DamAk

Ladies, gentlemen, others, I am pleased to announce that 3.5 years and a $5,000 USD mandamus suit later, we have lift-off.
 

Try to get titers done asap. 
 
It's has been pretty normal to take 6 weeks. Hope for the best prepare for the worse.

Update - I received my Green card in the mail today. Crossed border on Feb 12, so faster than expected.

The entire experience for my medical took no more than 1.5 to 2 hours I think. This was a couple months ago so I'll try to remember as much as I can. When I got to Dr. Zatzman office, there were 3 ladies at the front desk. The one in the middle checked me in, asked for the email appointment confirmation letter and some other documents, then made photocopies of some things. After making the payment, she then took my pictures at the clinic, you don't need to bring any photographs yourself (for spousal US immigration, please read their website for more details if you're petioning a different US visa). 
Once Dr. Zatzman called me inside, he was very welcoming and maintained a casual atmosphere. We talked casually about my move to the US and other things. He asked for my vaccination history and I provided him my record from middle/highschool, covid vaccines and the flu shot. They do not administer vaccines at the clinic, make sure you have those done before your appointment to prevent delays. He then did a physical exam and told me I'm good to go. I got the requisitions for the CXR and blood work at the front desk, along with confirmation/acknowledgement that my medical has been done and a receipt. The lab and radiology clinic were in the same building as well, downstairs. I went to Dynacare first, which took about 30 minutes and then got my CXR done, took around 15 minutes. Both of those locations also gave me a receipt once I made the payments. Radiology clinic gave me the CXR CD before I left.
 
Everything gets sent to the consulate directly. You can ask the clinic staff for the vaccine checklist, they won't automatically give you a copy for some reason. At the time, there was a delay in getting the blood work back so my results took 3 weeks and the consulate received them after my interview. Usually it takes just a few days but as mentioned in an earlier post, this depends on the public health load. The doctor will usually have a good idea of how quick public health is working to process the results so you can always ask him. 
 
Hope this was helpful! 

Congratulations! When you said you were shell shocked I was bracing myself for a DS-5535. So glad everything went well for you in the end, as stressful as the days leading up to it were…

Hello everyone! Thank you so much again for the kind words and patience as I return from a very whirlwind trip to Montreal. Honestly feeling quite out of it and a bit shell shocked, but I'll do my best to describe how everything went yesterday while it is all fresh. 
 
Let's start with Dr. Appointment - I went to Dr. Mascarenhas' office. I emailed him as soon as I got the interview letter (Monday) and got a response back within 10 minutes giving me an appointment for the next day (Tuesday) understanding the urgency (given that MTL only gave me a week to get organized). Showed up for my appointment at 9:30am the next morning. Thankfully I had previously collected my vaccine history from BC health as that is where I grew up. I passed it off to him along with proof of my recent flu shot and Covid vaccines and he quickly checked things off of a list. I do not have any underlying conditions or medical history of note, so that took not more than 20 minutes. 
 
He sent me off downstairs to get my chest Xray which also took no more than 5 minutes. I then walked across the street to lifelabs for bloodwork which took about 1.5 hours. This is the part that tends to be backed up with lots of people waiting and had me nervous my results wouldn't show up on time. All that said, after that was complete it was out of my hands. The doctor gave me a deferral letter ahead of the appointment in case the results did not show up on time. Thankfully,  I got confirmation that my results were received in MTL on Friday last week. 
 
I flew to MTL on Monday and stayed at an Airbnb close to the Consulate. No late check outs unfortunately so I had to walk over to the Best Western nearby and pay $5 for them to hold my stuff. They were SUPER understanding and helpful so if anyone ever needs a plays to stash things during your interview, I would recommend them. 
 
Fast forward to Wednesday morning (My interview was for 10am). I showed up at 9:50 and waited in line outside for about an hour. (IT WAS VERY COLD!!! MAKE SURE YOU PREPARE FOR THAT!!) They then escorted me through security and up to the 3rd floor by elevator. I then sat in a large room with chairs and booths with numbers - waiting for my number to be called on the screen. I waited for about 45 minutes to be called to the first counter. 
 
