TripleCity

Too many unknown variables and nothing is happening anyway if if they wanted to shoot me in the foot it would probably be a delay for that as well. It will be righted but likely not without much effort my persistence has paid off usually. I’m just going off of what followup the UsCIS agents told me to do and when. The agents have said a few months back they couldn’t see whether it’s 1R1 vs CR1. They did mention if it’s CR1 I could submit a change. At the 60 day mark I called to find out if production had started, they said they didn’t see anything call after the 90 days and if it’s still not received then the agent I speak with will do a service request to have them begin processing. 
 

When I called today they acknowledged it is outside the processing time of 90 days, they will do tje service request. At the time I asked if they could see if its the IR1 that’s being issued. They were saying its CR1 by any indication they could see but they weren’t confident, the phone cut off with that agent and the next one I spoke to made a ticket for the subtype inquiry. It’s all more of the same frustrations each step of the way. Apparently if I don’t see a case status update in 4 weeks I can call back to see. 

On 4/8/2022 at 6:32 PM, Chancy said:

*** Moved from AOS from K1 Visas forum to AOS Progress Reports ***

 

 

Sometimes it takes more than one inquiry.  In my case (GC production, not AOS), not a peep even after 120+ days.  Then a couple of days after my 2nd USCIS service request, "Card Being Produced" 😑

 

I just got off the phone with USCIS for them to initiate a service request to begin production of the physical green card, but the IR1 type and the agent also advised that I do an inquiry on myUSCIS as well. It has been 90 days after paying the immigration and entering the US on the visa stamp in my passport I-551. 
 

It seems reasonable to me that if they are going to begin to process the physical Green card that they process the right subtype. I don’t know why I keep having to remind them of their own rules around IR1 vs CR1. I will be putting the inquiry request today. From what the agent mentioned ot could go to a Level 2 agent. Right now I have two service requests one for the production of the green card the other one trying to ensure they isssue the 1R1. 

If you can put it on the market and close before you activate the visa that is cleaner and more simple. But if you can’t, then no choice then. Will have to see how it pans out tax wise. 

In my opinion from consultation and my research your principle resident is a significant tie to Canada until you transfer title on closing day. You could argue that until you sell your home and transfer title on your principle residence you are a Resident of Canada. Resident and residence are two different concepts. 
 

I also agree, it is worth paying the money for a tax account for what you could be saving. On closing day the lawyer may ask you to sign a document where you declare you are a resident of Canada. Before you talk to your real estate agent or lawyer  talk to your Accountant! 

40 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

***I have moved this topic to the Canada regional forum area as this is strictly a questions only Canadians can answer*****

Thank you, I have a hard time figuring out how to post a new question. 

Did EI (Employment Insurance) ask for anything from the employer after you applied other than ROE (Record of employment). Did they ask to explain why you couldn’t continue to work remotely for the employer in the US or is it determined based on the nature of the job. If the employer is moving back to in person and thats the nature of the job prior to pandemic think it would stand to reason you can’t work while being physically present in the US. I’m waiting fir a call back from the EI international line. Hard to determine all the variables, no guarantees, I’m on track to making the minimum hours required as a first step, but 420 hours will only get 10 weeks of EI earnings if approved. I just want to wrap everything up. If EI will be another arduous process don’t want to bother. 
 

9 minutes ago, ice-qube said:

I think there is a legitimate question about all this. I just thought of another scenario: snowbirds. Snowbirds live in both countries, and some actually have permanent residence in the US. If crossing the border and claiming their residence in the US means they lose their health benefits, how then do they get them back? 

B2 visa allows Canadians to stay in the US for 6 months. Although Canadians don’t have to apply for a B2 visa. It’s automatic but it is still a B2 if you look at the I-94 arrival / departure record form on CBP website that’s the type of visitor visa. Most snowbirds only stay for 6 months. The allowable time to be out of the province/ country and still maintain coverage is about 7 months. So if they stay 6 months their Ontario health coverage through OHIP is maintained. I don’t know about the other provinces though. Just offering for comparison. 

Typically you have to be out of the country or province for some months before they deem you no longer eligible for health coverage. For example, in Ontario if you are out of the country for 7 months then you technically don’t have coverage. But it doesn’t mean that it will be identified. Many senior citizens stay out of the country for months and come back without having any gap in coverage. Also might depend on the expiry on your health card. The Ontario government was waiving the waiting period of 3 months of residency in the province in order to reinstate coverage  - due to Covid. Because some people couldn’t return due to travel restrictions etc. Long story short check your provincial health website it should state what the eligibility rules are and requirements for reinstatement. If you call, ask a general, hypothetical question do not share your health card, they could flag you or cancel your card if you passed the allowable time frame. If you will not use it while abroad, then it’s all the same in my opinion, can leave it active less paperwork if you return and or if making trips back occasionally during the transition year. If they want to suspend your coverage they can through their own process for identifying ppl. However, They would consider it fraud if you used or try to claim benefits but actually was ineligible. 

