ncglenn

Hello all! I've actually been here in the USA since July of 2015. I had my successful interview at the Montreal US Consulate shortly before the big move. Just wanted to tell the domicile thing you read about on here is true! My wife had been in Canada with me since 2002 and at the very end of the interview the topic was brought up. Luckily, my wife had maintained a mailing addtess at her parents, a US bank account with US address and a valid North Carolina ID card. It was a real tense moment but then he said You're Approved!

Don't let them win, stay strong! Our lawyer told us it would take 3 months, it will be a year in March. We no longer are using a lawyer.

i agree, stay strong and positive! I finally got my interview and approval after almost a year and a half with 3 check lists along the way.

fabulous news!!!

thanks for sharing this with us....especially those of us who live in Ontario!!!!

are they going to give you this in writing too? just thought I'd ask.

Hi mrs thb,

No I never thought to ask for what the lady at the Ont. Min. of Health told me in writing. Maybe I should call back and hopefully get someone else to confirm what I was told, but from the rules I read on their web site it sounds like she it correct. 1. Be a Canadian Citizen, 2. Make Ontario your primary place of residence, which could mean this is where you live and work for now even though you have become a USA permanent resident.

Hey friends,

I just got off the phone with the Ministry of Health here in Ontario and explained my situation. I told them that once I cross the border I will now be a USA resident, but living and working in Canada until I retire and move to the USA for good sometime in July. They told me that my provincial health coverage will continue until I move because even though I will be a USA Permanent Resident, I will still be a Canadian Citizen and Ontario will be my principal place of "residence" until we move for good. They told me to give them a call when we do leave Canada for good, and my health coverage will cease at that point.

You cant be a dual resident.

OK thanks NLR, I guess we'll hold off crossing the border until the big move. My wife is here in Canada with me anyways ( yes the domicile issue did come up at my interview, but they believed my wife kept strong enough ties to the USA) and we have years to look forward to in the USA so what's the rush?

me again, check out page 46 of this thread. NLR says you cannot enter the usa with this kind of visa optionally. once you enter, you have given up your canadian residency status. i know, your kinda of thinking nah, can't be...but we discussed it at length. kinds sucks if your only doing the buffalo thing. dualie said she made an inquiry with the border, wonder if she heard back...

hey dualie, did you hear anything back about this?

Well if I cross and activate my residency and then have to declare my foreign income from Canada for my remainging time here that's not a problem as I've been helping my US wife who has been living and working in Canada the past 12 years. It's really quite easy. Just convert your income off your t4 slips to US currency, then fill out a 1040 form and also a 2555 Foreign Income Exclusion form. You only pay to the IRS if you make a whole lot more than I do. I read the rules on the Ontario Ministry Of Health and it the main points it says that would apply to someone like me are,

• you are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or landed immigrant, or are registered as an Indian under theIndian Act;
• you make your primary place of residence in Ontario
• you are in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period.

If I remain living and working here until the permanent move, then wouldn't Ontario still be my primary place of residence until then? Wouldn't it be kind of like being a dual resident until I leave Canada for good?

So apparently it is not cold enough in Winnipeg...we had to go to Montreal to get frostbite..lol!! Hubby and I landed just before 1 PM and managed to find our way to where the buses run from. The bus pass (Opus) for a week now costs $25.50, plus the charge for the card itself - $6.00, which totals $31.50. Still a good deal considering a taxi would charge $40 or more for one one-way trip from the airport to the hotel. We are going to be here 8 days, so well worth it. The 747 takes you right into downtown Montreal where everything is.

Blowing snow with a -31 degree windchill...sweet, but it can't damper our spirits. We are nearly done with this! Will share more as it goes. I have my medical at Medisys tomorrow morning at 11:15, and then we are literally free and loose on the city until my interview on the 10th. Good luck everyone! I will check in as things progress!!

Hey Dualie!

Are you enjoying the cold in Montreal?! We were watching for you at the hotel. Thought maybe we'd bump into you while eating breakfast. Good luck on your upcoming interview!

Hi VJ friends,

I got my approval on Feb. 3rd at the Montreal Consulate. I should be receiving my passport and visa packet sometime next week. I'm not actually retiring from my job until June 30th, then moving permanently sometime in July. Is it ok if I cross into the US as a permanent resident right away, spend the day in Buffalo then come back? We would like to maybe do some banking at our USA bank and maybe browse some stores etc.

Hey again VJ friends,

I was wondering if anyone knew something about my soon to be received approved passport and visa packet. Is it ok to enter the US as a permanent resident as we are instructed to do, then come back to Canada that same day? I'm not actually retiring from my job until June 30th of this year 2015, but the US border is only an hour and a half away and I sure would like to take that final step to activate my residency as soon as I can!

