Cantwait2gethome

My husband immigrated around christmas time in '07. Our plant certificate only cost us $11. I was able to list as many as I wanted, so on that certificate I brought back 6 houseplants. For me, the $11 was well worth the emotional ties I had with the plants....I had brought them with me when I had immigrated to Canada. Besides, I know around here, a 4" starter plant can easily run around $8 -10 and the plants are brought were at least 15 years worth of growth. Now mind you, we lived in Ontario, so I am not sure what other provinces charge.

Quick question.....my husband landed in early November, we still have not received my hubbies greencard and I am just wondering if anyone has the information of where I can check online to see if they have sent it, or if someone has a number he can call to inquire on it. I have tried to find information but not finding much.

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone ! Hope everyone has a great new year!!

Here is our poe experience :

We loaded up our 17ft U-Haul with all of our wordly possessions. We made it to the Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing around 2pm on December 17. I drove the truck and my husband drove our car. When I got to the officer, I politely told her that I was moving back to the United States after living in Canada for 2 years. I handed over my passport and list of goods in the truck. She scanned over the list and asked if I had any pets I was bringing in. I informed her I had 2 cats and 1 dog (explained that I the dog is over 10years old and I had him way before I moved to Canada, and that he came with me when I landed as permanent resident in Canada). She asked if I had any pet food or treats of any kind. I said that I didnt have any, that I planned on feeding them when we took our dinner stop. She then asked if I had any live plants. I told her I had 3 and that I had my plant certificates. She then said that I would need to go in to agriculture due to the plants because sometimes they want to check the plants themselves. I told her I understood. She then asked if I had any questions, and then I explained that my husband was in the car behind and that he had activitated his visa but was landing today. She said no problem, I'll take care of him while you quickly run into agriculture. I was not to worried with her comment as she was extremely nice to me (she actually laughed and smiled a few times).

So in I go to Agriculture....The officer waited for me to gather my belongings and certificates out of my truck. He walked me up to the door where an officer from Agriculture was waiting for me. She greeted me warmly and then instructed me where to go. At the counter I handed over my detailed list of goods in the truck, plant certificates and pet registrations.(She asked for all 3 of them). She then asked me if my cats were loose in the truck. I chuckled and said "No they arent, if they were I would be bonkers by now". The officer laughed and said, "yeah it would be a bit hard to drive like that". She asked me if I had a problem with her checking out the items in my truck. I said no and explained where my keys were to get into the back of the truck and also informed her that my husband was landing also with me and that he may be parked next to me. She was out there maybe a total of 5 min. When she came back in she asked me what type of car I drived, and I proceeded to tell her. She giggled and said that she felt like someone was watching her.(I was like oh no ) She then said she doesnt see many well prepared documents and landings, and then she thanked me!! She then said "welcome back home to the United States of America" and sent me on my way.

Now for my husbands part.....when he drove up he handed over his passport. The officer again asked if he had any food in the vehicle. He told her what household food he had, and the liquor. He explained that we did not carry any pet food with us. She then instructed my husband to pull off to the side (opposite of where people get pulled over for inspection). He then asked the officer if she needed any of the vehicle paperwork. She asked him if he was importing it today and he said no. She then told him he will take those in when he is ready to import the vehicle. And then she sent him on his way.

My husband did say that the when the officer was checking the truck, all she did was open the back, peer around it, and then closed it. We both feel she was probably checking to make sure we were not bringing in pet food. In all common sense, most people would put the food in a very accessible area if they were not aware of the ban on pet food. We truely feel this is all she was checking for.

So all in all, every officer that we encountered in our landing was very friendly and polite. My husband even commented on how nice and friendly the officer was to him. I felt a huge rock lifted off my shoulders once we both were on the road again...................

