hilaryb

9 hours ago, Chene said:

Interview was in early July,paid fees next day after interview,we arrived in USA Sept 9.only gotten the social security number but no green card yet.google says it takes around 3 months,so wait untill dec to call? Cr1 10 year gc

How long did it take for your social security number?

Got my tracking info this morning around 11:30, and notice it’s been picked up by purolator about an hour ago. Status changed from refused to issued-final processing on nov 3rd. 4 and a half weeks after my interview and a sure end is finally in sight! 

1 hour ago, lemurianelf said:

That's crazy. Totally not my experience. I disclosed my I 130 each time I was asked and they barely cared or just asked where I'm at in the process or even joked about it.

 

Where did you fly from? Which airport?

The time I was refused was at the land border. Port Huron, MI. Funny thing is I’d been allowed to cross there once before this time. Also, I’ve gathered that before your case is at NVC they won’t see anything about your application when they scan your passport. The first time I crossed after getting my case number I was flagged right away and they could see everything. They pulled me into the customs office and asked where I was at in the process and some questions about previous travel and my marriage, and sent me through.

11 hours ago, michael_n1988 said:

Getting a bit concerned with these border denials while visa is processing. 
 

I have a US vacation planned next month. Though my spouse and family all live and work in Canada so we have ties. Would they actually deny me entry bringing one backpack and clearly only crossing for pleasure/vacation?

It’s definitely worth bringing any documentation you have proving ties to Canada, but it also unfortunately depends on who you get at the border as I have learned. I crossed 3 times without issue since applying for the visa (2 by air, 1 by land) and was denied the 4th time (land border) because the CBP officer I had told me that you’re not allowed to enter the country after filing the I-130. As for the 3 previous times I was allowed entry, he told me that I should consider myself lucky. Didn’t want to see any documentation I offered that would show ties to Canada. Even told me that I could be barred from the country if I tried to enter again before getting my visa. Was a really upsetting situation that I would have loved to avoid! Flying has always been a much smoother experience. 

Just now, kryptonite said:

Glad to hear yours worked out! Did the officer inform you that the reason for the additional processing was for the border refusal? 
 

Also, were you just checking the CEAC website to see your status update or did they notify you that there was a change? If yours says issued, do you get anything for tracking? An email or something?

I wasn’t given any explanation for the additional processing no, but I’m assuming that’s the reason. Seems to be protocol I guess. And I would check CEAC every Thursday (as not to drive myself crazy lol) because from what I’ve read back in this thread it sounds like they ship passports out on Fridays. So I’m hoping to get my tracking tomorrow!

2 hours ago, kryptonite said:

Hi everyone, I had my interview yesterday in Montreal on November 2nd at 9:45 AM. Exactly what I didn’t want happened - my case went into administrative processing.

 

Quick back story on everything. The officer was very nice; all my documents were accepted and there were no issues with them. He asked me many questions and was content with all of them except for one which is what resulted in my case being put in to AP. My wife had recently moved to another state in the US and she was visiting me in Canada. We were both crossing from Canada to the US with the intention that I was going to help her move into her new place, build some furniture she ordered, etc. the border officers at that time refused me entry and said that you are not doing anything illegal (he literally repeated this multiple times) but, you cannot cross to the US while your case is being processed. Once it is is complete, you can then cross. This happened in May of 2022. I have not attempted to cross since then, I respected their judgement and of course I wouldn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize this months and months long process.
 

Fast forward to the visa interview, the officer asked me if I was every denied entry to the US and I explained to them the story above and he responded really well to it and seemed quite understanding. At the end however, he said he cannot issue the visa at this time and it requires some additional processing because of the denial of entry at the border. He said based on what you said, everything seems okay but we have to check it on our end. He said there’s nothing you need to do, no documents to submit or anything. Everything is on going our end.

 

I asked him for a rough timeline of everything and he said he can’t give an exact time but said hopefully a few weeks. He suggested that they keep my passport on file but also gave me the option to take it with me if I wanted. I chose for them to keep it as I do not want any further delays with me having to mail it back to them. 
 

I know there’s no knowledge of a proper wait time with AP, but does anyone have any experience with something like this given that I do not have to submit any documents and that they are not waiting for me to do anything? My file could be put at the bottom, it could be in a different pile from those who they are waiting on documents for, I literally have no idea.

 

Also, do they notify you when they are done with AP? Or would they just send the passport out whenever they are done doing their processing?

 

Was almost at the finish line but looks like I’m going to have to wait a bit longer to cross it.

 

Thanks in advance for the responses!

Exact same thing happened to me. I was interviewed Oct 5th - I had a border refusal in august which was not on my DS260 as it happened after being DQ. The officer approved me at the interview but afterwards my CEAC status went straight to refused and was contacted by the officer to inform me that additional processing was needed. Today after 4 weeks it was finally changed to issued. What a freakin whirlwind!! Nonetheless hang in there, it’ll all work out 😊

10 minutes ago, Siarg said:

It seems to me like they’re doing a further check on you in the consulate. “True” AP, where it will take them a likely couple of weeks to investigate. 
 

if you were not given DS5535, I don’t think it’s a security check like most of us have received here. 
 

“True” AP is actually the consular officers investigating your border crossings, any notes left by CBP, verifying your documents, and making sure the new additions at the interview make sense. The additional travel after DS260 can sometimes trigger this even without a border crossing denial. 
 

I don’t think there’s anything major to worry about here, but expect to wait a little longer for a decision. I would guess weeks rather than months. 

Thank you for the clarification, it gives me

some reassurance. The part I can’t wrap my head around is the phone call - like I said I sent them an email yesterday, but could be it’s just a total coincidence that they contacted me today and actually has nothing to do with my inquiry. It would feel pretty off brand of them to call to update me just because I asked. But no - no DS5535 or 221g.

Hi everyone, I’m finding myself in an odd situation and hoping that maybe somebody here could lend any insight.

I was interviewed last Wednesday and told my visa would be approved - they kept my passport and sent me on my way. At my interview I had to submit an amended tax return from my husband, and also update them on a border refusal/request to withdraw entry that happened in august, some months after being DQ so it wasn’t on my DS-260. When I was refused trying to visit my husband, the CBP officer said flat out that I was not allowed to enter the country with a pending immigration case despite being admitted for 3 previous visits since applying. We know this is not true…but unfortunately I didn’t have satisfactory documentation on me to prove ties to Canada and was issued the withdrawal. He basically told no harm no foul and assured it would not impact my immigration case.

My CEAC tracker has been stuck on ‘READY’ since my interview. I emailed the consulate yesterday to make sure everything was ok, and this morning around 7:30 am I received a phone call from my interviewing officer. He told me that the status on CEAC tracker will now say, what I heard as ