mahalia55

Thanks! We're paying the new immigration fee ($165) today and hopefully he'll cross this weekend at Champlain, NY. Fingers crossed!

Hi,

I came across your post and my heart sank, as I am an Iranian born canadian citizen that came to Canada as a child like your husband, the only difference is that I'm a female and so I've heard that AP for women doesn't take as long as men. I haven't had my interview yet but knowing that I will most likely be placed in AP breaks me in every way possible, I really thought this journey will soon come to an end and I will reunite with my husband soon, I pray to God everyday that I'm not placed in AP and I really hope you hear something back soon and this nightmare ends. Please keep me updated if there's any change in your case.

do they put non muslim Iranian borns in AP as well? I'm not muslim and just crossed my mind, although they don't know that unless they ask me at the interview or something.

Hi EmilyS,

My husband was notified this morning that he could pick up his passport. We were in AP for about 3 1/2 months. I had both my Senators and Congresswoman on the case from the beginning. I did not wait the 90 days to contact them. I assumed that if they wanted me to wait 90 days, they would inform me of such but at least I would have established contact. Two of them were happy to help right away. There's no way of knowing if that made things go faster or not but I'm glad I did it, just in case.

Good luck next month! Hopefully you'll be able to skip AP altogether!

We were notified on March 22nd that Loomis had picked up my husband's passport. So it took just over four weeks from when they requested the passport. He got an email today saying it was ready to pick up in Anjou. With all the problems we have had, we're waiting until we get through POE to truly celebrate but it looks like this nightmare is finally over!

I know Montreal takes awhile to respond, usually around a week or two. Keep calling DOS every day. And keep contacting your congressman/senator to see if they could get any information.

If you're truly out of AP, then I think it would only take a week or two after they receive your passport to finish up processing. But, if it's been a month already, then you may not truly be out of AP.

Hopefully some others come and post their timelines for AP in Montreal. You may want to look in the Canada regional forum and see if you can find some people there.

Thanks Saylin! I guess we'll just keep trying to get ahold of someone. I'll also have a look at the Montreal forum to see if I can find out more.

I have emailed the consulate but there has been no response. I've called the DOS and they say that it's "being processed" and are unable to offer any other information. I've explained to them that I have been told by my Congresswoman that we are no longer in AP and they just say that all they can see from their records is that it's "still being processed." They won't confirm or deny that it's out of AP. I've contacted my Senators and Congresswoman but no response as of yet. The CEAC website claims we're still in AP but from what I've seen, the website isn't that reliable. From all the information we've been given, I believe that we are through AP and just waiting for them to put the visa in his passport but they've had it for nearly a month now (over two weeks at the consulate itself). I was just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and how long it took to get their passport back.

My husband had his interview in Montreal on December 10th and we were put into AP at that time. On February 14th my Congresswoman wrote me to say that we were out of AP and that the consulate wanted my husband to send in his passport. We sent it registered mail and it was signed for February 19th. We haven't heard anything since. It's been almost a month since they received it. It seems like most people get their passport back fairly quickly once approved. Has anyone else run into this problem?

There have been quite a few updates. The date was changed on Thursday, Friday, Saturday (?) and today. It has always said AP other than that brief window this afternoon when it said Issued.

This afternoon I checked the CEAC website and it said that the file was touched today and it read "Issued". I called the State Department to see what we need to do next and they said we are still in AP. I re-checked the CEAC website and it is again saying AP. I triple checked the website when it first said Issued to make sure I'd entered everything correctly and I had. It definitely said Issued. Has anyone else been through this?

Hi,

I came across your post and my heart sank, as I am an Iranian born canadian citizen that came to Canada as a child like your husband, the only difference is that I'm a female and so I've heard that AP for women doesn't take as long as men. I haven't had my interview yet but knowing that I will most likely be placed in AP breaks me in every way possible, I really thought this journey will soon come to an end and I will reunite with my husband soon, I pray to God everyday that I'm not placed in AP and I really hope you hear something back soon and this nightmare ends. Please keep me updated if there's any change in your case.

do they put non muslim Iranian borns in AP as well? I'm not muslim and just crossed my mind, although they don't know that unless they ask me at the interview or something.

My husband is not Muslim so our guess is that it's based solely on the fact that he was born in Iran. We haven't heard anything further as of yet. The State Department claims that most AP cases are cleared within 60 days so we're hopeful but the forums don't seem to support that timeline. I have reached out to my congresspeople. I understand that they will not send an inquiry until after 60 days but I figure it's best to make the initial contact with them as soon as possible so I can get them on the case, if need be. I'll keep you posted as to how long it takes us. Hopefully this won't happen to you too.

My husband recently had his interview in Montreal for his CR-1 visa. I am a US citizen and travelled to Montreal to accompany him on his interview. All our paperwork is in order and the interview seemed to go well. At the end the CO told us our application had to go off for administrative processing but that she didn't think that there would be any problems. She said it should only take a week or two; that she was going to let my husband hold on to his passport for now in case we had holiday travel plans. Before we left I asked again how long she thought this would take and she said it's hard to say but maybe up to a month.

Afterwards we did some poking around on the Internet to find out more about AP. Our guess is that we were put on AP because my husband was born in Iran. He moved to Canada as a child and has not been back to Iran since. He has been a Canadian citizen for nearly 20 years.

It seems like AP takes as long as it takes. I have seen everything from a week to over a year. However many of these cases appear to be people still living in their country of birth. It would be great to hear about people's AP timelines through Montreal with similar stories. The CO gave us the sense that it wouldn't take too long but I wanted to see if that matches other people's experiences. Either way we obviously will continue to not make official plans for his move until he has the visa in hand.

I called the NVC yesterday to check to see if our IR-1 / CR-1 case is complete and I was told we have an RFE for a Cambodian Police Certificate. My husband is Canadian (and currently lives in Canada) but lived in Cambodia for a year from 2007-2008. From everything I've seen a police certificate from Cambodia is only available if you have proof of current residency (which he obviously does not). I spoke to the NVC about this as the reciprocity list on the website is vague as well. The woman I spoke to said that we have to have it or a letter from the Ministry of Justice in Cambodia that says it's not available. Has anyone else run into this? I've tried calling and emailing the Cambodian US embassy, the US embassy in Cambodia and the Ministry of Justice in Cambodia but there's been no answer, full voicemail boxes or the emails have bounced back. This is all we need to complete our case. Any advice?

Sounds good. That's what we were thinking but I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't be an issue if he went back to Canada to wrap things up.

Thanks!

We've been able to visit each other with no problems. Each time we're honest and bring copies of all our paperwork. We know we have a long wait ahead of us still. My question is more after he gets approved. As we don't want to make any plans until he's had his interview and is approved, he will need some time afterwards to give notice at his job and apartment. So after all the wait and he's approved but needs a couple of months to wrap things up, should he come visit me on the weekend as usual and bring his unopened envelope, thus "landing" and return to Canada after the visit to work out his notice periods for work / apartment? Or would it be best to hold on to the envelope (i.e. not leave Canada even for a visit) for the two months or so and only cross the border ("land in the US") when he's officially moving?

I am a USC married to a Canadian citizen. We have sent off the i130 and now we're playing the waiting game. My question is once my husband receives approval, how long can he wait before moving to the US? He will need to give notice at his work, on his apartment, etc. so it may be a couple of months until he can officially move. Will that be ok? Is it best for him to "land" while visiting me and get the stamp, have the official green card mailed to mine but return to Canada to wrap things up? Or not enter the US until he's actually moving. We both want him to move here as soon as possible but it may take a bit of time.

Thanks!