gavinski91

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

You cannot do your medicals without the interview letter. The physician won’t allow it.

It's been an incredibly busy few weeks and I am only getting the chance now to post about my crossing experience.
 
I interviewed on Dec 8 and received my passport back on Dec 14,  but only crossed into the US on Feb 12. It took me some time to give notice to my landlord and wrap things up in Canada.
 
After weighing my options, I decided to sell/ donate most of my belongings in Canada and move to the US with only what I could carry in my husband's sedan. Was difficult to let go of a lot of my stuff, but I think it was wise. Selling on Kijiji proved to work out really well from downtown Toronto, but did take some effort. My furniture for a 1 bedroom condo (most pieces being only a year old) sold for a little over $4000. My husband drove to Toronto on Feb 10, we loaded up the car on Feb 11 and drove to the border on Feb 12.
 
We crossed at Lewiston, NY. We arrived at the gantry, handed our passports to the officer, and told them I was immigrating to the US. They asked us to pull into secondary. We parked our car and went into the building, where we waited for our name to the called. We were called to a booth where a pretty friendly officer took my fingerprints and my photo. Informed me we were being issued a conditional visa and have to apply for ROC and asked me to sign a paper. Said my green card will arrive at our address, that the stamp on my passport was sufficient to travel back to US until then, and that's about it.
 
Took about 20 minutes I wager... No questions at all, not even about what we were carrying....
 
I received my SSN in the mail on Feb 22. It was printed on Feb 15.
 
I am now at our home in New Hampshire. Still feels surreal, and it still hasn't sunk in that I am not returning to Canada, that my husband's home is now my home... A little bit of a shock to be honest as I have been independent and lived alone for so long. As an adult, I have also always chosen where I live, and now living in a home chosen by someone else, surrounded by things chosen by someone else. It is taking some getting used to...
 
Another funny thing - while running errands the other day, we happened to pass by the NVC building (which happens to be close to our neighbourhood). So ironic how the source of a lot of our misery is so physically close to me right now....

After 105 days, I have finally been moved to issued AP! 

Yes!!! 
Hi everyone! I’ll tell you about my interview experience  today. My interview was set for 9:30. I got to the consulate at around 9:10 and waited in line for a bit less than an hour. Make sure you dress warm! Went through the security where they checked my appointment letter, gave me a number, and was told to place my phone in a locker. After heading to the first floor, I was called in after an hour or so to a window where I was asked to give a passport photo, for my sponsor’s (husband) name and phone number, original marriage certificate and birth certificate, tax transcripts and a copy of the i864 and my husband’s proof of citizenship. I was given a pamphlet about domestic abuse and was told to wait for my number again for the interview. This process took about five minutes. After waiting for a good hour and half, I was called again to another window for the interview: 
I was asked for my husband’s name,
when we got married, and how we met. It was very brief and the officer was very friendly and didn’t want to go into details. She asked if we have any children and I told her I was expecting my first child next month.  She asked if we wanted to give birth in the states and I told her if I get my passport back on time then yes, she told me she wants to go back to this topic a bit later. Then she began asking other questions:  my husband’s work and mine, where I’m going to live, countries I’ve visited in the past five years (I began listing and she didn’t want me to continue and just wanted to make sure I didn’t visit countries “like Pakistan or Afghanistan”, longest stay in the states, given any issues with immigration or crossing, any criminal history, discussed where I was born,  and how my family moved to the states I when I was younger, and how they eventually migrated to Canada. She told me they received my medial exam
and then proceeded to tell me that everything looks great and there’s no reason for her not approve me. She told me she was going to keep my passport. Then she went back to discuss delivering my baby in the states and offered to expedite my passport stamped with the visa. She asked if I was able to pick it up in Montreal in the next few days and I told her I wouldn’t be able to stay in Montreal after today so she put a note down to have it stamped urgent and mailed out in the next couple of days so hopefully that goes well! 
My interview was about 10 minutes and the officer was very kind and super helpful. I was done and out by 11:50. 

Overall, this was better than what I expected and I hope everyone else has a smooth interview and experience. Just a note: I noticed some interviewees were getting rejected/ delayed because of the documents being incomplete or missing. Also, I would answer the questions without adding irrelevant information because some officers asked for more info about the answers applicants were providing and it didn’t end up going too well. 
 
Good luck everyone!!

Crossing fingers for wednesday!

Well my husband and my journey is now at an end we crossed the peace bridge and all went smooth took about 30 mins only bc I had reprisals and a hamster. 

Hi VisaJourney friends. 
I did my POE yesterday and have made it to the US. Thanks to everyone for their support and help throughout my time here.
 
I wanted to update you guys on what happened with my journey as when I was researching, I didn't come across anything like it, so I thought it would be good to have here.
 
As you all know, I interviewed at the end of October, was approved for my visa, and then my status stayed at Ready for 6 weeks. Within that time, the last updated date changed only 3 times from the time of interview. Within that time, I also reached out to the consulate multiple times via email only to get one response back to my inquiry saying that it's being worked on.
 
