umngmc

I am planning on being the sponsor for my husband, who will be applying for the IR-1. I haven't worked since we married 5 years ago. Before that, I was working in the US. Since then though, I have not filed a US tax return. Is this going to be a problem? Should I have been filing one even if I wasn't living there?

I will be using my mom or sister as joint sponsor. Even so, is it ok that my income is $0?

Hi Tammy

That is fine if your income is $0 for the past 3 years. If you have assets jointly in your name and husband's name, they may be eligible for the income requirement.

See this posting and other postings regarding I-864 questions.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78529

Your sister/mother will have to file a separate I-864 if they're going to be joint-sponsors.

Good Luck,

Matt

And yet MORE questions. I should have looked over the whole thing first before posting. Sorry!

At the bottom, it says to be sure to put name and alien registration number in the bolded box. Obviously I don't have an reg. number, but do I still fill in my name?

And do I fill out all 4 forms for myself and all 4 for my husband (naming his as the applicant)?

Thanks so much for the help!!

Hi Tammy

I'm assuming you're applying via Montreal since you live in Canada. You should have a MTL case number, and that's what i put in the box where it requires an "A" number. But I'm not sure it really matters since you technically don't have an "A" number.

You have filled out the current address portion correctly. You need to check the box for permanent residence for your husband. You are the sponsor, he is the applicant.

If you have Adobe, you can use this link http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/g-325a.pdf to get the autofill G-325A form. you should only have to type it out once, and than it'll recognize the rest when you type the other 3 forms.

Good luck in your journey.....

Matt

hi cakame

it's important that you realize that your income in slovakia WILL NOT count unless it will continue AFTER you move to the USA. If you don't meet the income or assets requirement, than you will need a co-sponsor, like your parents or other relative/friend. Your co-sponsor will also have to fill out a Form I-864.

You don't need any special affidavits from friends or family. there is no special form. You're welcome to submit that information, but not absolutely necessary. all they require is a copy of your marriage certificate, but having more information is never a bad thing! the petition for the I-130 is pretty straightforward, once you get along on the process, ask away with questions. welcome to VJ!!

matt

London is well-known for being lenient to those DCF folk re-establishing domicile. I presented a package that included proof of a US bank account, a letter from the Social Security Administration addressed to me at my parents' house, a letter from my boss in the UK saying that I had tendered an informal resignation dependent on the visa being approved, and emails from a prospective employer who is headhunting me. It wasn't very difficult at all, although I realise those at other embassies might not have such an easy ride.

Oh yes, we're also adding to the file the letter the IRS sent to my in laws address in Mercer Island acknowledging receipt of Bren's tax returns.

Hi Trailmix (and other VJers)

This whole question of I-864 and domicile seems to be a popular topic!! I've ranted in the past how ridiculous this whole issue for those of us who file DCF.

If neither of you have US cased income, I would still fill out your foreign-based income converted to USD in the section asking your current income. I'm assuming your current income (converted to USD) exceeds the poverty guidelines. I'm also assuming you still filed USA tax returns with the IRS while living abroad. Because you live abroad, you probably didn't have to pay much or any USA taxes due to tax credits.

No-one will look at your application closely prior to your interview. You just don't want to raise an eyebrow during the initial screening. You don't want to enter $0 for your current income. You should also properly fill out the assets portion and supply proof, I think they ask for 6 months worth of statements. If you don't have USA based income, they will ask you more specifically at the interview. That's what we did, and we got approved no problem.

To prove domicile, a US driver's license helps ALOT!! Other things to bring (if available), proof of selling your current home, purchase of a new home in the States, job offer letter, voting record, IRS tax returns. The only thing we had from the above list was USA tax returns. My wife still maintained USA bank accounts and investment accounts, so we brought proof of those. We also supplied emails from real estate agents and headhunters to show that we were moving back. DCF in Canada is pretty lenient with the domicile issue. Note: we had my in-law's address in the States for "our" mailing address.

PS. Always state your country of domicile as the USA. You were just living abroad to meet your wife, or to gain work experience, or to go to school, etc etc. Find an excuse, any excuse.

Good luck,

Matt

Thank you to everyone who replied. I definitely agree with both sides, my foreign income is important to show as it shows my earning power, but cannot be counted as it won't continue. I think I am just going to go with my gut feeling and list the US FUTURE income on the form and "explain" my current Rand income on my attached answers. Thanks for your feedback! Hopefully it will be acceptable. Thank you all much!!

Hi Karen

We just went through this whole process and this is what we did....

My wife listed her current income, converted from Canadian Dollars to USD. Of course that didn't count, so we had to think of the alternative. If youhave US-based assets, than it doesn't matter whether you have the job offer letter or not. AS long as you have 5 times the poverty guidelines.

If you only have South-African based income, they will ask you at your interview how you plan on supporting your family back in the States. That's when you can explain your job offer letter. I would attach a letter to your affidavit describing your job offer in the states. Your current income (converted to USD) won't raise an eyebrow, unless it's below the US poverty guidelines.

I always erred on the side of giving them too much information rather than not enough. We got approved based on our US assets, but I know of other VJ'ers who got approved from job offer letters. Either way, cover your bases, but be accurate in filling out the forms.

Good luck,

Matt

Matt

Congrats!

Just out of curiosity though, how would one prove domicile at an interview? When I immigrated to Canada, I had to relinquish my US drivers license. Would having a physical address in which we are going to be living at (if approved, of course) be enough to prove domicile ?

