TimonLovesSkylour

7 hours ago, CanadianinUSA said:

I would get the police certificate incase as well.

 

My wife went to the commissionaires office in Scarborough and we got the letter back under the privacy act within like 4 business days in the mail. I think you should be fine. They told us it may take longer due to this new requirement by USCIS but it was really quick you should be fine but get the police certificate as well it doesn't hurt. Better to have more than less because if you miss something you will have to send it in again once your interview is done, and knowing the wait times at MTL could take forever.

Okay, great, that is very helpful. Thank you very much!

And I'll get the police certificate, too -- it can't hurt, like you said.

6 hours ago, MariahK said:

Hey there! It took 9 days for me to receive mine. I got mine done in Toronto and they had to mail it to me 8-9 hours away. So you have a fairly good chance of getting it on time. Worse case, bring your receipt with you the embassy, show them you filed for it, and they will probably let you mail it to them after the interview. Good luck!! 

Thank you for the feedback as well! Just wondering, was it 9 business days, or 9 days including weekends?

2 minutes ago, debbiedoo said:

the old RCMP check for my fiance (with fingerprints) took a couple of weeks if i recall. hell have to re do it now with the new one as i think its different.

 

i would expect a couple of weeks.

 

you need to get on that so you have time for it to process and get it back before your interview so you have it.

Yes, it would be a good idea to get started on it now. Keep in mind that I'm pretty sure you can make the RCMP request at a police station, also, it just takes longer, because they submit the request by snail mail rather than electronically. So if you've got lots of time until your interview, and it's easier to get to a police station than to a commissionaires location, maybe try that option.

Also, when you're submitting the request, make sure you insist that the request to the RCMP is submitted in the "Privacy Act" category, *not* the "Visa/Border" or "Visa/Waiver" category. (This stuff is all discussed in that thread I linked you to.)

So, I've got a question..

I've got an interview in Montreal at the consulate for a k1 application, on October 10th. I just went to a Commissionaires location here, this afternoon (Wednesday, September 26) in Toronto (the one near St. George station -- the woman, Fatima, seemed quite competent and like she knew what she was doing). She submitted a request to the RCMP for me under the Privacy Act, and explained that the Visa request category was now the wrong one (so if anyone out there is still having trouble finding someone who will do the right type of request (that is to say, one that's made under the Privacy Act category, rather than the Visa/Waiver category), and you're able to go here, then go here -- it's at 339 Bloor Street West, suite 217, and the place is called CII Fingerprinting).

The thing is, she said to me that while these requests usually take 72 hours to process, because of this change that everyone is discussing in this thread, it might take longer. I need the documentation in hand by Monday, October 8th (I'll be travelling to Montreal on the 9th, if all goes as planned).

Is it likely I'll get the documentation in time? (including mailing time from Ottawa to Toronto)

(I'm gonna look back over the thread, too, to try to get a sense of things, I just want to get my question in here as I'm kinda worried about this.)

And if I don't have enough time, would it be worthwhile to get a police certificate and hope that they'll accept that instead...?

Thanks so much!

5 minutes ago, arellah said:

I don't have an answer (as I have the same question as you haha), but a quick question: Did you get word that this type of check is required or are you doing this just to be safe?

 

Best of luck at your interview!

Thank you for the good wishes.

And yes, I've gotten this because it is now required by the US consulate -- my understanding is that they want it for all visa applicants. I could be wrong though -- I'm doing a k1 fiance visa application, so I'm not sure if this applies to every type of applicant. (Though I'm guessing it does.)

They changed from accepting police certificates (which involve only a name and date of birth check) to asking for an RCMP background check (which includes the name and DOB check, but also fingerprints). The change became effective on September 10th. You can find a thread in this section of the forum that talks about this: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/683334-urgent-new-police-certificate-requirement/

Good luck to you as well!

Hi everyone,

So, here's the situation: I have an interview booked for Wednesday, October 10th at the Montreal consulate. I just went this afternoon (Wednesday, Sept. 26th) to get my RCMP check done at a Commissionaires location. The woman I spoke to there said that it should take 72 hours for the RCMP to process my request, before it is mailed out to me (I'm in Toronto).

The thing is, since this stuff just got changed on September 10th, earlier this month (that is, the US gov't now requiring an RCMP check, rather than just a police certificate), she said she wasn't sure if they're still able to process these requests within the 72 hour time frame that she said is how long it typically used to take. (I guess because of the presumably greater volume of requests, it might be slowing things down a bit?)

