiring them a good idea? 

Well what was your last communication with them about, and did they respond?