MC1

Just got my interview date!!!! Jan 14 8:30 YAY!!!!  CC Sept 26/18 F I N A L L Y!!!!!!

You got this!

You're not alone in being nervous, that's for sure!  My interview is Dec 13th, and I'm barely getting by counting down the days.  
 
You're doing great – you waited out so many days, and just need to keep your cool for another day or so.  Keep calm, be honest, remember to eat breakfast.  It's your time to shine!

Congrats!!!🎉

Interview approved today!! A great moment after a long journey. 😍
 
So here's a long ### recap for you all & some important info:
 
1) If you are doing your medical in Montreal before you interview, be SURE to call Medisys and follow up on your results if you don't get the email saying they are ready. When we booked the medical they said Wed. 7th was the last day we could do for an interview on Tues. the 13th, as they needed 3 biz days to guarantee results though often ready sooner. But I was told to pick them on the 12th btw 1 and 4pm.
 
At the actual medical they told my wife the results would likely be ready by Friday the 9th but she'd get an email.  We still hadn't heard anything Monday morning (the 12th) so my wife called at Noon. They said to call back at 1pm. Called back, and they said the nurse would (was?) working on them. It sounded very much like the results would not have been ready for pick up had we not called to check up. So be diligent!
 
2) Interview process overall went exactly as others have said, very straight forward and a formality. But below are a lot of details, some obvious / some important. 
 
3) We arrived at the consulate around 7:20ish for an 8am appointment. There were already 4 people/groups waiting. It doesn't even open til 7:30, so everyone was huddled under the door overhang trying to avoid freezing rain. Very grateful we had an umbrella. The funny thing (that I had guessed) is that unless you are in some crazy hurry there is really no reason to get there super early. It's just one of those because everyone else is, you have to if you don't want to be last kinda things, since multiple people have 8am appointments but only two people work at a time. Basically going early doesn't hurt you at all, but don't freakout if you show up just before on time either. They also only let a few people in at a time once the doors do open, as the very first thing is to go through a short security. 
 
4) Security is simple. First we each showed our passports and gave them a copy of the interview email. They then give you a laminated sheet with your number on it, and what docs to gather (I'll detail below). Then did security like the airport. You cannot bring backpacks or large purses inside. Most people had their docs in either plastic accordion file type things, or in a plastic shopping bag (that's what we did). You have to check your phone at the desk (it's kept in a secure spot). It also said no USB/flash drives but when I said I had one in my (small) purse they didn't care and let me keep it. They also allowed us to keep our umbrella (I wasn't really sure). 
 
5) They send you down the stairs to catch the elevator up to the 19th floor. I laughed when I saw that they have a photobooth for 1 min passport pics for 10 bucks. We had to go get two extra made in the city yesterday. Glad we had it taken care of, but good to know it's there. I'd imagine if one of the only problems was with the passport pics they'd allow you to go get new ones made right then (but totally guessing). 
 
6) The room you wait in is fairly big. You aren't allowed to bring any food or drink in, but there is a vending machine with snacks & soda. No coffee or tea. Some reading material. We both brought books to read while waiting. 
 
7) The docs they ask for on the laminated sheets are the same as on the interview checklist. To memory, as I already had them all set aside in one of our big envelopes:
-Passport & passport pics
-Medical results
-Original signed AOS (I-864)
-Sponsor's taxes
-Originals of birth cert, marriage cert, police record
(I'm pretty sure that was everything but if I'm missing something it was for sure on the main stuff you are supposed to bring)
 
7) Our interview time was 8am. We were #6 (i.e. 5 people before us) and got called for the first part at 8:30. I say we, but I really mean my wife. Both times when talking to the officers it's only the Canadian, not the sponsor. This part was pretty straight forward- turn in everything on the laminated sheet. They kept some things (original docs) and gave back others (part of medical). You are then sent back and wait to be called again. 
 
8 ) **Important** If you did BOTH versions of the police record like many of us did, be sure to bring BOTH original copies. Though we got approved, I had a mini heart attack after the first window. Our file had the "old" police record and the original we brought was the new one. Having brought a ton of paperwork I knew we wouldn't need but "just in case" I was kicking myself I didn't bring both original police certs, assuming the most recent one was fine. The fist officer said the interviewing officer might have a problem with that. Not a fun way to spend the next 45 minutes. In the end the interviewing officer said nothing about it at all but don't put yourself through that stress! 😛
 
8 ) My wife was called for the actual interview at 9:15. It lasted no more than 5 minutes. The only questions she had was what I (sponsor) do for work, where I live, and where we got married. I could hear my wife laughing even though I couldn't hear the words, so figured that was a good sign. Turns out she completely blanked on the name of the town we got married in, since our first 'wedding' was just us an a witness and we did a regular ceremony later. She explained that,  and the woman was good-hearted about it and overall very friendly. She also said my wife and I both have cool hair (we both have dreadlocks...not what she expected to hear from a government officer hah), asked what we like to do together, and said 'I bet you two both love dancing'. True, and so random haha. 
 