Hi Candy

It's too bad you had to relinquish your US Driver license. That certainly would be a big help...... Other things we brought were my wife's investment and bank accounts in the states. If you have a voting record, that helps. As well as maintaining to file US tax returns.

Other things we brought were e-mails between us and real estate agents. We also had emails between my wife and a headhunter.

Of course, if you had property in the States, or just bought a house, that would be ideal. If you have a job offer in the States, that would be gold. Immigration just wants to know that you plan on moving back and living in the States. They don't want to give out green cards to people who live abroad and apply for immigrant status just because they're married to an American.. So if you don't currently live in the USA, they want to know that you still have "ties" to the States or are planning to move back.

Good luck in your journey,

Matt

Hi , I married an American in December 2006 and applied at the Vancouver consulate in mid December, the application for my CR1 visa was sent to Montreal at that time. I sent the checklist away in mid January and called the Montreal consulate two month ago, in April, to check on my case. They looked up my case # and said I would be getting a phone call to come for an interivew in 5 or 6 months (that would be September, October 2007).

My question is: when and where do I get the medical done? Will I be given any instructions in regards to what type of checkup and or immunizations I'll need? I haven't read or heard anything about getting a medical and am a little confused and concerned. I'm from Vancouver if that matters.

Thanks in advance for any guidance anyone may have, S.

Hi Sophie

I recently completed the CR1/IR1 process from Vancouver. You should receive a package from Montreal after your interview is scheduled. Like some of the other responses above, you need to continue calling montreal on the 15,16, or 17th of every month to find out your status. When I called on the 15th of May, they told me my interview was on June 13th! Less than one month to get everything organized. I didn't receive the packet until the following week which would have given me even less time.

In Vancouver, the doctor is Dr. Ian Morgan located on Burrard Street downtown. He will require that you have updated tetanus and MMR boosters, within the last 10 years. You have to call to make an "appointment" with him, and he only offers them on Wednesday mornings. If you call him the week before, they can slot you in. It's on a first come first serve basis. IF you get there by 6:30 AM, you'll be done by 8:30 AM. If you get there after 7 AM, expect to be there all morning. THe results will be ready for you to pickup that afternoon.

I wouldn't recommend getting your medical done prior to receiving your interview notice. You should be getting your interview notice late summer or early fall, but you never know...... You don't need to get it any earlier than you have to.

Things to get in order while you're waiting:

1) vaccination record showing MMR and tetanus, this may be harder than you think......

2) if no record within the last 10 years, go to your GP and get the booster shots. the tetanus booster is free from your BC doctor. some will even do the MMR booster free.

3) get your updated financial information in order. if you have not read my earlier posting on my montreal experience and darryl's montreal interview, find the postings and read them. they can be found in this forum DCF.

4) you will need to fill out a new DS-230 and I-864 affidavit of support.

5) you will also need 5 passport pictures total (in BC). 3 for the medical, 2 for the interview in montreal.

Good luck, and I hope you get your interview notice soon!

Matt

congrats darryl..... that's great news. that's what montreal needs sometimes, it's a little kick in the butt to speed things along!

Hello Fellow VJ'ers

We certainly have a very loyal group of Montreal VJ'ers on this forum and we have all tried to help one another through this stressful process...... Here is my experience and comments on this whole process.

If you've been following the Montreal thread in this forum started by Darryl, you know a little bit about my situation. Everything was uneventful until the Adam Walsh setback, which was annoying, but just a minor setback. Than the torturous wait for an interview, but after I bugged them enough, they finally scheduled an interview for me on the same day with Colin Wilson.

Petition filed early August 2006, checklist sent in late September 2006, interview notice (finally) on May 13, 2007, and interview date on June 13, 2007.

So I live in Vancouver, and since they only do the CR1/IR1 interviews in Montreal, I had to fly out to Montreal for the interview. Of course my interview was scheduled on a Wednesday, so I had to take 3 days off mid-week for the interview. I was gonna make a trip out of it! Luckily, my interview date was the week after the F1 race, because all the hotels were full the week before. I pity the poor souls who had interviews last week!!

I got into Montreal at 4:50 PM after a 4.5 hour flight plus 3 hour time change. If you're not picky about class of hotel, than I'd highly recommend La Tour Centre Ville on Rene Levesque Street. It's esentially right across the road from the consulate, literally less than a 5 minute walk. We made the mistake of taking the shuttle bus downtown. If you're travelling by yourself, than that might be OK since it's a $14 shuttle bus ride. But a cab ride is $35 flat from the airport to downtown, so it's FAR better if you're travelling with 2 or more people. La Tour Centre Ville is a 2-star hotel at best, but it's hard to beat the convenience factor, and it's really close to Old Montreal!

The consulate is at the corner of rue Saint-Alexandre and Rene Levesque, but I scoped out the location the night before just to make sure I knew where it was. Enjoyed a nice Classic French dinner in downtown the night before to relax before the big day.

Woke up the next morning at 6:30 AM to get ready to try and get to the consulate by 7:15 AM. The doors open at 7:30 AM. When I got to the consulate, Colin Wilson was already there waiting, so he was the only person ahead of me. By 7:30, 2 other people behind me had joined the lineup for immigrant visas.

The doors opened at 7:30, and we had to first pass security. They look at your passport and interview letter to allow you entrace to the consulate. You will receive a little scrap of paper with a letter on it, that indicates your place in line. Mine was letter "B". After security, I was lead downstairs to a holding room to wait for the elevator to take us upstairs. The security guard lead us upstais at 7:45 AM and they instructed us to head to Window #9 when we got upstairs.

