Seiren

Co0ngrats!! lol--if u had read other experiences, you would have realized doors open at 0730 (not 0830) and no "biggish bags!! lol Glad it went well!!

My bag wasn't big. I have no clue why it was rejected. It was a handbag. So yeah. Next time if I ever have to do anything like that I would just not bring a bag at all!

grats ! and when will u get it ? what did he explain about it ? (i'm curious)

He told us that we would get it in about 1 week or less. He said that we would need to cross the border to activate the Visa. (I think stuff we've already known.) The papers he gave us just had that information on it about what to do at the border.

Well, we just got back from Montreal, and here's how it went. (I'm the US petitioner and my hubby is the Canadian)

We flew from Vancouver and took L'aerobus to our Hotel, la Tour de Centre Ville. The consulate was right across the street from our hotel.

We wanted to be at the consulate really early so that we would be first in line, so we left our hotel at 6:30. Well when we got to the consulate in 2 seconds, we realized that we were super early and decided to go to a little cafe next door for a few minutes. I got a smoothie and we sat for a bit, then we went back to the consulate doorway (which was supposed to open at 8:30).

We were then second in line, because another man was there. In the next few minutes about 10 more people came.

They actually opened the doors at about 7:30, and my husband was let in but my bag was rejected so I had to go drop it off and come back. So my suggestion is not to bring any bags at all! Stuff your pockets or put everything in a plastic shopping bag. They let my husband bring that in.

So it didn't take me long to drop my bag off and come back, and then I went right in and through security and joined my husband downstairs in a waiting area.

A few minutes later they called a group of us in and we went up an elevator to a different waiting area. We went to the window and gave the lady all our documents. Then we paid the cashier, as well as bought the xpress envelope there with the credit card. Then my husband went back to the window to have his fingerprints taken.

Then they had us sit. We waited for about 20 minutes more, and then were called into the interview room. The guy was very friendly and made us both swear that we were telling the truth.

Then he would ask a question and get an answer from both of us:

Man: So how did you guys meet?

Paul: We met online.

Man: Was it through a website?

Paul: It was a site called sparkmatch which is now defunct.

Me: I don't know if you've heard of thespark.com, but they were a parody site

Man: Ok, so you met through a parody site [smiles, writes] [Addresses me] So you were living in Texas at the time?

Me: I was living in Arkansas, but we just got married in Texas.

Man: Ok, so how did you handle the commute, the long distance?

Paul: Well we talked on the phone for several years, then visited each other off and on and then finally got married.

Man: Ok [smiles] Courtney, you've been living in Canada for a while now. Why do you want to go back?

Me: Well, I just want to be closer to my family. They're all down there, and I just like it better there.

Paul: I'm not very close to my family here so it's for her.

Man: [Very fast talking] Ok well you're approved for your Visa.

Then he explained when we would get it, and gave us a little information packet, smiled and left.

It took all of 2 minutes.

And then we kissed and danced and cheered!

The end.

Hope this makes everyone hopeful and I hope your experiences are as good as ours was!

My husband (canadian) and I (american) are living in canada and are doing direct consular filing. We have our interview date this month. My question is, we have moved last month to another location in canada, and emailed the consulate to inform them of the move. Is there anything more we need to update? The form on the website says only for US addresses. Should we update and put our new address on our affadavit of support and other forms that we are submitting to the consulate during the interview?

He actually grew up in North Delta (senior secondary I believe) but we lived in surrey at the time we started filing. We're in New West now.

I just noticed your husband is from Surrey. That's where my kids grew up. What high school did your husband go to? My sons are his age.

I have a question regarding the vaccination records for the medical exam in Vancouver, Canada.

I'm pretty sure my husband hasn't had them in the past 10 years. He's 27, so I'm guessing he probably had them sometime in jr high or highschool? Do you have to have the immunization record, or will they immunize him at the medical exam?

Doing consular filing in Montreal. I'm american and my husband is canadian.

We just mailed of the checklist stating that we have all our documents ready.

Now what? Do we just wait for them to contact us?

Or are they going to mail us info about the medical exam?

The reason I'm asking is because I've read on here about people constantly emailing montreal to get them to tell them their interview date?

Anyone know the way it goes?

Where are you guys finding the email address to the montreal consulate? I can't find it on the site.

Hey all,

When we got the notice from montreal, we were at the stage of gathering everything for that checklist. In the next couple of weeks we will have it all. We're just waiting for his passport to come in. Do you guys think we should send the checklist back to them to wait for the next steps? Another thing that is bad is that I'm using a co-sponsor and her form is only good for 6 months.

When filling out the Affadavit of Support for Co-Sponsor, does the co-sponser have to support both the immigrant AND the sponsor? Or just the immigrant?

Today I received my packet from Montreal! It only took two weeks (13 days!)

I'm very happy that it came so fast.

Is there anyone who has had their inteview in Montreal and can share the experience of gathering materials, and the interview?

I'm mainly concerned about the question of domicile, and am just interested in other people's domicile stories.

