oncefuturealien

There were days I cried myself to sleep. My husband and I stopped Skyping because by the end of the call we were both so sad because we could see each other but not actually be together or hug each other. we only Skype rarely now. It's all phone calls and text messages. I just got my approval this morning so i'm beyond ecstatic! my mood is a complete 180 from yesterday. Since the holidays are over, perhaps whomever had our petitions are finally starting to work on them again. I hope you get your approval soon!
I think with the holidays behind us, you may get your approval soon. I just got mine this morning.

181 days after they received my petition......I'M APPROVED! I'M APPROVED! I'M APPROOOOOOOOVED!!!!!!!!!! I got the text about 30 minutes ago that my case was updated. I logged in and there it was the magical words!!! my case was approved!!!! wooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I immediately called my husband he was just as excited! I literally closed the door to my office and was jumping around in excitement!! hopefully, the next steps won't take so long!
NVC here I come!!!!

Just changed to Issued. So happy.....
Have you seen any sort of tracking info for yours yet?

Don't worry. That seems to be consulate-speak for "we're printing it now". Mine said the same thing yesterday, and now I've got the Canada Post tracking number.

Had my interview today. I think it went well. I was approved.
They didn't ask me that much. I had way more documents then I needed but better to have them.
Had to submit some updated info when there because of changes in I-864 and my new passport.
Once I had given everything over at the first window, went back to wait. Maybe another 15-30 minutes.
When called to the room the guy was very nice. Another family tried to follow me in because they thought they called their number (didn't speak English very well).
Questions were mostly basic. Asked about any issues with law enforcement, customs, any over stay in the US, how I meet my wife and when, when we got married, kids. And I think that was it...was kinda a blur. He told me that I was approved. I thanked him, said I would shake his hand if I could. I asked that was it, we should be good and he told me us that was it and everything should be fine unless I had some criminal record or something but otherwise no problem.
He gave me back my originals and kept my passport and the police certificate (only realized now, not sure that is normal but whatever).
I looked online at my status for fun and it already says "Issued" but then says that I am in administrative processing.
Is that the normal progression of the status online after the interview? I didn't think it would change to Issued right away with the administrative processing part. Text is:
"Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. As the officer told you in the interview, if further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved when administrative processing is finished, you will receive notification to collect the passport with the visa from the Loomis branch you selected when you booked your appointment."
Is that normal? I'm kinda worried seeing that.

Mine just changed to "Issued" - undergoing necessary administrative processing.

this is what i wrote response for RFE .

Ended up working out fine. I actually traveled across the border the same day as my interview was done.

They sent back my passport. The estimated delivery is today but depending on when it arrives I might need to pick it up on Monday morning, either way, I will take it to Montreal with me. It's looking more likely that I will definitely be having to redo the medical. The issue I just thought of though is that I might need to redo the police check's if I don't send in my passport right away. The police check's expire in February and March, so that more cash down the drain because of this endless process.

in a timeline,
for CR-1/IR-1 visa chasers,
packet 3 stuff is the NVC Doc intake process, with packet 4 being the interview letter.
-----
and yes, yer gonna be going to Montreal.
This is not a bad thing, in and of itself.
If you plan it right, say a 4 day jaunt, she can get 10 to 12 different poutine joints along the way, maybe even buy those 2 kg boxes of poutine gravy mix to bring to the USA also.

Just got my case number and IIN!!!!!!!!!! Wooohoo

Called NvC jus now n got our case number and invoice Number

We were just approved this morning!!!
I'm so happy! Now to wait for the NOA2 hard copy and get on with the next part of the process!

CASE UPDATED
On January 4, 2016, we mailed a request for additional evidence for your Form I-130, Immigrant Petition for Relative, Fiance(E), or Orphan, Receipt Number XXXXX. The request for evidence explains what we need from you. We will not take action on your case until we receive the evidence or the deadline to submit it expires. Please follow the instructions in the request for evidence. If you do not receive your request for additional evidence by February 3, 2016

Just to give another update on the NVC process:
We received our NOA-2 with a Notice Date of December 8, 2015.
I've been calling NVC each week to check on whether we've been assigned a Case Number and IIN.
I had previously been told that it can take up to 45 days for those to be assigned by NVC.
Today I called, and the NVC rep told me that their system showed that NVC received our application packet from TSC today. That means NVC has confirmed that the physical package has arrived there and the barcode has been scanned in. He said this is referred to as the "Wand Date". He said that due to the volume of mail that they've been receiving, it can take up to 42 days from this point to be assigned a NVC case number and IIN. He did say that it could be sooner, but 42 was the current average.
So, for everyone trying to gauge their timelines, allow a few weeks from the Notice Date on your NOA-2 for NVC to even receive your physical application, then figure on up to 42 days for them to assign you a Case Number and IIN. Once you have those, you can move on to the next steps (DS261 Choice of Agent, payment of IV fees, etc).
Hope this helps, and hope everyone gets Case Numbers earlier than the average!!