At Window #9, a lady took our little scrap of paper and interview letter and instructed us to wait in the large waiting room. A little bit before 8:30, our name was called back to Window #9 where a gentleman looked over our documents and application. He gave us back a bunch of documents and took our new I-864 Affidavit and financial supporting documents. He asked us questions on my wife's derived income. Since she filed a return with the IRS in 2006, he asked how much of the amount was from a USA source. My wife only worked 2 months in the USA in 2006 and the remainder of the year in Canada. As mentioned by Darryl and more recently by Colin, they will only accept USA sourced income!! They will accept Canadian sourced income from the sponsor only if it will continue after the sponsor moves back to the USA. If you do not meet the income requirements, you must provide proof of liquid assets in USD at least 5 times the poverty limit for your family size.

Luckily, from the experience of Darryl, I filled out a new affidavit with our assets information and brought with us to the interview proof of our USA based savings accounts and brokerage accounts. My wife did not meet the income requirement, but luckily kept her USA based assets....... The guy took all of our stuff, gave us a slip to go pay the cashier $380 USD (Visa and Mastercard accepted), and have another sit in the waiting room for our "interview".

At 9:10 AM, we were called to room #7 where another gentleman with a really deep voice first asked me to scan my 2 indedx fingers. He then asked how we met. And lastly asked to see proof of domicile. If your USA spouse still has his/her USA Driver's license, than bring it along!! We left it at the hotel, but luckily, we brought along emails with our realtor in Texas, as well as a headhunter my wife has been using helping her land a job.

He congratulated us, our visa was approved, and he said that they'll be mailing my passport with visa packet back to us in about a week. We were finished before 9:30 AM. I was relieved!! I thought we were going to run into the same problem as Darryl, as he had dropped off all his proof of financial assets later that day. The only difference was that we had the affidavit filled out beforehand and brought the proof of assets with us. As a note, I also brought proof of work eligibility to the interview as well (I'm an orthodontist). I got licensed in the state of Texas back in January 2007.

So, if you are able to bring an offer letter from a USA company as the applicant, and obviously for the spouse sponsor, that would be beneficial. Be prepared!! Bring more than what you need, and you can always shred the extra copies later!!

My thoughts on the whole process....... It seems like they approved everything that day. All of the stuff we sent to them last September 2006 (the checklist) was untouched!!! They let us keep the immunization record and chest X-ray, another big waste. Overall, it seems pointless to travel all the way to Montreal to verify our documents and a 5-minute interview. I'm just not sure what the whole waiting period with the NVC was for......

I'm just relieved that the whole process is coming to an end. I hope to get the visa in hand by the end of next week! I wish the best of luck to all you other VJ'ers, and I wish Colin and Darryl the very best in their quest for the elusive Green Card.

Cheers,

Matt

My case was completed on May 29th 2007 and i'm trying to get a sense of when to expect an interview. Also is there a possibility of changing Embassys this late in the game from montreal to vancouver?

You provide little information but from what I gather, your case still needs to be sent to MTL (like Lance said, only there can you process CR-1 and IR-1's in Canada). Once MTL received the file andyou send in whatever they ask for, count circa 4-5 months for scheduling of interview. In your case, NVC is the one that schedules the interview, not the Consulate. Has MTL contacted you?

L.

Hi Glady

If your case was completed at the end of May, you should get your interview probably within 4-6 months. The DCF filers have to wait for all the NVC sceduled interviews to be allocated first, before they schedule the DCF filers.

No chance to get it switched to Vancouver. I live in Vancouver as well, and I had to fly out to Montreal. See my upcoming post on my experience......

Cheers,

Matt

Hi Darryl

WOW, I am speechless...... Hopefully someone will come to their senses soon and get this all sorted out for you. I empathize with your situation and Colin. I hope the best for you both. I am working on a posting of my experience on June 13, 2007.

Cheers,

Matt

Colin,

Sorry to hear you got the same bullcrap I did. This process is mind-boggling. I called Montreal today (as they told me to do) and they STILL HAVEN"T LOOKED AT MY FILE!!! I was ready to explode. After 5 minutes of sparring with the operator I had her go look for my file and the documents we hand delivered the day of our interview. She came back and "hey here they are" apparently the guy who interviewed us and handled our case no longer works in that unit and our file was sitting on his desk for the last 2 weeks....AWESOME. Where else could this kind of stuff happen???

Anyways I asked her to please expedite it as much as she could as I am unable to travel etc and am really in a bind with my new job if this doesn't come through right away. I told her that we had submitted all the req'd documents but if she needed anything else please let me know so we can provide it. She asked for my job offer letter because even though I have a written letter (signed and dated) from our interviewer saying we just needed to provide assets - "they generally need either a job offer or a co-sponsor regardless" Good f'ing grief....why is nothing as it seems??

So now I goto my company and say I need the offer letter....well they won't release that until I have my green card...I explained the situation and that this was just a formality that they needed something to say I have a job lined up etc etc....my HR guy said "he'd see what he can do"....arrrggghhh why is nothing simple???? You have to thread this needle of approval ever so perfectly for everything to come together properly...if you do one thing out of place the whole house of cards collapses.

