skyzee

15 hours ago, Hill.ary said:

Hello Everyone!

Sunday my husband will be crossing the border for the first time with his Immigrant Visa. He will be traveling out of Vancouver airport. I was just curious what everyone's experiences were at their point of entry and specifically at YVR. How long before your flight did you arrive to the airport? How long did the processing take? What did you bring with you as far as documents go. This is not his official "move" yet. He is coming down for the holiday's and also has job interviews lined up to hopefully secure a job before we move all his stuff down here. Any tips and advice are greatly appreciated! We are paying the fee online for the Immigrant visa, and then I assume they just mail the actual green card and social security card to my house. Has anyone else crossed the border before making the official move?

Hello, and congrats again. I can't speak to YVR POE specifically, but I ended up crossing Blaine POE to activate my visa first with the intent of moving later. My experience wasn't particularly great as I had an officer who was unfamiliar with the new way of how IR1 visas are handled, and kept asking for my packet even after conferring with his colleagues several times until he found one that told him how to handle my case. It was making me very nervous.

Perhaps your husband may get a more experienced officer, but best to bring the entire envelope with him especially the Welcome to America letter, which clearly states the IR1 visa is done electronically at POE and which I pointed out to the officer several times. I did bring all my civil docs including medical x-ray cd, but the only thing I was asked was to confirm was my intended address in the US, which is where they send the green card and SSN (if you opted to automate the creation of the SSN during one of the forms). My process took about an hour in total, but about 40% of that was spent lining up, 40% of him trying to figure out how to activate my visa, and 20% actually activating it. At the end of it, they stamp the visa in the passport with a regular CBP Homeland Security stamp but with an IR1 class visa, remind you that you have to pay your taxes now, and off you go.

3 hours ago, MC1 said:

Thanks for the encouragement.  I definitely have had my share of freak out moments (read: identify with sleepless nights gathering info on one site or another trying to feel less powerless).  Declaring intent to move and shifting to that mindset (ie.  Put eggs in one basket), then having that move be so dependent on someone else’s approval where there’s so little one can do besides wait, can’t be good for one’s psyche.  Nice to know through the forum that someone else understands.  

Powerless is a word that describes it perfectly and is all this process makes you feel unfortunately. Some seem to take it better in stride than others, and I happened to be in the camp of not taking it well. I hear what you're saying and feeling loud and clear and don't blame you remotely for wanting to know all the details especially when they give you little to no visibility. I hope you get your tracker this morning which would make for an amazing Christmas present! 

3 hours ago, MC1 said:

Thanks, skyzee.  Tomorrow will be three days for me.  Hopefully tomorrow then!  If it takes 7 business day from now to get a tracking number and for the passport to move through the mail system, I’m looking at getting my passport Jan 7.  That’s almost a month from my interview date of Dec 13th.    please make this process finally stop.  The unpredictability is hard.  

 

So CEAC looks different again after a tracking number is added, huh?  It says issued, and also has a tracker on it for the package? 

Here's a screenie. But, you'll likely see the e-mail before you see the status updated since it happens almost simultaneously, and I ought to know with it having been a very sleepless week waiting and refreshing AIS non stop. It also seems to happen in the morning when they activate Canada Post tracker numbers and send you the e-mail (I got my e-mail around 8 AM PST and others reportedly say the same). The tracker also doesn't start working until around 3 PM EST when Canada Post comes to pick it up. If you felt sane before, nothing like going through immigration to make you feel the opposite in a short hurry.

3 hours ago, MC1 said:

Thanks, skyzee.  Tomorrow will be three days for me.  Hopefully tomorrow then!  If it takes 7 business day from now to get a tracking number and for the passport to move through the mail system, I’m looking at getting my passport Jan 7.  That’s almost a month from my interview date of Dec 13th.    please make this process finally stop.  The unpredictability is hard.  

 

So CEAC looks different again after a tracking number is added, huh?  It says issued, and also has a tracker on it for the package? 

Nope, CEAC continues to say appointment. It's just that under status, you'll notice the tracking number which is also a hyperlink to Canada post tracking website. If they happen to ship it tomorrow, I suspect you'll get it within 2-3 business days which is the norm given they ship via xpresspost. I'm sorry, it is an awful, awful wait for the unknown and frankly I'm just glad the bleeding has stopped. Yours will too, keep your chin up even if it's rough. 

17 hours ago, MC1 said:

Hi Skyzee,

 

Thanks for asking that Q.  The thread helped me prepare mentally for what to expect on CEAC after my interview, and so I didn’t think too much when my status was Issued but also said was undergoing AP. 

 

A follow up Q– After your status changed to final processing, how long did it take you to finally get a tracking number?  My CEAC status changed to final processing yesterday, but still haven’t gotten a tracking number.  

Hi MC1, it took 3 business days for me to get my tracking number (they add tracker to ceac and send the applicant, not sponsor, an email at same time), but I know majority got it within 2 business days. 

1 hour ago, JennOnline said:

I wanted to update this post for anyone going through the rescheduling process. Montreal finally released dates on Dec 10th at about 2pm. There were only 2 days available that I saw (Feb 1st and 25th) with 3 timeslots for each. So 6 appointments in total.  I have been waiting since Nov 6th for dates to be available after missing my original interview date. Goodluck to anyone needing to reschedule. It is a very nerve bitting process. 

Yay finally! It sure was, glad you finally got your date. Good luck with interview

Technically, the congratulations letter they hand you at the interview says you can change it up until they actually ship it. I did continue to see the option to change home delivery / even setup courier up until they provided the Canada Post tracking number in which case it disappeared, but was too paranoid to change it given the AIS website itself says you can only change it up until 6am day of interview.

7 minutes ago, BChance said:

Skyzee, thanks for sharing. I debated this intensely too and I went with home delivery because of ID issues. I hope it works out faster. I have to stay in MTL until I get it. Booked a return flight and hoping I left enough time. 8 days after interview I fly back.

What a pain having to stay in MTL just for that. You might also want to consider asking the US Embassy during your interview to make an exception and allow you to pickup - I'm thinking that under your circumstances, they would allow it, although I hear that they mess up on that too (ie. approve pickup at Embassy but then end up putting it in the mail with Canada Post anyways)

Best to just have a contingency plan for everything that could go wrong, because I've learned over the past 17 months that if you think it can go wrong... it probably will.

One other thing you may want to consider is pre-filling a letter of authorization with your Airbnb host https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=letter_of_authorizat&cattype=kb&cat=atthepostoffice&subcat=services. Technically, since it's his address and his ID, if for whatever reason Canada Post messes up the delivery to your Airbnb house and you need to pickup at the post office, you'll need the letter of authorization to do so since you don't have ID with his address on it. You probably won't need it, but doesn't hurt to have it.

3 hours ago, BChance said:

So happy for you!! You’re detailed experiences are so helpful and awful at the same time! Congrats!!!

Glad they are. By the way, she also said something interesting. She said had it been a direct to address service, she might have been able to send an intercept but not for straight to post office.

But, on the other hand, I had mine shipped to the post office, and they didn't make a big fuss for pickup even though the embassy messed up the recipient address. In ais, I specified my package to be sent to the post office and that my friend at her own address would be able to pickup as an authorized user. What ended up happening instead was that embassy sent to post office using my name but my friend's address. I showed my license, he said address didn't match what sender had put, but said because my name matched and it was being sent to post office, it was fine and released the passport to me. 

From talking with Canada Post, it sounds like they do make a deal out of the address matching if it's being shipped to an address rather than a post office. Ymmv, maybe I got a post office clerk who didn't know the rules. Sure sounded to me like address needs to have matched regardless of which method.

Just something to think about, I was seriously on the fence between Canada post delivering directly to an address or post office but eventually ended up with post office option since I thought there would be less of a chance it'd get lost if it was sent to a post office. If I were to go back, I'd have done direct to address because I know for sure the address would be listed as my friend's and she would have been able to pickup for me. 