Hey all, just thought I'd tell a little about my experience in Montreal. My appointment was at 9:30 am, but I got there an hour early at 8:30 am as recommended by some on here. I took a deep breath and nervously walked in the doors of the consulate showing my interview letter to the security guards at the entrance. They did the usual security thing like at an airport and then it was up to floor number 19! Got there and checked in with the young lady at the counter rght off the elevator. She gave me ticket number 7 and told me to sit down and wait until they called my number. At around 9:45 am I was called to desk number !. All they asked for was the usual at first, passport, medical results, and the 2 pictures. Of all the paper work and copies of civil docs I took there all they wanted was a copy of my wifes divorce decree from her first marriage. I had sent in origianls of the civil docs so they had already made their own copies. Of course they also took my finger prints. Then I sat back down awaiting my call to the famous window number 7! The young guy before me came back from window 7 with a no, and I thought oh no I'm probably next so I sure hope I get a better answer. Everything was going smooth until he got on the topic of my wife having lived outside the USA here in Canada the last 12 years. Yes the domicile issue in Canada is true! But then he said I was approved and they were satisfied with the evidence we provided them. I was so happy and thanked him 2 or 3 times and even said if I could shake your hand I would. He just told me I was welcome and to have a nice day.

Well hello again all! Great news from Montreal, I was approved! Woooo hoooo!

That is VERY weird

Hey Saylin, have you ever heard of anyone else getting a pre interview call from the NVC before? I've never seen it mentioned by anyone on here. Like I said, the lady was very nice and discussed with my wife all the docs I needed to bring to the interview.

Hey all,

Usually people mention here about calling the NVC for various reasons, but today my wife's cell phone rang when she was at work and it was the NVC calling her! They were calling to verify I'd be at my interview next Tuesday and went over what documents to bring with me. My wife said the lady was very nice and they chit chatted about the weather for a bit. NVC lady said they had about 2 feet of snow there and was surprised how little we have here in Toronto. I'm looking forward to my interview, but will be so glad when it's all over.

Hey all!

Sorry to go on about this, but I'm just a little nervous of the domicile issue since my wife has been living here in Canada with me since 2002. To show intent to re-estabish her domicile I have a letter signed by her swearing she will do that no later than my entry to USA, a notorized letter from her parents stating we'll be living at their address, car insurance quote from Nationwide, bank statements from a US bank with our NC address on it as well as some void checks, job offer letter, quote from Uhaul to rent a 10 foot cube van (I checked UPack as many mention on here, but they don't drop off in my wife's home town), and a valid North Carolina DMV photo id card with her home address of where we'll be living. Have I got us covered? If not, can anyone give any sugesstions for more evidence other than her leaving and going down there first?

Thanks!

I didn't mean to say that the Canadian embassy was correct in thinking that people might go back and forth I was just trying to think of a reason that they were so strict about re-establishing domicile while most other countries don't even ask about it. I am fully aware that Canada and the US are big countries and was not implying that people would have the intention of going back and forth at all... sorry if you were offended.

Congrats on your interview date I hope that it goes well for you!

Honestly the fact that you must remain in the USA 6 months out of the year to maintain your permanent residency card seems like plenty of "intention." Unfortunately my husband is Brazilian and he can't even visit the USA without a tourist visa (which he was denied because of the fact that he is married to me) so to even meet my family we have had to go through this entire process and will have to choose between losing his green card or staying there six months out of the next three years until he reaches the naturalization requirements.

So basically we weren't allowed to visit because they were worried that he would stay as an immigrant, so now we are forced to immigrate so that we can even visit.

Hi kaelabelle,

No offence taken at all. Good luck on your journey to your life in the USA as well.

I have mostly seen Canadians with this problem too... I have a friend who was a Spanish resident and recently went through the process to move to the USA with Spanish husband and had no problems. It seems like going through this painful ordeal (that is immigration) should be evidence enough that we want to re-estabish domicile! I guess it makes sense that Canada would be more of an issue because you could easily go back and forth...

I'm Canadian, being interviewed on Feb. 3, and my American wife lives here too. Canada and USA are huge countires so unless both spouses live close to the border it's not so easy to go back and forth. My wife is from coastal North Carolina, which is a 20 to 24 hour drive if you include stopping for gas, eating, and a rest stop or two. You could fly there from Spain or pretty any where else in Europe in way less the time.

Hey again all!

I've got my interview in Montreal coming up on Feb. 3rd and have been through the paperwork I'm taking I don't know how many times. I've got my interview letter, DS260 confirmation page, copies of our marriage license and my long form birth certificate as both originals were mailed in, and a copy of the police check I sent in, as well as my passport with another copy of the biographical page and my medical report. My wife lives here in Canada with me so to show intent to re-establish domicile we have a notorized letter from her parents, signed letter by my wife promising to make USA her domicile, bank statements with our names and US address, car inurance quote with US address, and a job offer letter for my wife. I hear how the domicle issue is so important so I hope and pray this is enough. I'm also taking a few pictures and a pension estimate statement that shows I'll have a half decent income of my own if they ask to see them. Can anyone think of anything I forgot or give any suggestions?

