jstriders

Hello everyone. I received my SSN after 2 weeks in USA. Entered May 1st, SSN arrived May 15.
 
I heard about all the latest craziness with provincial borders. Good luck to all who still waiting. See you soon on the other side! ❤️ 

Hello everyone. I received my SSN after 2 weeks in USA. Entered May 1st, SSN arrived May 15.
 
I heard about all the latest craziness with provincial borders. Good luck to all who still waiting. See you soon on the other side! ❤️ 

Hello everyone. I received my SSN after 2 weeks in USA. Entered May 1st, SSN arrived May 15.
 
I heard about all the latest craziness with provincial borders. Good luck to all who still waiting. See you soon on the other side! ❤️ 

Hello everyone. I received my SSN after 2 weeks in USA. Entered May 1st, SSN arrived May 15.
 
I heard about all the latest craziness with provincial borders. Good luck to all who still waiting. See you soon on the other side! ❤️ 

Hello everyone. I received my SSN after 2 weeks in USA. Entered May 1st, SSN arrived May 15.
 
I heard about all the latest craziness with provincial borders. Good luck to all who still waiting. See you soon on the other side! ❤️ 

Had my interview this morning and was approved! It was about 90 minutes total. Lots of sitting around waiting. The questioning was minimal and only a couple minutes. I suggest talking to others in the room to help calm your nerves and make the time pass. We are all going through the same thing. 
 
I took the train from Toronto to Montreal. And taking it back to Toronto again. No issues with the travel restrictions. VIA Rail says they aren’t checking and it’s just up to the traveler to follow the rules.
 
Plus our travel is essential so I’m sure if you are driving and just show your papers you will be fine. 
 
I recommend staying at the Best Western nearby as it was less than 2 minute walk. Plus the hotel is familiar with the interviews and gave me a late checkout and also told me if I need to print anything last minute to let them know. 

This forum has been so helpful! And that spreadsheet was invaluable for helping me estimate my interview date and plan my travel back and forth to see my spouse. Thank you! 
 

 
 

Unfortunately I was put into AP at my interview this morning. 

Update:
Interview April 14th Approved
Visa arrived Richmond BC post office April 19th
Crossed at Peace Arch crossing April 20th
The Border people were very nice. I also imported my vehicle at the same time, which gave me about 1:15 minutes at the Border. There was pretty much nobody at the border crossing. Two other people came through secondary the entire time I was there and they have a big secondary.
My vehicle was a Jeep. The manufacturer emailed me a letter of compliance in one day. For a Jeep you can can get the recall info online with just your VIN. I also had the Bill of Sale. Vehicle was purchased new from Dealer in April 2020 and a copy of the check I wrote showing the Vehicle was paid in full.  No problems importing with those documents in hand.

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

POE - you just need that visa in your passport.  All the leg work has been done between USCIS and DOS.  CBP are activating your PR at that point, so there shouldn't be much interrogation. 
 
Can you please fill out your timeline, as requested previously?  Thanks

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

Hi All,
 
We have finally made it to the end of this leg of the journey.  Now we wait for 3 yrs to apply for citizenship.
 
Here is a summary of our key dates for those interested:
 

Started process: Jan 24, 2019
DQ date: May 29, 2020 
interview: February 22, 2021 
Visa received: March 1, 2021
crossed border: March 1, 2021
SSN card received: March 10, 2021(checked on DS260)
Green card received: April 15, 2021
 
Thank you to everyone who has provided information on this site!  I learned more here than from any other source including our lawyer.  I wish everyone on here a smooth and speedy process to the completion of their journeys! 

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

Visa in hand! Courier was delayed by one day, visa was issued April 15th.
They also returned original police clearance from my birth country, but not Canadian one. I do have a copy of it, but I was under impression that I should be getting original back. I hope it will not be an issue at the POE, which is planned for May 1st

I think at this point, it’s impossible to rely on the trends. Since they reopened it was super sporadic and unpredictable until September, our VJ members didn’t see much movement in October at all- then we had Nov 16, Dec 11, Jan 18, Feb 4, mar 12, Apr 9. They normally release mid-month but the Feb 4 batch and the April 9 batch have been really strange. I think we’ve seen all we are getting for IL this month- everyone thought we would get more in feb and we didn’t, and the embassy took almost two weeks off for Easter so who knows.
 