11 minutes ago, Twiz&Toz said:

Not sure what province I are in but Ontario houses last a less then a week on the market the ppl beside my old house sold there before it was even visible on the open mls 

A sellers dream. I bought fairly quickly too back in 2016. Think it was only on the market 9 days. 

30 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Ya house selling I was told is always better before you cross. I sold and had mine closed just 4 days before crossing. The market is hot right now it might work for you. 

I just hope to avoid the tax bill haha.

@Jeanne Adil yes I have a good tax accountant. I will let him handle it. I normally do my taxes.

I did separate filing in Canada as a married individual, I didn’t need to include my spouse’s US income information because they’re a non resident and  only required if you are applying for tax related benefits. For example for the child tax benefit the net income of the non resident spouse is required to calculate household income. 

 Now I have more clarity I have to follow up with the accountant,  I know what time frame and what is doable in that time frame.
 

@Ontarkie, @Crazy Cat yes it is likely the medical it’s exactly 6 months from the date of the medical. 

1 minute ago, Ontarkie said:

It is usually based of your medical. When was your medical? 

Whatever you do make sure you cross before the expiry date. You can always turn right around to finish wrapping things up. 

My medical was done in July this year. My initial thought was that it was based on the medical but I thought I saw somewhere that they extended the validity of the medical. But not sure if that’s with Cases under USCIS - Adjustment of status folks, versus mine that was consular processing CR1/1R1. 
 

My only concern is for tax implications of selling my home. I would have preferred to close on the sale before activating as the easiest. Considered travel to the US without activating to reunite with my spouse while the sale progresses.  My accountant said could make it work to activate before closing if I put it on the market before and come back to close. Anyone dealing with selling a home. How did you all manage this? Running all sorts of scenarios?

it’s been such a long process don’t even know if I want to ask Montreal to even consider adjusting the expiration date. At least I have a date and visa to work with. 

Hi,

For those of you who recently got your passport with visa stamp recently what expiration date did you have? Anyone with 1 month only to activate? How much time were you giving to wrap up affairs? 

So nice that things are moving along. I did my medical last week Thursday with the Doctor in Toronto, and on Tuesday I got an email from them that the results were emailed to the consulate. It was fast an easy, they asked for everything over email in advance. I don’t think much about the interview just all the stuff I have to organize to keep me busy. 

1 hour ago, TripleCity said:

Hi when registering interview, and selecting for courier service can we choose to enter a US address. Or do I have to receive it at a Canadian address or pick up location. I thought the premium service area would allow me, but it already has a caution to not us an address outside the US. If any one is up :). Worse case scenario I log out and try again tomorrow after polling you all and Google searching. 

Ignore this. It’s late. I’ve answered my own question, read over MTL’s interview info page. I was totally losing sight of the first step, the fact that the consulate mails us our passport back in Canada  with the visa details (temporary green card inside passport so to speak) after the interview (after all can’t travel without passports internationally) and then later sends the physical green card to the US address on file, I read this latter part about mailing to US address today but that only pertains to the physical green card. I think I should have drawn myself a diagram 6 months ago. 
 

Zzz 😴 

Hi when registering interview, and selecting for courier service can we choose to enter a US address. Or do I have to receive it at a Canadian address or pick up location. I thought the premium service area would allow me, but it already has a caution to not us an address outside the US. If any one is up :). Worse case scenario I log out and try again tomorrow after polling you all and Google searching. 

On 7/9/2021 at 7:11 PM, T&S_MTL said:

Yes this is what people shared in the past, so I ll wait 😅. What option did you pick on the first page ? I selected the first one (NVC sent an email and this for the registration of the appointment)

On 7/9/2021 at 7:08 PM, Fobosdaemios said:

Oh I tried to register too but it also said not ready for the interview message too. I assume it takes a few days before it registers into their system? 

I am also getting the same error message under case number, saying case number - not ready for an appointment. I will give it a couple days and try again. I read the FAQ that Visa Journey has and seems it’s a common problem so will give it a few days. There’s and email that they provide to resolve this on the registration online form but will hold off. I copied and pasted that technician support email and the instructions just in case. I’m hoping it resolves itself. I just don’t want to deal with anything else. Lol. 

29 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Montreal neglected to admit their mistake with not scheduling your interview in July 😡

Exactly without giving answer for it. I may eventually get a response like we see that you have been scheduled an interview so the expedite request is resolved. The only silver lining is it was delayed long enough for the travel restrictions to have expired earlier in July. 
 

Busy with the next chapter. 

