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Just now, Dee elle said:

$220 GC fee is NOT paid using CEAC... it is paid online through the ELIS system through USCIS

https://www.uscis.gov/file-online/uscis-immigrant-fee

Yes - sorry @Dee elle you are correct. I got my acronyms mixed up.

The instructions for how to pay the $220 immigrant fee came with the visa. As others mentioned, you do it online through CEAC.

Whoops - Edited to add: this fee is paid through ELIS, not CEAC. Apologies.

They specifically asked for ours at our interview a few weeks ago. The actually requested the original and a copy (in addition to birth & marriage certificates, etc.). May depend on your case/embassy, but I would bring the original and a copy. Better to be over-prepared.

3 hours ago, Mr&Mrs G. said:

Excellent post 

 

I have seen some members reply to questions regarding domicile and some have given the answer "US citizen must return and set up domicile". They always miss the part that says if the US citizen lives abroad all they have to show is "intent to domicile" 

 

You have written a very clear post explaining the way you went about showing your intent.... well done. 

thanks! And "intent" can be so hard to prove, so it's such a strange process without very clear directions. Just wanted to share in case it helps anyone!

Anybody interested in another detailed/lengthy Medisys experience review? I thought I would share my husband's, if it will help anyone. Note: He had a history of a mental health problem, so this could be useful to some.

Due to the nature of my husband's current job (and the fact that we live in Winnipeg), we weren't able to get enough consecutive days off to ensure we could do the medical and the interview in the same trip. Originally we had wanted to go to Toronto to do the medical because we had air miles to use, but the doctor was going on holiday for 3 weeks so that wasn't going to work. We decided Medisys was our best bet and easily called to make an appointment. His appointment was on Tuesday, March 6 at 1:15 pm. He flew out that morning, arrived in Montreal around 10:40 am, took the 747 shuttle right downtown with no issues (he'd never been to Montreal before). The 747 shuttle let him off a few blocks from the Medisys building, which he found easily. He had time to eat lunch prior to attending the appointment.

In the weeks prior to the interview, he checked his immunizations and made sure to get any he didn't have from his doctor here. He also had a blood test to confirm if he had chicken pox as a child.

He brought with him:

• 5 passport photos
• a copy of his immunization record
• the results from his chicken pox blood test
• a copy of his medical record/chart from his doctor
• a list of his medications
• printout of the email from the consulate confirming his interview

Of note: My husband was hospitalized for a mental health issue 5 years ago (depression/anxiety/stress related). From the research we had done, we knew we needed to bring "written certification including the diagnosis, duration of treatment rendered, and prognosis" as per the instructions, so at the recommendation of his doctor we brought his discharge papers and his detailed medical chart (which included letters from his physicians at the time), which indicated his diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. His doctor assured us this would be sufficient, but apparently this was not case (more on this later).

He arrived about a 1/2 hour early, which was good because he had time to fill out forms, mainly a medical history. He was called to see the doctor right at his designated appointment time. The exam was a fairly routine physical and review of his history. As noted above, re: his mental health history, after reviewing my husband's chart and discharge papers, she asked him why he did not bring a letter from his current doctor describing his mental health issue and treatment. Confused, my husband explained that he and his doctor had reviewed his paperwork and felt that it was sufficient as per the guidelines. She seemed shocked because the discharge/diagnosis papers were old (2013/2014, when the problem occurred). She then grilled him quite hard on why he was hospitalized and the causes. He said at first she seemed very abrupt and accusing regarding the letter (the travel.gov site does not specifically say a letter from current doctor), but as he explained his history and treatment she became more sympathetic and understanding. She briefly reviewed the paperwork he brought regarding that hospitalization and the proof of his therapy and medication in his chart, and she said was enough.

In short - if you have a history of a mental health issue that required treatment, especially hospitalization, of any kind, no matter how small - bring a letter from your current doctor detailing the history and treatment and prognosis. Her demeanor seemed very strict which struck us as strange. The instructions are not that specific and based on the recommendation from his primary care doctor, it should have been enough and yet it wasn't. Luckily, this did not seem to impact the outcome of the interview, but we would recommend coming prepared to avoid uncertainty and hassle.

After this, he waited about 30-45 minutes for a chest x-ray, and again 30-45 minutes for blood, urine, height, weight, etc, from a nurse. He was done in approximately 2 hours, however he had to wait an extra hour to do the urine test (he'd gone while waiting between the phases of the exam and they insisted he needed to wait 1 hour before going again to ensure the urine had been in his system for 1 hour). So that was a bit silly, but not a huge deal. Based on other reviews he had expected to be there longer, but as he had done his vaccinations prior it was a shorter visit. He paid $444 for the exam (lower than the $462 they quoted us when we initially called), and $50+tax for courier to our home. We could have opted to pick up the documents prior to our interview but we weren't sure of timing, so we opted to just do the courier. He was able to fly back to Winnipeg that same evening.

They told us about four business days for the results to be ready, and ours took five days. The results arrived at our home in Winnipeg Thursday, March 15 morning via Purolator, having been mailed Monday, March 12. I was actually just starting to get concerned if they would arrive in time when they finally did.

Hi everyone,

My husband recently had his interview and his visa was approved. We both live in Canada and intend to move together, so I just wanted to share how we went about proving domicile, as I know the process is definitely not easy to navigate or straightforward.  Little bit of background... we've been married 8 years, I immigrated to Canada in 2011 and got my dual citizenship in 2015. It was always our plan to eventually do the reverse process to live closer to my family in the US for a while, so we submitted our i130 way back in December 2016.

