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

[AP_since_May2023 37]

5 hours ago, Nbc16 said:

They literally sent me the same thing 10 minutes ago!

Was your email solicited or unsolicited? I.e. did you email them a few weeks prior or did they just email you out of the blue? Thanks.

[Nbc16 3]

13 minutes ago, SGtoMurica said:

Was your email solicited or unsolicited? I.e. did you email them a few weeks prior or did they just email you out of the blue? Thanks.

Solicited. Sent them an email 2 weeks ago! 

[Pearljamm 40]

15 hours ago, Nbc16 said:

Hope it goes fast and you get approved in no time ! Who did you file with ? We’ve been talking to goldstein in preparation for the 90 day mark

We went with Palladino, Isbell & Casazza LLC! Christopher Casazza is representing us! 

[APRIL2023 48]

Coming close to 90 days mark for me. After multiple emails the consulate was able to confirmed that they have received all my DS5535 information (they did not email me for request of information). Consulted with Goldstein and was advices that I can submit WOM before 90 days mark, given factors of family separation and delay in accepting job offer as evidence of hardship. I have previously escalated to local congresswoman’s office and they too have agreed to further escalate given the above reasons. With movement at the congresswoman’s office, id decided to hold off with filing WOM. All these events happened last week, and my status was updated today. Hoping that this is good sign! Really hoping to not file WOM, as I was told that it’ll be at least another 3-4 months after filing WOM before decision will be made. 

[APRIL2023 48]

To add, I’ll suggest peeps here to reach out to their local congress person (if it applies to your visa). I am with an IR1 visa with permanent address in California. I know some members on this discussion board had no luck, but I was able to get through to mine. My husband (American) called and was connected to their rep right away, member from their immigration / legal team. They can also I quite about status and sounds like their have someone with an “in” to help with the situation. 

[Admitt 0]

11 hours ago, SGtoMurica said:

Was your email solicited or unsolicited? I.e. did you email them a few weeks prior or did they just email you out of the blue? Thanks.

Mine was also solicited. I sent them a response around two weeks ago and got that response

[Admitt 0]

2 hours ago, APRIL2023 said:

To add, I’ll suggest peeps here to reach out to their local congress person (if it applies to your visa). I am with an IR1 visa with permanent address in California. I know some members on this discussion board had no luck, but I was able to get through to mine. My husband (American) called and was connected to their rep right away, member from their immigration / legal team. They can also I quite about status and sounds like their have someone with an “in” to help with the situation. 

I am in a similar situation. Going to try that route as well to keep the pressure up!

[throwitaway 189]

21 hours ago, Admitt said:

Update: i sent the consulate a email a couple of weeks ago and they sent me a response ( looks generic) however my case finally updated for the first time. Does anyone have experience with that? 

 

Message from them is below.

 

Hello, 

 

Thank you for your inquiry.  

   

We realize that these extended time periods cause frustration to many individuals, and we are sensitive to the fact that the purpose of the immigrant visa program is to facilitate legitimate travel to the U.S.  Nonetheless, the Consulate in Montreal, like all U.S. Embassies and Consulates, must adjudicate visas in accordance with the provisions of the law, and, in some cases, this involves extensive consular review and administrative processing. 

 

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 as soon as the processing is complete. 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

 

It’s common for the case last updated to change when they email you. 

[throwitaway 189]

6 hours ago, APRIL2023 said:

To add, I’ll suggest peeps here to reach out to their local congress person (if it applies to your visa). I am with an IR1 visa with permanent address in California. I know some members on this discussion board had no luck, but I was able to get through to mine. My husband (American) called and was connected to their rep right away, member from their immigration / legal team. They can also I quite about status and sounds like their have someone with an “in” to help with the situation. 

Every congressperson has a liasion for immigration, they send in an congressional inquiry. They usually get the same canned responses. 

[LAMA9 118]

29 minutes ago, throwitaway said:

Every congressperson has a liasion for immigration, they send in an congressional inquiry. They usually get the same canned responses. 

Agreed.  @Admitt @APRIL2023 So many of us had Congress person support and it made no difference, and @throwitawayis correct, the senators and congresspeople's offices all get the same responses we do, despite the various legitimate and proven hardships (medical, pregnancy, separation from children, school admission deadline for children), they don't have jurisdiction over the DHS which is who has your DS-5535 file.   No idea if the consulate feels any pressure on the back end by these requests, anecdotal data from this thread shows that they make no difference whatsoever - but we were all in your shoes and it's worth it to try everything you have at your disposal.  If anything, if more and more senators and congresspeople keep getting these requests, perhaps they will actually do something about the broken system for legitimate and legal immigration.

 

[APRIL2023 48]

1 hour ago, throwitaway said:

It’s common for the case last updated to change when they email you. 

I am aware of this. 
 

the update happened spontaneously without email communication 

[throwitaway 189]

14 hours ago, APRIL2023 said:

I am aware of this. 
 

the update happened spontaneously without email communication 

I was responding to @Admitt and their question “does anyone have experience with that?”

[waiting34 0]

Hi ! I have been following this thread for some time already. I personally know hard it is to wait with no definite timeline. My husband had his second medical exam weeks ago as his previous one had expired. Does anybody had the same situation? Any idea how long it takes for an update? Thanks. 

[LYV 42]

On 7/5/2023 at 3:23 PM, Superluminal said:

Not to be a downer but I was put in AP on the 27th of April and submitted my DS-5535 on May 1st. I'm past the 60 day mark now and I have not seen an update since May 5th, which was the day after I got a confirmation email from them. Processing times seem to vary by immigration type primarily, with EB folks getting through faster. We had a couple of people on this forum get through AP in about 90 days. IR-1/CR-1 folks seem to wait much much longer.

 

If I had to guess, the employment based folks get through faster since they are being sponsored by US based business who would suffer without them.

 

Apparently people get through at different speeds for a variety of reasons, but I haven't seen any IR-1/CR-1 folks get through in less than 6 months. Does anyone know of any counter examples to this?

 

I'm curious if @Nbc16, @Admitt, and @LYV got to fill in the Microsoft Office digital form version of the DS-5535. The new forms are supposed to speed things up. I had the older one which I just responded to directly inside the email they sent me.

@Superluminal Mine was just the email that we replied directly to. I’m

curious, are you saying you’ve seen EB folks get through around the 90 day mark or faster than that? I am EB1A. 

[Gha 15]

Hi @waiting34 when was your interview.you are simple Ap or you received the ds5535

thank you