Thanks,

ncglenn

AP = Administrative Processing

Basically, if you don't have everything they want, they put you into AP until they receive all the required documents. It's not the end of the world (like a straight out denial can be), but it does put on a few weeks at the minimum.

Thanks Saylin!

I also made a copy of the letter you posted on your Wiki for my wife do sign and date that says she promises to re-establish domicile in the USA no later than the date of my admission as a US permanent resident. Thanks again for helping out here.

ncglenn

Yes, put them together, or you'll just confuse NVC and probably get a checklist for missing papers. Put one cover letter, all your papers, then all the joint sponsor's papers.

Doesn't matter if you qualify to sponsor or not, you still need to prove domicile, whether it's that you've maintained US domicile the entire time or the intent to re-establish it. As I mentioned, I have an extensive list on the wiki, as well as a letter to use. I'm not sure how strict they are at the consulate/embassy you're going through, but in Canada, it is the one thing they put a BIG focus on. Many people get put into AP at Montreal for not showing enough proof of domicile.

Hi Saylin,

What does AP stand for? I have my interview this coming Feb. 3rd! Been married to my US wife since 2002, so she lives here in Canada with me of course. I'm taking some bank statements with our US address on it from an actual US bank and not just a bank like TD where any Canadian can open an account in the US, a notorized letter from my wife's parents that we'll be staying with them and helping out with bills and house work, and also a car insurance quote with my wife's name and US address. She has also maintained a local phone number for the town we'll be living in and has bank statements from our US account to show payments. If we had just got married I could understand my wife waiting in the USA for me, but we chose to live in Canada because of my pension I'll be getting after almost 29 years at one of the colleges here in Toronto, with full intent from the start to move to NC upon retirement. I sure hope they understand our situation and not give me any problems.

Thanks,

ncglenn

Congrats! No matter how many mistakes you make, it should not take that long for a visa, but let's stay "positive." Good luck with the rest of the process.

Thanks v4b! I think maybe our application got lost in the piles of the major backlog they had, but it's working out just right as we don't plan on moving permanently down to North Carolina until July and I have to give around 3 months notice at work when retiring to set up my pension etc. Good luck to you too!

Wow! You have had a long journey, but it's almost over. Good luck with your interview. My hubby and I will be staying at that Holiday Inn Express from Feb 2 to Feb 10. Maybe we will bump into you! I have to fly in on the 2nd for my medical on the 3rd, and then my interview isn't until the 10th so hubby and I are touring Montreal as our honeymoon trip (the one we haven't had yet, lol!).

Anyway, just wanted to wish you luck. I know you will do fine, you have waited long enough!

Thanks Dualie! We are staying there at the Holiday Inn Express the nights of Feb. 2nd and 3rd and taking the train back to Toronto on the 4th. My wife and I are going to make it a mini honeymoon trip as we never really had one since being married back in 2002. Plus I want to her to see a little more of Canada before we retire and move down to North Carolina where she's from. Also I noticed on the Montreal Consulate instructions it says to bring original AOS and tax return/transcripts, but I don't have them as they were sent to the NVC. Is this the same for you? Good luck to you and your loved one as well and maybe we'll all meet and say hello!

Hello again all!

I just had my medical here in Toronto today! I went to Dr. Zatzman in Vaughan, Ontario. He was very friendly and the checkup was surpisingly quick and easy. He just asked a few questions, then listened to my heart and lungs with the stethascope, then took my height and weight, then had me read a line from an eye exam chart. After that I went downstairs and got my chest xray and blood work done. I hope my interview will be as easy as this was! I'm actually a September 2013 filer and was caught right in the middle of the major backlog they had, then we made some mistakes on some forms we had to redo so that delayed as well. Interview is finally on February 3rd! Got my train ride booked from Toronto to Montreal and 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Express which is just a 4 minute walk from the Consulate!

Hey all,

I've been away from here for a while, but just got my interview letter from the NVC on Friday and my interview date is February 3rd. I checked the Montreal Consulate instructions and it says to bring the original police check, as well as original AOS forms. Is this just a general rule? I mailed the originals directly to the NVC so so not have them.

Thanks

Hi sorry if I may ask what was your first checklist for. Also did you request if possible to take corrections on 2nd checklist to Embassy instead?

Hi Crisarria,

The first checklist was for a wrong amount entered in section 6 item 13.a.1 of my sponsors I-864 form. The second checklist was for the exact same thing, but for my co-sponsors I-864. Everything was sent to them together in one IV package so I find it very odd they didn't tell me both errors in the first checklist. I'm just going to have my co-sponsor re-fill the I-864 as instructed and mail it directly to the NVC.

So sorry for you, that's the hardest part, a second checklist.

Thanks dilmera,

I know we are all going through the same thing here, but it is extra frustrating when I've been married to my US wife for 12 years, usually visit twice a year and spend at least 6 weeks there, have a clean background check and will be retiring with a good pension. I don't know what's going on, I'm just a good honest man that wants to be with my wife and her family.