Cath&Claire

1 hour ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Hoping for some goooood interview news this week for Jan/Feb DQs! 🤞🏼😊 

 

P.S. You know it’s definitely been a long wait when VJ emails to check in on you (because it’s been 6+ months since there’s been any new activity/movement on your timeline). LOL

 

We’ll get through this! 🙏🏽

If all goes well, you should be hearing pretty soon!  🤞🏻 

1 hour ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

I called NVC just to see IF they could give me any information on their communication w/Montreal. No help/updates as usual. Was just told to wait patiently for my interview date. Not surprised at all. 

I sent another email. And will send a message on the ‘sosh’ media.  Gentle reminders that we’re waiting!  🤞🏻

5 minutes ago, Hadarah said:

Thanks! Appreciate the tip.

They just wanted my passport.  Was seamless.  

18 minutes ago, Hadarah said:

Hey guys, so I immigrated last week Monday and I can not even tell you how frustrating it is to try to open a bank account in this country. I just tried opening an account with Ally online, and that didn't work out. My husband can't even get me added to his accounts. Is there anyone here who has already immigrated that could share info what they did? Chase bank won't accept the temporary green card in my passport, and the Credit Union my husband is part of as a teacher also won't even accept an ACTUAL green card as ID, they need state ID, which I can't get without my SSN. And sadly I'm in a complicated situation with the SSN because I have one with my maiden name from years ago when I was in school in the US but with covid and all the SSA offices closed in our city I can't get an appointment to get my name changed on my card.  If anyone can give direction or point me to another thread on banking in the US that would be great. I'm starting to get frustrated. 

I got added to my wife’s accounts last week.  Wells Fargo ...without an SSN.  

6 minutes ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Yes! I was trying to not use Sept in my analysis since those were scheduled weekly by Montreal and not NVC, but I agree! If they enough interview slots to fill 23 VJ members on our spreadsheet, then why not now! 5-6 is super low...maybe we'll here more this week or next week. I might call NVC as well to get an update on their process now that Montreal is communicating with them. If someone already has been in touch with them, kindly let us know what they heard! 

At this rate, 5-6, many of us will celebrate our 10 year anniversary apart! 😂😭😱

40 minutes ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

I agree that this is all way too confusing. I thought I would have a clear answer on their process for new interviews this month, but that's not the case so far. If they only used 1x a week for spouses and 1x a week for K1s, how is that helping them get through their backlog? I was hoping for them to do at least 2x a week for spouses like they have done in the past. Also, the number of interview dates scheduled for VJ members was relatively low as well compared to pre-covid times. I would have expected at least 10-15 people to get an interview in November (pre-covid it was about 20-30 people on our VJ spreadsheet). It could be that our sample size is too low to tell, but I haven't seen any update on FB either. 

They scheduled 23 interviews in September for VJ members. If they could do that then, why not do that moving forward? That would help substantially. It’s super great they scheduled 5-6 new interviews so far  -  now we wait, again - after the initial hopefulness -  to see what will happen.....  

5 minutes ago, DGF said:

I want off this rollercoaster of emotion and stress that has turned me into an angry reactive mess that I don't even recognize as me anymore (but not until I have my visa in hand). 

Ughhhhh me tooooooo! The human capacity to deal with uncertainty is not great - add to that being away from our spouses and families.   

I emailed a few days ago. Received this just now:  

15 hours ago, DGF said:

I am a citizen of both the UK and Australia and I am kicking myself SO HARD for not switching consulates when I found out that Montreal had a 5 month backlog. I figured it wasn't that bad of a wait and of course no one saw covid coming. Hindsight is 20/20 🙄

Oh no! Your case would have been resolved by now.  So frustrating to see it’s taking them 3-5 months in those countries while we don’t even know when we’ll get there.  15 months and counting for us.  🙁

12 minutes ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Exactly!  I feel like the more we stay quiet, the more relaxed they get. Keep them on their toes!!!

With the  lack of transparency and communication and the fact that couples in Australia, New Zealand and the UK are getting interviews within 3-5 months - it’s a good thing to inquire about the lack of movement!    They are all set up and now and have been doing this for weeks. Let’s go! Get us all to our new homes! 

Just now, Lovepeace0303 said:

I plan to get really loud next week if we don't hear anything from the Consulate. I have an email ready to send and social posts lined up. If anyone else has other ideas of how to get loud and our message in front of the Consulate, let me know! I'm ready to do whatever it takes to push them. They are done with rescheduling cancelled interviews, so I don't understand what the hold up is. Either way, if we don't hear from them next week, I won't be staying quiet any longer. 😀

That’s what we need to do! I started this week. Twitter and an email. Will keep at it next week as well!  👊🏻

11 minutes ago, jstriders said:

Is this valid email address? It bounced for me (I copied from here straight to my To field

Hi. Without that period at the end.  montreal-iv-dv@state.gov

12 minutes ago, 2Ps said:

Here's what I wrote. I first got a generic response and the above response came second which I wasn't even expecting. And yes please you should. I've been waiting for you to get your letter like forever. I need to see a light at the end of the tunnel before Dec.