Here they collected originals and copies of all of my documents. They did not ask for my husbands birth cert even though I had it. My named changed when I was very young so they needed originals and copies of that, which thankfully I had. They kept my police report. 
 
I then went to counter 12 and paid my fees. They sat me back down and asked me to wait one more time as they prepared for my interview. Waited about 15 minutes and was called to a new window. The lady asked the following:
Who is the petitioner? And what is your relation? Is this your first marriage? Is this his first marriage? What do you do for work? What does he do for work? Where do you plan to live? When did you meet? How did you meet? And that was pretty much it. After that she took my passport and gave me back the originals and sent me on my way. 
 
I was having issues signing up for the courier portal. (As I think many others have) The error I continued to get was "case number not ready for appointment" which is hilarious because it definitely happened. I called the number they gave me to get answers: 438-793-1947 (dial 1 for english, dial 3 for immigration visa services, dial 1 to register for courier, dial 1 to speak to an agent.) 
 
They then gave me the following instructions to get set up:
 
EMAIL: canada_contactus+ca+ivcasenumber+en@visaops.net
 
Subject line: Case number not ready to schedule appointment
 
In the body of the email: provide your name, DOB, scan PDF copy of email MTL interview letter.
 
I just got the tracking details this morning so I'm all set to go. Not sure if the above has been covered in FAQ but thought I would share my experience here. 
 
Thank you again all of you wonderful people ❤️ 

Wow, that's great! Thanks. 

They do still give you the X-Ray CD for personal use. Everything else gets sent to the consulate electronically. 
At the POE, they didn't ask for it, and I haven't read anywhere where the CBP officers ask for it either. Better to be on the safe side though and carry it incase they do.

Hey everyone, just wanted to post some good news we received recently. We had originally submitted our I-130 on October 21, 2021. We heard back on March 21, 2022 (about 5 months later) that it had been approved! I updated our timeline as well so hopefully this will help keep the average waiting time estimates as accurate as possible!
We are now beginning to look into the NVC steps. I've ordered all the CRCs from the countries I've lived in (I'm the beneficiary) and we are working through the other requirements now too. Will definitely continue to follow this thread and keep everyone updated as well!
Also a side note: we heard back from the NVC within 2-3 days after we received our I-130 approval.

I had my medical exam at Dr. Cheema's office yesterday, the whole process took 2 hours from start to finish. They had me fill out forms (personal info, address, intended US address, etc.) and took photos in the office (rather than me submitting any passport photos). I submitted my vaccination records at the front desk, and they asked me if I had chicken pox as a kid and at what age. Then Dr. Cheema saw me for the check up and asked about medical history. 

After that they sent me to Life Labs for blood work and then over to an imaging place nearby for chest xrays. 

It was a positive experience overall and they answered all of my questions. They are sending my xray CD and vaccine record to my home address and told me to bring the CD with me when I cross the border.  

Well, a ridiculous milestone reached today, incidentally--it has been exactly two years since my case was created at NVC on March 24, 2020. And of course, no update today.

my mom and sister just dropped off my step dad at pearson, mom was sad.
such an awful experience this has been

Ya I would not do mandamus suit unless was absolute last resort. Where the line is where "last resort" kicks in, I am not even sure.

Thank you so much both!! Medical booked for tomorrow morning at Dr Mascarenhas as it was the only one I could get on such short notice. 🤷‍♀️ Hoping there isn't a delay with anything, I wish I had a bit more heads up but I'm just happy to be moving forward! 
 
Another huge thank you to everyone on this forum for chatting with me and helping me through all this. I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes etc! ❤️ 

MY INTERVIEW LETTER CAME THIS MORNING!! Interview March 30th!! Gotta figure out how I will possible get my doctors appointment and results on time...

The Dr. said they will send me the vaccination record once they send the report to the consulate.