3 hours ago, BChance said:

Thanks Skyzee but where I live in Mexico, they don’t have titer tests. I grew up in Alberta and they only keep records from 1985 forward. I have those but not from 1960’s to 70’s. I’ve checked with Alberta Health and they have nothing. I will call Medisys once more today to calm my frayed nerves....

Shucks. Medisys was pretty flexible in allowing vaccinations to be done outside of Canada (had my flu shot done in the US and showed receipt from supermarket pharmacist which looked like a drug prescription fill out), but I realize the timing of administering MMR/Varicella may be worrisome. You're right, best to talk with Medisys. One of the more helpful folks to speak with during the process. 

Wouldn't it be faster for you to get a titer test done, unless you haven't had chickenpox before? Mine didn't take very long with my doctor, maybe a week tops?

I also had my childhood vaccinations from ImmunizeBC requested and that took a bit longer - about 2-3 weeks. But it would only work if you were born in BC and therefore was vaccinated here. https://immunizebc.ca/immunization-record-cards

Nail biting action to the very end... after getting on phone with a rep and supervisor at Canada Post who, albeit were both very nice and sympathetic, explained that she couldn't do anything for me given the sensitivity of the document and the strict rules that were given to them by the US Embassy, and explained she would get into trouble if she tried to intercept the package.  She mentioned that it would most likely get to the PO by today or tomorrow, but that she couldn't make any promises without a supervisor intervention. She then gave me the phone number for the people staffing AIS website to ask them to open a case with Canada Post to expedite the package, which ended up in me just getting frustrated and agitated all over again trying to talk to the rep (ie. business as usual).

But, after I got off the phone with the useless rep at 11:05am, lo and behold, I got the Canada Post notification email saying that my package was ready for pickup at the Burnaby PO, 2 minutes after the tracker updated. I picked it up and activated it an hour later at the Blaine Peace Arch land crossing. Had some anxiety inducing moments with CBP not knowing how to activate an IR1 visa there, which I wrote about more in detail in my timeline description, but otherwise, was painless once the officer figured out what to do.

Finally, the root canal is over. Best of luck to the rest still waiting. And yes, I can confirm that the police certificate was included in the return package, but not the medical.

Well, I'm certain I've lost years of my life from this all. Delivery date has been pushed to 14th, and status is "check delivery progress" which just has lines showing that the mail is delayed due to strike. I know others have also seen this, but doesn't make seeing the line any easier. No line indicating it's having been shipped to PO so I suspect I won't see anything again today. I'm thinking of going to the PO anyways and also the sorting facility in Richmond to harass CP staff members, not that they can do anything, more for me to feel like I'm doing something rather than sitting around refreshing Canada Post tracking page all day.

4 minutes ago, telitty said:

Hey guys, I just have a question. I had my interview on the 5th, so obviously I don’t have my passport yet. But I’ve been reading that people have just been getting their passports and no documents. 

 

Well at my interview the woman only gave me my birth certificate back. I didn’t get my police records or my medical exam or any of these things back? Do I not need these things for AOS? I asked her if I needed any of the forms and she said no and took everything. I thought I would get them  back when they sent me my visa but I guess that’s not happening now?

Idk what to do, should I email them and see or?

You get your original civil documents back, but not the original police certificate or medical report. Out of these two items, they only handed back the xray and vaccination records for me as well. I'm guessing you would need a new police certificate and medical when filing for aos and most likely done within the US when the time comes. Best to check with other threads though on Aos procedures. 

11 minutes ago, RB&MN said:

No, I have not received a tracking number yet. I check online daily to see the status and it still shows ISSUED. We are thinking of sending an email to the consulate.

Good luck. It should say under the issued status that it's final processing when they're about to ship out to Canada post. If it says administrative processing, then it's best to contact them to find out what's taking so long especially if you were approved on the spot. 

7 hours ago, RB&MN said:

Hi,

 

My fiancé had her K1 Visa interview at the Montreal consulate on November 15th. The visa was issued but she is yet to receive her packet and passport in the mail. Is anyone else experiencing this? Sounds like an awfully long time to wait. We are hoping that nothing went wrong during the processing.

