kashewmoo

I've been through this entire rigamarole myself! It's been a pain, but I think I've figured out a system that should help.
I have a chequing account with TD Canada, and a US TD Bank account. I had to open the latter over the phone as I'm in Colorado; the former I opened online (I had a student line of credit with them already). When money is transferred between TD Canada and TD USA, you must call the cross border banking line - you can't initiate the transfer online. It costs me approximately $10 a month to keep both accounts open, but this has been the least headache inducing method. I don't use these two accounts for anything other than a money shuffle, as neither bank is my bank of choice. If you keep a minimum balance in both of them, I believe you can avoid the monthly fee entirely, but I've not been able to transfer enough to see.
My main bank here in the US is Wells Fargo, for which I got cheques. I can do a mobile deposit from my Wells Fargo to TD Bank, which avoids the $3 online transfer fee WF charges. The next time I visit Canada, I'm going to bring a stack of cheques with me, sign them, and then leave them with my mom so that I can have her deposit cheques directly into my CIBC account if need be.
I transfer money using Interac e-transfer between my banks in Canada, which I believe costs $1.50 from both banks. Of course, if you just use TD Canada, you wouldn't have to worry about it.
As for the actual maintenance/monitoring the balances of the accounts, I have online banking set up for both TD Canada and TD USA. But, again, do note that you can only do the crossborder transfers by calling the number.

Hooray to all of those who have received their case completes and are waiting for their interviews! And I'm keeping all of you in my thoughts who are still waiting.
I'm leaving tomorrow evening (I suppose this evening, now that it's after midnight, haha) for Montreal - my interview is on Monday morning. I spent tonight gathering and organizing all of my paperwork, making sure I wasn't missing anything crucial. We've been reading up on consulate reviews, and though we're both feeling super nervous still - nerves won't seem to go away - I know that everything is going to go smoothly.
Oh, and the medical exam in Surrey was not only a breeze, but Dr. Cheema was absolutely fantastic. I was very pleased with the whole experience!

And now I can finally say that I have my interview date, too! We got the email today, and our interview is scheduled for June 23rd. Congratulations to all those who have gotten interview dates already, and the best of luck to those who are still waiting!

I just got off the phone with the NVC before they closed for the night, and unfortunately we are still waiting for an interview date in Montreal. But, with that said, I was notified that they're still scheduling for June in Montreal, so there's hope for us, yet.
Congratulations to all those who have received their dates! I hope us Canadians can join with you soon!

I have to second this. <3
On a very happy note, I too have come to say that we've officially received a case complete today, as well! I spoke to Gus this evening (who is probably the best representative I've spoken to of all the times I've called the NVC - charming, funny, and very personable), who gave us the good news.
I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that everyone else sees their journey at the NVC come to an end quickly. It's so hard to stay strong through this entire process, but we're doing it, and it's just a true testament to the love and dedication we have to those we love.
Now to eagerly await our interview date!

I have to second this. <3
On a very happy note, I too have come to say that we've officially received a case complete today, as well! I spoke to Gus this evening (who is probably the best representative I've spoken to of all the times I've called the NVC - charming, funny, and very personable), who gave us the good news.
I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that everyone else sees their journey at the NVC come to an end quickly. It's so hard to stay strong through this entire process, but we're doing it, and it's just a true testament to the love and dedication we have to those we love.
Now to eagerly await our interview date!

This will be the second time I've moved to Colorado (and the third time moving out of the country), and ultimately at the end of the day, while there are many things I miss about Canada, being with my wife is what makes me happy - the place we live comes second - and anything to bring this long haul to an end is so important to me.
I think it helps in that I've always had a strong support net. Her immediate family lives in the same city, and we both have mutual friends from when I lived there the first time who are really excited for me to return. I'm of course going to miss my family and friends back here at home, but it's really only a plane ride away.
I think that the two things that are freaking me out the most about this move in particular is our marital status, and of course, health care. Colorado still doesn't recognize marriage equality, and while civil unions are in full effect there and federally we're protected, there's still that tiny part of me that worries about all the what-ifs or implications of not being recognized as married by the state - in particular once we begin a family.
With regard to health care, my wife has an amazing plan that I'll be added to immediately when I arrive, but I've had her go over the details with me several times over just to make sure I understand what the financial stress could be in the event of an absolute worst case scenario. The monthly premium cost doesn't bother me all that much, for I've been paying for MSP and extended medical here in BC that costs me an arm and a leg, but deductibles and out of pocket costs and all the other potential dollar signs does make me feel a bit uneasy.
I think it helps too that I'm sick and tired of living on Vancouver Island, and to return to smack dab the middle of a country where I can drive for hours and hours on end sounds like paradise. But I've always been a bit of a roamer, really.

Hooray, more approvals! Congratulations to you all.
In preparation for the next step, I've been trying to get everything for the NVC stage gathered so I'm not scrambling around at the last minute when the time comes. I've officially changed my name on my driver's license, and soon to be on my passport also - seems so weird, though in a good way!
I'm feeling positive things coming all of our way soon!

I'm sorry I've all but disappeared from this thread - been a crazy couple of months!
Glad to see that there has finally been some movement on transfers and approvals from July filers - even if your time hasn't come yet, it still shows that you're one step closer to being together with your spouse.
That said, today we received a text message that we were transferred! Of course, like everyone else, I'm hoping it'll end up at the CSC. If anything, even if we don't receive an approval right away, this has at least kicked my butt into gear for gathering the rest of the paperwork for the NVC step.
We mailed off the petition 7/28, NOA1 was 8/5.