Did they give you the vaccination checklist? 
I'm going to have to contact Dr. Zatzman's office again to get them to send mine as they refused the first time I asked.

Your panel physician is REQUIRED to furnish you with a PERSONAL copy of your DS3025 as per the CDC requirements TO BE an approved panel physician.
Contact your panel physician and show them the CDC website if they try to argue.
 
https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/panel-physicians/vaccinations.html
 
"The panel physician must review all vaccination records presented by the applicant and, if documentation appears valid, record the vaccination history and vaccines given during the medical exam on the US Department of State Vaccination Documentation Worksheet (DS-3025).  Both the panel physician and the applicant should be aware that the DS-3025 is the applicant’s vaccination record, and an extra copy must be provided to the applicant.  The applicant will need to provide a copy of the DS-3025 to healthcare providers, schools, and other institutions after US arrival."
 
 
 

I went to Dr. Mascarenhas' office and my vaccination record was accepted and he said everything looks good. The office is easy to find and the x-ray is in the same building. You have to go across the street to lifelabs for bloodwork but it is a very short walk. Highly recommend him, very nice person. Lilly from his office is the one you would email with and she is very kind and helpful.

Interesting.  We did all of my RBC stuff through Canada.  US chequing & US CC.  Wonder if you got someone inexperienced from the Canadian side possibly?  
 
If you want to build faster, ask hubs to add you to one of his cards as an authorized user.  Or, wait about 3 cycles for the Discover card to report to the agencies and then apply for another card.  He probably has offers to share.  If not, I do   The "invite a friend" offers usually help your chances and there's perks for you and whoever invited you.  Yes, the US and it's obsession with CC is a bit strange to me, but I use my CC for everything because data security isn't much of a thing here and your cards can get ripped off pretty easily, so that card insurance is worth it.  
 
My other piece of advice for EVERYONE is when you have a CC in the States (especially in the States), set your accounts up to text you for EVERY transaction.  That way you know if your card has been jeopardized when all of a sudden a text pops up telling you you've spent $3K at BestBuy online, meanwhile you're in the middle of a meeting at work and certainly are not surfing BestBuy.  The fraud prevention departments are pretty good, but occasionally things slip.  I also like it because table side terminals for payments are few and far between, unlike in Canada where you rarely ever have to hand your card over to anyone, so dining out you can see when the server has run your card.  

My visa is issued!!! OMG finally!!!
Got the tracking number today, exactly 6 weeks after my interview!!
 
Here's my timeline incase it helps anyone
Jan 21: Interview (refused under 221g for pending medical)
Jan 27: Medical received by consulate, update on CEAC
Feb 4: Update on CEAC, still refused (they responded to my email inquiry, I think that's why it was updated)
Feb 28: Got a positive-sounding response from consulate after another inquiry, saying "we are looking into your case"
Mar 3: Issued - AP
Mar 4: Issued - FP (got tracking number in email)
 
 

So I am now skipped 3 times? what the hell? 

Got our interview letter today. Interview date is April 4th.

Say "lost receipt notice". It'll put you through to a person and they won't know the reason. I had to call them recently and that worked.

For context for everyone else reading: it's no longer a menu where you can select the reason why you're calling but a sassy robot that asks why you're calling and if you don't say the exact right thing (and "help" or "agent" are not the exact right thing) it'll warn you that it's going to disconnect the call and then will actually do so. It's the most infuriating thing to figure out.
 

Just wanted to pay my solidarity to you all that have been waiting so long to be reunited with spouses/family and are left with no explanation whatsoever. I'm only at the beginning of the K1 visa and started reading this thread as I have an option to return to Canada (I have a work visa and still work for a Canadian company) and knowing that I would need to go to the Montreal consulate for the process, I decided to research topics related to it.
 
Reading much of this thread, I felt so much empathy for the struggles here. It's not an easy process but it seems that it's being so much harder on you all! In Canada of all places! I keep coming back to this thread every day hoping you will give us good news. I know there's nothing I can do, but I wishing a miracle happens this week!