I am really at my witts end....This whole process has been a perfect example of "the run around" each person I talk to conflicts with all the others - either no one knows what they're talking about or everyone knows and just loves to watch people run around in circles. Either way it sucks. I am so sick of this BS process and I'm equally as sick of being treated like ####### by everyone who is supposed to be helpful.

Darryl

Hi Rob's Luv

Like you, I was a newbie when I stumbled upon this forum, but after reading the wealth of information on this site, I came out much better prepared for the immigration process.

My wife is American and I am Canadian. We moved up here for my job opportunity and got her immigrated in no time. The application for Canadian PR is a little bit more time consuming, but we got approved in less than 3 months. Once you get approved and "land" as a PR, I believe the requirements for DCF filing require that you live in Canada for 6 months. But either way, I would recommend that you DO NOT file for USA Green Card until you have a better timeline as to when you and your husband will move back down.

The USA immigrant visa is only good for 6 months. And if you don't "land" before the 6 months is up, it will affect your future application for an immigrant visa. The residency requirement to retain your Green Card is 6 months of the year in the USA (I believe).

To answer some of your other questions:

1) The first step is to file for a petition at your local consulate office. The time for approval is very fast and they will mail a package to you explaning more. Basically, you will need to fill out an application for immigration, get some passport photos, get police clearances for your husband and his kids for each country they have lived in since the age of 16, and an affidavit of financial support.

As a special note, if you are living in Canada, you will need USA source income to be financially eligible as a sponsor. It is not good enough to earn Canadian income, and convert it to USD. If you do not meet the salary requirement for sponsorship, than you may use your assets, but they must be liquid, and you must show proof of ownership, ie. savings accounts, brokerage accounts, etc.

As a second note, you must retain your USA domicile. What does that mean? It means you must maintain ties to the USA. If you have an address in the states where you continue to receive mail. Own real estate in the USA. Maintain voting record, file tax returns, etc etc If you have no ties in the USA, than you are not eligible as a sponsor.

2) You can immigrate your husband's kids to the USA at any time. But I believe they put special priority to kids under the age of 18.

3) As mentioned earlier, your husband will need police clearance certificate(s), but a certificate from your local city will be sufficient as long as they perform a national registry search. The information will be in the packet. And the certificate is only valid for a year, so there is no point in getting one done until you are ready to immigrate. If he has ever lived in the USA, than you don't have to worry, the INS will search the FBI database to ensure of no criminal record whilst in the USA.

4) Your husband will need a medical exam, this is the last step before the immigrant interview (see timeline below). Same requirements as Canada immigration, just more hoops to jump. In Canadian immigration, it's labor intensive all up front.

Timeline:

a)After you petition (the first step), the approval happens in less than a month.

b)You will get a "checklist" to gather all your documents, applications, affidavits and police certifcates.

c)After you mail in the checklist, you play the waiting game, typically 6-9 months in Canada waiting for the "interview packet"

d)You will have 1-1.5 months of notice before your interview. The interview is only at the consulate in Montreal.

e)the interview packet will contain more information, to get your medical, more passport photos, and updated application and affidavit.

From start to finish, you can expect a 7-11 month wait......

Good luck with your endeavours and welcoe to the forum.

Matt

Hi, I'm new here. I am a US citizen, "visiting" in Canada with my Canadian citizen husband while awaiting approval of my application for a Permanent Resident visa here. I love America and I still have two adult children living in California with their Dad - but I married a Canadian who has sole custody of his minor children and his divorce agreement requires that they remain in the Province so that their mother has access to them. I have been completely immersed in the Canadian immigration process for months now - Canada has got to be the least efficient bureaucracy in the world!! But in another 7 years we can seriously consider relocating to the States. (My husband's father was a US citizen - how I wish my hubby had claimed his dual citizenship, but that was during the Vietnam war and he did not want to be drafted, so he gave it up.) Anyway, I recommended this forum to someone on the Canadian forums because they had a question about different visas in the US, and I decided I would venture over here to see what we might do one day to facilitate my husband acquiring PR status in the States. I discovered this DCF procedure here, just now, and it sounds like the way to go. What I'm wondering about is the "logistics" - so here are my questions:

A post in this thread alluded to this DCF being the "first step" in the process - that it's quickly approved but then you go on to another type of application? (I forget now, without backing out of this thread, what that was called.) Anyway, it looks as though maybe I could apply with the DCF for my husband as soon as I have my PR visa in Canada, and then we'd move on to this other process. How long does this all take? And assuming all was approved eventually, is there a certain period of time within which he would have to "land" in the States - and what is the residency requirement from then on? In other words, being our situation is that we basically have to remain in Canada until his youngest is 18 (another 7 years) is there any point to doing all of this now? In addition, at what age are his children too old for me to apply for them to immigrate?

One other question: Canada requires reams of paperwork and medical clearances by special doctors and State and FBI criminal clearances for all US citizens immigrating to Canada. Does the US require all this stuff of immigrants from Canada? Is there a link someone can provide to the actual immigration applications?

I'm really glad to have found a US equivalent to the Canadian forums that have been my Bible for the past year. Looking forward to getting to know some of you if we're indeed going to pursue this issue in the near future. Thanks.

Rob'sLuv

Hi Darryl....

We're in the exact same problem as you than..... My wife and I have only Canadian based income and very little USA income. She was going to move back to Texas once we got approved. It's hard to look for a job in Texas and inerview with companies when you're not actually there!! Duh..... WHAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF DCF FILING IF THE USA CITIZEN LIVES IN THE FOREIGN COUNTRY!!!!!

