CanadianJeff

1 hour ago, canuckchic said:

Thank you - I'm in California, so I just found an email for our Senator. May I ask how long it took for you to get things resolved with Montreal and have the interview scheduled?

 

My delays, and us contacting the senator's office, happened after the interview.

1 hour ago, canuckchic said:

Not sure how to go about doing that? 

For us, we checked the senator's website, got their contact email, and sent an email with name of beneficiary and petitioner, case number,  consulate involved, and explained the situation.  Our senator's office required a form be completed to grant them permission to reach out on our behalf (form was on their website but not every state seems to require the form). They were quick to reply. Navigating red tape seemed to be a common reason they were contacted (they had a website dedicated to saying their constituents can contact them for red tape stuff). 

It seemed Iike the email had to come from the US petitioner which makes sense since they would be the constituent and as a beneficiary, most of us are just random foreigners.

Good luck!

Yup, but the petitioner had to be the one to reach out as they are the legal entity in the USA. As a beneficiary we are just random nobodies. My senator's office had a form that needed to be completed in order to grant them permission to contact the consulate. That seems to vary state to state so it's worth checking the senator's website. 

13 minutes ago, Twiz&Toz said:

That’s my crossing  guess I’m buying some hot water bottles 

The time was spent inside their office for the paper work. Border crossing itself was non-existent for me but I have Nexus. I think regular lines were 3-4 cars deep so pretty quick I suspect.

10 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

I wouldn't necessarily be worried, because the consulate gives a timeline of 2 -3 week (sometimes 3 - 4 weeks) for passport to be returned. That being said, we have recently seen at least one case where the visa issuance took about 30 days after 221g was issued due to medicals not arriving on time. Refer to @CanadianJeff's case and their post below. I see you have already emailed  them. Maybe wait another week and if you still do not see progress, perhaps reach out to your senator for help, as that is what @CanadianJeff did to help push his case along.

@Redie

Like From_CAN_2_US said, I was delayed longer than expected. At the interview I was told they planned to approve my visa. It wasn't until the day after that I was informed f the 221g for medical not arriving on time. While it took over a month after receipt of my medical to process my case, most people seemed to be approved within a week of receipt of medical results - and that includes people that interviewed the same day as me who did not have medical results available. It's always possible my case raised someone's eyebrow for other reasons, although I can't think of anything. I was already in USA on a H-1B visa so maybe that was enough of a difference to cause some extra checks to take place. Hopefully your case is processed not long after receipt of the medical, but if you fail to see movement don't be afraid to reach out to your senator's office. Apparently, helping people navigate red tape is a routine service of the senator's offices.

If you haven't heard back from your email to the consulate by 1 week after, I'd send a follow up email. They did confirm receipt of my medical results, but other responses were pretty generic.

Good luck!

2 hours ago, Twiz&Toz said:

How long was the wait at poe?? And gratz I got 4 more weeks till I get to cross 

It wasn't a long wait at POE, maybe 30-45 minutes. I cross over land at Fort Erie, ON.

10 hours ago, Twiz&Toz said:

Question about moving and the tax... so if I move before I get my last pay and rpp do I have to pay double tax on it? 

I can't comment specifically about your question, but my understanding is that you never get double taxed for Canada USA taxes because of tax treaties. 

That said, tax rules are different between USA and Canada and there are a number of nuances that show up when you cross the border for resident purposes. One example that I learned after I moved to USA (I was previously there on H1B) is your TFSA is no longer able to grow tax free while you are in USA. I learned that one the hard way as I first moved after the stock market had a big dip, meaning that my TFSA was at a relatively lower value when I entered the USA. When the markets recovered, and my TFSA returned to it's pre crash value, it was seen as a taxable increase.  So while my TFSA was truly back to zero change, it came with a big tax bill.

Just got my tracking number! 

Just now, Twiz&Toz said:

Nope nothing yet I just checked 

Still waiting as well. Probably this afternoon. 

1 hour ago, Mrs.Coolidge said:

Haha same! I think we all become a little obsessive in these last miles! I know I have been! 

I feel like the last mile obsession is par for the course. At least that's what I keep telling myself so I feel normal throughout this process.

14 minutes ago, Mrs.Coolidge said:

Nope I was wondering the same thing! 

Same here. Hoping to see our tracking numbers today and passports on Monday as that seems to be the typical trend.