The AOS is a confusing form and process so I relied heavily on some posts and recommendations from VJ in figuring this out. As I'm still in Canada and will essentially have no income when we move (though I am searching for jobs), we had a joint sponsor - my mom and stepfather (as her household member). On my part, I tend toward erring on the side of providing too much information as opposed to too little, and I wonder if perhaps that benefited me in this process. The end-result was a package that was 49 pages. Here's what I did:

On my i864 form, on the back of page 12, I added a note for page 2, part 2, number 3, and in the space provided wrote, "Please see attached package regarding intent to re-establish domicile in the United States." I added a cover letter, titled Additional Information for page 2 part 2 question 3, explaining why I had not moved prior to my husband (stressing that as the primary breadwinner, it would cause us financial hardship for me to precede him in moving, which is the honest truth). I signed and dated this letter, and also itemized a list of contents for what I enclosed in the package. I included...

1. Bank Statements from a US bank with about $100 in it that I had kept active throughout my stay in Canada, as well as our  proof of US dollar accounts accounts held through RBC. Both statements had a US address on them.
2. Credit card statements with US address (I didn't even change these when I moved as the address was my mother's)
3. Proof of US Voter registration (obtained online)
4. Our current lease agreement in Canada showing an end date of July 2018
5. I knew my husband and I would be staying with family when I arrived, but I wanted it to be official so we drew up a legal lease agreement for New York State online, stipulating a rent amount and terms. It was very easy to find a free version online. I filled in all the details and my husband, mother and I all signed it. I included a copy of this lease.
6. 2 or 3 moving quotes obtained online
7. Correspondence regarding a job interview I had earlier this year that was in the US

In hindsight, here were some things that made my life easier: I kept my mother's US address on a bank account and on credit cards. With e-statements, I never bothered to update these when I moved. Additionally, my husband and I keep US dollar accounts with RBC Canada and a joint account with RBC USA, which I was able to put my US address on. I kept up my US voter registration current. Our plan to stay with family made it easy to draw up a lease using a free online template. I had already applied and interviewed for a job and was able to supply the emails setting this up. I didn't get the job, and it was several months ago, but I think it showed that I'm looking and the intent is there. Renting here in Canada meant that we could provide an tentative "end date" of our stay here. 

The bottom line seemed to be to me that there just needs to be a plan in place, no matter how tentative. Sure, we are staying with family but creating an open-ended lease with a nominal rent amount specified makes it more thought-out and official. After reading recent reports on here about the Montreal Consulate being very strict about domicile, I was quite nervous. Turns out, they hardly even referenced the materials I had sent in. The interviewer only remarked to my husband that it was "too bad" that I hadn't gotten the job I interviewed for. Our whole trip to the consulate took just over 1 hour - I could hardly believe it. I know this can depend hugely on your interviewer and circumstances, but I just wanted to share what worked for us. Good luck to all!

My mother joint-sponsored my husband with me. Her income was above the level required but we still included her husband (my stepfather) as a household member and filed an 864-A because they file taxes together. This was just my understanding from reading the instructions... I guess I could've been wrong about needing to include this information, but our application was approved.

22 hours ago, geowrian said:

I suggest doing exactly like this:

LOL!! Love this.

23 hours ago, TNJ17 said:

You’re a US citizen. You don’t do anything. You just show up. 

Thank you I realized maybe a silly question but... at this point nothing would surprise me!

I am a US citizen, planning to move back with my Canadian husband (interview is next week!). I've lived in Canada for 7 years and got my dual citizenship while I lived here. We're moving back to the US to be closer to my family.

My question... do I have to do anything? Or can I just show up at the border with my US Passport and enter the country? Is there any form/paperwork that I'm supposed to fill out? I tried searching the CBP info center and retrieved this page: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/352/kw/citizen moving back to the us , however the form attached to this page appears to be for permanent residents returning from temporary trips abroad. So now I'm only more confused.

I'm pretty clear about how to move/declare my belongings but I'm just a bit confused about what I'm supposed to do, if anything, about me.

Thanks in advance. I haven't posted much, but this site has been an invaluable resource.

I moved from the US to Canada 6 years ago - I used ABF UPack. They delivered a huge trailer to my home (or you can bring your stuff to their location in your city), we packed it, then picked it up 3 days later and then notified me when it arrived in my city in Canada, and delivered it there. 3 days for unpacking. I think it was just under $1200 for ~2000 mile move, but, again, I had a lot of stuff. Excellent service and communication, no issues whatsoever. Now that my husband and I are moving back to the US, I most likely plan on using them again. I think they do free quotes on their site, too.

https://www.upack.com/abf

16 hours ago, mrsu said:

Yes. We had to travel to Montreal from Alberta and we're able to do both our medical exams and interviews in same trip.  But we did stay 10 days. We scheduled our medical exams the day after arriving. This is because it takes several days to process the exams and go back in person to pick up results. You need the packages they give you for your interview. We stayed at a nice hotel just down the street from the medical office and got a suite with a kitchen so we could make meals etc as I had 2 young children. It was easiest to walk there as there is no parking.  We were also close enough to walk to our interview,  I think it was about 15 blocks from the office where we did our medical exams. 

 

Thank you for this! That makes perfect sense, and sounds like a good plan that may work for us. Would you say 10 days is the minimum necessary? 

Hello-

I'm a dual US/Canadian citizen (lived in the US most of my life), and submitted an i130 form for my husband on December 22, 2016 and they've received my form and cashed my check. I know we're still in the very early stages, but I've been looking at the timelines, wiki, etc. just trying to gauge the process and wrap my head around things.

My question is regarding the interview and medical exam. We currently live in Manitoba, so we will have to travel to Montreal for our interview (based on what I've read) and also for the medical exam, as there are no practitioners in our province. Can these both be done on the same trip? Or is it necessary to take two trips?  Any advice/thoughts/experience? 

Apologies if this is an often-asked question - I'm new to the site and attempted a search but didn't see anything... Thanks in advance.