Anyhow, what is the dollar amount of financial assets necessary? I'm glad you posted this, cuz now I have to go print out all of our balances from our bank accounts in the States. Will they accept an account in my name that is in USD?

My wife's parents are retired so I'm not sure if they would even meet the co-sponsor requirement. What a pain in the *(&

Thanks for this info Darryl,

Matt

Sorry it’s a little late but here it is….our interview experience on June 1st in Montreal.

We drove from Toronto to Montreal on Thursday and got to our hotel around 3:30pm, we had a decent hotel – The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth on Rene Levesque. It was not too bad and about a 5 minute walk to the Consulate. We ventured out Thursday night to get our bearings and to find out exactly where it was etc.

Friday morning we left the hotel around 7:00am, stopped by Tim Hortons for a quick bagel and off we went to the Consulate. Got there at about 7:25a and there were already about 5 people lined up for the non-immigrant Visas and no one in line for the immigrant visas. So we got into the immigrant visa line and were quickly ushered through security/metal detectors etc by a very nice polite young female security officer. She gave us a little white square with a letter and number on it and told us to keep it until we got upstairs. She told us to proceed down the stairs and to wait in the waiting room until we were brought up to the 19th floor. When we got downstairs there were about 15 people waiting.

Around 7:45a the same security official came downstairs and asked for the immigrant visa applicants to follow her into the elevator, there were two other guys, the security officer, myself, and my wife (so we were basically 2nd in line). We got up to the 19th floor and were directed into a room off to the right where we were to go to the counter hand in our number along with our passport and documents etc. We went to the counter and were greeted by a very friendly and polite lady who took our number, asked for each documents which we had organized perfectly which she commented on not only our organization but also our the amount of documentation and how prepared we were. She took all the docs and gave us a slip to bring to the cashier so we could pay the fee. She advised us to return after we paid with the receipt and drop it off to her. So we did, paid $380US, brought the receipt back and were told to go wait in the waiting room until we were called.

At about 8:40a the guy in front of us was called into room D8, he came out about 10 minutes later with a huge smile on his face and gave the thumbs up…a successful interview! He took the elevator down and was done. 10 minutes later we were called to the same room and were met by a very friendly man behind a glass window. He said good morning and welcomed us etc, asked us how the process has been going and if it had taken more time than we’d expected etc. We replied back saying we were held up a bit by the Adam Walsh stuff but for the most part were just happy to hopefully be in the final leg etc. He was pleasant and really didn’t ask us many questions – basically where do we both work, what were our positions, etc. He didn’t ask anything at all about when we met, our history, or really anything about our relationship at all. Didn’t ask to see any of the documentation we brought (photos, joint apartment lease, bank records, etc). Things were going great….and then….He says that basically because we are both living and working in Canada and have no “US income” we are denied. He was super nice about it and said he used to be able to make the judgment call and just approve us but couldn’t do that anymore and that the rest of our application is absolutely perfect. He said that even though our joint annual income is over 10 times the minimum poverty level required it didn’t matter. He told us that the only way we could be approved is if we got a co-sponsor who had the required “US income” or if either of us had an employment offer in US dollars. He kind of shook his head at the process and basically apologized for it being so dumb that obviously we can’t get US employment until we are legally allowed to work in the US….but can’t be legal until we get a job in the US…it’s a catch 22.

Obviously our hearts sunk to our feet….all this year and half of effort, expense, and all for what…a BS loophole that obviously doesn’t have any bearing on our case as we’re both very educated, employable, and have earning potential far beyond what is required…We were extremely deflated.

Finally I recalled the I-864 and how you could declare your assets to offset the income level – so I mentioned it to him and he kind of perked up and said that definitely if we had financial assets that met the requirements we could provide proof of that and we’d be approved. So we were pretty happy…our petition just went from basically “denied” to “pending approval” So we asked him what dollar amount we needed etc and he typed up a letter stating what we needed to prove etc and gave it to us. We asked if we could provide account print outs and bring them back that day and he said we could and bring it to the Consulate and it would take about 7-10 business days to be reviewed and approved. So we rushed back to the hotel got all our accounts online and printed out all balances etc, copied them all and put them in an envelope and high-tailed it back to the Consulate. They took our docs at the front door and signed them in etc and we were done.

So now we wait...and hope to god that everything from here on in is smooth. I really think the guy felt genuinely bad that he had to follow the bureaucracy and deny us when it obviously shouldn’t have applied to us, but he had to do his job and we understood that. So now we’re in a spot where we’ve met the conditions he’d asked for and submitted the documentation to back it up and now we just wait….

So not the climactic ending to a horribly long and anxious process we were hoping for with the big rubber stamp saying “approved” did not happen…it was more of a lackluster hmmm….I guess we wait another 2 weeks to see if we’re good to go….so wait...wait…wait…we go…

A couple of observations…

The interview process is insanely overdone. To come all the way from Toronto (5 hour drive there and 5 hours back – 2 nights in a hotel, etc) is insane. We basically go through security, drop off our docs, pay the fee, and talk to the official for 10 minutes. All of this in my mind could be done via correspondence. The medical was never even opened from what I could see…they didn’t even want my X-rays. I lugged them all over the place and they never came out of the envelope. We were never questioned or asked to prove our relationship or any of that….I really don’t know what the purpose of the interview was.

People DON’T listen. Applicants are grown adults who can’t listen. Can’t read, and can’t follow simple instructions. Everyone talks about how rude or unhelpful the immigration officials are….if I worked there I’d be exactly the same way. People who are applying for immigrant visas were lined up directly behind the sign that said “non-immigrant visas” if you don’t know what kind of visa you are applying for….go home and read up. When the official says “go to the right” people instinctively turn left… There was this woman there who was wondering aimlessly all over the place – she’d go to one of the officials and ask where to go – they would tell her nicely where to go and point her in the right direction…she’d go the opposite direction. They told her to go to window 13 and she goes to the elevator…listen!!! If you have language issues – bring an interpreter. If you want to minimize the “attitude” you get from them….listen….read…observe…follow instructions!!! I can’t stress this enough. It was amazing watching these people do exactly the opposite of what they were told.

Take it easy….be patient…treat the immigration folks with respect. This one is self explanatory….I saw people there who strutted around like they were the most important people in the world and that the immigration people “owed” them something. This attitude will get you no where. Be polite, patient, and respectful and they will do the same to you.

Well guys that’s our story. Unfortunately it’s a work-in-progress instead of a completion, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed and let you all know when we get some good news!

Darryl

OK.... so I called MTL about half an hour ago. The usual 20 minutes on hold, then I was lucky enough NOT to get Mrs. Nasty. Interview will be in August. I give up. They keep changing the dates on me... she did however put a note in the file with "available on short notice" i.e. 24 hours, just in case.

Will call again in 2 weeks, and then again in another 2, and then I will go to West Edmonton Mall and start shooting badly dressed people (kidding).

Oh! and she repeated what we've heard b4: that people don't cancel, they just don't show up..... ARGHHHHH

will also post in Canada thread.

Lenina.

Hi Lenina and Martha

I found calling Montreal painful at times, because sometimes I'd have to wait so long, and second I never liked what they had to tell me until they told me my interview date.

If you've been following our thread, calling every 2 weeks is of little help. I've called them and they've said that they put a special enquiry into my file, and than when I call them the next month, I was stilll waiting for an interview. I really thought I'd get an interview notice in March for April, but I didn't end up getting a notice until mid-May for June 13th. That's less than 1 month notice, and I have to fly there from Vancouver!! So my routine calls in March and April were useless.

It wasn't until the help of Darryl and Colin Wilson on this thread that I revised my tactics. Please note that they only give out interview dates after the 15th of every month. So if you call them anytime before the 15th, it will be useless. The best time to call them is a day or two after the 15th.

So when I called them up shortly after April 15th, I talked to the lady on the phone and she told me I was still on the wait list. But knowing the information I learned from this site, I kindly asked her which applications are they scheduling interviews for. SHe informed me that there were scheduling interviews from Oct/Nov. So I caught her immediately and told her that I've been waiting since September 2006 (just like you Martha). She put me on hold and checked my file and when she came back on, she said she'd put an enquiry on my file. I thought an enquiry was put on my file after my March telephone call!! She assured me someone would look at my file.

I did call before the 15th of May to check that an enquiry was indeed performed on my file. They didn't have an interview date for me of course, but they told me somone has looked at my file and is aware of my wait and I'm still on the wait list. I asked her if I could/should be expecting an interview notice after the 15th. Of course, she couldn't comfirm, but that I could call back the following week. So when I called back the following week, they told me I had a date (finally). Ironically, on the same day as Colin Wilson.

You have to get someone on the phone who knows your situation and timeline. If they don't know you've been waiting all this time, sometimes they do "skip" over people like myself, Colin Wilson, and apparently Martha as well.

Honestly, if I didn't get an interview after the May notices, I was going to follow Colin's suit. He involved his Tennessee senator and the senator's office got him the interview date. I was going to ask the help from the more junior senator, as I figured the more senior well-established senator would have less time to help. I also would advise picking your senator, because they have specific forms and processes to handle immigration concerns. I'm not sure if Congressmen have these formal channels of communication with USCIS as well.

Martha, read carefully all of our experiences on this thread. Your interview should definitely be coming up in the June batch. HOw long do you plan on going for vacation? The only reason why I ask, is that you may find yourself to be in the situation as me. If I did not call Montreal (on May 16th) to find out I got an interview for June 13th, I would not have received the packet in the mail until May 24th (notiying me of my interview date) I think is when it came. That would have given me less than 3 weeks to scramble to make all the appointments before my interview.

I had to get my medical done and arrange for Tetanus and MMR boosters before my medical exam. The USA medical requires Tetanus and MMR boosters within the past 10 years, signed off by your physician or immunization record. Check with the doctor authorized to do the medical exam in your city. I know Colin did his medical in Calgary before he got his interview notice. Here in Vancouver, the office only needs proof of your MTL number, so any correspondence from the consulate would suffice. You also have to get 5 passport photos taken and filling out new DS-230 and I-864 forms for the interview. So if you have your tax returns for 2006 already, start working on those forms!! Also make sure you have your immunization records, as those can be difficult to get a hold of!!

Good luck to you both, and I hope all goes well.

Cheers,

Matt

IF your affidavit of support doesnt have the 1040 and W2 for 2006 bring them to the INTERVIEW!!! YOu will be asked for them, and this can save you a trip back to the embassy.

we just had our interview, all went well but we must go back to present these papers. SO to save fellow VJ members the hassel just have them ready, even if your interview was scheduled before tax filing period.