I have tried setting realistic goals based on trends, but what does it matter if there is no pattern anymore. I should’ve been in next months batch but now I’ll just consider myself lucky to get an interview by the end of July or August. I’m so tired of getting my hopes up- I’m miserable. It’s been 186 days since my DQ and 481 days since I saw my wife and it’s destroying 
Me. I can’t afford the hope anymore because the disappointment is too much. 

Well that was speedy. Issued and in final processing. Somehow the link they give to the tracking number is dead  (404)

So I was approved yesterday.
 
So what can I add to be helpful?
 
If you are seeing Dr Cheema for your medical you are going to Life Labs after your appointment with him  for a Blood AND Urine test. You need an appointment for this lab (no walkins currently) and fortunately Dr Cheema has reserved appointments and they will get you an appointment time for your lab work after your medical exam. You also need a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray is taken across the street from the lab so you can park and walk between the two. 
I had 45 minutes after leaving Dr Cheema's until my lab appointment and easily fit my chess x-ray in before my lab appointment.
I had my appointment with Dr Cheema on Tuesday Apr 6 and received an email Friday that my medical had been sent to Montreal. My interview was on Apr 14th and they had my results at my interview. No problems with that.
Dr Cheema will mail you a CD with your Chest x-ray image. This is just for your personal record and you should keep it as part of your medical history. 
 
My advice for your interview is just made sure the documents they ask for namely your Passport, Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Police Certificate, Certificate of Divorce (if needed) are NOT expired and are the right ones. Your Birth Certificate needs your parents names and their place of birth on it. I also had my wife's Birth Certificate (petitioner) which is on the list but was not asked for it.
They will ask you for a passport/immigration photo and will scan it. 
 
The Interview in Montreal was for lack of a better word relaxed.  The lady that interviewed me was very nice.
They will ask you how you met your spouse which will lead to other questions like how much have you seen each other how long did you date before you were married.
They will ask where you plan to live in the US.
They will ask what  you plan to do for work in the US.
We are retired.
My wife is the petitioner and moved back to the US in 2019 I just brought a print out of her 2019 1040 with schedules which was about a quarter inch thick because of the move from Canada back to the US in 2019. The lady just kept the first two pages of the 1040 and was totally fine with that. We have substantial assets and I had bank  statements etc uploaded to CEAC before my interview. I had a thick folder documenting our assets but was not asked for any of it.  She just looked over what I had already uploaded and was fine with that.
The interview took about 10 minutes in total.
 
Best of luck to everyone!

Hey all. Interview at 8:45 this morning and back in hotel at 10:00am. Approved.
And back in Vancouver now.
Will do a write up tomorrow AM. 

So I had my interview this morning, and my Son’s CRBA appointment yesterday! It was a breeze, the hardest part was trying to keep my 1 year old son entertained while we waited for his appointment. 
officers asked me:
when and where we met
when/where we got married
if we have children, when was our son born
my longest stay in the US- mine was from Nov 1-Jan 15 this year.
my husband address, my address, 
my husbands job, my profession. 
 
Very straightforward, took 1 hour 15 mins from the moment I walked in to the moment I left. Interview itself was 5 mins, and 5 mins while handing in documents. 
I was asked for my birth certificate my passport, police certificate, marriage certificate, and my husbands W2s from 2020 as his return just got filed yesterday. 
Every one was very nice, I had forgotten my sons sweater and hat at his interview and they had it waiting for me to grab when I came back in the next day. 
Overall a great experience. Stayed at the Hotel Europa Best Western. And it was a 3 min walk to the embassy. 
They said my Visa will be approved and back to me in 2-3 weeks

Thank you!
I am Canadian citizen. Initially with I-130, I did submitted my citizenship certificate and card, but was never asked for it at the interview.
Well, my passport is Canadian. I think this was enough for the interviewer.

An apology?  You'd better frame that one!  😁
 
CBP wouldn't touch mine, but USCIS fixed it when they mailed my green card.  So if CBP looks at you like you have 8 heads, don't stress.  It's simply a case of "not my job".  
 
Safe travels!

Got an apology letter from the consulate this morning for issuing the wrong visa class (Cr-1 instead of IR-1). They were able to update my digital vis package so the CBP agents should be able to issue the correct class! Crossing on Friday, fingers crossed.

Received last week, took just under two weeks. Picked up at CA Post👍