Z&D

I've watched for more than two years as my fellow January 2018 filers got approved.  Finally, today, "our" I-485 was approved.  I think they saved the best for last.  🙂  K-1 to Green Card = 3 years, 5 months, 20 days. 
 
And here's the best part = we're still madly in love!  I hope you all are, too.

Oh, congratulations! Yes, same boat, got the email at 8:30 that my passport was ready to be picked up! I am in St Catharines.

Just wanted to post a little update and say that my passport was ready for pickup at 9:20 this morning - quicker than the original expected date! I will be moving next weekend, so I'm very relieved that it came much quicker than 2 weeks  

Thanks so much!! I hope that all of your interviews go well too!! 

I also had my interview on the 11th at 7:30AM and was so nervous I felt nauseous the entire time, haha. I was asked for about 1/8th of the documentation I had brought, but I figure it was still good that I brought extra in case I was asked for it. My interview was about 3-4 minutes long, in which I was asked: 
 
1. How long have you and your fiance known each other and how frequently have you seen each other in the last year (we worked together for 4 of the 5 years he was in Canada, and I have seen him 9 times in the last year since he's moved back to Indiana, so she did not ask me much about our relationship beyond these two questions) 
2. Have you ever been arrested anywhere in the world?
3. Have you ever had trouble crossing the border? 
4. Do you have a date for your wedding? 
 
At the end she told me that my case was one of the simplest and strongest cases she has come across so she has no problem approving my visa. She wished me well and congratulated me and off I went! This morning I received an email from Canada Post saying that my passport had been collected and expected delivery date is Tuesday, September 17th. I live in Calgary, but I am sure it would be a similar shipping time frame most places in Canada. 

Hi,
For the birth certificate, I have actually had a certified translation of it my whole life, got it in my country of origin when I was 2 years old, lol. 
Translations do have to be certified to the best of my knowledge, for other documents I contacted certified translators in Ontario. For Ontario, check ATIO for translators, and for other provinces, check the Canadian Translators Council website.
I got all my non-English documents translated!
Hope that helps!

Hey all, sorry about the delay was just getting back home, also I think I have come down with a post-stress cold. 
 
@Buster & Hitch that's amazing! Really happy you got your medical in time!!!😀
 
I am going to echo everything @MarissaKyler said with their very succinct description😁🙏
 
A couple of add-ons... I had the 7:30 appointment (first slots for the day), and got to the consulate around 6:50 am and was third in line. Waited outside until 7:30 am chatting with the other wonderful people in line, and then we all went in one-by-one. I was also not born in Canada so bought original, translation and copies of my birth certificate! Questions I was asked were:
How did you two meet? Are your parents acquainted? How often do you meet? How many times have you met in the last year? Will this be both of your first marriage? What is the longest you have stayed in the United States? (after clarification this meant after 18 and not including my time as a student) When did you become a Canadian citizen? Do you have any wedding plans? What countries have you visited in the last five years? Overall - the experience was very good, the lady at the interview counter was so incredibly sweet, and the interview lasted 5 minutes MAX. I was not asked to show any evidence of a relationship or anything "extra" even though I basically brought a scrapbook with me. 
 
My only takeaways, where I was like "oh, I should remind people on visajourney about this" were:
please remember to bring proof of payment, if you paid by card when selecting the appointment - this could be the email they sent as confirmation of payment (the YATRIS one) please remember birth certificates, and original non-English birth certificates for people who may not have been born here or in a place where the official language is not English, as well as the translations - a couple of people in line mentioned that their lawyers had told them these were unnecessary 😣 for financial information - obviously bring all you can because interviews are so different case-by-case, but all they asked for on the day was the I-134 and for supporting documents the most recent tax information - they said tax return transcripts, but I gave in the 2018 form 1040 and a copy of the 2018 W2 and that was not an issue   
Also, just checked my CEAC status and it said "Issued". So incredibly grateful, thank you everyone for all your help over the last couple of months! Will let you guys know when I get my passport! Good luck to everyone who is yet to have their interview! 🙏

Mine says issued now too! 

