acmanu

So seems like the ban is only for people who have been in India in past 14 days and spouses of US citizens are exempt. Anyways I am talking with my company to leave my job sooner rather than later to avoid any issues. Thank you!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-the-suspension-of-entry-as-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/

Hi Everyone 

Hopefully youre doing good. I have an approved IR1 visa in my passport and currently finishing my notice period at work which is around May 19. It seems like white house is announcing ban from travel from India and since I have an Indian passport (i haven't been to India in last 3 years), do you think this ban will affect me? 

Hoping to hear from people in similar situation. Thanks!

1 hour ago, RachaelMcCorm said:

My link was dead too...

The link didnt work for me either. You will get an email from Canadapost with your item tracking#. 

Received passport back today. So 8 days after interview and I am located in interior BC.

21 hours ago, Nishris said:

@acmanu were you able to proceed with the PCC or were you required to get statement of no criminal record from the Consulate. Even I need to get statement of no criminal record for purpose of K1 visa, any information and how to obtain the document from embassy would be helpful. TIA

Hi the PCC was sufficient for the interview. Thank you!

FYI - my status on CEAC shows Issued - Administrative Processing!

12 minutes ago, Tristan&Whit said:

How do you check status after the consulate interview? It seems the person who interviewed me circled the wrong link and I cannot seem to find the right info. Also when I try to pay the 220$ fee online for green card processing it continues to give me an error message. Anyone else having the same problem? 

Try the link below for status

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

The $220 fee is paid once you physically receive the visa and have to put a visa number in the website!

3 minutes ago, Balpreet said:

Hello everyone , my interview was on 22 march early morning . The interviewer gives me welcome letter and take my passport. From 23 march my status is issued but under administrative processing. No email for additional information till now  . Is that normal . Or i should do anything. Thanks

I think @Hawk Riders commented on this one saying if it is Issued - Administrative processing, the visa is approved. Someone had this question couple of weeks ago too. Good luck!

42 minutes ago, CanadaDude said:

Cool! I had wondered how many other people were having a similar situation with the border closure and all. Yeah, I think it's a good idea to reinforce that our spouses are visiting.

 

Hope the tax return hasn't been too painful? Sadly hubby has been up here so long he's now deemed resident of Canada and dealing with W-2 employment with the CRA is somewhat awkward lol.

Tax wasn't that big of an issue because my wife has been in Canada for less than 183 days and its was split between this and last year. Our accountant just required the W2's and did the rest for us. We have our interview on Monday and will let you know if the documents we submitted worked!

10 minutes ago, CanadaDude said:

So question (let me know if this should be another thread), my USC hubby has been staying in Canada with me as a visitor (I'm a PR), and has been working remotely for his US Employer (which is allowed in Canada per IRCC rules), but he has his house which he owns in the US, job, car/motorcycle registered in WA, and everything else. He has no ties to Canada aside from me but he's been up here for awhile and is awaiting a visitor extension. Do you think we are gonna have domicile issues with Montreal?

 

I was thinking providing evidence of his visitor extension application, proof of US job, home ownership, driver's license, bills and insurance paperwork. I would think we should be good, but I know Montreal are pretty strict. What are your thoughts?

 

Also because he's been up here in Canada, his tax filing for 2020 is gonna be...complicated. I'm hoping we'll get everything filed by the deadlines but it'll depend on our accountant. It might be likely our interview will be at the tail-end of May (after IRS Deadline) so I'm wondering if they're gonna need an updated Affidavit of Support with the 2020 Tax Transcript. Are we able to use a W-2 and paystubs in lieu of the transcript if it's not available yet?

We are in the same boat. Wife has been with me for last 5 months working remote in Canada. We are providing her current paystubs, rental agreement with her mom, bank statement showing her US address and for employer verification letter. We will also be taking her application to extend stay in Canada. I will be using terminology that she is visiting me and her current US address is her parents. Hopefully that works, but lets see someone on forum can give a better idea!

Edit - Also we filed 2020 taxes with IRS so will take W2 and the whole tax return aswell!

4 minutes ago, ArgiE0601 said:

Hello everyone! 

I had my interview this morning at Mar 22nd at 10:00am. The security let me in at exactly 10:00am, I was waiting outside 30min earlier just to make sure I'll be on time.

