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Finayyy

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Posts posted by Finayyy

  1. 16 minutes ago, K&Kir said:

    @Finayyy did they keep your original documents? I'm shooting myself in the foot that I didn't get certified copies or order extra originals because they kept long form birth certificate, police clearances, and marriage certificate. In the future we will probably need those? Like for employment, or the bank... I'm hoping they give them back at POE?

     

    Did this happen to you?

    No they took my copies of the marriage, birth certificate and the original police clearance. I wonder if they thought it was copies. You can email them and ask if they will mail it back along with your passport

  2. Just now, K&Kir said:

    @Finayyy yeah they wanted to know the day we cross and our POE. 

     

    Other than that, they were impressed that we had already chosen both.

     

    Did you see the Facebook group? Lots of good info over there, for people who have crossed and finishing up.

    That's good to hear. 

     

    As soon as you get your passport, they'll provide you with a website to pay the immigrant fee. Create an account before you pay. You will get a receipt number that you can track on USCIS case tracker for the status of your green card. 

     

    I got notification that my fee was accepted and now being produced. It shouldn't be too long before I get my green card. I'm moving back Friday permanently. 

  3. 17 minutes ago, K&Kir said:

    APPROVED! 

     

    Interview in Montreal was a success!  I will be posting a review soon that will include more details, but overall, what a roller coaster ride!

     

    We went into the interview with a few things unanswered, so i wanted to take a quick moment to clear up some questions here for the rest of you. Each case is different, however...

     

    -Changing my spouses passport to married name IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROCESS was absolutely okay with the embassy.

     

    -We have been home for 2 days and the embassy has already contacted us with tracking information on passport, stating that it will arrive within 4 days of interview

     

    -As the petitioner, I got to go up to the waiting room with my spouse, however I was not able to approach the documentation window with her or interview

     

    -Lady at the door as we entered on ground floor never requested to see our appointment letter. Just asked for spouses passport and mine and the time of appointment.  She also never asked about a courier service. 

     

    -No one said anything about courier service. We just got a piece of paper at the end that showed how you set it up if you have not already set it up.

     

    -Joint sponsor: officer cross referenced tax return(s) with i864 to see that the listed income on i864 matched the income on return.

     

    -They will send you an email maybe a week before your interview date and it will have exactly the same list of documentation that is on the "laminated sheet" they give you at the door. No surprises. 

     

    -Domicile; we showed car title and US bank information of the petitioner. Nothing else was requested, and mind you, the petitioner currently doesn't live in the US or have a job there. I'm not sure if this was because we will be living with the joint sponsor who is well over 125% of poverty line or what? They never asked to see the letter from joint sponsor stating we would live there for a moment, but you better believe we had it ready.

     

    Hmmm...if I think of more I will post, but these little open ends had me extremely anxious about the whole interview. Good luck to you all, and if anyone has any questions on Montreal embassy specifically, please do not feel hesitant to send me a message.

    Congrats on the approval. That's impressive you got your passport back quick. 

     

    Did they ask you about your future travel to the US?

  4. 12 hours ago, Nattie_Bry said:

    A VJ member said they received a checklist / W-2 got rejected because NVC needs to see the transcript.

     

    I would like to go for the risk free option.

    I read here on VJ that a member submitted their W2 via electronic processing (email) and was rejected because the person couldn't read what was scanned. 

     

    This could be a reason why it was rejected. If not, their W2 has some issues and they want to see the transcript for better clarifications. 

  5. 15 hours ago, HessicaS said:

    I don't think this is an issue from anything I've read. I would perhaps recommend him to submit the past 3 years worth of tax records, and then perhaps if you have other documents showing you are financially tied together. But I don't know if that makes a difference. For example, I submitted documents proving that my spouse is on my work insurance. Not sure if they care about this, but wanted to show areas of connection :) Maybe someone else has other thoughts! But I agree in that it doesn't seem like a problem...they just care that there is financial support and evidence backing it.

    It should not be a problem filing as single. My wife did that on her tax return and provided the last 3 years worth of tax returns along with her fathers, who was our joint sponsor. At the interview, they only asked for the 2016 tax return for both my wife and her father. 

  6. On 7/14/2017 at 4:48 PM, Koalaem said:

    We just sent in our fees and are waiting to be able to send in AOS and DS260.