I know from my personal experience (I am the US citizen) immigrating to Canada was very very easy. Granted, my husband remained in Canada and I returned to the US while we filed my packet. The longest part for us was gathering the important documents(all in all my fingerprints from the FBI took the longest to get). From the date that my husband sent in the first packet to the day I arrived in Canada as a permanent resident took a little under 3 months. To me, that was not to horrible, considering I was still able to come to Canada and visit my husband while my immigration packet was being processed. I would have to say the big difference in immigration processes would be:

1)Canada liked to see proof of our relationship (pictures, emails, phone bills, travel proof -- border stamps, airline ticket stubs, joint lease, cards to one/or both of us,etc) where US wanted just the basic forms (wedding certficate). Now I am not sure if that kind of proof is needed for K-1 because we filed IR-1.

2)While packet is pending, Canada let me enter with no hassles, whereas my husband could not enter while the immigration packet was in process.

3)For Canada immigration, we never had to have a single interview of any sort, for the US, we had 2 interviews.

4)My Canadian immigration packet weighed a fair amount ( i had 2 accordion folders filled with paperwork), US immigration packet fit into one folder, hehe.

If anyone has any questions, I will be more than happy to help where I can. Just a note , I did file OUT of Canada packet not INSIDE Canada packet. I do know from the board I was on at the time, things are a bit different depending on which route you do file for Canadian Immigration (ei time frames, proof of relation, etc.)

Now....for Vancouver! My husband was born and raised in British Columbia, so for him, it was like a child in a candy store when he took me back home! I absolutely loved B.C. I did a lot of first's while I was there. First airplane flight, first time to ride a skytrain,seabus,ferry,electric bus(although not toooo much different from a regular bus). We went in the beginning of April, and the weather was perfect. We were there for 3 weeks, and it only rained 2 days outta the whole stretch, got very lucky My favorite time was going to the island. We took a drive up into the mountains, and boy was is it beautiful. I remember standing and just looking up and seeing snow on the trees at the very very top and the looking at the trees right in front of me with no snow. My husband took me to several different waterfalls, the hotsprings (I actually sat in a hotspring pool. Talk about relaxation at its finest!) We also went to the pacific ocean. All in all, I would have loved the chance to live there, but "other" things prevented our decision to move there. If anyone gets the chance to go and visit, I would highly suggest it. We only did about 1/3 of the things on my husbands list of places to go/and see. LOL.

In my view, you have EVERY right to inform your husband by any way necessary. Cause you know what, the first time you didnt let him know, that would be the time that it would backfire horribly. For a good relationship, there has to be communication. Your husband has the right to know what is going on. If I were you, I would not stop doing what your doing.

Heck, when my hubbie and I lived apart, we use to flood each others mailboxes hehe. But I truely feel that is what helped us be the strong couple we are today.

It sounds like your brother in law is very spiteful (even with his mental illness). Could it possibly be some jealousy lashing out? You had mentioned that you are planning a May wedding.....maybe your bro in law doesnt like you and your husband having a some special attention for the wedding(hence the email about a dj from MIL). There defientely is no excuse anyone can munster up that would justify his actions. He is just down right mean and vindictive(to lash out a child).

One thing is certain, you didnt have to say much for this community to see that the environment your surrounded with right now is not a healthy or productive one. I dont know you and you dont know me, but I will keep your family in my prayers that you do get your apartment in december!

My warmest wishes go out to you Sprailenes! It is definetely is hard when people let their feelings fester and then just explode out at you when you least expect it. It is nice to see a parent caring for their child the way you are (so many in the world today have lost the parenting values).

I would highly suggest that IF moving back to would be the only resort, please check out Canadian Immigration. When my husband and I first got married, we thought it would be fairly simple. Get married, pack and move to Canada. Not so easy. The immigration packet is very straight forward and easy to fill out, but there are big differences between filing in Canada and out of Canada. One thing to keep in mind, if he moves here with you and you file in Canada, it would be quite some time before he would be able to legally work. When we did my packet, we were looking at close to a year without legal right to work(now granted time frame may have changed, so that would be something to look at). When we looked at the big picture, a year with no income from me would have been tight for us, let alone me going bonkers just sitting around

I hope for your sake that you do find an apartment and are able to finish your immigration there in the states. Your family's happiness and safety is the important factor. I have been in a similiar situation with my ex-husband. I was so relieved and joyous when we finally bought our home. Living with in-laws, especially ones that 1)are not very nice and 2)one that no matter what, their immediate family never do anything wrong .....is extremely difficult to live with. I can truely feel for you and pray that you find a solution, and fast. When life tosses challenges/hurdles at us, it usually has a reason as to why, although we may not understand why at the time.