Peace

-shannon and cote

I wonder why this requirement... and also wonder if its worldwide.... if you bring transcripts that should be enough! This sounds weird but worth lookin into. Thanks for the info!!!

Yes, transcripts for 2006 are enough. If it is past the filing date, even if you filed an extension, you should have income verification available. If your filing isn't complete, bring your W2's and/or 1099's. Actually by early February we all have income verification for the last year, so they can ask for it.

This is weird - Bren did file his taxes but has NO income (only doing research), and, since we are in Canada, there are no W2s... does this also apply to our joint sponsor???? do tell!!!

Hi Len

We're in the same boat as you..... My wife is working in Canada for a Canadian company, but still filed a USA tax return for 2006. Because of the foreign tax credit, she didn't have to pay any USA taxes, just Canadian taxes. So we're gonna bring her Canadian and USA tax returns for 2006 with all slips from her USA derived investment income, and her Canaian employment income. We're gonna try and cover all our bases.

Matt

Thanks Tracy! Thats what I figured but wanted to make sure just in case they were weird about it. I'll fill out the PDF and bring that instead of the one I messed up.

Thanks again

Darryl

Hi Tracy and Darryl

First of all, congrats on your husband's successful interview!! That's great news......

Second, I don't remember getting an I-864 carbon copy in my Packet 3. Did you get one Colin? What is the purpose for the I-864? Is that the affidavit of support?? We sent that in with the original checklist if I recall....... Nevermind, I read the instructions and it says to bring an updated I-864 and DS-230. Duh!! Learn how to read the instructions Matt

Third, does anyone know what the process is ifwhen I applied for immigration, I was CR-1 status, but since than we've been married for over 2 years. Do I have to do anything to adjust to IR-1?? From what I've been reading, the Green Card is issued based on when I immigrate, not from when I applied. I should be issued an IR-1 right? I hope so, that will be one less headache to deal with.....

Matt

Hi Vita

Sorry for the delay in replying..... I've been out of town the last week or so. I submitted my checklist in end of September 2006 and I got my interview on June 13th. My timeline was very similar to Colin's. Note: we had a delay due tot he Adam Walsh Act that set things back about 2 months or so. If you applied after Jan. 25, 2007 than you don't have to worry about the Adam Walsh and you'd be looking at closer to 6-7 months.

Good luck!

Matt

CONGRATS COLIN!!! Maybe pushing your elected officials buttons actually works..... I am really happy for you!!!!!

Congrats Colin!!

I am glad your senator's office was able to help you out. You must be sooooo excited! Hopefully I'll be getting some good news soon too

Matt

Yes thank you all for your support, It made the daily wait, fly by ( well some what )

and by reading everything on this site, I am soooooo prepared ..

I cant wait for June 13th ( It Is not a Friday ha ha) I have a reservation across the street

from the Consolate, La Tour Centre Ville.

I wait every day for the Mail for the interview Letter (Takes 7 Days via Snail Mail Montreal - Calgary)

Thanks again for this great site and the great people that take the time to help...

Good Luck, To all that are still waiting for their dates..

Colin

Well ..!!!!!!!

Packet 4 Arrived by snail Mail to day May 14-2007 ( Interview Letter ) seven days accross Canada..

But I am relieved to actualy have it in hand..

Regards

Colin

Hello Fellow VJ'ers

So I finally have some exciting news to share with the group....... I couldn't wait til tomorrow and decided to call Montreal this afternoon. They informed me that I have my interview scheduled for June 13th as well!! I guess they decided to schedulde Colin and I together to get us out of their hair.

I immediately e-mailed them afterwards for confirmation that my interview is for June 13th. I wanted to see it in writing before I set up my travel plans...... $580 for a flight from Vancouver to Montreal.... sheesh! Oh well, it will be all worth it when this ordeal is all over. I am happy for you Tracy, that you finally got your letter. Yikes, my interview is less than a month away!!

I will now have to schedule the doctor's visit..... I hope I can get in relatively soon. Any Vancouverites in this thread have any idea on the wait times for scheduling the physical?? I guess I'll call his office tomorrow.

Colin: they told me an 8:30 AM interview time..... what about for you? It would be nice to see you in Montreal, since I've felt we've been going through this process together...... Like yourself, I check my mailbox every day in anticipation for that sacred Packet 4, just to be let down every day. I hope it will come sometime next week just to be certain.

Hip Hip Hooray, the wait is FINALLY over....

Matt

CONGRATS COLIN!!! Maybe pushing your elected officials buttons actually works..... I am really happy for you!!!!! :thumbs:

Congrats Colin!!

I am glad your senator's office was able to help you out. You must be sooooo excited! Hopefully I'll be getting some good news soon too

Matt

I got a call from my lawyer today informing me that the consulate here in Toronto is "unhappy" with our marriage license. I'm not entirely clear on what the problem is, but apparently they want one with more information on it. Our marriage license/certificate is a government document issued by the state of Texas and it is the ONLY type of marriage document they issue. I called the county clerk's office where it's filed to double check. There is no more information to give them. The license has a raised seal and is signed by the judge who married us. I really don't know what the problem is. Perhaps they think it's a fake or don't think they can verify that it really belongs to us?

Has anyone ever had issue come up? How did you handle it? It seems odd to me that the US consulate would have problems with a genuine marriage certificate from the state of Texas. Have they never seen one before?