Yes I would say you're out of normal processing time. People with interviews later than you have gotten their passports back already. Have you received your tracking number yet or is it still stuck at embassy? 

We, like others, also got a delay notice at midnight yesterday with the new ETA being Tuesday, but it looks like it just arrived in Richmond this morning. Really crossing my fingers and toes hard it gets to Burnaby PO today. Will be driving straight to POE to activate my IR1 visa if I can somehow get my hands on my passport today.

12 minutes ago, ayazk said:

Update!

 

Yesterday, my wife was able to pick up her passport from the office! Woo

We paid the immigrant fee online - it was a little confusing finding the right numbers to input

"A- number" - listed directly on the as the Registration Number

"DOS Number" - had to call USCIS for this one. It's your NVC case number (MTL...), but without the last two digits...super weird. 

 

One other thing is I was expecting a sealed packet along with my wife's visa. I guess this is no longer true with the introduction of CEAC, online processing. So, she just got her passport back with the visa inside. 

 

Wife's flight is tomorrow afternoon (yeah, I paid a premium for booking 2 days in advance, but I want her here haha), so I'll let you guys know how it goes at POE (YYZ Toronto Airport).

Thanks for the info. All the best with the move!

After 3 very sleepless nights, I finally got my tracker from Canada Post just now along with the automated email from DOS indicating that they've shipped it. Like others, tracker doesn't yet work since Canada Post hasn't picked it up yet but YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! 

Interview: November 28, 2018

13 minutes ago, arellah said:

I signed up before my interview. I knew the strike was still going on at that point, but I wanted to be safe just incase it ended.

Thank you! Glad your passport got here today

1 hour ago, arellah said:

Actually the post office in my town is at a grocery store, so I am able to pick it up tonight from 6pm to 8pm! Yaaaaay

Hey question... Did you sign up for the courier service through ais before or after your interview? Wanted to do courier but I'm a little paranoid of changing after interview since ais website says in fine print that changing addresses is no longer possible and courier option would be removed (the courier option isn't removed yet for me since they don't have tracking number assigned) 

Just now, Hill.ary said:

Update: 

2018/12/05

10:54

VANCOUVER,BC

Item available for pickup at Post Office

 

 

I must've sounded off all the alarms yesterday. Beyond frustrating but this was a nice surprise to see! Hubby is going today to get it when he gets a break from work.

 

 

Interview Date: 11/6/2018

Package mailed: 11/21/2018

Date Available to pick up: 12/5/18

 

still says the expected delivery date is: 

Expected Delivery  

2018/12/13

 

For those of you in similar situations as I was, don't give up! Email  canada_contactus+ca+career+en@visaops.net to make the Consulate look into it. Call Canada Post and make sure they flag your package as a passport and immigration documents. 

Finally!!!!! Very happy it finally got resolved for you after nearly a month. All the best with your move to the US.

3 minutes ago, ayazk said:

 

I've attached what the CanadaPost tracking shows

Thank you for the screenshot, I appreciate it. Looks like you'll be getting it soon, which is great

As expected, no tracker today thanks to the embassy closure. Hoping someone can help though, it's been awhile since I received a package. Does the tracking number on Canada Post show the recipient name? I want to jet out of Vancouver but am worried the system somehow doesn't have my friend updated as the person picking up. 

39 minutes ago, tnn2018 said:

Hey everyone!

 

update on my canadapost experience.

 

i got the tracking number yesterday morning by email. I called the Canadapost customer service line and told them that it was my passport. They flagged it as an important document (apparently they have a procedure for it). I received it today in the Vancouver area around 12:30 PM Pacific Time.

 

The phone Number I called was 1-866-607-6301. I don’t remember the menu options but it was pretty self explanatory.

 

Hope that helps someone and you all get your passports soon!

Thanks for the update and additional information, looks like this gongshow has come to an end for you. All the best to you and your family in your move to the US.