Ptitchou

41 minutes ago, Zaraliaya said:

BTW, you could do that if you're in the US, but if you're in Canada, and then go to the US with that intention it's fraud. So....

Yeah, I know. I'm presently in the US... But I will be returning to Canada. It's just not practical or realistic for me not to, despite how much I want to just stay. 

1 hour ago, murrv said:

Hi, what do you mean switching to AOS?

I mean abandoning my CR-1 application and filing for Adjustment of Status from within the US. I wouldn't be able to work or return to Canada during that time. 

That was a waste of time watching it. Someone should just transcribe it so others can read quickly and just see that it's more of the same. I appreciate that they're acknowledging our existence, but I'm so beyond disheartened now as this tells us that there's definitely no resumption of interviews any time soon. The mental health of both my husband and myself are suffering (as are many of you out there) but I don't know what other options we realistically have. Some people are switching to AOS but I have too many ties and a career that I am not able to just up and leave yet without proper preparation. I need to be able to return to Canada in case of family emergency with ageing parents, so we went the CR-1 route.

The only silver lining in this for me is knowing by the time I finally get my visa, it'll automatically be the 10 year one since it'll have passed our 2 year anniversary. 

1 hour ago, Bobnrob said:

Why don't you guys get married in Canada, then start the process. Without a 90 day marriage visa in the states you taking a risk... We went through the same thought process

The Canadian government is not allowing fiances into the country under the travel ban exemptions.

Last year I went to visit my partner in the US to get married. I had a return ticket for 10 days' stay. As I went through on Nexus, I did not need to disclose that I was getting married but had I been asked the purpose of my visit, I would've simply said that I was visiting my partner for 10 days and been sure to have evidence of my ties to Canada and intention to return. Don't offer more than you're asked. 

Going to the US to get married is not illegal. Intended to get married and then stay to adjust status is considered fraud, so just be sure you've got proof of return and you'll be fine. 

Congrats!

The article you posted says, "Travelers visiting Chicago from listed states also are subject to the order if they are staying longer than a day." That sounds like it should be okay to pick her up at the airport as long as you're not staying. 

In some places, CR-1 visas are not being processed still either, despite being called mission critical in the EO. I hope we all get to be with our spouses again soon, but it doesn't seem that "mission critical" actually means anything. 

49 minutes ago, Ver&S said:

Yes, Montreal has been hit harder, but I live here and my whole department at work is back to normal (with precautions) and we are not remotely close to essential. We did our reopening in phases and by mid July we reached the point where everyone could be back in. Of course if you can tele-work, that's encouraged.

 

Moreover none of the embassies-consulates are open in Canada, independently of local conditions. What I have heard (this is a rumor so take it with a grain of salt) is that the majority of the US staff left Canada in March when measures started to be put in place and they haven't returned back to Canada yet (for whatever reason). I heard this from someone who knows a person with an interview at Montreal, and they said there appeared only one person was working (the interviewer) in the whole place...

"For whatever reason" is very likely the border closure. If they're not inside Canada already, it'll be up to the Canadian government to determine whether or not they're exempted from the border closure.

It shouldn't make any difference. When they ask for your social media identifiers, they ask for everything over the last 5 years, whether or not the accounts were deactivated or deleted. 

11 hours ago, :Sarah: said:

I heard they're doing administrative processing spousal visas for now who've had their interviews already. I'm sure your turn will come soon since it's mission critical.

Interesting. I guess it's only the people who already had their cases sent from NVC, which makes sense. Mine is still sitting at NVC because Montreal isn't accepting cases for interview from them yet, apparently. 

7 hours ago, :Sarah: said:

spousal visas are considered mission critical not K1.

Right, but they haven't been doing spousal visa interviews either.

We've contacted Senator Casey in PA. Only just heard back from his rep today, so my husband will have to follow up with him by phone. Not expecting anything to come out of it, but I just needed to do *something*. 

16 minutes ago, Akaur said:

Getting impatient now.......

So much for spousal visas being mission critical. That obviously means nothing. 

17 minutes ago, Alexag said:

honestly!! even if they’re not planning to open for another month or whatever it’d be nice to not be blindly waiting 

Agreed. The lack of communication from Montreal at normal times is already the worst. It feels almost inhumane to leave people hanging so badly for so long. 

1 hour ago, DGF said:

Call me pessimistic but I think their use of the word "may" means we'll be hearing absolutely nothing. It'll be a nice surprise if we do. 

I'm in the same boat as you. Montreal is notorious for their long delays and lack of communication. You can't reach them by phone, the website is never updated, and their social media account just posts fluff stories. Someone had said they did manage to talk to someone at Montreal (only because the consulate called them first) and they were told they're in Phase 1 of reopening, which means their staff are only processing emergency cases and staff has returned at only 40% of previous capacity. I want to be hopeful, but I'm tired (as we all are). 

Someone in the Montreal private thread group said they spoke to someone today at Montreal. They're in Phase 1 of reopening, which means only "life & death emergencies" are getting processed and only 40% of staff have been brought back. 

Montreal already had a 5-6 month wait for CR-1 visa interviews before covid. I suspect we're not going to get scheduled for this year. 

12 hours ago, Hawk Riders said:

check back into the private message group you left a few months ago...

Can you add me to this? As well as the spreadsheet. DQ'ed May 22. 

On 7/1/2020 at 6:18 AM, Dobbie said:

When people suggest a year long border closure, it really does a number on my mental health...surely that's not feasible whatsoever?

I am feeling the same. But I think it is unfortunately feasible. The US covid cases are spiralling out of control and we're now seeing an average for 50, 000 cases per day. I'm starting to wish we'd applied for his Canadian pr instead. 

In the same boat. DQ May 22, 2020. Awaiting Montreal consulate (which already had at 6 month wait list for an appointment before Covid). I don't understand what "mission critical" is even supposed to mean at this point, since it seems our CR-1s/IR-1s aren't getting priority anyway. 

7 hours ago, Romans13 said:

Ok. Seems like according to ceac website; ours is still at nvc, albeit we were DQ late Dec. 

Ugh, that's disheartening. We got DQ in May and our case is still at NVC. This gives me very little hope that I'll even get scheduled for this year at all. 

21 hours ago, Alexag said:

Hi! I’m also waiting on Montreal. So in the email they told you that montreal needs to enter phase 3 for them to reopen? I’ve tried sending emails but I only get the generic response. 

I'm also only getting the generic auto-reply. 

What's confusing is that their website says: 

"Embassies and consulates have canceled all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 20, 2020, but will continue to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services as resources and local conditions allow. We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time." 

So if CR1 visas are in the EO exemption as being "mission-critical", why aren't we being scheduled yet? 

Also waiting on Montreal. It's disheartening when it was already taking 5-6 months from DQ to interview in Montreal in normal times. I don't even want to think about how long this is going to be backlogged now. 

Does anyone have an example of a letter describing this situation for contacting their senator or congressman? I'd like to know how best we should phrase this. 

DQ on May 22, also awaiting next steps. Not sure which senator or representative to contact in PA though. Seems we have several?

We got DQ on May 22, but interview is Montreal, which already had a 6 month wait before the closure so... yeah, it'll be a while.

There are many threads on this issue. It's their crappy server. Try again late at night when it's less busy and you may have better luck.