Does anyone have a sense of roughly how long the RCMP background check requests are taking these days? Are they still being processed within the 72 hour time frame that was typical previously (before the Sept. 10 change by the US gov't to require them for all visa interviews), or are they now taking longer?

Since I need to be travelling on Tuesday, October 9th, I need the RCMP check to arrive to me in the mail by Monday the 8th. Have I left enough time for it to arrive?

Thank you so much!

On 9/10/2018 at 2:40 PM, Peot said:

When you go to make the appointment online it will wait for confirmation of payment before it schedules anything. I suppose it would be possible to pay the NVC fees early and have them acknowledge the payment later? 

 

The Packet 4 link to schedule an interview is here - you can take a look
https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/iv/information/iv_services

 

Once you pay, BRING THAT PROOF OF PAYMENT with you to the interview. None of the checklists show this, but it is required. 

Okay, thank you for explaining that, I got it figured out and paid ahead of time, interview scheduled and everything. Sorry I didn't respond here sooner.

And thank you very much for the heads-up on bringing proof of payment, very good to know!

11 hours ago, MeghanK said:

You can pay this when you're scheduling your interview online or AT your interview at the consulate. I believe it's one of the first things it'll ask for when scheduling your interview online (if it doesn't ask, you are scheduling for the wrong visa) 

Yeah, this is what I thought, too, after having looked around a bit more online after posting this thread.. the packet 4 instruction materials available here: https://ca.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/03/Packet4-MTL.pdf say that "If you have previously paid all fees due to the National Visa Center or on the appointment website, there will be no additional fees to pay on the day of the interview. If you have not paid fees at the NVC or on the CSC website, please be prepared to pay the required fees on the day of your interview." (Under Step 4: Immigrant Visa Fees on page 4, in 'The Day of Your Interview' section.)

We were getting confused because some blogs with instructions on how to do the K1 process that we had found very helpful in assembling the I-129F package correctly, and getting our NVC case number, were also saying that we needed to use the US travel docs website to pay the fee, and when you try to do that and go to the Montreal consulate's website, you really can't find anything about where to pay any fees.

3 hours ago, Peot said:

You cannot schedule an interview without first paying this fee. Paying the fee at the interview isn't an option as an interview appointment won't be created without payment.

 

Instructions on paying will actually come as part of the "Packet 4" email you receive. It will provide a link under a title "Schedule your visa interview appointment", and on that following webpage it will provide options for making the payment.

 

So yeah, wait for the instructions. 🙂 You literally can't proceed without first processing the fee.

 

So, that's a little confusing since it doesn't jibe with what those packet 4 instructions say. But personal experience is ultimately what counts, not what a PDF on the internet says -- so is this a case of actual practice being different from what's indicated online?

And thank you both for the prompt responses! I'm glad that I haven't missed any deadline I wasn't aware of, that's a relief.

Hi there VJ forum peoples,

My fiancée and I have a question about the fee for processing of form DS-160:

I have received the Packet 3 letter from the Montreal consulate. I have responded to it as instructed in the packet 3 letter for K1 fiancee visa applicants -- that is, I've supplied the requested documentation:

1. Confirmation receipt with barcode number of the completed Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application DS-160 for me,

and I understand that at some point I will owe $265 USD to have the form DS-160 processed -- I've seen this referred to in some places online as the MRV Fee.

The thing is, I'm really confused about how to go about actually paying this...? Should I be waiting for instructions from the consulate about how to go about doing this, or should I be taking action now to do it?

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

So, my fiancée and I are at the pre-interview stage in the K1 process, and we have been wondering some things:

First off, we just got our NVC case number a few days ago. Does anyone know roughly how long we might be expecting to wait before it will be sent out to the consulate in Montreal, and how long it will take to get there? The agent I spoke to said 1 to 3 weeks, but I'm wondering about what people have been experiencing these days.

And we were also wondering, after the embassy receives the case from the NVC, how will they contact me (the Canadian beneficiary) to give me packet 3?

Do they do this by email, or by snail mail? Is there any place I need to register to tell them how to contact me, or do they already have that information? (I did give the NVC my email so I could be contacted electronically about the case, and my contact information is in the i-129F package, so is it one of those things that's how they know where to send packet 3? Or, again, do I have to tell them where to send it?)

And, roughly how long does it take these days from my sending my packet 3 checklist email to the embassy, to receiving packet 4?

And then, again, how long does it take these days to go from there to actually getting to the interview?

Thank you so much!