1 minute ago, Twiz&Toz said:

That’s what I’m thinking I been checking the spread sheet and it seems 5-7 days to get ur passport back after the interview 

I'm currently 35 days post interview so I'd gladly receive it 5-7 days post interview 😆🤣

1 minute ago, Twiz&Toz said:

I still don’t have my tracking number I think that will be sent out on Friday.

No tracking number for me either. I assume that if we don't get a track number today then we are likely to not see the passports until Monday at the earliest?

I also got my application updated to "Issued in Final Processing" today. Congrats to those getting that news today. 

@katcat29 sorry to hear yours wasn't updated today. Hang in there. It'll come through. Keep following up with them until it does.

22 minutes ago, katcat29 said:

I have my spouse on standby to see if we need to contact the gov't rep/senator, etc. to get involved if it does hit the 3 week mark. 

 

and FYI, your senator's office may have a form you need to complete to give them permission to enquire on behalf of the petitioner. My wife had to fill out and sign that form. It was available on the senator's website.

12 minutes ago, katcat29 said:

How long did it take for you to receive a response via email from the consulate? 

 

I have my spouse on standby to see if we need to contact the gov't rep/senator, etc. to get involved if it does hit the 3 week mark. 

 

Reply time varied from 1 to 7 business days (so about 9 days in total with a weekend in the middle).

Our senator's office was quite receptive to enquiring on our behalf. Their website even has a page that talks about having the senator's office help citizens navigate the red tape of government agencies so it must be a relatively routine thing they get involved with.

3 minutes ago, AMooseInTheHoose said:

I stayed at a hotel about a 35 minute walk from the embassy. Are there any lockers near the embassy to store my phone and stuff, or is it 100% best to leave them at the hotel? I like to take pictures while I'm walking, and listen to music, but it's more of a First World Problem. Interview's tomorrow morning!!

they have a post box size locker (locks with a key) where you can store your phone and small items. No issues taking your phone and headphones, you'll just need to lock it up. When I was there there did not seem to be any lack of lockers available for people. The FAQ suggested people have had issues getting a locker in the past, but they probably let more people into the waiting area before COVID.

25 minutes ago, katcat29 said:

Has this not happened to anyone? Any insight?  

Given that you haven't seen any movement for awhile it may be worth emailing the consulate. It seems that a few of us are experiencing unexpected delays. I wonder if it's because they hired new staff and have recently increased the number of interviews they are doing. I can't help but imagine my application sitting in a random forgotten pile somewhere. In my mind, emailing them should at least prompt someone to make sure the application is still being processed. I wouldn't expect much from their reply beyond "we are working on it", "we understand the frustration", and " every application takes a different amount of time" but it still made me feel better to see a reply of sorts.

If you want to email:

Email: Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov
Use a Topic line that includes your case number and name, something like : MTL######## -- LAST NAME, GIVEN NAMES
 

7 minutes ago, harshshah said:

 Sorry to ask stupid ques, but how do I get to this page? I had my interview yesterday and want to know status.

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=IV

That's the address for checking your status

1 minute ago, Twiz&Toz said:

Approved !!!! 

Congrats!

22 minutes ago, Canths said:

For those who have received their passports back - how long does it typically take to go from 'Issues in AP' to 'Issued in Final processing'/passport tracking number?

 

I am currently in 'Issued in AP' as of Nov 4th, and trying to plan the move back based on when i will potentially receive the tracking number.

It seems like it typically has moved quickly for other people. This is a screenshot from a different user's post that interviewed Oct 6. For them it went from Issued AP to Issued Final in less than a day. That said, there are always variations in the timelines so it's hard to be certain. Given that you had your interview last week and are already seeing Issued AP I'd expect to see your "Issued Final" status very soon (i.e. early this week). 

27 minutes ago, Hawk Riders said:

Please remember to update your timeline with your approval!

Will do! If I understand correctly, there isn't anything for me to update until I get the visa in hand. "Date IR-1/CR-1 Visa Received" seems to be the next slot available. My status says Issued but the text box below still says "Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks."

I'm hesitant to accept that as a true final approval just yet. Hopefully that will change quickly like most others have, but given how long things have been taken since my interview I won't make any assumptions.

Time for the consulate to reply varied. For me it ranged anywhere from 1-9 days to get a reply.