randy1randerson

2 hours ago, ellen_yvr said:

Just checking. Am I able to cross, activate my visa and then travel back to Canada a few times to pack up and move? I don’t intend to import my car but will use it for a couple months to travel while I get settled.

IIRC if you activate your visa when crossing by land in a car you own, the border agents will make you import it. Something to bear it mind.

Apart from that, nothing precludes you from multiple entries in either countries to progressively move your stuff.

I had my interview on July 11th, and was told the visa would be approved. It was sent by mail by the 12th, and received by the 13th.

4 hours ago, ellen_yvr said:

Almost 3 hours of waiting time and maybe 5 minutes in front of two consular officers and I was approved at my visa interview this morning. I had my folder of documents ready and was only asked for my passport, one picture they scanned and handed back, my birth certificate, police certificate and my husbands divorce decree. Now, where do I obsessively check the status? Thanks to all for the support and assistance.

Funny thing, I actually received my passport with the visa BEFORE the CEAC website was even updated. Still as of now, it only shows as "ready".

I don't have much to add to what everybody highlighted... It was surprisingly smooth sailing.

To note:  If your appointment is early and you're driving in, Sainte-Catherine street in front of the consulate is a great place to park. Parking is free until 9am, and if you get in by 7 ish, there's plenty of it. 

Bit of feedback regarding booking the medical in Montreal (Telus Health):

It was very difficult to get an appointment. I had to call multiple times to be told there was nothing available. It seems like doctors are giving availabilities about 4 weeks out, and there are very few slots that become available. I was told to keep calling every day in the morning between 8 and 9 to try and get new availabilities or cancellations.

Staff is friendly, and used to people calling back again and again. They seem to be aware that their capacity is lower than the demand for medicals. They actually recommended I call up the Toronto-approved physicians to schedule an appointment, which is kinda wild!

Finally, earlier this week after a few tries, I was able to get an appointment for the end of June, surprisingly cutting it pretty close with my mid-July interview (apprently takes 5-7 business days to get the results to the consulate).

July interviewees seem to be an oddity in that we had about 45 days between IL and actual interview... Can't imagine how tough it'd be to get an appointment with the usual 30 day window between IL and interview. If it takes 7 days to get an appointment within a 28 day timeframe, there's no way one can schedule that medical in time for the interview.

Now I don't know if summer vacations are creating an extra reduced capacity...

TL;DR: Don't delay in booking your medical, and call back every single day to try and get in a cancellation/new availability

56 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Have you tried the other consulate approved doctors?  It sucks that there are so few doctors approved to do these medicals and they are only in 3 provinces, especially considering what the actual medical is.  

Indeed - Telus Health are the only ones in PQ. I don't think I'll consider trying an Ontario doctor until the situation becomes dire... I hear Toronto commutes are no fun!

41 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Congrats to those who've received IL's!

 

I wonder, too, if they are sending them with a bit more time between IL issuance and the actual interview because it's been increasingly challenging to get the medical done and the results into the consulate in time, creating more work as people land in AP until the medical is received and reviewed.  We used to only get 3 weeks, 4 max.  May letter, July interview is nice for timing.  Hopefully summer holidays don't pose problems for people and accommodations in Montreal!

Well funny thing, I called up Telus Health in Montreal to get an appointment for the medical, and they had no availabilities yet... Told me to call back next week. So if what you say is the case, despite earlier ILs, actual appointments might still cut it short.

Interview letter this morning:

DQ 03-24

IL 05-24

Interview 07-11

In the hopes that this ever helps someone in the same situation who'd be querying Visajourney -

NVC made a mistake in our case by rejecting civil documents.

We reuploaded the same documents to CEAC, and the processing was set back at the end of the queue. We added comments on CEAC that the documents submitted were exactly what was required by the State Department, and that they should have been accepted.

The very same documents that had been rejected at first were finally approved when our turn came, after an additional three months of waiting in our case.

So if you are in the same situation as we are, where NVC made a mistake, there's nothing you can do. You just have to resubmit the same documents and wait your turn. There doesn't seem to be anything else you can do, despite how frustrating it is.