    How long after you sent yours in did you get your interview date/have your interview?

     

    TIA

    Are you apart of the new CEAC upload system? If so, wait 3-5 days after submitting your fee's for them to process it and change the status to PAID. 

  7. 2 hours ago, elfinkel said:

    So, I think our case got expedited but I'm still a little confused about what exactly it means and how things will happen from here.

    I am currently in Peru with my husband. I requested an expedite because of some health and financial things going on. I was under the impression that when an case gets expedited it gets sent to the embassy right away. However, here is the message that I've received:

     

    "The U.S. Embassy or Consulate is willing to expedite this case when we have all the fees, forms, and documents. If you have not already done so, you can pay your fees and submit Form DS-260 at ceac.state.gov. Please send everything else to this address:

     

    National Visa Center

    31 Rochester Avenue, Suite 100

    Portsmouth, NH 03801-2915" 

     

    So, I don't completely understand what that means. Are they going to also expedite things at the NVC if I send all my files there? Or, will that process still be delayed the normal time frame, and then they will expedite things once they get sent to the embassy in Peru?

    It doesn't exactly feel like a real expedite. Should I speak to the embassy here and confirm with them? 

    Has anyone else been in this type of situation?


    Thanks in advance!

    Most probably they will expedite the interview date upon receiving your documents and fees. 

  8. On 7/17/2017 at 1:00 PM, Toronto88 said:

    Thank you for sharing your experience Finayyy! This is extremely helpful. Seems you were flying out from Billy Bishop, otherwise I think immigration would have taken place on the Canadian side (where they may be more aware of this system...). Thanks again 

    Yeah I flew out of Billy Bishop to Newark. So Newark should have known since it's a international airport. But hey, we are the newbies. 

     

    16 minutes ago, jle2234 said:

    I am still awaiting my interview date at the Montreal Consulate after receiving my "Case Completed" notification on June 22nd. I last called NVC yesterday (July 17th) and they said nothing had been scheduled yet. We are getting quite discouraged, and are starting to worry that there may be something wrong with our case.

     

    Has anyone else had similar experiences in scheduling with Montreal? Whenever I call NVC, I just ask whether an interview has been scheduled yet -- is there something more I could be saying/doing to move the process along?

     

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Don't be discouraged by the wait. Montreal is extremely slow at responding to emails and such. I've emailed a few times last week and didn't even get a response from them. NVC approved it so you're good to go. 

  9. Not sure if I'm the first here to share my experience crossing over the boarder under the new system here, but.....

     

    I was supposed to fly on Friday July 14 at night. However, due to weather related issues, my flight was cancelled and rescheduled to Saturday July 15.

    If something like this happens to you, call the POE and notify them about the flight change with the new flight information (mainly they will need the flight number). I tried emailing Montreal embassy and even calling all the numbers that I had on file, but no one responded in a mannerly time.

     

    When I landed in Newark airport (EWR), I was greeted at the gate by a customs official. He escorted me to the flight attendants lane because he knew that normal customs officials wouldn't have any idea about this system. When I was up, they customs guy behind the desk asked for my immigration packet. But the other official that got me told him that I was under this new system and didn't have it. The guy behind the desk looked confused but after explaining it, he got the point. He took my fingerprints and took a picture of me for verification and then stamped my passport and gave it back to me. The official that picked me up informed the guy behind the desk and the lady that was in the desk next to him that if any of us that had similar status came through, to look at the annotation notes on the visa that was stamped on the passport. It says "IV documents in CCD". That means everything is scanned and uploaded to their database. The official that picked me up said that normally they would take us to the back to verify our medical records, but since I came a day later, he went ahead and verified it with me. Also, he mentioned that if I plan on going back to Canada prior to receive the actual green card, they might take us to the back to verify everything, if the agent has any doubts. 

     

    I went back to Canada the next day with my US car, which was a fun experience explaining to the customs guy at the Canadian border why I had an american car as a Canadian citizen. 

     

    I hope this helps anyone in the future and if it needs to be stickied, mods please do so.

  10. 15 minutes ago, K&Kir said:

    Update: finally got police clearance, submitted it all for a hopeful case closed soon then on with the interview que like the rest of you! 

     

    Fingers crossed for us all!

