Abhikochar

On 7/7/2021 at 11:04 PM, Abhikochar said:

Yeah, my husband is Canadian citizen. Wondering if I take copy of his passport and show his Canadian company pay stubs and say that we are returning back. My husband and my son are in u.s. and they will follow next week. What do you think?

Thanks guys for your suggestions and help as always. I was able to fly with an expired PR card. I just took copy of marriage certificate and my husband's passport copy. And it was fine

1 hour ago, Kai (CanadaDude) said:

While your PR card has expired, your PR status has not. Canadian PR is only lost if its renounced or a judge has concluded you have not met the residency obligation of being physically present in Canada 2 years out of every 5 year rolling period or if you're deemed inadmissible to Canada. However, you will not be allowed to board a flight to Canada without a valid PR card or PR Travel Document provided by a Canadian Embassy/Consulate. However, you can enter Canada at the land border and presenting your expired PR card and valid foreign passport. The CBSA might get snippy about it, but as a PR you enter Canada by right per S.27(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

 

A PR card has to be renewed within Canada, a PR travel document allows you to board a flight without a valid PR card if you get stuck overseas and it's lost/expired. PRTDs take 2-4 weeks when I last checked. I strongly advise you enter Canada by land as it'll be the fastest way of getting back. Don't forget, you must use ArriveCAN and have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to your attempted entry.

 

Hope this helps.

Hi there, thanks so much for your response here. I was reading last night that on u.s. passport, without showing the PR card I can enter Canada and take proof of Canadian citizenship for my spouse and proof of marriage, that is marriage certificate. I am going to try that and see if they allow me. Let's see, fingers crossed for today. 

12 minutes ago, irisheyes123 said:

oh no that's such an awful situation, i'm so so sorry! if i'm being honest, I doubt they'll allow you in if you don't have valid PR status. Do you have any other grounds for entering Canada as a visitor? (ie visiting family) if youre coming to 'upkeep property' it will not be allowed. play around with this tool to see if you fall into other categories: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/foreign-no-symptoms-us

 

so sorry to hear you're going through this. keep us posted! 

Yeah, my husband is Canadian citizen. Wondering if I take copy of his passport and show his Canadian company pay stubs and say that we are returning back. My husband and my son are in u.s. and they will follow next week. What do you think?

13 minutes ago, irisheyes123 said:

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share a positive experience. I just spent the last 2 weeks traveling the US with the fella and it was AMAZING! I got into Pearson today and got through customs no problem. I do not have to quarantine bc I am double vaccinated. I am on a Work Permit, so I'm not a PR or Citizen. I just have to do a home kit tomorrow and that's it!

 

I ran into a little difficulty this morning, when I arrived at O'Hare the Air Canada team wouldn't let me board because I only had a rapid test, not PCR. They put me on a later flight so I could get one done with a quick turn around. But everything else was easy peasy I hope this helps those who have been separated for a long time. The last two weeks were such a treat.

 

Thanks all! 

 

Oh wow. Does this mean I can enter Canada? I am a U.S. citizen and my PR card expired. We have moved to U.S. and my ticket to Toronto is booked for tomorrow. Do you think I will be fine? I am on the line with Air Canada to cancel my ticket right now. Do you think it's worth taking a chance? I was going to pick up valuables from home in Toronto before packers come in to pack our house. Looking forward to your reply. 

Hey friends, I got an urgent situation come up. Hoping someone can help me out. We are in Boston, and I booked my trip to Canada for tomorrow to go pick up valuables from home, just noticed my PR card has expired during travelling. It expired on June 2, 2021. Do you think they will allow me one time entry to Canada? I booked my flight. Let me know if anyone has been in a similar situation. I just don't want to fly to find out that I have to go back to Boston.  

Has anyone been in the situation that they didn't receive green card in mail for a long time after landing in u.s.? And what did you do? We have been trying to reach USCIS but can't get through. Thanks for any help here. 

Hi everyone. I disappeared for a bit. My husband landed into New York on April 9th, few days after he received his passport in mail. We planned to cross the border early morning, the immigration officer didn't take him into secondary, Infact forgot to even stamp his passport didn't give him any welcome to America package or anything. We found out this was an issue when my husband applied for SSN in NY and they couldn't issue him the SSN as there was no stamp on the passport. Anyways, long story shorty he went into JFK airport to get the passport stamped. Them his SSN arrived within few weeks. But it's going to be 3 months for him on July 9th but no green card. Any tips on this? Did anyones green card take this long to arrive? At this point, his work has already been transferred from Toronto to u.s., he can probably use his visa as green card replacement for HR, but just wondering how we can track down green card with USCIS. It's impossible to reach them my phone. 

2 hours ago, showag said:

Congrats. What were the requirements re Covid? Did your husband provide positive Covid test results and was required to quarantine?