 

People in the UK - DQ’d June - interviews scheduled for November.  

9 minutes ago, Tofu said:

Yikes that doesn't sound promising... Although, it was a week ago - so still cautiously optimistic for news next week. 

Here’s the email address for those who haven’t emailed before montreal-iv-dv@state.gov.   

1 minute ago, Tofu said:

Yikes that doesn't sound promising... Although, it was a week ago - so still cautiously optimistic for news next week. 

It’s a great idea to keep sending messages via social media - Twitter/Facebook and email —  asking when resumption of visa processing will be.   👍🏻

29 minutes ago, jackanddeona said:

This is in fact false. They scheduled cancelled spousal visas before cancelled k1. We will know in the next week or two whats happening in November.

The wait time is ridiculous for either category. I was just reading on the Australia/New Zealand forum - people getting expedited for being pregnant, people stating the longest they’ve seen anyone wait for an interview is 3 months, and someone DQ’d in July already has an interview scheduled.  Canadians have been marrying USC’s for decades. This isn’t a new phenomenon.  Staffing and a process in place to move interviews along in a timely manner is required! I will have my wife email her senator’s yet again. The advocacy for family reunification group on Facebook has done a great job being outspoken. So for anyone who has the time, please continue to email your government representatives.   The current delay is beyond reasonable, let alone the 5 months it was pre 🦠.   

1 minute ago, MWhite said:

Hopefully like @pooj97 said there’s only 2 from Canada. But this is alllll so frustrating. Last summers shutdown of interviews that only affected spousal but not the k-1. Then Montreal should have resumed the spousal visas earlier as per the june 22 proclamation but they didn’t...waited another 2 months at which point they also started the k-1s as well so now it’s at a standstill again. 
Hopefully we hear by next week. 

How come K1 wasn’t impacted last summer? And just spousal? 

6 minutes ago, pooj97 said:

 

It’s frustrating for sure. I decided not be part of this lawsuit but I really do feel for those waiting for spousal interviews. You guys should definitely be highest priority, especially considering the massive spousal backlog that already existed pre-Covid

This is what Greg Siskind posted today.  

15 hours ago, Hawk Riders said:

In June 2019 @KartineeKartoons started a group message for Canadian spousal applicant VJers who were stuck in the Montreal interview scheduling backlog. They invited members at the same stage in the IV process and the message group has remained active more than a year later, currently with 199 VJ members. Not all members are active in the conversation, and a few weeks ago someone suggested it was time to disband the message group.

 

I am inviting all the active members to hold our discussion here, publicly in the forum, moving forward. Having our collective experiences and knowledge siloed behind closed doors is a disservice to the the whole of the VJ community. Let's strengthen the community as a whole by making a shift.

Invitations: @DGF @shammykay @Tofu @sjb17 @rainbow-skies @Mzamour @Cath&Claire @sh114 @S.H.11 @Leah123 @DoubleE @Hadarah @MWhite @legendqueue @SeriaRisa11 @PawlD @i5love @Jay&Sid @mizzem @Kingsrish @Abhikochar @Je9ala @Madison99 @ArgiE0601 @Lovepeace0303 @leo18 @A&RN @marahm18 @acmanu @Sanmcall @Dkw @SASAS @Romans13 @Rose__ @InspectorGrover @canadavisa22 @chefcurry88 @lngtimecoming @Lovenature @mam521 @Noam D @Pat1976 @dee&vee @AMSAL @ReadIcculus @Jacqueline H @Couchpotato560 @Dbrennan @eketros @MrsDex @wordsfromdani @kburbasaur @Jenn&Matt @Waitin-Game @mika__ @Specter @ameena1423 @chanel167 @TOtoVA @Michelle_VM @BunyanP @HRubin @Irregularblob @US-EH @C&L2018 @rafale1973 @Lois K @2Ps @Rush11 @jackanddeona @Kaleigh11 @vjcl @SJS8581 @Ptitchou @fxch3 @starboogie @tmac99 @Flowergirl 737 @Prairiegirl3 @Skaur0609 @Cammabear @Emilini @jacketconfident @eagle212 @betzzymathew @Sarjb77 @Akaur @JACHA @Rotorhead @BeeSee @CGs_Mother @SAsal @Todd@Alya @Hamlet @AfterTheSnow @JandTK @Mel and Deb @Abe&Noha @anto3knee @PennyLaneB @JenTex @Aminac13 @Canadiangirl38 @Jaret&Rachael @llednew.rm

Group members not specifically listed above haven't signed into and/or read VJ messages for a while but are more than welcome to participate.

 

Let's all help keep information accessible to all and transparent, and alleviate the anxiety other visa applicants experience navigating this convoluted process.

Thanks for doing this! 

19 hours ago, NikLR said:

As a CR1/IR1 the NVC will set your interview date.  Expect a wait of about 6 months or more for your interview date. Just sit tight until then.  They're rebooking the cancelled interviews now, and then there is a large backlog. 

I’m hoping they schedule new CR1 interviews at the reschedule rate.   We’ll find out soon enough.