Best I can do for you right now

Hang tight Sprailene, your path just hit a slight a curve. Ride with it and it will straighten out for you :energetic:

We finally have things in motion. Our moving date is December 18!!

This week has been very busy for us.

After calling around, we booked our truck with U-Haul, it is going to run us around $700 (included almost 900 free miles and 4 days rental of the truck) to go from Niagara Falls area to Illinois. Due to the fact that it was a one rental, the dealers here stated I would have to come in person to fill out the contract. In a sense, I am very thankful that they had us come to fill in the contract. The first lot we went to had poor looking trucks on the lot. After reading some of the horror stories, we decided to try a different dealer. The second one we went to, we booked with. The trucks on this dealers lot were all newer models(not a single one has rust on it , lol). The gentleman stated that he keeps 2 stocks on his lot, one for locals and one for one-ways, so I wouldnt have to worry about having a truck on my moving date. (we shall wait and see !) We put in an extra day just in case we have any problems.

Today I also put in my resignation at my job. It was very hard and a bit emotional . I really enjoy working for the company that I am working for (have superb managers), but there is nothing like home.

So now we are starting to do all the fun work

As of today, we have :

Changed address with bank, past and present employers(for tax slips),gave notice with our apartment manager, set up an RBC Centura account, notified montly bills of new address (credit cards,cable,etc), have disconnection date set up for utilities and cable, in process of getting insurance letter (for car insurance), have complience letter (even though car is not in complience for emissions)for car, in process of getting dog and our 2 cats vet records, started job hunting process, and have notified memberships of moving date.

Is there anything (besides packing boxes )that I have overlooked ? I know first hand that if you forget something after you move, its heck getting it changed. I have had so much happen this past week that I feel like I am missing something and cant quite put my finger on it. We have set the weekend of the 14th as clean up the apartment and get prepared to pack the truck weekend

Any input would be much appreciated!

So in less than a month, I will be able to finally say.......I am home !

Well after going round and round between Vintage Vehicle/Canada GM/US GM/US dealerships, finally got some progress today!

The gentleman I spoke with today at Vintage was finally of some help . He stated that for the most part US and Canadian cars are made pretty much identical except for (he quoted the differences here) and the emissions. He stated that for my particular make and model, that when canadian gas companies were allowed to additives to their gas that it changed the emission control systems, and because of the additive change, the check engine light doesnt come on as quickly as cars in the US , therefor it would not pick up any problems until it was almost to late. He said that all I will have to do is get it recalibrated to meet the US standards.

When explaining everything I have been through and reading others experiences, I told him I was leary of taking the car into the US. He explained that so long as I have my letter from GM with the letter head, that I would be able to drive my car into the US. He said that the border is mainly wanting to see that letter (to show proof that owner is aware that it cannot be titled and licensed until changes are made), that many of them are aware that cars need to be brought into states to be brought up to complience(depending on what state you live in, there could be other minor factors). I know when we activated hubbies visa, the officer there did state so long as we had letter from manufacturer that we could bring car in but we would have time frame to bring it into complience.

The agent said all I will need to do is show the complience letter to a GM dealership in the area in which we are going to live, and the dealership will call the GM Service Center and then they will know exactly what to do to bring car into complience. After the work is done, I need to bring the letter from GM and a letter from the dealership to show car has been changed, and then back to poe to import vehicle.

Sounds like so much work Although I do not want to have a car payment hanging over my head every month, therefor whatever needs to be done, will be done

So now I get to pay my $75.00 and he will fax it to me One more step closer to moving!! Hopefully we will be back in Illinois by the time christmas is here

Well I didnt see myself writting this blog for about another 2-3 months hehe!