Thanks,

Robin

Hi Starr

My wife and I were married in Harris County, Texas (Houston) and had a marriage certificate that was certified from the county clerk office. We left the original certificate in Texas and presented our certified copy to the consulate in Vancouver without any problems. Our marriage certificate has 2 sides, a front and back, and we made sure we provided copies of both sides of our certificate. We were married in a church, so we had the signature of the minister who married us. Like you, I don't remember signing the actual marriage certificate. We had to sign the marriage license, but it just has our names on the marriage certificate. Not sure why Toronto consulate doesn't like your document......

cheers,

matt

Woo hoo - just recieved the packet 4 from Montreal - so our interview is confirmed and we're ready to go. Packet 4 is like 13-14 pages of information most of it you'll already be aware of - security procedures at the COnsulate, medical information, what to bring etc. If anyone has any questions and wants me to elaborate let me know.

One thing that surprised me was that you need 5 passport sized pictures - 3 for the medical and 2 for the Consulate - $50 worth. I thought we'd only need 1-2.

So I'm now trying to get the medical booked and get that process underway.

5 weeks to go!

Darryl

congrats darryl on your interview date!! i'm gonna call montreal right now to find out what's going on with my application. hopefully mine is scheduled as well......

cheers,

matt

hello fellow VJ'ers

so i'm in a really sad state right now. i was really optimistic when i heard of darryl's news and hoped that my interview was scheduled as well. i just got off the phone with montreal and my interview still hasn't been scheduled yet.

the lady on the phone was nice, but she said that i was still waiting for a date. i asked her who are they scheduling now, and she said they were scheduling october/november applications now. i was miffed!! i politely told her that i've been waiting since september 2006!! she put me on hold and looked at my file. when she got back on the phone, she didn't know why i was still waiting.

i heard her typing a bunch of notes and she said she was asking for an enquiry on my file. i told her that's what i thought was done on march 20, 2007! i've been sitting here waiting patiently and now i've been skipped over!!

i'm sooooo frustrated right now...... i asked her when i should expect to hear from them, and they said they'd be in touch with me once they hear something. that's a bunch of BS....... i'm gonna keep on calling them every week til i get an answer. i'm so pissed. this whole process sucks!

good luck to those of you who do have their interviews. but the system has seriously let me down.

cheers,

matt

Woo hoo - just recieved the packet 4 from Montreal - so our interview is confirmed and we're ready to go. Packet 4 is like 13-14 pages of information most of it you'll already be aware of - security procedures at the COnsulate, medical information, what to bring etc. If anyone has any questions and wants me to elaborate let me know.

One thing that surprised me was that you need 5 passport sized pictures - 3 for the medical and 2 for the Consulate - $50 worth. I thought we'd only need 1-2.

So I'm now trying to get the medical booked and get that process underway.

5 weeks to go!

Darryl

congrats darryl on your interview date!! i'm gonna call montreal right now to find out what's going on with my application. hopefully mine is scheduled as well......

cheers,

matt

I am happy today. An no one is going to ruin that. Top it off with whipped cream: my boss is on vacation.... bliss.

WooHoo!!! Congrats on the forward movement, Dear!

ambientgirl, I *so* have to steal that avatar! Cool!

thanks y'all. This is really fabulous. Now, the ball is in their court - promise to keep my harassment to MTL to the minimum LOL

hi len and bren

i'm glad you had the "nice" person at montreal on the phone. some are nice, and as you may have experienced, some not so nice. i just want to make sure that you have a realistic expectation for the interview. there are a couple of regular VJ'ers on this site dealing with montreal (myself included) who have been waiting for montreal interview dates.

colin wilson sent his checklist in end of august 2006, and i sent my checklist in 3rd week of september 2006. neither of us have our interviews as of yet. you can follow our journey and frustrations in the montreal thread in the DCF forum.

i hope things will come around for you as soon as the lady said...... that would be very nice and fast!!

best of luck,

matt

Well i called Montreal today and my interview letter is being processed today and will be mailed by Thrus or Fri. It was never mailed on the 21st. I spoke to a very helpful person (rare at Montreal) and he explained that yes the interview was scheduled for 5/22 but they don't send the letter out that quickly sooooo it is supposed to be on its way by the end of this week. I guess we will see.....

Hi Tracy

Glad to hear everything is still on track for you. I know that sinking feeling when things seem to be going awry.

I think I'll follow suit as Darryl. I'll wait until the end of next week, and if I don't hear anything, I'll call and find out where I stand in the queue. I eagerly check my mail each and every day for the sacred letter!

Cheers,

Matt

Colin,

Hopefully thats good news and your interview will be booked this week or next. Are you going to call back this week/next week to find out or just hold tight and wait for the letter? Please let us know if you hear back from them!

Good luck

Darryl

Well thanks Darryl,

The Montreal Operator commented to me on the number of times I emailed them looking for an update on my interview. ( they did not respond to the last two)

But like I explained to her, it hell out here waiting with no information, she was very nice thou.

anyway I will update VJ with any info/ letter i get ..

good luck ( I know it we be soon)..

Colin

hello fellow VJ'ers

so i have an update as well..... acutally not much of one. upon the advice of tracy and others, i called montreal on wednesday to get more info over the phone. luckily, they didn't comment on the number of times i've e-mail'ed, and i try not to call them too much.

the lady on the phone was really nice and she said that they sent a "request for more info" to NVC on 3/20/07 and have not heard a reply back from them yet. so that's it!! still waiting, but she did mention that i should be getting my interview in may/june. i hope she's right!!

wish you all luck in your journey,

matt