jhansen6

Thank you.

That was a hypothetical. She's not actually 3 months. We will have good coverage, I think I'll be ok giving birth there.

haha jeez, chill out guys. Can always count on the internet to get people's inflamed reactions to a relatively innocuous question.

first, thank you for your responses.

second, again, yes I know Canada has TB. All countries do. In epidemiology, scientists rate countries as ENDEMIC or not for a specific disease. Some places are higher risk. And if you are from a higher risk country then yes you absolutely must have an xray. If you are from a lower risk country I was wondering if there may be more flexibility such as a TB skin test or bloodwork. Like it or not, the risk of a Canadian having TB is less than that of a South African or Chinese or Russian immigrant. BY A LOT. So taking this into consideration, my question: is there any flexibility? That is now answered. There is not. Chill out people.

On a side note, I find it silly that she could visit the US for 6 months without needing a chest xray, yet she can't live there and defer her xray until after birth (~3 months). Just seems like a very simple way to avoid exposing a fetus to unnecessary radiation.

Lastly, I just want to say that I appreciate everyone saying "don't worry, trust me, it'll be fine" but again, I no longer "trust" a person with my own health, and netiher should you. That includes your own doctor. You need to look at the research yourself and decide. With that said, I've since done a LOT of reading scientific literature and have decided that the risk is indeed very minimal. I encourage anyone in the future to look up the studies themselves using google scholar. For anyone stumbling across this thread in the future, I thought I'd write down my notes from a good metaanalysis paper I found (Lowe et al, 2004; look it up).

goodluck everyone!

" read the thread on domicile in the Canada forum. " Can you please provide link ? thank you

yes, yes, I know TB is reported in Canada, just as it is reported in the USA. My point is that we are not high risk, as one might be coming from China, Russia, or certain endemic African countries. As the risk is lower, there may be some flexibility in allowing a different diagnostic test that reduces potential harm to the child. Thank you all for saying that I have nothing to worry about, but I learned long ago not to trust others with my (or my children's) health. "trust me, they'll be fine" just isn't convincing anymore. If it can be avoided, it should. That was my question in this thread, CAN it be avoided. The answer apparently is no. Thank you.

I'm sure she can probably defer the interview until after giving birth, but what I really would like to know is whether or not she can get the VISA then take the xray later, or rather if there is any alternative test she can take other than radiation? Again, taking into consideration we are from Canada here, not a TB endemic country. These hard-fast rules make no sense, and there should be times that they are flexible.

hey guys,

After a long wait, my wife finally got her interview date for the Visa! It's in just over a month from now, and it's been a year since we started this process.

We live in Canada, and as part of the medical examination (pre-interview) process I believe she will need to get a chest Xray. The problem is that she is also now 8 weeks pregnant. I know people will say that it's ok, and safe, and rare for problems to happen, but we honestly just don't feel comfortable exposing the baby to unnecessary radiation.

I get that chest xrays are necessary for TB spread prevention, but we're born and raised in CANADA, we're not coming from South Africa here. Is there any way to avoid this? Like a TB skin test, blood panel, etc? I called the doctor, but no response yet.

thanks guys.

Hey guys,

Getting a little annoyed at this stage. We meticulously put together the IV and AOS package for the NVC. We double triple quadruple checked everything was fine, because we are tired of waiting for this long process to end. All documents were included in those packages.

Today I call the NVC, they say they processed our file and noted that the birth certificate of the applicant is missing. Now I need to send it back in and wait another 30-40 days for processing. I told them that I am 99% sure we included the certificate: it was a photocopy of the long form certificate from the Ontario government (Canada). We even had it notarized by a justice of the peace just incase. Could notarizing it cause the problem? Should we have sent the short form instead?

I was told to resend the birth certificate... but they didn't give me any information on why the last copy was not acceptable. Gah!

Any thoughts?

J

Just got through. They said they just received it today. Pfft.

This is going to take forever.

Any advice on how to speed things up once I finally do get the invoice #?

hey guys

Applying for a spouse VISA for my wife, sent in the application last June or so (I don't recall, but I think it's in my timeline). In October we received NOA2 stating they were sending it to the NVC. It said they would contact me within 30 days. That was over 4 months ago.

I have tried calling many times, each time I get "sorry, all of our operators are busy, try back later, goodbye *click*'. I have tried writing 3 emails. I wrote a letter, and still no response. This is getting very frustrating.

From what I understand I cannot do anythign until they give me my case #?

Is there anything I can do to speed this damn process up?!

thanks guys

Jesse

hey.

Yeah we're in Vancouver heading to Seattle. What do you think?

hey guys

I'm dual Canadian US. My wife is applying for spouse VISA. Applied 6 months ago, process is ongoing.

We had tried to enter the US a while ago not knowing we couldn't enter until the VISA was approved. She got scolded by border guards.

Since then we saw a lawyer. He said we can certainly enter the country, but we have to prove ties to our home country (that we're not intending to emigrate when we go).

You guys have any ideas for what this might entail, other than the following: (note that the issuing date for all of these documents is AFTER our attempted date of entry, as we were forced to move provinces because of this debacle).

- apartment lease

- vehicle insurance registration

- health card and drivers license in our province

- letter from employer showing she was hired as a substitute teacher (no contract)

thanks everyone!!

I posted this before, but here's an update.

Dualie, did you apply from Canada or from the US? I'm wondering if I can just move back to Canada for the process to be with her.

We had the car packed with stuff yea. Just wondering about waiting times tho... How long it took.

I filed I-129 because it was free with filing the I-130. We were hoping one of the two might have a shorter processing time than the other. Anyways, she can't enter into the US, the border guard told us that if she tries again she will be barred from the states for 5 years.

My wife is Canadian, I am dual US/Canada. We filed I-129 and I-130 about 7 weeks ago. Received the receipts for both. Tried to use those receipts to enter the US, she got denied entry. The CBS guard told us that they were already looking at her case and nothing derogatory had been found against her. Called the hotline, they said 5 months longer processing time. I read online that's only the first step, and it realistically will take 12 months or so until she can actually enter the US. Is that true?