    If you don't get a response by 4pm, it will be there tomorrow by 11-12pm. That's just from my personal experience. Best of luck!

     

    I got my passport finally (well it's with my mom since she works with the postal service). Now i need to make that payment and pack my bags for this Friday's trip :D

  11. 4 hours ago, Bernard & Colette said:

    Hi guys! We are also CEAC system.  Our case completed on 30 June and still no interview date. I call NVC everyday. Today they did tell me that they are currently working on August interview scheduling. So fingers crossed 🤞 

    Check your status randomly on the CEAC website. I did forget to mention that I was constantly checking that and it changed to In Transit. When I emailed them, they said that they scheduled it and should be receiving an email later.

     

    Also, I don't think I mentioned this in my review, but they did ask for a photocopy of my wife's US passport. Have that because the lady did mention that normally everyone forgets it. You could say it's for browny points ;)

  12. 9 minutes ago, K&Kir said:

    You are among a few of us too that are looking to be approved and done during the Aug/sept timeline. My wife and I need to be approved mid September in order for things to fall in place for our move down south.

     

    Congratulations on the masters program, that's awesome. Let us know when they contact you, as I will be the next in line that will be awaiting an interview date!  Read Finayy's posts around pages 3,4, and you will see where they are talking about their pregnant wife...if you don't want to wait to hear.

    Long story short, my birth certificate was rejected and I uploaded a letter saying I've ordered it and will bring it to the interview and if they could expedite the process as my wife was due in August.  The very next day it was approved and a few days later I got an interview date. 

  13. 6 minutes ago, jle2234 said:

    I called yesterday and was told it still hasn't been scheduled. I took only one business day for NVC to review and approve my documents, so I'm not sure what the hold up is. The Embassy in Montreal has had three holidays since my Case Completed notification (St. Jean Baptiste Day, Canada Day and Independence Day), so perhaps they are backlogged. I will keep you updated.

     

    Incidentally, if you call the NVC re: an immigrant visa interview that is processed through the new e-filing system, you must choose option "5" on the automated menu (you'd think option "4", but that is for people using the traditional filing method).

    Scheduling an interview might take time with Montreal as they're usually slow to respond. I was fortunate to get a response quickly as I mentioned that my wife was pregnant and that they had an opening available. 

     

    NVC usually contacts the embassy and the embassy will get back to them with the first available appointment. 

  14. 4 minutes ago, Toronto88 said:

    Minor update: I submitted all my documents on July 4th. Morning of July 5th, everything was accepted besides my birth certificate from Pakistan. I had some back and forth emails with the NVC regarding the birth certificate. Long story short, I need to get a new birth certificate made (which will take about 1-2 weeks). Will keep everyone posted. Cheers 

    I've noticed from other threads that birth certificate for Canada is an issue. They're really picky on how it is and to have the parents name on it. 

  15. 11 hours ago, Cat_Dad said:

    After finishing my interview last Tuesday, I received my passport back in the mail on Thursday.
    This is the point at which people using the old process would have received their "do not open" envelope to take with them to the border, but all I got back was my passport with the visa.

    The visa has an annotation saying "IV Documents in CCD".

     

    I also received an email telling me that I need to pay the "USCIS Immigrant Fee" ($220 USD).

    The instructions on how to pay were a bit confusing because it mentions that I need to log onto a website and  "Enter your A-Number and DOS Case ID. You will find your Alien Number and DOS Case I.D. Number attached to the front of your Visa Package which is being mailed to you."  

     

    Obviously I didn't receive a visa package because of the new process, but I eventually figured out the numbers I needed were also on the visa document itself, as mentioned on this page under the "Visa Stamp" section: https://www.uscis.gov/file-online/immigrant-fee-payment-tips-finding-your-number-and-dos-case-id

     

    Thanks for the helpful information. I'll probably reach out to you when I get my passport. Still waiting for it. CEAC website still shows ready and I'm assuming that it's because of the national holidays for both countries Monday and Tuesday (Canada and US).

  16. Sorry for the late reply.

     

    Interview was a success.

     

    I was able to go into the embassy 45 minutes early without any issue. Once I arrived, I was told that my courier service wasn't setup and that I needed to call in to fix that.