The security asked me some COVID-19 related questions then they scanned my stuff and have my phone and smart watch kept in a locker box. I was then directed to go up at the first floor to window 6.

A staff took my passport and provided me with a number and told me to have a seat and wait for my number to be called on the monitor.  After a few minutes, I was called at another window and asked for original documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, police clearance/s, and a passport photo. I was asked if I have the 2020 tax return, I told her my husband has not filed it yet and she said it's okay. She gave me the pamphlet and told me to go back to my seat.

I waited again for a few minutes and was called to a window for the interview. The lady was very nice to me, here are a few questions that I was asked:

If I read and understood the pamphlet regarding domestic violence.

When did you meet your husband?

Where does my husband live?

What does he do?

Countries I've visited in the last 5 years

My longest stay in the states

After that, she told me everything looks good and that my visa is approved. She told me they will be able to print it this week and possibly receive it by next week. I was there for about 1.5 hours. I feel so relieved! ☺️ Thank you all so much for posting your experiences in here. This group has really helped me with all my questions and made this lengthy process easier! Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any questions. ☺️

 

 

 

Congratulations! Just wondering if you ever changed the address on your police certificate and I-864? Thank you!

3 minutes ago, Tofu said:

Hi Acmanu,  If we decide to take a rental vehicle, we will be crossing via Pembina-Emerson. 

 

As far as covid testing in Regina goes, if you sign up for e-health, and use the drive through testing site, you can actually get your test results online within 24-48 hours.  ( I have been tested 3 times and the longest I've waited was 48 hours).  If you would like a rapid test look at the YQR website, as they have a link that will direct you.  Think it costs $200.  Alternatively, I think Haztech safety started doing them recently, but I could be mistaken. 

Thank you so much!

@VIR CHAMP - How did your interview go today?

Just now, Tofu said:

Hey Rachael, 

I called the border (north portal in sask), and was told that my parents would be deemed non-essential, so I'm the only one who would be allowed to cross. Couple options we've been toying with :  Certain rental companies will allow you to take one-way rentals cross border, so you may have to drive in a convoluted way, or take multiple rentals.. but it's an option.  Alternatively, you could have someone pick you up from the border - your parents would be denied but you would technically "walk" across the border. It is my understanding you can also drive your vehicle across without importing, but you will need to drive it back up within a certain time frame.

 

Hope this is helpful.  Maybe Buffalo - Fort Erie has different rules.

Hi 

We will be crossing via. North Portal aswell. Can you share your experience once you are done? Also can you tell us where did you get Covid testing done in Regina (I am assuming that's where you're travelling from) and how long did it take? 

Thank you!

1 minute ago, Prairiegirl3 said:

Yes they did. I forgot to mention that. They also gave me a welcome to American letter. He also kept reassuring me that everything else looks good. 

I think it should be fine then. They probably need to run more background checks. 

7 minutes ago, Prairiegirl3 said:

Congrats! 

 

Mine was also at 8:45, but unfortunately I can't give a similar happy update. 

 

I expected to be issued a 221(g) because I only had my medical done on Wednesday, but there were other issues as well. 

Officer asked the typical questions, but then he asked a series of somewhat unexpected ones: 

 

"Has your husband ever been turned away at the border?" "No"

"Has your husband ever had any issues with the border police?" "Noooo..."

"Not anything that happened this past year?" "Oh, yes. I didn't realize it was with the police. What happened was my husband had been living in Canada and was driving his truck back to the states this summer, as his study permit was about to expire. I was planning to fly down and meet him in the States. We didn't realize it was illegal to bring my stuff down before I would have my interview, and he got stopped at the border. As soon as we found out I cancelled my flights and didn't go down with him." 

"I understand. Your explanation makes sense. I'll just have to check into this." "Okay"

a few minutes of silence later, "So you weren't with your husband when this happened?" "No, I stayed here and was going to fly down."

 

"Hmm, that's strange." 

 

This is where I started to get nervous. It felt like he thought there was something else I wasn't telling him, or maybe the border police report had some different information. 

 

I'm really stressed out about this because honestly We had had another incident the previous year when we both drove up from Tennessee into Canada. I didn't bring it up because it only involved the Canadian border, and he didn't ask, but I'm so worried now that I should have said something because he will likely find out now. 

 

If anyone has any advice or words of wisdom, I'm all ears. I'm going to start looking into the Canadian immigration process now because honestly I think I will ultimately be refused. 