Well, after the 3 week mark passed, my husband contacted the senator in his state to look into our case, as there was nothing wrong with it, no AP, 221g or DS5535. After 2 weeks of contacting them, we got word that they would reach out and let us know if there's anything that needs to be done.
 
Well, before the senator's office got back to us, weirdly enough the same week we finally had contact with the senator's office, I actually got a call from the Consulate! I was so nervous that they would be telling me they're sending back my passport for further AP, etc. but that was not the case. They called me to let me know that apparently my fingerprints that they took at the interview didn't save in their system and they needed me to come back to Montreal to redo the fingerprints!!!!!!! I was shocked but also relieved that it was just the fingerprints and nothing else. Coincidentally, my husband got a phone call from the senator's office the same day I got a call from the consulate saying they got word from the consulate saying they had a technical error -___- . In my opinion, the coincidence is too high that the same week the senator's office reached out to them, was the week I got movement in my case. If it was a technical error, why didn't they catch it when I emailed them? To me this was highly negligible on the Montreal Consulate.
 
I had to book last minute flights, accommodations and transportation to get to Montreal for the following Monday as I just wanted to do it the earliest as possible and I was in the greater Toronto area. Unfortunately, last minute everything in December is very costly, but at this point, I needed the consulate more than they needed me, so I didn't make a fuss about the cost or anything with them via phone, email or while I was there. 
 
When I went to the consulate, it was basically the same interview process, where you go to the windows 3x (give your reasoning why you're there, confirm address/phone numbers, and finally the last window call up where they typically interview you). In my case, at the third window call up, they just asked to take my fingerprints. I took the opportunity to ask some questions, but they were pretty strict in how the responded and weren't really open to conversation. I could tell that the person I was talking to seemed annoyed, and if he was, I believe it was mostly at the errors in my case, because there was more than one that I caught and let them know about. 
 
After 6 weeks from my initial interview, and 2 trips to the consulate, my status finally changed from Ready to Issued, and then later that week I finally got the Issued Final Processing and the tracking number. Received my passport the Monday right after and just made the POE yesterday. I'm happy this part of the journey is finally concluded for me. 

My concluding thoughts: if your case is stuck at the consulate, I highly highly recommend to get your spouse to reach out to their senator because I really believe that is one of the reasons that helped nudge my case forward. Also, anything can happen. I would have never expected that I would ever have to go back, so expect anything. 

They intend to approve!!! Status hasn’t changed yet, but hopefully by sometime tmr. 
 
Officer was super friendly — felt like a good conversation as opposed to an interview! 
 
Said to expect the passport back within 2-3 weeks, but that it’d likely be sooner! 

Never mind -  I logged into CEAC and I see the SSN section now. Sorry for the confusion! 

Did you choose to get your SSN automatically when you filled out the DS-260? If so, it should arrive within a couple weeks.

Guys, i just got the email from NVC. Dec 16 is my appointment ( DQ - Jun 30)
 

Just got my tracking number! 

Just received about 10 minutes ago my tracking # with purolator!! 
yey!

APPROVED!!!
 
DQ Jan 16 2021
 
Had my interview yesterday at 8.15 AM. It was a smooth process with lot of waiting as everyone said. 
 
Got there at 8.05 for 8.15 interview. When through security and up the elevator and was told to go to Window 6.
 
Submitted my passport and passport size picture. She kept it and got a number and had to wait for my turn. 
 
After waiting for about an hour was called to window 8. Confirmed my name and address. Asked for fingerprint and to submit the original PC, marriage cert and tax docs. Then asked to wait
 
After waiting for another hour got called on window 2 for actual interview. She swore me in and did the fingerprint again and got asked bunch of routine question
 1. Tell me about ur spouse
2. what do u do
3. what does she do
4. Where do i intend to live
5. have i ever been refused for a visa - I was in 2011 for visitor visa - didn't seem to be a big deal
6. there was an anomaly in my middle name - seemed like a no big deal
7. Asked if i had any other document for marriage. I had marriage license, She took it and made a copy
8.  Where have I lived ? Have I traveled anywhere in last years?
9. Did u read the domestic Violence  doc? Any ques?
 
She said I am waiting for some system check but it should be find and I intend to approve ur visa
 
Looked like they are having some system issues. As she was putting info in it looked like there was something wrong on the computer. 
 

 

Approved !!!! 

Long time watcher but rare poster here.
 
I had been waiting for 1 month since my interview with no apparent movement on my case. The interview had gone well at the beginning of October and the officer had stated she intended to approve my visa. The following day I received an email that my medical had not been received and I was being placed on 221(g). The day after this I was informed by my doctors office that all medical results were now at the consulate. I watched as multiple people that interviewed the same day, who also had their medical results show up at least 1-2 days after their interview, received their approvals and received their passports with visas. While I was happy for them, I was anxious that my case had not been updated. Emails to the consulate received the standard "we are continuing to work on your application", "the process takes time", and "we are sorry for the frustration."
 