Like everyone else, I had pretty much every single piece of paperwork we had turned in, including proof of relationship, domicile, etc etc. just in case. As figured, it wasn't needed at all. But Murphy's Law, just bring it. Especially if anything doesn't match what you original turned in. (i.e. #8 above)
 
9) After that 5 mins... approved!! She got two pieces of paper (both white- not hot pink or green as I've read). One was a welcome to the US here's some info and the other was on picking up your passport from the post office. 
 
10) **RE PASSPORT RETURN** We were told as others have been that they are not returning passports until the Canada Post strike is over. They did say they would notify us when it was being sent out, so at least we'll get somewhat of a heads up. We aren't planning to move for a month, so here's hoping it's all sorted by then.
 
My wife did not ask about picking it up in person (sorry!) so I can't speak to if/how that works. 
 
11) **IMPORTANT** This is more of a question as I'm not sure if this was normal or a mistake. They kept our original docs (birth, marriage, police) and didn't give them back. This only clicked tonight as I went to type this and asked my wife if she got them. She said they went through them all in front of her during the 5 min interview but she didn't think to ask for them back at the end (lots of distracted excitement as you can imagine) and the officer didn't mention anything.
 
So....we are crossing our fingers this is normal and they will be returned with the passport?! If any of you who already had interviews read this and can confirm, or the rest of you have read this elsewhere please help set our minds at ease.  
 
Hope all that info helps!!! Great appreciative to everyone who has given bits of info along the way. I'm sure some of those sitting around us were from this forum, sorry we didn't get to chat! I was pretty distracted after the first part worry we'd get stuck on a formality! Congrats to all of you

This advice might be late as this thread is 25 pages long now, and I only started to look through this (cc Sept 6 on the name-based search, and only recently decided to take on figuring out the Privacy Act search thing in preparation for interview Dec 13):
 
If you're in the Vancouver area, go to the Commissionaires in Surrey because they know what type of check to do.  I went to my local RCMP station in Burnaby, and they were guessing, so I decided not to go through with a check that day.  The next day I called various notaries, fingerprinting companies, and some type of company that had commissionary in its name, but none of those could say they were familiar.  Finally, I remembered I had read someone post in another forum thread to go to the Commissionaires in Surrey so I called first their Head Office to check them out, then drove to the Surrey Office.  Because of my prior experiences, I was literally reading off the criteria on the Reciprocity website to them, checking if they followed whenever I paused at a comma or period, and they did not draw blank stares, and even was able to fill me in on drama and changes that I vaguely remember reading about in this forum.  Very reassured, I did the check with them.
 
 
 
 
 

Hello everyone! Let me tell you what i've learned.
 
The TWO police checks at issue are:
 
1) RCMP certified criminal records check with fingerprints - this is for people who HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD and/or that were pardoned and have applied for for an immigration benefit. This is when they (RCMP/Commissionaires) select "for visa/immigration purposes". The outcome mailed to you DOES HAVE your fingerprint visible on the form. This form is sealed with RCMP certified insignia. The problem arose when you are asking RCMP to run certified criminal records check with fingerprints checks on people without criminal records and have those handed over to USA officials as i gather that is against our current privacy laws and RCMP policy.
 
2) RCMP non certified criminal records check with fingerprints- this is for people who DO NOT HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD and have applied for for an immigration benefit. This is when they (RCMP/Commissionaires) select "Privacy check" under the privacy act/Canadian law. The outcome mailed to you DOES NOT HAVE your fingerprint visible on the form due to Canadian privacy laws but your fingerprints have been checked against their biometrics databases. This form is not sealed with RCMP certified insignia. THIS is the form that will be required for k1 visa's.
 
I got both because by the time i unraveled all the facts i had already ordered the certified with fingerprints visible. I have now ordered another via the commissionaires via "privacy check". 
 
Hope this helps with this discussion.

Don’t be, it’s very straightforward. Have your documents ready, and you’re good. Simple as that(says the guy who’s now done). But it’s really straightforward and no tricks involved. 
Good luck regardless 

Congratulations on getting your interview transferred smoothly!   🎉 

I agree with @SKB2017 that day not over yet.  Things may still be updating — some people have got emails but I haven’t.   And my status up till a couple hour ago was still “at NVC”.   It only changed to “In Transit” about a couple hours ago.   
 
Fingers crossed for you! 

I agree with @SKB2017 that day not over yet.  Things may still be updating — some people have got emails but I haven’t.   And my status up till a couple hour ago was still “at NVC”.   It only changed to “In Transit” about a couple hours ago.   
 
Fingers crossed for you! 