1) no. Only residents of Canada can do their taxes electronically. Yours must be paper filed.
2) yes
3) yes

falcngrl
Canadians who immigrate to the USA due to family reasons (ie moving to live with a spouse) can claim EI while living in the USA. You still must be ready, able, and willing to work but you do not have to be living in Canada.

I'm happy . .... I received my passport and flew me tomorrow to join my husband. Courage to those who wait. ... the reward is at the end of the tunnel

Thank you everyone! Here is my interview experience:
So I arrived there really early, 3 hrs prior to the interview. I asked one of the guards outside the embassy if I have to give them my interview appointment letter, so they will know I'm there and he said it's not necessary, because I should be on the list. But that I need to wait till 1 pm.
I came back at the embassy at 12:30 and there were already few people outside waiting. Fortunately the weather was lovely
At 12:55 someone came with a list and started calling the people. I got called the 5th. Inside, we had to go through security check same as when going to the airport. We were not allowed to carry any backpacks with us so I had to take out my 2 huge folders, huge wedding album + another photo album where I had pictures with us from our trips. Then we were sent to another building where we were asked to wait till we hear our names called.
Unfortunately, I was literally the last one to be called for the interview. I think there were 12 people in front of me.
When my name finally got called, I went to the window and a nice young lady introduced herself and then asked me to rise my right hand and to swear that everything that I presented and what I will say it's the truth.
First question was: did you pay anyone to introduce you to your husband? I was shocked and said: no, no, no. Then I told her that we met in Abu Dhabi, while in training, sent there by our company (we used to work for the same company). From there on it was mostly a conversation. I started telling her about us and out relationship and she was asking a question from time to time.
Other questions asked: did you started dating ever since? (when we met in Abu Dhabi)
- Did he meet your parents?
- Did you meet his parents? I told her yes, that they came to the wedding in Romania and that also some of his friends came too, all the way from Alaska and Canada.
- What is he doing now?
- Are you working?
Since none of us is working currently, she asked me: and what are you guys planning to do in US? So I told her that Bryan is looking for a job and he might potentially obtain an officer position in the US Army and that as soon as I get my SSN I will start looking for a job.
She asked: so you guys wanna settle in the US, cause I can see from your documents you have been moving around the world a lot due to your job. So I told her that yes, for the moment that's the plan, but hey.. you never know what the life has planned for you And then she smiled and said that's true.
Then she said: well, you guys showed us more proof than we needed and everything looks good. In that moment she took my passport and handed it to me. I was shocked!!! I thought she's going to deny my visa or something. She smiled and said: don't worry, it's your old passport with your tourist visa which I cancelled, cause I have just approved your visa. Congratulations and welcomed to United States!
I was soooo happy!!! And that was my interview! Easier than I would have expected, honestly.
When they asked me for proof of relationship, I had a full folder with hundreds of pages worth of conversations on Facebook, emails, flights and hotels from our trips, phone bills and such. They only took the emails from me, the flights and hotels bookings and the small photo album (the big wedding album didn't fit through the window lol).
They didn't ask me for any financial docs, no I-864, no W2s, no pay stubs, nothing!
Now, 1 day after my interview, when checking the ceac website I can see my visa status changed to ISSUED!!! Yaaaay!!! Nightmare is over!! Will be flying to the States on January 12th. POE is going to be San Diego

Hey everyone!!! I had my interview today and I was APPROVED!! Yayyy I'm so happy and so relieved that this is over now!
Promise I will get back with details about the interview, tomorrow. I'm exhausted right now and just want to sleep lol.

Woohoo!! It was issued!
How long until I should get my tracking number? I am hoping that I get it by tomorrow, I am in Kingston so I am only a few hours away... BUT, a big snow storm hit so I hoping it doesn't delay the post office lol!

Haha high five!
Hope you had a great holiday! Hopefully a belated Christmas present is headed your way this week:)
Canada post was closed Friday due to Christmas, but opened today and the visa is in transit expected to hit Markham tomorrow. Not sure what time, but hopefully earlier in the day. My fiance is coming down with a u-haul for my stuff and we plan to head back to buffalo tomorrow evening if all goes well.
Lets hope there are no issues with CPC or my POE (I'm so nervous!). I will definitely let you know how it goes, as well as please keep me updated on your end! Hoping this is your last week of waiting!
Sending positive thoughts to you and everyone else!

Congrats to all who got issued. I received my package yesterday less than 12 hrs from the time I received the email from the consulate. After all Canada post didn't fail me.?

Merry Christmas everyone and have a very happy New Years!

Well I got my Long Form Birth Certificate today via Purolator. So it took basically 3 days.
Cost me $75 for the premium service and was worth every penny.
Thanks for the help

Issued as well this morning!!!! Congratulation to you too! Best Christmas present ever.