Lois K

Hi all! I've been following all "V" versions of this thread from way back before COVID and all the delays since. Haven't posted in a while because our journey moved on from immigration to citizenship. But for whoever else needs to hear it. We did it. Every hurdle, every delay, every minute piece of paperwork to get exactly right. We made it through the whole process and as of last week hubby is finally a US citizen. Good luck to everyone else in their journeys! You'll get there too!

Quick update to say I was able to continue browsing, updating and posting. Exited Chrome. Came back, logged in again. Still working.

Hubby has his interview/test Monday at the Portland Oregon USCIS office which is about two hours from home. Looking at the reports here in VJ related to Portland, it looks 50/50 whether or not he gets sworn in same day or not. I enjoyed seeing that some people got sworn in on leap day this year, that will be a fun anniversary for them. If hubby is sworn in on Monday, it will be April Fools day and that's kinda hilarious to us.

I didn't go up for his biometrics exam, but I'm coming Monday, just in case there is a ceremony to attend! He's a native English speaker from Canada so we're not worried about that part. He's been studying the civics and should be good to go there too. Paperwork is all organized and ready to go. The main worry will be managing the nervousness, and that gets a lot of us, I know.

I will hopefully be back with good news for the VJ community soon! 

On 3/23/2024 at 8:19 PM, Captain Ewok said:

Has anyone seen these messages recently?

It was happening to me for a month or so, couldn't log in at all, including today. I inadvertantly found this thread by searching on the scary message and then *not* logging in while reading the thread. Sadly, none of the suggestions here helped (clearing cookies, using my phone, different browsers, etc.) I couldn't even post here about it to tell you.

For me the solution was to use the Reset Password feature and break my normal login method (via my Google account) and set my login to a username/password style login. So far I've been able to stay connected for at least six screens. However, if it kicks me out later, I don't know when/how I'll be able to log in to tell you about it.

If others are finding this thread, but can't log in at all (like me), they might not be able to post here to tell you it's not working for them.

On 1/16/2021 at 9:50 AM, Dbrennan said:

My husbands work is being so tricky with insurance, I might not even be able to get added until the end of the year because apparently moving to America isn’t a big enough “life altering event” to be added to his insurance 

Echoing @jackanddeona it isn't the move, it's the loss of previous insurance. Mine lost his insurance as soon as he activated his visa at POE. Here's a basic overview from WikiHow (read Method 2),"The United States government has made it law that health insurance companies must allow a special enrollment period when qualifying life events have occurred. These life events can include getting married and losing other insurance coverage (among other things).")

6 hours ago, Sparkie said:

Reading the USCIS site, it seems like once you fulfill the NVC requirements it should have been sent to the consulate, but it says it's still at NVC.

Yes, except there is a waiting step. Once you are at the DQ stage, the NVC is holding your information until the consulate tells them they have available interview slots. NVC doesn't send your info to the consulate until they can schedule the interview. That's why although you are ready for the consulate/interview step, your information has not been sent over yet. 

1 hour ago, Dbrennan said:

So strange! I would have much rather gotten my SSN so I can get added to my husbands bank account, apply for credit card, get health insurance etc. hopefully it comes soon though!

I was able to add my husband to my insurance. It's insurance through work. HR had to tell them why he had no SSN yet and the company overrode the SSN requirement. So he has been added and I already have cards for him. In fact, thanks for the reminder that I need to give them his SSN now that we have it! 

13 minutes ago, Dbrennan said:

Hi everyone! 
just checked my mailbox and found my green card in there, 13 days after my border crossing. Still no SSN though 

Congrats!

Watching you and others receiving documentation makes me wonder what the backend processes are that drive this, how do our paths and timelines diverge so much. For example, my hubby crossed the day before you, got his SSN 10 days after crossing, but has no GC yet. 

Hiya!

This FAQ has some info and a link to another thread that might help you. Scroll down to Prepping For Move. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k927pE5wqzTN5n0lPYZ1JQxgbmnzmNWX5hSteyii0BY/edit

(The FAQ came from this thread https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/748289-ir-1cr-1-montreal-dqd-private-message-group-goes-public/)

Hiya! Come join this thread where we are all chatting about our Montreal interviews all the time.

As we approach 200 pages, which I understand is the max for a thread, I'd like for this thread not just peter out, but end with purpose by including a link to the awesome FAQ (and of course a link to the new thread where we'll want to keep talking). We've posted 1800+ times in this thread and the info throughout has been incredibly useful, albeit challenging to search through. That FAQ has been key. For the sake of future VJers who jump to the end of a thread hoping for a summary, I suggest we provide the FAQ. 

