EllieK

2 hours ago, BaileyHunter said:

That was me. I'm so done with their lack of communication and action. 

Yea that was great! 
It’s crazy that they make it sound as if they are actively rebooking k-1 and asking for our patience. Our patience has been bordering virtuous... give us a time frame at the very least.   

2 hours ago, JacobP said:

I noticed that it said that since at least yesterday, but without them changing the "updated on" date.

That seems so shady on their part but could also easily be incompetence and not that deep. But I do wonder if the lawsuit has anything to do with this. 
someone commented on the Montreal update on twitter saying something like - don’t you guys know we all talk on forums and fb.. we know you haven’t done much for k-1. Thought that was funny 🙄

Following. Mine was April 8th as well. 

Cool

50 minutes ago, T&S_MTL said:

The embassy like any other business can't have more than 25% of their staff in the office, this is it.

I live and work in Montreal, and these are the restrictions we have for now. Which means less employees at the office, the rest working remotely.

Have you heard of any exceptions being made for companies that don’t have the ability to have staff work remotely? I have been trying to figure this out and calling a lot of numbers and can’t seem to get a straight answer. Thanks so much! 

2 minutes ago, payxibka said:

The visa unit that processes students and au-pairs is not the visa unit that does k1s.  

Right but at some point I think it’s reasonable for k-1s to questions why resources are not being better allocated to reunite families during a global pandemic. 
there’s compelling information that k-1 is being treated terribly by embassies as a result of directions from DOS and I don’t think it’s responsible for the admin on this page to not acknowledge that and simply dismiss people’s concerns. 

Has everyone watched the Montreal embassy Q and A? I was so confused by their interpretation of the 25% rule they listed as the reason why they can’t have their staff return to work.
They posted a link regarding this and apparently the Quebec government is recommending no more than 25% of staff return to work but this is assuming it’s possible for people to work from home. 
Can anyone clarify ? 
thanks 🙏 

On 8/24/2020 at 12:48 PM, Paul & Mary said:

Wom for a K1 at NVC that is DQ can only mean it's denial.  A DQ'ed K1 is just sitting there for shipment. 

 

There is nothing suit can do to open a consulate.

 

But a lot of these consulates are open and refusing to prioritize k-1 while processing students and au-pairs.. 

This is amazing news! Wasn’t expecting an update any time soon after that video. 
 

To my fellow K1 people - I hope they prioritize the cancelled K1 interviews over people of any visa category who haven’t had appointments booked yet. 

4 minutes ago, JacobP said:

Taiwan appears to be rescheduling K-1 interviews since a member had theirs recently, and New Zealand has at least declared that they'll begin processing Ks again, though I don't think we have a lot of members from New Zealand here.

That’s really encouraging to hear. 
The news from Montreal has been difficult to take and really trying to find some positivity especially regarding K1s 

🙏 

Also very interested in this. It doesn’t appear that anyone has been able to reschedule their canceled K1 interview 

51 minutes ago, arae said:

Right. And not to sound completely unsympathetic to the challenges that I'm sure the consulate is facing...but it's widely known that several consulates have started interviews again. In my line of work when we don't have an immediate answer, we call our colleagues. You mean to tell me a group of highly intelligent consulate staff haven't been able to muster up any sort of plan? Or haven't thought to get in touch with their colleagues on how to safely reopen?

 

If casinos in Montreal can get it done, surely the consulate has the same ability.

It’s tone deaf I agree.

at a certain point safety concerns don’t garner sympathy as dental, medical, food and entertainment services have found and implemented solutions and have resumed their modified operations months ago. 

It would be great to just have some more details because the impression this leaves is that they are not motivated in the least. 
do we continue to call and demand information? 

2 minutes ago, arae said:

I appreciate them acknowledging concerns but they also put themselves in a position where people are repeatedly asking for information day in and day out because they've provided none. But how discouraging to hear that they're "actively working on a plan" again, with no details. Was no one actively working on a plan the last several months? This is beyond exhausting.

That’s the thing I think we have all shown tremendous patience regarding being separated from family members. We just want to have an idea of a general time frame and specific barriers. 
Many times it feels like they don’t understand we are intelligent people and think we will be satisfied with answers that make no sense. 
I have called the embassy before and have been told “well your interview got canceled because of a global pandemic called Covid-19” and then today “we are still figuring out how people can be safe in a building”.  
just a little condescending 

4 minutes ago, Alexag said:

 

Thanks 

the information is so vague but she seems competent? 
 

1 minute ago, Alexag said:

well if the announcement was that twitter video then thats a joke, im sick of hearing them say they're "working on a plan" how hard can it be???

What Twitter video ?

4 minutes ago, pooj97 said:

First they said august 14, then end of august, now they’re telling you that they are fully booked for the rest of the year??? I’m so upset!! I don’t understand why they’re Taking so long figuring out how to get people safely into a building when EVERY OTHER PLACE in Montreal has figured it out already??? I mean really if casinos are open then what is their excuse
 

I do know that someone else called yesterday and they told him To wait for an announcement on their website in the coming weeks. 

Yes it’s very confusing and I’m not sure the operator is credible because I don’t think any appointments were opened past the month of May when I booked in February. 
He essentially said we are fully booked but keep monitoring the website because maybe appointments will open up if people cancel. The responses have been hard to stomach and leaving me really upset. 

Hi - new to making a profile on the website but have been following the threads for a while. 

thanks for everyone for posting their updates as it’s been very helpful at least seeing some information regarding Montreal as we are not getting any information from our lawyer or the embassy. 
 I called the 438 Number today and the operator said that the consular section of Montreal is closed and only emergency situations are to be processed but you have to schedule an appointment first and then request for an expedited/emergency situation to get it moved up. Obviously this is unhelpful information as what we all want to know is when can the cancelled appointments be rebooked. When pressed he offered that they are still figuring how to get people safely into a building and are poorly staffed. He didn’t seem to know that embassies in other countries are rebooking cancelled appointments and also said they are fully booked for the rest of the year? I pressed and asked if they have K1 interviews scheduled for sept and he said yes the emergency ones. But this really doesn’t make any sense to me and it’s hard to know if he is misinformed and not aware. Wondering if anyone else has received any more helpful information or the same sort of convoluted responses. 
thanks everyone