Thank you! I called the border and was told that if you drive, then there is no Covid test required. So we literally just drove through the border as we would before covid times. We are in NY, and there is no quarantine requirements here, so we are all out and about. It's really nice to be out of Canada

On 3/29/2021 at 6:47 PM, darth vader said:

Congrats on your approval! I am so freaking happy for you. You were worried about birth certificate for no reason at all. And to think you were considering rescheduling your interview because of it. Can you remind me what you did for the domicile - did you sign a lease or use a housing arrangement letter from a relative?

Thank you so much. Hope you get your interview soon too. Things have been hectic lately. My husband received his passport about a week after interview and we are leaving tomorrow morning to land him.. just driving to NY, booked a beach house, super excited. We go there for a month or so until there are lockdowns here in Ontario and then get back, sell house and wrap up. All the best to you and everyone. 

Regarding domicile, I just gave him my recent job that I started in San Francisco last month, my at&t u.s. phone bill, u.s. bank stmnts. But the visa officer didn't ask him for any documents..so it was really easy. Let me know if I can help you with any further questions on domicile. 

Take care,

27 minutes ago, darth vader said:

Birth certificates are issued by municipal bodies in India. As such, different bodies have different formats. Most likely, Montreal would not know enough to give you trouble on the birth certificates since even in India there are several formats. Having said that, if you have time, try to see if the Indian consulate can issue a birth certificate on a short notice, if not, take Indian high school marksheets/passport (as you said)/any other Indian document you can think of that mentions your parents name (aadhar card?). With luck, you would be absolutely fine. Worst case, you may have to get a new birth certificate and upload after interview. But again, given Montreal doesn't know much about Indian formats, India has multiple formats, you have secondary corroborating proof etc. my guess is you will be fine. Whatever you have, take it go in with a clear plan on what to say (only if asked, please don't volunteer any information or try to explain anything if not asked for) and say it with confidence. Good luck! We all wish you well!

Thank you so much for the advice and the good wishes. Fingers crossed for this Friday. My husband is flying on Wednesday morning to be on the safe side. I am gojng to be so anxious. Lol

On 3/3/2021 at 11:01 PM, darth vader said:

Keep the interview appointment. Explain that you have ordered new police certificate. You will get a 221g for the Canadian police certificate, which you can upload after the interview (the 221g letter will tell you how and where to upload it). You will have to wait a bit after submitting the police certificate for visa approval (could be a few days or few weeks), but cancelling the interview would also result in waiting, and if the interviews are suspended again you may have to wait a long time. Keeping the current interview seems most prudent thing you can do.

Thank you for the good advice. We kept the appointment. It's next Friday...and we received the police certificate this week as well. So fingers crossed for the interview. One thing....my husband and I both were born in India but moved here while we were young. Our birth certificates don't show our name, but our parents name. Does anyone have experience with this? We were thinking of taking our old Indian passport that links us to our parents, since the passport back page shows our parents names. And that way we can link our birth certificate to our names. Any thoughts? 

On 3/16/2021 at 2:45 PM, mam521 said:

Has the Consulate requested any documentation?  Do you have your login for the CEAC website to check messages and upload documents, as mentioned by @betzzymathew?  It seems rather strange to mail anything these days, especially without explicit requests from the Consulate with instructions.  

 

Also, even though this is a IR/CR forum, can you please fill out your VJ timeline?  It's helpful on many fronts.  

 

Montreal has not allowed spouses for nearly 2 years.  Argue if you like, but those that have interviewed know this is how it is.  They barely allow the interviewees into the door!  

I agree with Darth. This is so weird that Montreal consulate doesn't allow u.s. citizens spouse. I can't go with my husband, but whatever...works for us. But my sister and her husband had their interview together in the U.S. every consulate works differently I guess. But it's not a big deal for us. And it's actually better because I get to stay home and handle my little one while my husband conveniently flies by himself for the interview. 

Hey guys, we have a bit of a situation on our end. All this while we were waiting for my husband's interview. We finally got the IL in Feb for interview on March 26th. But his Canadian police clearance doc expired in Feb 2021. My husband went to get a new police clearance the day he received the IL, but UPS probably lost it as we still haven't received it. So my husband got another one done yesterday which might not arrive before his interview date. Has anyone been in this situation having to go to interview with an expired police clearance cert? Do they even interview you or do they send you back? I am anxious at this moment. Not sure if we should just wait and keep this Interview date and mail the consulate the new police clearance after the interview is done or should we ask for another interview date? 

Please advise your thoughts if anyone has gone through this situation. 

3 minutes ago, Montreal23 said:

His interview went well and he answered all the questions . At the end the officer also said have a good trip to US. I guess they’re just gonna do extra background check as he has a Pakistani passport. Fingers crossed. Hope he gets his approval soon. Thank you 

Oh I see. Yea, they will probably just check to see if his name doesn't match on the blacklisted record and all that. Should be fine. ...fingers crossed for you. Good luck and do post when it gets approved.

7 minutes ago, Montreal23 said:

He is not a Canadian citizen nor does he have a PR. 

Ok hang in there then, they might just need to do a little extra background check on their behalf. I have heard about this for foreign nationals. Sending you the best wishes for approval soon. Did his interview go well as in he answered all the questions asked and he never felt like the consulate asked him for a document that he didn't have, or a question that he didn't have answer to? 