Congrats!! 🎉 And thanks for sharing!

Interview: Dec 13
CC: Sept 6
 
Called in and got date that way.  Still no email (and no snail mail, though not even sure they do snail mail for this notification?).  NVC status did change to “in transit” today though. 
 
Congrats as well to everyone else who got dates!  Woohoo! 

Interview: Dec 13
CC: Sept 6
 
Called in and got date that way.  Still no email (and no snail mail, though not even sure they do snail mail for this notification?).  NVC status did change to “in transit” today though. 
 
Congrats as well to everyone else who got dates!  Woohoo! 

Interview: Dec 13
CC: Sept 6
 
Called in and got date that way.  Still no email (and no snail mail, though not even sure they do snail mail for this notification?).  NVC status did change to “in transit” today though. 
 
Congrats as well to everyone else who got dates!  Woohoo! 

Just wanted to post this for anyone stressing over medical exams (because I certainly was!)
 
Dr Cheema in Surrey was fantastic. I had a later appointment (11AM) so they were a little backed up when I got there and had to wait 20-25 minutes before being seen. 
 
The staff was super helpful. I’d taken a test last week to verify my immunities for the vaccination requirements and hadn’t gotten the results back in time, so they called the lab on my behalf for the results. I needed an MMR shot, and was able to get this in office for a fee. 
 
The actual exam exam was super quick. Less than 10 minutes, and he was super friendly and helpful. 
 
(The X-rays and lab tests significantly added to my time, but those took place in a separate location, and it was noon so everyone was getting their labs done over the lunch hour 🤷🏻‍♀️)
 
very quick and painless 😊

Congrats and enjoy Europe! 😎

Awesome! Congrats! Strange no one else has gotten emails yet but I’m sure they will come soon, @MC1
Thanks for that info @Courtney86  How many are needed for interview?

hang in there! I’m CC Sept 10 over here. I’m thinking it will be this Friday or next (always seems to be on Fridays)!!!
 
Were also going to try to call in today - will let you know if we hear anything. 

Hey everyone, my wife just got an interview for Dec 18. We were doc qualified on 11 Sept so keep an eye out for emails with interview dates! 
 
Unfortunately we're going to be in Europe then but it looks like they've made their rescheduling process a little easier. I'll post back with the rescheduling process if anyone is interested. 

hello everyone! my husband just had his interview this morning at 9am (eastern) and got his "Welcome to the United States" letter!!! I was unable to go to Montreal with him due to time constraints (interview was scheduled about 2 weeks ago). He flew in last night from Vancouver, checked into the hotel had a sleepless anxious night (as did I!!!!) and got to the consulate at 8:05 am.  He was called to hand in the papers at around 9:20 am (the longest wait was to turn these in). Waited for a little bit for the interview and the interview only took 5 minutes. In and out by 10 am. He said everyone was super friendly (including the guards) and the lady that interviewed him was very appreciative that he brought all of the necessary documents, copies, and then some (my OCD organized it all and put post-its to make it dummy proof). Due to his job he cannot stick around and wait for his passport so we have opted to still have it delivered regardless of how long it takes.
 
just some notes:
He had BOTH types of police reports, our case was done online before they changed the rules about the police reports. Luckily we were able to get the second one in time. The interviewer took both and was pleased he had them both done.
 
The questions they asked were super easy, how did we meet? when did we meet? have you ever been out of North America in the past 5 years? No curve ball questions.
 
This was the easiest part of the ENTIRE visa process. But I will tell you that even though we read all of the reviews online, were 100% prepared with extra information in case they asked, and were completely aware this would be a breeze, it was still the most stressful part. I was sick to my stomach with anticipation, anxiety, etc. I am so glad this is done and over with!

You can also check via the "View My Immigrant Case Status" option on the CEAC page!
 
However, keep in mind this will change a few days after they actually schedule, so to be up to date I would call NVC to confirm if a date has been released. Good luck guys!

We both got it and in the "To:" had both of our emails CC'd. Also, I kept checking the CEAC website and that's how I noticed we had our interview assigned. The status changed from at NVC to something else. The email didn't come for several days later. Butttt when I noticed the change in status on the website they gave me the interview date over the phone so I could start making plans (our interview date was super close to when it got actually assigned)

I told my husband he had to tell me everythingggg so I could post it on here just because other people's had made me feel the same! This forum has made this process so much easier because of reviews etc. Even the Doctor appointment was super easy with Dr. Cheema in Surrey, BC. I didn't pull enough info about it from my husband to go into full detail about it.

Well when they give them out they give out a bunch at once. I remember for our round they went from August 3rd to these nd of August it seemed. I’d bet you’re in line to get it any day. And Keenum mind they are still booking 30 days away so being done before Christmas 🎄 is still a huge and likely scenario! It’s agonizing though, I get it!