Last night after we got home from work my husband says to me, "We need to head to the border". I am kind of puzzled as to why he needed to go there , so I ask "Why do we need to go, nothing we need there." He says, "Want to activitate my visa". I had just figured we would do it when moved, so never looked into activation prior to moving. So into the car and we head to the Queenston/Lewiston, NY border crossing. (a whole whopping 10 min drive). So we get to the border, and officer asks citizenship and why we were crossing. Husband states that he was here to activate his visa. Offer contacts another officer that green car 1 coming for paperwork, and instructs us to pull ahead. We park and head in. We had arrived at 7pm. The waiting room was completely packed full of people. At about 7:15 a lady officer called my husband up and asked him to verify all of the information on the top sheet of the brown envelope. She instructed him to carefully check everything as to information on the sheet will be put on his greencard. She informs hubbie that it will take a bit to get everything in order. At about 7:45 she calls him back up, takes INK prints of his fingerprints. She then had hubbie go and wash the ink off and come back to finish up the paperwork. After all is done, I was able to go up to counter and clarify a few things. The officer told me that his visa in his passport is now his greencard until the actual greencard arrives. She stated it is good for one year from the date of landing. Informed he is now considered a PR of the United States ! WOOHOOOOO!!! She stated that he can freely travel into the US now. The officer said that when we move our belongings, just a list with box number and an "idea of whats in the box" is sufficient. She stated that just makes the crossing much easier if you can produce a list that shows what your bringing across. She did mention that if we are still living in Canada when it gets close to the year mark on the visa, that we may be instructed to come in at the border, and given a "nice lecture" to make us aware and to notate his passport that we were told of the remaining time left on the visa. She said to just smile and nod yer head. She was a very sweet officer and very helpful . Overall the landing was very painless and very easy. I have NEVER seen officers treat my husband with so much respect as they did last night. (since the day we started dating, canadian border officers have always been very pleasant to me, but US officers have always been rude to my hubbie. I really dont understand why, he has not one negative mark to his name at all.) It was kind of weird though, seeing the officers degrade most of the people in the waiting area, and then so nice to my hubbie, so use to it being the other way LOL.

I did inquire about importing a vehicle. The officer instructed me to go to another counter to get information on importing. So we walked to the other side and inquired on the rules of importing. Explained to officer what my specific problem is and he stated that I do not have to import my car at the time I move from Canada to the US, but I would have a time frame in which the vehicle would have to be brought into complience and imported into the USA. At least now I know, and if I can help it, I will have everything done at the time we move, but if not, I do know that I do have a short time frame to bring car in and have it fixed then imported in to the US.

We were heading back home at about 8:10pm. Just over an hour to land in the usa.

So yeah ....... one step down Finally considered part of the US population

I didnt want to hijack trebles thread, but I did see someone mention that a Canadian PR can maintain PR status so long as they are living with the Canadian Citizen. Did I understand that correct ???? I was under the assumption that once I moved back to the States, I would have to give up my PR status because I am no longer living in Canada.(and unfortunately will not be able to stay here long enough to even consider Canadian citizenship). That would be awesome if I can retain my PR status, never know where the future takes us If anyone has any links to this info, I would appreciate it.

Thanks a million guys!

Treble...I can feel what you are saying . I send the warmest wishes to you and I really hope things do get better for you .

I moved to Canada in 2005, and it has been a very long and at times painful two years. My family and I are very close, and everyday seemed like an eternity(even though it was only 24hours hehehe). I finally had my cup overflow around easter. I have missed 2 family deaths, 2 weddings, and the first two years of my nephews life. For some things like this may not matter, but for me it was heart wrenching. On top of the fact that many people could tell I was from the states (darn accent! and sometimes hubby wouldnt know when to NOT mention my citizenship hehe) and would treat me quite rudely and down right nasty to me. The only good thing is that I had my loving husband with me everyday, and that is what has kept me going. (and yes I know not ALL Canadians are like that I have met alot of very sincere and friendly Canadians, and same goes for Americans, you can have some very rude and down right nasty individuals, and then there are the very sincere and friendly Americans )