Hey all, sorry about the delay was just getting back home, also I think I have come down with a post-stress cold. 
 
@Buster & Hitch that's amazing! Really happy you got your medical in time!!!😀
 
I am going to echo everything @MarissaKyler said with their very succinct description😁🙏
 
A couple of add-ons... I had the 7:30 appointment (first slots for the day), and got to the consulate around 6:50 am and was third in line. Waited outside until 7:30 am chatting with the other wonderful people in line, and then we all went in one-by-one. I was also not born in Canada so bought original, translation and copies of my birth certificate! Questions I was asked were:
How did you two meet? Are your parents acquainted? How often do you meet? How many times have you met in the last year? Will this be both of your first marriage? What is the longest you have stayed in the United States? (after clarification this meant after 18 and not including my time as a student) When did you become a Canadian citizen? Do you have any wedding plans? What countries have you visited in the last five years? Overall - the experience was very good, the lady at the interview counter was so incredibly sweet, and the interview lasted 5 minutes MAX. I was not asked to show any evidence of a relationship or anything "extra" even though I basically brought a scrapbook with me. 
 
My only takeaways, where I was like "oh, I should remind people on visajourney about this" were:
please remember to bring proof of payment, if you paid by card when selecting the appointment - this could be the email they sent as confirmation of payment (the YATRIS one) please remember birth certificates, and original non-English birth certificates for people who may not have been born here or in a place where the official language is not English, as well as the translations - a couple of people in line mentioned that their lawyers had told them these were unnecessary 😣 for financial information - obviously bring all you can because interviews are so different case-by-case, but all they asked for on the day was the I-134 and for supporting documents the most recent tax information - they said tax return transcripts, but I gave in the 2018 form 1040 and a copy of the 2018 W2 and that was not an issue   
Also, just checked my CEAC status and it said "Issued". So incredibly grateful, thank you everyone for all your help over the last couple of months! Will let you guys know when I get my passport! Good luck to everyone who is yet to have their interview! 🙏

congrats everyone!
 
sigh of relief for buster & hitch!

Actually I have some down time at the airport so here’s my experience from today!! 
 
My appointment was scheduled for 830 and I showed up to the consulate around 8. I expected there to be a long line based on what I read in other reviews but there was nobody outside and one other person had just gone in so I headed inside. 

The lady before security was friendly; took my passport and looked at the copy of my appointment confirmation. She put a sticker on my passport, handed me a laminated paper and told me to arrange my documents in that order and proceeded me to security. The security guards were alright. I tried to make conversation asking how their morning was going... they told me it had actually been a pretty quiet morning but didn’t really engage in anything more which was fine. 

After getting through security I headed down to the basement where I organized my documents in the requested order and then headed up to the 19th floor. I sat and waited for probably 30 minutes before I was called up to a first window. This woman was super nice and conversational, took my documentation (in a completely different order than the paper requested so I really don’t know what the point of doing that was...), and took my fingerprints. She opened my medical results and gave me back the CD of the X-ray for my own medical records. She confirmed addresses and phone numbers for both my fiancé and I and had me go back to take a seat. 

I waited for about an hour before I was called to another window for the actual interview. I was totally expecting some very official in-uniform immigration officer and was met with a very friendly looking woman not in uniform. This definitely put me at ease. 

She gave me back my birth certificate and had me take an oath as well as re- fingerprint my right hand (not sure if everyone had to do this or maybe my previous scan just wasn’t clear enough??) and asked me the following questions:

1) Will this be the first marriage for both you and your fiancé? (This was also asked at the first window so I guess she was just confirming..? 

2) How often do you two visit each other? 

3) Where does he live?

4) How did you meet? 

5) Do you have any wedding plans?