As I posted in this post, I had to go back to the vancouver consulate today with my elegantly framed marriage certificate. So we did that, and we were approved. Now to await the packet.

thanks Meaux, I plan to keep updating!

OK, only a "Wooo!", no additional "Hooo!" for you--you got halfway there

Thanks for the input on what the I-130 process is like---you're still few and far between, and lots of people will be eager to read your reports.

Good luck with it all!

Vancouver is, as everyone has said, GREAT! Ophilia is the name of the lady taking your paperwork - she is stern, but if you are organized (which anyone on VJ is) she will love you! I was there for a total of 2.5 hours but i chatted with the others who were getting interviewed. I was interviewed last. The interviewer is really nice and it is nothing more than a chat. Really cool people there! Have fun!

I had Ophelia today. She was great!

Everything went well. We went to the consulate in Vancouver, and talked to someone. Everything is fine except that they wouldn't take my small notarized marriage certificate (which is dumb, because they accepted it for my passport name change). Actually they said they would accept it but Montreal won't. So we have to go back on Tuesday to have them certify my copy after viewing the original. They said to bring the whole thing up (It's framed) frame and all. AND I had forgotten my passport (which was O.K. because I had brought a copy) but since we had to come back for the marriage thing, they said to bring my passport too so they could verify it.

So me not being a permanent resident didn't matter. They didn't even check to see how long I had been here. They just checked my temporary visitors visa (which expired in august) and the receipt that I had applied for PR. She said something about "showing that you are a landed immigrant or at least trying to be."

So on Tuesday we'll give them the final 2 documents and they'll send it off to Montreal.

Hey tracy congrats!!

what forms of ID did they ask you for? (for the US citizen)

Do you know if you'll have to go to Montreal for the interview?

Great. I saw that post after I posted. Sorry about that. So yeah I will probably head down there next week to see.

Do you have to have Permanent Residence status to do this? My permanent residence status is pending. I am legally in canada since it is processing.

I just answered the same question here, and I see a new thread that might be of interest to you.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35592

The answer is: no one knows for certain. If you have been resident in Canada in some way shape or form for a year or more, likely they will take your petition.

There's only one way to find out for certain---good thing it's free!

Do you have to have Permanent Residence status to do this? My permanent residence status is pending. I am legally in canada since it is processing.

Has anyone applied for K-3 while living in another country. I know that to be approved, you have to show that you have domicile in the US or have made efforts to re-establish domicile, such as gotten a job, enrolled kids in school there.

I live in Canada with my husband, but I still have ties down there such as bank, and I still use my mother's address for several billing addresses. The problem is that I need to be here up until the move because I need to help pack/and drive down with my husband. So finding a job and getting a job will be difficult before we're actually down there. Especially because we wont' really know the exact date that we'll be able to move. So I can' t apply to these jobs stating "I'll be available to work in maybe a month, maybe not."

Does anyone know if you can have enough to establish domicile without a job?

Seiren,

I would put my own address where I am residing, if I were you. That's the address that qualifies you to use the VSC.

Yodrak

desert_fox,

Living in Canada, she is in the jurisdiction of the VSC. But I agree that DCF might be the better option if she qualifies.

Yodrak

You will need a US address in order to file with Vermont. You must also be within their jurisdiction.

If you are a legal resident of Canada, then file directly with the US Consulate there and process there. You will still need a US domocile and US income in order to do this. Medical is before the interviews. The US Consulate wil tell you when and which doctors.

I'm pretty sure I won't qualify for DCF, but I'm wondering, for the I-130, do I need to put my American address (being my parents- I still have bank ties and such to there) or my current canadian one?

Right, I'm putting the Canadian one.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do is the G325A a total of 4 pages for each of us? Or do I just fill out one sheet for me and one for him?

desert_fox,

Living in Canada, she is in the jurisdiction of the VSC. But I agree that DCF might be the better option if she qualifies.

Yodrak

You will need a US address in order to file with Vermont. You must also be within their jurisdiction.

If you are a legal resident of Canada, then file directly with the US Consulate there and process there. You will still need a US domocile and US income in order to do this. Medical is before the interviews. The US Consulate wil tell you when and which doctors.

I'm pretty sure I won't qualify for DCF, but I'm wondering, for the I-130, do I need to put my American address (being my parents- I still have bank ties and such to there) or my current canadian one?

I'm an american living in Canada with my canadian spouse.

I just want to make sure of what the very first thing I do is:

File the I-130 to Vermont?

Wait for the receipt?

Then file the I-129f to chicago with the receipt?

Is that correct?

What I don't understand is where the medical thing comes in. How do you know what to do?

The problem is that you are a non entity in Canada until you get your PR... No DL, no insurance, no health card, nothing...

Kinda sucks...

I have plenty of evidence that I've lived here: DL, Bank Account etc.

Hi,

I'm a USC living in Canada with my Canadian husband. We've been married two years, and I've been working on the immigration process to canada. My permanent residence has not been approved yet, I'm still in the waiting period. However, we want to immigrate back to the states. Can I do the K-3 visa while living in Canada? Which center would I mail the I-30 to? There was no option for Canada. Thanks