It does take time to adjust, which is never the fun or easy part of life (my dream solution would be that we have magical golden wands! ). I do agree with what several other folks have mentioned...maybe you could move to a bigger town and stay long enough to get naturalized. I know personally after going through both the Candian and American immigration, I would not want to ever go through either again That way if down the road, you decide that you would want to move back to the USA, you wouldnt have to deal with all the pressures again. Before moving to Canada I lived in a fairly large city with an extremely large variety of things to do and see ( the area I was from had lots of music,art and theatre, and sports)so it was not hard to find something to do. The town I live in now is probably 1/4 the size of back home, and certainly does not have the selection of things to do here. I went through the same withdrawls

I can say that if you do decide that you would be happier moving sooner than later, I would suggest filing out of the country. From the time my husband submitted his packet to the day I became I landed immigrant was 2 months. Now granted....that was 2 years ago, but ... I still watch the boards, and some of the folks that applied within Canada at the same time I did just finished up 2-3 months ago. Not every situation is the same, but would rather give you a realistic possibilities. At least if you do out of country, when your husband lands, he can start looking for work right away (after applying for SIN card at least). There will always be positive and negatives when it comes to immigration packets, just depends on which approach suites you the best.

Again, I really hope things get better for you! I hope that whatever path you decide to take, that you and your husband find peace and happiness in that journey.

Thanks for the tips and advice =) I am more frustrated due to the fact that when I bought this car ( 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix SE), I explained my circumstances to the dealership and I was assured that the car would be complient. At the time, the car's tag was a lil more than what we really intended to spend, but we figured it would save us from buying a non-complient car then have to sell it and after we landed, try to find another car. Probably wouldnt be so bad except my ex-husband messed up credit horribly (dont really want to get into to much detail there, but lets just say it will be a LONG time before my credit is any worthy to look at) and since my husband will have NO credit at all, we figured it would be more logical to spend the extra $$ for the car. It just makes me want to the guys who gave me all this misleading information. Plus I have sank quite a bit of extra money into the car to get into good shape (just in the past 6 months we put on new tires, new starter, new alternator, replaced all the electric window controls, new brakes and pads, new a/c-heat modulator(think that is what it was called---but car had no heat/a-c so replaced the whole unit), new alignment and few normal things that is normal maintenance. The only thing that is left to do is put shocks/struts on the front end and replace the muffler (my bro-in has everything, just need to get the car there for him to fix it) I really love this car, so far the best car I have ever owned. I can get from Niagara Falls area in Canada all the way to Illinios/Iowa border on 1.5 tanks of gas. I dont want to hand it over if I dont have too

So let me see if I understand this, I can drive the car to the poe, and just explain to them that we will be importing it within (lets just say for ex 6months)?

That would be wonderful if we could just tell them we are going to import it at a later date. I would be able to get everything fixed and hopefully get whatever needs to be fixed for the complience letter. I am hoping to find exactly what would need to be fixed and get some kind of quote. If it just a few hundred, that I can swallow, but not 2k .

I am going to give the Vintage Vehicle Services a call too and see what /and if they can help me.

Thanks a million everyone, there seems to be a lil bit more hope now

So I have spent most of today trying to find out about what is needed to import my car. I have a 97 Pontiac Grand Prix, so I called GM. The lady on the phone did not even let me finish, she rudely asked, "what year is your car?". So I told her 1997. She said, "it doesnt meet complience, so best off to sell it. Have a good day" and she hung up. I was like, wth?????