A few notes:

1- The first phone contact we had said they would escalate our situation and that we'd get a call back. We never did. Perhaps that was a ruse to get rid of our call.

2 - We wrote in using the AskNVC tool. The reponse was that our documents would be reviewed "soon". Unhelpful as well.

3 - Our congressman's office said they'd enquire on our behalf and let us know what was wrong with the docs, and to plan 4-6 weeks to get a reply. We never got such a reply.

On 3/3/2022 at 6:22 PM, darth vader said:

Hi folks -  can someone please help me with the below -

1. What is the latest DQ date that have got interview dates so far? Looking at the spreadsheet it appears the latest DQ date to get interview is Jan 04 with interview date of 14 Mar. My DQ date is 19 Jan and I do not have an IL yet, so I am kind of freaked out if I missed it in my inbox somehow????

2. Also confirming that the police certificates are valid for 2 years?

 

Thank you so much!!!!

I know the police cert had been valid for 2 years as the Montreal Consulate was working a long backlog - but now the website indicates 12 months.

Mine will be cutting it close to 12 months, so I'm getting a new one.

13 hours ago, MiloPinkman said:

So  I called NVC on friday that I was DQ on Nov 19th, and people who were DQ in Dec and even in Jan already have received IL. She said, everyone's case is different and you are not skipped. You will be contact when its your turn, don't overthink it. So frustrating. Apparently it is what it is.

If I'm not mistaken, NVC subcontracts for the phone line and first line of emailing. These guys seem to have limited knowledge of how the process works, and seem to get instructed to simply politely tell applicants to wait it out.

Some of my civil documents were refused by NVC, although I swear I submitted the right stuff. I called their phone line, and the person couldn't tell me what was wrong with the docs - he just told me to reupload and wait three months for them to be reviewed again.

I asked for it to be escalated to a supervisor, I was told I'd get a call back in six weeks (! better than three months I guess), but never got a call back.

I wrote in at the same time using the NVC inquiry tool to know why my docs were rejected and if they could expedite review - i was just told that my docs would be reviewed soon. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

All that to say, I wouldn't count on calling NVC for pertinent information.

22 hours ago, affy said:

Hi everyone! My husband is looking to get someone in the government to reach out to the consulate about our case. Who would be the best to reach out to for help here? A member of the united states congress/senate? A high ranking official in the state department? Or would someone like a state senator or a state representative suffice? Any help or perspective here would be greatly appreciated.

In my experience Schumer and Gillibrand have been useless. Our house rep has been quite helpful though.

I'm looking forward to seeing some September movement at Texas Service Center. Looking at the timelines on VJ, practically no one has received a NOA 2 from TSC in the last month. It really clashes with the NOA 2 frequency of responses in the previous months. Understand VJ is a tiny sample of total petitions, but still looks strange.

It's also odd looking at the quarterly USCIS stats - TSC backlog keeps growing to now about 3 1/2 quarters' worth, whereas the Nebraska backlog is barely 1 quarter. Makes you wonder about the USCIS distribution process of petitions between service centers.

1 hour ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

When I said "Online", I meant when you enter your receipt number on this site:

https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

 

It tells you the status and where your case is being processed.

Oddly it does not tell me where the case is being processed, simply that it is being actively reviewed (and has been for 3 months).

1 hour ago, Babu Frik said:

Other than your NOA you'll have to check with a rep to know if it changed.

You can do this with live chat "Ask Emma"

 

I wouldn't go crazy checking so often though, it's a waiting game regardless

Emma seems unable to respond, other than highlighting the 5 processing centers. The 1-800 line was also not fruitful.

I sent an email through the e-mailing function on my USCIS profile... we'll see if that's an info that can be provided.

@From_CAN_2_US @Linos When you say "online says Nebraska and letter says Potomac" or  "the online account shows that the case is being processed in Nebraska" - what online feature are you referring to?

It seems the only info I can find is at the bottom of the letter; I don't see a field or a menu anywhere on the website that specifies the current processing center.

Are you both referring to asking a question in the live chat?

Thanks!