     

    Once inside, there was no one to give me the laminated number. So I went up and spoke with someone that referred me to counter 1. There, they gave me a number and took my documents. I don't recall the order correctly, but here is what they took in the order that I can remember:

     

    1. Birth Certificate

    2. Marriage Certificate

    3. Police Clearance

    4. Medical Records (they gave me back the CD that was inside)

    5. I-864

    6. Wife's 2016 tax return (photocopy)

    7. I-864a

    8. Father in laws 2016 tax return (photocopy)

    9. Wife's naturalization certificate (because I didn't have a photocopy of my wife's passport to which the lady at the counter said normally everyone doesn't have it and was happy I had it)

     

    After waiting for an hour, my number was called and I went to counter 8.

     

    The lady was extremely friendly and asked me 4 questions:

     

    1. How did I meet my wife?

    2. When did I meet her?

    3. Where do I plan on living in the US?

    4. When do I plan on going to the US?

     

    Once that 4th question was asked, I knew I got it.

     

    She told me that since I'm apart of the new system, they would contact the POE that I will be crossing over ahead of time to let them know that I am coming so I don't have to carry all the paperwork.

     

    After getting the glorious "Welcome to the United States of America" paper, I left with the biggest smile.

  17. 56 minutes ago, Cat_Dad said:

    I managed to upload all pages of my documents at once as a PDF, as long as it was under 2 MB.

    I was lucky that the scanner/copier at work could take my 13 page AoS document and somehow give me a readable 400 KB PDF file.

     

    I found that it let me re-download the 'civil documents' to check that they worked, but wouldn't let me view the aos and supporting documents.

    I also was able to upload as one document. 

     

    There was a website called smallpdf or something like that, which will shrink your PDF. But you can only do 3 at a time and then wait 1 hour. 

  18. 8 hours ago, Toronto88 said:

    Yes I want a September date as well. I think I am just going to submit the documents this weekend (I only paid the fees yesterday, so waiting for them to get "Paid"). 

     

    Thanks, that's useful to know! I would have expected one document at a time, not one page at a time!!

     

    I thought I had read somewhere that a checklist is received with a welcome email/mail and this checklist is submitted with the AOS and IV packages. This may be part of the old system or I must be totally mistaken. Anyways, does not matter now it seems. Thanks for responding so quickly, goodluck! 

    I think that is apart of the old system.

     

    As soon as I got access to the website, I found that there were two sections (Financial and civil) were you upload your documents. They already have specific documents that you need to upload.

     

    I got an email from the Montreal embassy last week telling me to bring in a list of the originals of some of the documents that I submitted.

  19. 11 minutes ago, Cat_Dad said:

    Had my interview yesterday and I'm all approved!

     

    Just got an email from the consulate telling me that I'm the first electronic visa they have issued in Australia and that I won't have to take any paperwork packets with me when entering the USA, only my passport with the visa in it. They have asked me to let them know my flight itinerary so they can inform the CPB officer at the border.

     

    Hopefully it all goes smoothly at POE.

    That's awesome to hear. 

     

    Congrats on the approval and being one step closer to your loved one.

     

    my interview is Friday 

  20. On 2017-6-22 at 7:40 PM, Cat_Dad said:

    About a week after my case got created I received an email from CANVCEDP@state.gov saying I could email them if I had any questions about the process.

    That was the email I mentioned about in the beginning of this thread. They'll usually get back to you in a few hours depending on when you email them.

     

    Just include your case number in the subject line and in the beginning of the email, have the applicant name and date of birth and petitioner name.

     

    Best of luck with the whole uploading process. As soon as you upload it, within 24 hours, they'll either approve or reject it. But most probably approve it :)

  21. 10 hours ago, Min & Mark said:

    Did they send you that list by email or they meant all the original copies of the documents that you have submitted to NVC

     

    I wish your interview goes well!!

    It was sent to me by email. 

    It was the original of:

     

    two passport photos

    medical exam

    birth certificate (with parents name on it)

    marriage certificate

    police clearance

    i-864

    i-864a

    photocopies of tax returns of petitioners 2016 return and w2

    Canadian passport

     

    im going to bring all that plus photos, and travel receipts for the both of us going back and forth. Also bringing my wife's father tax return and w2's, since he was a co-sponsor. Have her birth certificate, and his proof of domicile (photocopies of drivers license and green card).

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