So started searching some of the links provided and I couldnt find where my vehicle was not complient. Figured I would try again and try to get more info. The second time I had guy who seemed like he was eating his lunch while trying to help me(he actually belched in my ear ) I was actually able to fully ask my question before he started to ramble on. He said that since my car was "made in canada" I would have to take a "holiday" and go to the states and have it fixed. He said, your looking about $2000 to have it fixed . I told him there is a message board that I go to and that several people have imported vehicles from Canada, and could he explain to me why mine was not compatible. He said, "The USA absolutely refuses any vehicles from Canada. They are made in Canada therefor USA denies them all." He gave me a document id # and told me to drive my car to the states and have it fixed . I asked him, "so, if I land with my husband, can we get it fixed after he lands ( I remember seeing a post that someone had taken their vehicle across, then later had it updated and then applied for permit for the dmv, but I cant find link now.). He said no you cant, you have to fix it before. So very frustrated, I called a local GM dealership to see if they could decipher this document ID #. The service dept guy said, well I can print that up for you. I was like , hmmm OK?????? He said it is the same thing people need when they bring their car from the us to Canada. He said all he needed was my VIN #. I am very unsure about this.

My head is swimming atm and I feel like I am about to drown. Our vehicle was going to be our transportation into the states, but now..........

Can anyone help me out ? Have any idea's? Suggestions ??

My husband took the GO train from Burlington (i believe, at work and cant remember for sure). I do know that the train station he parked at did not charge for parking. I remember husband saying that from the train station to the dr. office was only like a 5 min walk. If you want more info, let me know and ill find out for sure where he parked.

Well, when we got home yesterday, there it was, the package from Montreal! It came much sooner than expected. We were told it wouldnt arrive for at least a week, so we were not looking for it until friday at the earliest.

In the packet was his passport with the beautiful visa in it, a manilla envelope with precise instructions (pretty much do not open or the packet is invalid), and a welcome to America brochure, which gives you a web address to go to and download the packet. (not to worried about downloading the packet though, what I dont know, can be easily accessed hehe)

So yep, we are done for now. Looks like Feb will be our moving month. We are just going to relax for the next few weeks. I did a good job of worrying myself silly for no reason Of course my husband had quick response , "See I told you so" LOL famous last words.

I sincerely hope that everything goes well for you and Sharon. I couldnt imagine the frustration and let down the process has been for you both. Im not sure if it will help, but I can remember when I would have tough times in my life, my grandmother use to always tell me.... "there has to be rain to find the beautiful rainbow which will lead you to your pot of gold". Hopefully one day soon, you and sharon will find your "pot of gold".

When we in Montreal last week, right after closing the door behind us, we were asked to raise our right hand before he started the interview.

Our story is along the same as quite a few here.

I am the USC and my dear hubbie is Canadian. My husband is originally from B.C. but had moved to Ontario to pursue some opportunities, and I am from Illinois.

We met playing an online game called Everquest. We had known of each other for about a year or so, but we both had been other relationships,so when we did play together, it was very formal.

In October of 2004 we had been chatting one night, chatting so well that he ended up missing his bus to work. Poor hubbie had to hoof it to work The next night he asked if we could start talking outside of the game. Since I had known him for some time,I did not mind going out of game to talk. After talking for about two weeks solid, my computer decided to die on me I had left a message on one of the boards we visited letting him know I didnt know how soon I would be back. Needless to say, I did all I could not to be gone to long.

We ended up meeting in person in November 2004. We ended up leaving Everquest, and we both moved the game, World of Warcraft. We spent our free time together playing WoW, Pogo, or just chatting on the headset.

I drove to Canada and spent two weeks with him in December of 2004. On the way home (was a HUGE snowstorm) my cell provider died out on me. Took me several extra hours to get home, and by the time I got home, I was so exhausted that I just crawled into bed. The next morning he called frantic on the phone. He said, "did you listen to your voice mail?" and I said, "nope, was to exhausted, just went to bed." He then said, "well......I said something I have never said before....." so of course that had me curious. Listening to his voice mail made me cry. It was then that we realized we had found our soulmates. We were married in Feb 2005.

When looking at who was going to immigrate where, it was pretty obvious in the given time frames, that I would be moving to Canada. It is kind of odd though, my immigration from beginning to end took 3 months, and hubbies immigration took 3 months 2 weeks, from beginning to end. Kind of funny eh?