Yesterday my wife wrote our state senator's office with concerns that there seemed to be no progress and no explanation regarding the ongoing delays. Yesterday the senator's office wrote back stating they would engage with the consulate to enquire what was happening. I expected to received another generic "we are continuing to work on your application", "the process takes time", and "we are sorry for the frustration." Much to my surprise, today my status has change from Rejected to Issued AP! No email was sent to me updating the status change, I had to check CEAC website for the status update. Hopefully this means I will be receiving my visa and passport sometime next week (I know, there are no guarantees).
 
I wanted to post this to let people know that having their sponsor reach out to their senator's office may be helpful if there seems to be an unexpected delay in the process. It may just be chance that the senator's office email lined up with the timing of the visa application being approved, but it's quite possible the enquiry from the senator's office was enough to raise attention to some issue and helped move things forward.
 
 
 

 

POE Review - YYZ (Pearson Airport):
I received my passport in the mail on Mon Oct 25th and crossed POE at Pearson Airport on Tuesday Oct 26th. 
 
I was travelling with Air Transat - which operates out of Terminal 3. I got to the airport at around 3:30am. I checked in and processed my checked bags first with Air Transat, then proceeded to the security/customs line. At approximately 4am, the line was already with 15-20 people. Security opened at 430am, however despite my flight being at 7am and despite repeatedly stating I have to activate an immigrant visa, the security personnel proceeded to allow the 6am flights to go through security first. So there were now about 200 people ahead of me to go through security and customs; this caused me to get very nervous in case I was going to get held up in customs and consequently miss my flight.
 
By approx 5:10 am I was finally going through security. I then made it to customs around 520am. There were two lines filled with people waiting, but it moved pretty quickly. The first officer I got was very friendly. I told him I was activating a visa - he said they dont say "activating a visa" haha I got confused but just went with it. We proceeded to talk about living in the US and he was giving me advice on nursing in the US (which is what my job will be). He then verified my US address and walked me over to secondary. I was the first person in secondary, the officer there was very kind as well. All he asked me was to verify my US address and then he spent about 10-15 min just reviewing my electronic packet and then said I was good to go. By the time I was leaving secondary, there were about 4 people waiting in there. By 5:43am I was out of secondary and officially a lawful PR! I had just an hour to spare before my flight, despite all my nervousness. 
All in all it was a very smooth and swift process. Now I anxiously await my SSN!
 
Tips:
- Terminal 1 - Security opens at 6am, customs at 630am; Airlines - Air Canada and United
- Terminal 3 - Security opens at 430 am, customs at 5am; Airlines - Air Transat, Delta, american airlines
- no matter how early you get to the airport, even if you end up being first in the customs line -- they will still prioritize those on flights earlier than yours. 

 

In the same boat, interview and approved on the 25th I've seen a few comments on here about them batch shipping passports on Fridays so keep an eye out for a tracking number tomorrow Good luck!

Hi! Got my interview and approved October 25? CEAC status is ISSUED and no changes until now. Anxiously waiting for the tracking number or any movement at all. Hopefully I could make it to the US in time for Thanksgiving. How long does it usually takes for the email of tracking number? Thanks

X-rays are for your personal records. You don't need to show them to activate your visa.

The wait inside the consulate was the most time consuming. It was almost an hour and a half to two hours just sitting. The interview itself being  less than five minutes. They asked original birth certificate for petitioner if I had it, but I only brought the copy but they didn't say anything about that.
 
The next day I checked the visa status and it was 'issued' so things are really moving along now! Best of luck to the next round of interviews!
 
The only thing I'm confused about it whether they needed my joint sponsor (I uploaded everything regarding that) 
I was not asked a single question about them or their documents-does that mean we didn't need one since petitioner met the requirement to sponsor me?
 
 
 

Approved! I’ll write up later today how everything went!

I want to thank everyone who gave me great advice. My daughter and I flew out of Vancouver on September 7th, and I’m permitted to stay until January 4th or until I get my IL, whichever is sooner. 
 
I had to wake my daughter to go through TSA, which initiated a melt-down all the way through the TSA and customs. The CBP officers were great. I had to go to secondary, but I had a binder full of ties to Canada and I think the officer felt bad enough for me (as essentially a single parent to a SCREAMING toddler) that he allowed me through. 
 
I was DQ’d February 10th, 2021, so hopefully my interview is soon. 

I follow US embassy in montreal facebook page and they recently shared 2 update. They have added extra resources and hoping to clear the backlog
 
https://www.facebook.com/170143543101285/videos/929761910951590
https://www.facebook.com/U.S.CGMontreal/videos/1028922601190665/
https://www.facebook.com/U.S.CGMontreal/videos/929761910951590/
 
They mentioned currently they are interviewing Oct 2020 for spousal visa. But i hear some folks who got DQ'd in Dec 2020 got their interview. Amy thought? 
 
May be they didnt have updated number? which is very odd by the way!!