2 minutes ago, Montreal23 said:

Medical was received by consulate . My husband  received the 221(g) letter with a check mark saying additional processing . The officer didn’t tell him that the case was denied. He kept the passport and said it will take about weeks for additional processing.

Thank you 

That's strange, if the medical was received on time too. Is your husband Canadian citizen? Sometimes, I have heard that when someone is a PR of Canada but not citizen, there is additional processing required. 

10 minutes ago, Montreal23 said:

Sorry about that . I have no idea what i did

Not a problem also, from previous messages here I have noticed sometimes cases do go in additional processing. But it goes away after sometime and gets approved. Wishing you the best. 

11 minutes ago, Montreal23 said:

Hey guys, my husband had an interview today in Montreal. The interview went well, but at the end the officer told him that he is putting his case on additional processing. The officer told him that it will take approximately two weeks and took my husband’s passport . Does anyone had the same situation?

This is strange ...can you please remove my name from your message? As it's confusing....

Hey guys... Question for whoever can help. I am preparing the binder for my husband's interview next month. I have a bit of a situation with my u.s. naturalization certificate. Long story short, I lost my original u.s. naturalization certificate a few years ago. huh I know it's crazy. We had the photocopy of the certificate though which we used for the approval last year at USCIS and NVC. And I applied for the replacement naturalization certificate in the meantime for the interview. I received my replacement naturalization certificate last year and my name, dob , everything is correct. except for the city. It is showing as Condord instead of Concord. Do you think this could be a big deal for the consulate for my husband's visa?

Thanks for any help. I wish I had noticed this earlier...but now I don't even have time to go back to USCIS. It took me 6 months to receive the replacement certificate

24 minutes ago, mizzem said:

It will be mailed to the US address we provided and said it can take up to 6 months. The visa stamp in his passport is now good for one year from the date they activated his green card. We have to sell our house and tie up loose ends here so we probably won't make our move for a few months yet.

Right but for the first time when your husband will travel with you, won't he be asked for the green card at the airport? How will he receive his card here in Canada? Also, congratulations...so glad everything went well for you.

5 hours ago, mizzem said:

There are no exemptions for anyone regarding the mandatory quarantine coming back into Canada. We are both in Canada and drove to the US border last week to activate my husbands GC, we were in US customs for all of 30 minutes and crossed right back into Canada afterwards. We are now having to do a mandatory 14 day quarantine just for being on the US side for that short time. They follow you via an app as well. We are getting daily texts to check on us and someone else I know is getting phone calls to check on them. 

 

 

 

Did the custom officers tell you how your husband will receive his green card in mail? Can your family in the U.S. just mail it to him here? I have started working in the U.S. but we have been very careful about leaving Canada too because you never know these new rules that keep coming up, and now the whole new covid variant issue. Good thing we didn't leave Canada ...:) 

2 minutes ago, jackanddeona said:

Approved! See below for review on my time in Montreal

 

I booked a room at hotel Le St-Martin. They were offering a deal and the room prices were comparable to holiday inn etc. They informed me a day before I checked in that they had renovations and I was being transferred to their other property Hotel Birks. I highly recommend this hotel but even with the current discounts in prices the rooms go for over 200 a night and was about a 10 minute walk from consulate. I highly recommend ta pies. Excellent New Zealand style meat pies.

 

My interview was at 7:45 this morning. Same process as many here have described to start the day. I don't feel the need to go over that but here is the list of the documents I was asked for.

 

- birth certificates (I was surprisingly asked for my short form certificate as well as my long form, she even wanted a copy of the short but as I didn't bring one she made it herself)

- divorce certificate

- marriage certificate

- criminal record check

- 2019 1040

 

I uploaded my wife's 2020 W-2 before I came and she said because she could see it she didn't need it.

 

Waited for my interview for probably only 10 minutes. I was asked the following question.

 

- When and where did you meet

- Are either of you divorced

- Do you have any kids

- What does your wife do for a living

- Where do you plan to stay when you move

 

Some of these questions had follow up questions based on my answer. Overall it was a smooth process and barring any unforeseen issues I am expected to have my visa in two weeks. I want to thank everyone here on the forums. Deona and I were able to go through this entire process ourselves without hiring a lawyer or a visa approval company. Not only that we had zero RFE's or issues up until this point and that was only possible due to the work of people like @Hawk Riders and @DGF for example (the creator of the tracking spreadsheet and the manager of the FAQ/guide). Many others were helpful as well but I definitely wanted to give those two specifically a shout out and thanks. If anyone has questions for me don't hesitate to dm me. I know I did to a few people when they posted reviews and I had questions.

Yayyy many congratulations!!

22 minutes ago, mizzem said:

My husband didn't have my 2019 tax transcript to take either. IRS says they still have a backlog of 2019 to process. He took my 2019 1040 and they accepted that at his interview. They are aware there is a backlog at the IRS

I don't have for myself....even 2017 or 2018 I will just put the copies of my returns that I sent to IRS in the binder. And let's hope they won't reject his visa due to this.