My name stems from the night we started looking at getting his immigration packet started. Canada as a whole has been a unique experience for me, but as the saying goes, theres no place like home. No matter how hard I tried to make Canada a home, just wasn't the same. ( I am not trying to put Canada/Canadians down, as I am sure some of you will understand where I come from.) And surprisingly, it was his idea to move back the States!

Montreal for us was not that bad. We sent in our first application at the end of June, and we were approved on friday Oct 5. So it took roughly 3 1/2 months, give or take a few days.

I just want to thank everyone who was so supportive and informative in our journey. If not for the advise and excellent help, I would probably still be stuck on the I-130 hehe.

Huge Kudos to the support team

Well folks, we did it...we were APPROVED !!!!

We left home around 11:30 am and got to our hotel (La Tour) around 9:30pm. We were very exhausted and tired, so did not do to much but grab a bite at the Burger King a few blocks down and then went to bed. Neither one of slept very well. All I can say is that I dreaded the room we were in. Outside of locality to the Consulate, I would not advise this hotel. Our bed was like sleeping on rocks, the room was extremely hot, in the bedroom there was crud left from other people who stayed there (will not get into the disguisting things we found), the couch was broken, our bathtub had holes in it, had to pull tooth n nail to get clean set of towels.....list could go on and on. So yeah, I dont give this hotel any kind of high rating, except...it is only a 3 min walk to the consulate and nicely centered in downtown area (can easily "tour" the area). Then again, there were several other hotel chains in same area. Wish I would have a spent a few more dollars for better hotel.

So...our alarm goes off at 5:00 am. Talk about nerves at their last straw. We end up getting out of the hotel around 6:30 and notice no one is standing at the consulate. So we go down to the Timmies and hubbie has a tea. We get back to the consulate around 6:55am. We were the third in line. The first was a young couple (not sure if they from VJ), second was a family. At 7:30 the doors open and the security guard asks one by one to see their letter. We are told to wait in the foyer until called. Once directed in, they have us put all our things in a basket and walk through the metal detector. As we go through I heard the one officer tell the other to check my purse, unusual object in there. Of course I look at my husband and start freaking a bit because all I had in my purse was a book and my wallet with a few id's. The officer pulls me to the side and tells me he has to look thru my purse. He pulls out my book and then hands me my purse back. We are given a little card with the letter C on it and window 9 below it. We are told to go downstairs, that an officer at 7:45 will usher us up to the 19th floor. At 7:45 a guard comes in and gave precise directions that anyone with letters A- E to get in line. Of course there were a few that tried to get in line that didnt have those letters (not sure if they didnt understand directions, or only heard part of what he said). Once on the 19th floor , we were directed to go to window 9. Once at window 9 we were asked for the top page of the packet that gives the date of the interview. After giving it to her ( was the infamous blonde ), she said to have seat and someone will call us. We sat for about 10 min and then heard our name called. Once at the window, the lady that helped us get our packet together was SO nice and calm. She joked and laughed with us as we got our papers ready. She said to us, " I love your organizational skills, but all you really had to do is just have forms that were more than one page, stapled." So we pulled all of our nicely paper clipped forms apart and put them into individual piles. She asked for hubbies 2 pictures, long form birth certificate and copy of birth certificate, marriage certificate and copy, copy of my divorce records from my first marriage, hubbies folder with medical (didnt ask for xray)my affadivit of support, and then anyone else who was co-sponsering, their affadivit and supporting documents. She then gave us the form to fill out for the envelope to send his passport back in. She then instructed to go pay our fee, to then return back to the seats across from her window. She said she would be back and instructed that we do not give our proof of payment to anyone but her, and she also instructed to not stand at the window, that she would call us back up. After standing in line for about 20 minutes, we pay our fee and go and sit as directed. After waiting about 30 min, she calls us back up, and we give her the proof of payment and the return label. She then instructed my husband on what to do for the finger prints. After they are scanned, she giggled and said, "Not to many get the prints on the first try". After she verified address and making sure address was correct, she instructed us to sit and wait for our named to be called. The first portion only took about an hour to do, very simple steps.