SS card received Monday! It has a typo though, missing final letter of middle name. Still waiting on GC

1 hour ago, Nikasalts said:

Do you mind sharing where he had his medical? I'm in Vancouver

I meant greater mainland area, sorry. So it would be Dr Cheema in Surrey. That's the only option there.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MTL-Montreal.html#med_exam_instructions

3 hours ago, HRubin said:

Those that are waiting for passport to be returned- has there really been no action for anyone since the Dec. 9 interviews? My husbands interview is next Wednesday and we are trying to plan how long he will be waiting in Montreal after the interview for his passport. I’m hoping this isn’t true but not surprised if it is.

 

As noted, very dependent on other factors. My hubby had his medical in BC, interview in Montreal on Dec 14, passport back in hand Dec 22. 

9 hours ago, CGs_Mother said:

Hi - this looks like the most recent thread about this. From the spreadsheet, it looks like interviews are currently 8 months behind DQ. (I'm on the spreadsheet.) Are they continuing interviews during Quebec's lockdown or are those of us who were DQ'd last summer going to be waiting even longer now? Does anyone have any news? Thanks. 

I recommend this thread for continual updates:

We had the medical with Cheema on Dec 2, also electronically sent, and arrived in time for today's interview. Granted hubby is from the Vancouver area so this was actually more convenient than the doctors in the Montreal area. So sorry to hear about the 221gs. My empathy goes out to you, it's such a long journey and to have yet another hold up is rough. 

How am I supposed to sleep? His interview is in 5.5 hours! 🤪 

Separate note, hubby has comments about his experience with Dr Cheema, mostly process and parking. But I don't see one specific thread about the medical stuff, there are lots of threads, and lots of comments woven into other threads, like in this one for example. If a main thread exists, point me to it, please. If it doesn't, may I suggest that, much like the consulate review thread, it would be nice to have a consolidated place for VJ'ers to post notes about the medical providers. 

@legendqueue and @Kipalope

The previous answer applies if you're already in Canada. If you're flying in from out of country, you do still have to quarantine. My husband was visiting me in the U.S. He had to return, quarantine for two weeks, then do his medical, and will fly to Montreal (no quarantine) for his interview (Monday).

On 12/8/2020 at 3:35 PM, Lovepeace0303 said:

Haha my husband is interviewing as well (prob just as nervous). I’ve heard they don’t even ask for proof of relationship apart from the main original documents. I’m sure it’s going to be fine! Hope it’s approvals and good news for the both of us on Monday. Good luck! 🙏🏽😊

@Lovepeace0303 and @Atyree9, well look at that, it's us three on Dec 14, and we'll all have nervous Canadian hubbies there. Good luck to you both! I can't believe it's almost here! Are yours crossing the border before Christmas? Mine is staying in Canada with his family to enjoy a long holiday before he returns here, since future visits will likely require more quarantine time. I'll get him here Jan 1 or 2!

Thank you @mam521 and @Dbrennan! If the expiry date is not a concern, then the remaining concern is that @Lovenature was asked for an updated I-864. Is that something we should expect to happen to us?

I didn't realize I-864s had expirations. I see ours are marked "Expires 3/31/2020" though we just submitted them in February 2020. What I'm reading here leads me to wonder if we need new ones. 

More context - I'm the petitioner, my previous job ended and I was about to start a new job when we submitted the forms, so we submitted my offer letter as part of my proof of income, but since I wasn't actually working at the time we completed the forms, we couldn't claim any current income, so we also secured a joint sponsor, my dad. Dad lives with my mom. That means we have two I-864s (myself and Dad), and one I-864a (Mom, as Dad's household member). Their forms use their 2018 tax info, as they hadn't done their 2019 taxes yet. My form uses my 2019 tax info. All forms say "Expires 3/31/2020". Since receiving our interview letter, we've updated CEAC with 2019 tax transcripts for (Dad and Mom), 2019's 1099s (Dad and Mom), and my last three months of paychecks at the new job to show my current income. If we submit an updated I-864, we would no longer require a joint sponsor.

• Is it safe to change sponsorship at this point?
• As much as I dislike doing even more paperwork, I am all for the 'better safe than sorry' approach of doing new forms. But what is safer: Continued request for a joint sponsor that is not actually needed, or showing up to the interview with a shift in our sponsorship arrangements? 
• Do we need to call the consulate? Do you get reliable answers when you call?
• Anyone have any related experience or suggestions?

On 11/21/2020 at 12:04 AM, Atyree9 said:

We emailed on Monday and got an appointment for today. Apparently they were extremely busy, so they’re probably booked up. I’d just email again because they don’t schedule via phone.

Thank you for the note that yours was scheduled quickly. We emailed Dr Cheema's office again. We were told that hubby's email from last week ended up in their spam folder, so today's contact was the first they'd heard of us. That's a bit worrisome considering it's a regular gmail account. But, luckily all went smoothly today and hubby is now scheduled for his medical on Dec 2, his first day out of quarantine.