Did they keep your passport? 

8 minutes ago, RachaelMcCorm said:

 

Overnight was what I thought too. Thanks! Hopefully I can stop checking my email every 10 seconds😂

The last batch email came at 6:46 AM BC time so 9:46 AM eastern time. Atleast thats when I got email with my IL. Good luck! 

6 minutes ago, CrystalNeufeld said:

This may seem like a crazy question but can anyone share experiences at Dr. Cheema’s and doing lab work? 
my stepdaughter is 14 and recently had to have vaccinations and both times she fainted. The last time she started to visibly panic and my husband said it took the woman at the pharmacy about 15 minutes to calm her- they put a cold towel on her head, etc.

They have med exams coming up and we are a little worried about how awful her anxiety is going to be and how rushed things are. That and just her not knowing what to expect. Anything helps so that maybe it is less unknown for her and then I am just hopeful that they have good bedside manner, haha. Because she may have a panic attack faint in their office. 
 

I just had my exam last week, will post full review later. I went to Dr Cheema's office first and there he gave me shots for TTP, MMR and Flu shot. They asked me to sit in the reception for atleast 15 - 20 min to observe if there are any side effects and I believe they have staff there to deal with if something goes wrong and to take care until the ambulance arrives. But I had no side effects and went to life labs which is around 15 minutes drives on the same avenue. There the lady took out a blood sample which in my opinion was a bit painful and still have a rash on my arm from that. After that I drove to the X-Ray place where basically I had to take my shirt off and hug the machine to get my chest scan. Good thing is Dr Cheema's office will make reservations for you at the Lifelabs and the X-Ray place. 

My left arm was sore for couple of days from the blood draw but in all I had no complications from the vaccines. I hope this helps! 

21 minutes ago, Mzamour said:

Update:

I received my passport today at about noon.

Timeline:

Wednesday, Feb 17 - Interview

Wednesday,  Feb 17 - Issued (Necessary admin processing)

Thursday, Feb 18 - Issued (Final Processing)

Friday, Feb 19 - Tracking Number received

Monday, Feb 22 - Passport with original Canada PCC delivered home 

 

Note: I am a Canada PR with a different nationality and I have only lived in Canada for about 2.5years. Based on my experience,  I don't think it's standard practice that all PR holders are placed in administrative processing. Prior to this journey, I got a B1/B2 visa when I first moved here and I received the visa in regular time - No administrative processing.

I just thought to mention the above as I have read some comments here that it's practice that PR holders are subject to further checks. I hope this helps someone.

 

Thanks again everyone and Goodluck to us all in remaining part of our journeys.

That's amazing, I am in the same boat, Canadian PR and travelled to US a dozen time on B1/B2. Thank you for sharing the review, really appreciate it!

I hope everyone is having an amazing Friday. I am in process of collecting documents for our interview and have a question

My wife initially filed her 2019 taxes as singles because of our accountants suggestion but then we amended those and filed as married filed jointly and I also received and ITIN number. My wife requested tax transcript from IRS and when it arrived on Wednesday, it still shows her marital status as single, so I believe we cannot use it. So for interview purpose should I take the 1040 and the whole amended 2019 return with W2's OR should we work with IRS to reflect changes on the transcript? Thank you!

On 2/11/2021 at 10:51 AM, acmanu said:

I have another question from the group - I have a civil case pending in BC supreme court - basically I was involved in a fender bender in 2019 and the party sued me for damages in 2020. My insurance company is dealing with it, but I was wondering if I need to disclose anything to the CO during interview regarding this? As per my understanding they ask for previous convictions but since this is a civil matter I don't think there are any convocations but settlement for damage. Let me know if anyone has experience with this. Might good for FAQ's aswell.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this situation? Thank you!

I have another question from the group - I have a civil case pending in BC supreme court - basically I was involved in a fender bender in 2019 and the party sued me for damages in 2020. My insurance company is dealing with it, but I was wondering if I need to disclose anything to the CO during interview regarding this? As per my understanding they ask for previous convictions but since this is a civil matter I don't think there are any convocations but settlement for damage. Let me know if anyone has experience with this. Might good for FAQ's aswell.

3 minutes ago, SASAS said:

Yup that’s fine.  I had 4 people at my civil wedding and I had a large religious wedding and reception after. CO was fine with my husbands answer. 

Awesome thank you!