-Shelly 

I got the interview email today, for Aug 2nd! No response to my expedite request. I’m happy and relieved this period of uncertainty is drawing to a close. 
 

All the best to everyone. 

1 hour ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Good luck on your expedite request and I admire your positive attitude

@From_CAN_2_USThank you for your suggestions, they really helped. I didn’t even know about the tier two agents and expedite request at NVC. I really appreciate everyone’s input. I’ll update in case it helps anyone else. 

19 hours ago, Amolak said:

Any update on your file 

Hey All, 

I did put in an expedite request, I’m waiting on that. 

The consulate replied to my emails with information from the their consular updates website, nothing specific to my case. I confirmed with NVC that I am in the right category for spouses of US citizens. I spoke to a tier two agent, again everything with my file checks out, no explanation they could provide, only over and over again I’m still in line and eligible for interview at any point. 
 

On the bright side it’s summer and I will try to enjoy. 
 

13 hours ago, Fobosdaemios said:

Isnt it the doctor who does the medical exam will give the missing vaccinations?

When I was looking into this prospectively last year, I found that not all immigration medical doctors do the vaccines, some do (like the immigration doctor in Montreal) and others you have to bring the vaccine records to them and it depends on the age of the applicant what types of vaccines are required. Best to ask before making an appointment and know what vaccines you need. The doctor in Toronto, Dr Lyndon Mascarenhas, https://www.visadoctor.ca/en/us-medical has a great vaccine checklist form on their website by age group. With him from what I understand he does not do the vaccines but rather you take your records to your family doctor, if there are missing vaccines you can take them with your family doctor, and your family doctor completes the checklist form that you then bring to Doctor M. You can look at that form for reference even if you do not do your medical with them. If you have any questions the doctor’s office where you will be completing your medical will guide you. I found them to be very helpful. 

14 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

This is what they have on NVC website:

 

Thank you!! Ok wow. About 2.5 weeks. 

31 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

I am so confused. All this time I thought they assign interviews in sequence of DQ. Accordingly, you should have been interviewed in May, and they are asking you wait for (maybe) August?!

 

Maybe others more experienced can advise if this has happened before and whether you have a Solid case to ask for an expedite....I can’t imagine why you don’t...

 
Please update us when you hear from Montreal. I would also call NVC again tomorrow at 7am. Maybe another agent would have a different answer than just “wait and see”? Ask them how come you were skipped over and can you get an expedited interview considering you should have had one in May by your DQ date. Also wonder if you can ask to speak to a tier 2 agent and whether they would be able to help more....

 

@Amolak same for you...I don’t understands why you didn’t get an interview today for July...

 

To more experienced people on this thread - has this happened before?

My thoughts exactly. I’ll keep pushing. I am thinking about calling back in the morning when the call centre opens to see what escalation options I have. 

Anyone know how long the NVC staff typically take to reply to the online inquiry form? Just trying to gage what to expect. 
 

6 hours ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

From what I know, Montreal interviews in chronological order of DQ...

 

I would contact NVC ASAP and ask what the issue is. If there was some oversight on the end of NVC/ Montreal, you might qualify for an expedite.

 

Call them at 7am (Eastern time) sharp tomorrow. You will get through.

 

Your priority date is current being in CR1/IR1 category, so that is certainly not the issue.

 

Good luck!

May 19 2021

I called NVC, out of sheer persistence and got through eventually after 4pm today. The agent said they see no issue in my file,  all documents are in, nothing to do with priority date, visa category for immediate relatives (spouses) are current, the agent said just a matter of time, wait and see for next month, good sign others with similar DQ dates are getting interviews, limited number of spots. My priority date is in December 2019, DQ Sept 2nd 2020. 
 

Will see if I get a reply from the Montreal Consulate, last time I emailed them they took a week to reply. There must be some some explanation for the skip over, and preventing being skipped again. 
 

My spouse has also sent a message through the NVC inquiry form earlier today. The NVC agent also has suggested the inquiry form as something we could try, but expected the reply may be similar to theirs.  
 

I will keep you all updated. 

Hi our application for CR1 was DQ on Sep 2nd 2020.  I see from the tracker Excel sheet that some ppl who were DQ’d on Sept 2nd as well as 5th got interview letters in April for May interview dates. Now I see those DQ’d, up to Sept 21, 2020 also got IL’s today. However, my case is still saying AT NVC.

Any idea what might be the hold up, we had no issues at all, no request for additional info, etc. I am a Canadian citizen (immigrant) and spouse is American. Does priority date factor in? Then again I read somewhere it doesn’t apply to spousal visa because that visa category  is  current. 

I tried calling NVC can’t get through at the moment due to high call volume. Hopefully later on tonight I can. I also emailed the Montreal consulate. 
 

Any suggestions?