She then said she noticed I had previously had trouble crossing the border and that it had something to do with a boyfriend? I clarified and said that I had previously dated anther American and the border had stopped me and didn’t believe I would be coming back to Canada. They denied me and told me to go home and collect documentation to prove my ties to Canada, wait a few weeks and then try again. They ended up denying me again anyway. She asked what year that happened and I told her (it was almost 5 years ago), and then she asked if I had any problems crossing since. I said not at all. 

She then said “Alright! Well we are ready to go ahead and issue your visa! You should receive it within two weeks.” And passed me the pink “Welcome to the USA” paper! 

Overall it was a great experience and I was definitely WAY more nervous than I needed to be. Appointment time was 830 and I was leaving the building at 945! Much better than I expected and the interview itself lasted no more than 5 minutes long.
 
 
 
I also brought SO MUCH EVIDENCE of our relationship.... pictures, chat logs, notarized letters from family, travel documents, etc etc etc and they didn’t look at any of it lol of course right  I bet they would have asked for it though if I didn’t bring it hahaha 

Mine now says issued!

Just want to check if everyone else’s CEAC status says AP after getting approved yesterday? I think this is what it defaults to before they send it out... but want to confirm in case I need another reason to freak out. 

Thank you all! Had the interview today - approved! I will post a more detailed review later today but just a heads up - if you paid for the appointment in advance (like paid by credit card when selecting appointment date) make sure you have a printout of the email receipt! They ask to see proof of payment!

Approved!!!! 😁 🎉 

Me too! What time was your interview? I thought I might see you there!

Approved today too!! I’ll post a review on the consulate section when I get home later today. I couldn’t talk to anyone I just sat in silence with my nerves lol. Now we get to finally plan a wedding!!
 
edit: I did end up getting my medical results. I showed up in person and once I was there waiting they got it done pretty quickly. 

I’ll write more about the actual interview tonight or tomorrow ! 😁

thank you so much!!! Even if thats not the case you guys are making me feel so much better and I was about ready to have a panic attack so if nothing else thank you for calming my crazy self rn hahahah 

I think having copies + originals of things such as police check, birh certificate are more important than having the originals of the W2s. I could be wrong? Someone correct me if I am. But I’m 90% sure he can scan it and send it to you.

Hi Everyone, 
 
For those of you who already booked a hotel for October interviews, i noticed prices went down a little (at least with Marriott, I try to stay with them cause of points and I am a gold member from when I used to travel a lot for work)... anyway I cancelled my original reservation and rebooked at the better rate... saved just over 50 dollars with the new rate after taxes. 

Oh I forgot, on top of his salary he gets his military monthly retirement check, so bringing the pay stubs for that as well. His salary plus his retirement puts him way way over the minimum needed. So not too worried 

Hey similar to  @KenandBina I am bringing:
 
1. Tax returns for the last three years and W2s for this year
2. Letter of employment with his employment start date, his position, his salary and that it's a full-time permanent position, signed and dated by his manager (His manager also included six months of pay stubs to prove employment - feel like this last bit was unnecessary)
3. Letter from the bank stating when he opened the account, the total average balance over the last year, the current balance on the account, this letter is dated and signed by a bank manager
4. A list containing serial numbers and denominations of bonds
5. Since we could not get deposits made for the last year, my fiancé sent me a report with the monthly balance over the past twelve months. This isn't signed or dated. 
 
I have my interview on the 11th of this month, fingers crossed all goes well, I'll report back if there's anything said about the financial documents, and if the monthly balance printout is an okay substitute!

Hello everyone!
Doctor’s office called and said our medical package is ready for pick up? He didn’t even wait for my addtl vaccination that he said I was missing? Weird? Huhu So I don’t need it to be added anymore? Cause when I pick it up we are not allowed to open it right? 🤔

Just copies of the official documents (i.e., birth certificate, military records, etc.).
 
Ya'll are way overthinking this.