At 9:45 they started calling folks in for the interview. The first few times your instructed to go to "windows" , but for the interview, your instructed to go to "doors". The first to be called was the family of 4. They were out in about 10 min. The second to go was the young couple. They were in there about 5 min. When they came out, the girl was smiling ear to ear and looked like tinker bell on her toes. Hubbie leans over to me and says, " Dont need to guess that they got approved! " Then they call us. Walking up to the door, I swear I heard my heartbeat through my ears . As we go in, all i see is this young guy sittin on a perch stool behind a glass wall. He asks us to raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth.

Consular: How did you guys meet ?

Hubbie (perky as can be):We met online

Consular: What chat room ?

Hubbie: Actually we met in EQ (for those who dont know, EVERQUEST)

Consular : *giggles* Here I thought all EQ marriages were done

Hubbie : Well, we have been married for 2 years.

Consular : <starts to explain a new form of internet dating, something about making a fuzzy toon, and how these fuzzy creatures get married>

Consular: Where will you live ?

Myself : We will live with my parents till we can get settled in

Consular : And what will you do for work ?

Myself: I will stay in the nursing field, old employeer cannot reconsider me until I can give them a moving date

Hubbie : Plan to work in the same career field as Im doing now, or work for <company he is with now>

Consular: Have you ever been convicted of crime ?

Hubbie: NO.

Consular: Have you ever been rejected entrance into the United States?

Hubbie: NO.

Consular: Very nice. Im happy to say that all your paper work is in order, and are approved for your visa. The visa will arrive within one week.

Hubbie and myself : Thank you

Myself : Have a wonderful Thanksgiving

Consular : You both do the same

We were in and out in 5 minutes . Over all, the gentleman was very friendly and laid back. I really didnt feel like we were being interviewed at all. I know as soon as he said we were approved , I felt the large set of bricks lift off my chest. All in all, it took us 3 hours from beginning till we walked out the consulate doors. Everyone there was extremely friendly and helpful to us.

Afterwards, we went back to lay down for a nap, or at least try to!

We had a wonderful meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. Only about a 15 min walk from La Tour. We then did a bit of sight seeing on foot. Montreal is such a lovely place, but I sure felt like I was in whole different world. Not knowing to much french (only word I know is Bonjour--from the many border crossings , LOL) really made understanding what was written and being said , very very difficult, but well worth the trouble =)

We stopped in Ottawa, ON to visit the Parliment. Absolutely breath taking !

All in all, we had a great time, and absolutely no problems at the consulate.

Hope this helps anyone due to have their interview. As it has been mentioned by other VJ'ers, dont lose sleep over the interview! It is very simple and will seem like nothing at all. For those who may forget or lose their pictures, there is a booth in the basement that will do pics. It is $4.00 for 4 pictures. Cash only.

And a hint to those looking at hotels, check all the hotels in downtown area. I saw at least a dozen that were just a short jaunt to the consulate. Others may have had an OK experience at La Tour, but I personally will not recommend them.

We will not be landing anytime in the near future. We are looking at Feb/March to land. Our interview came much sooner than we anticipated and there are a few things we need to finish here in Canada before we move. Plus that will give us time to purge , purge, purge and do some more purging! When I immigrated to Canada, I brought 200+ boxes, plus enough furniture that as soon as the lease my husband was in expired, we had to upgrade to a much larger apartment . Granted only select items will return with me, as we will be living with my folks till we find a place we want. At that point, we are just going to buy new furniture. But he has several boxes he has to purge as well hehe.

Good luck to future interviewers !

Candy and David

Congrats !!

BTW were you called to window 12 at all? We had our interview on friday also.

Well all , its our final step ! We are leaving tomorrow morning and driving to Montreal. I am such a nervous wreck right now . I keep thinking I have forgotten something or feel I am going to forget an important document behind (even though I made my husband go thru the folder 3x! )

Our interview is Friday at 9am...its going to come to fast hehe.

I want to express my many thanks to those that helped me through the shady areas. Now our future is in the Montreal Consulates hands !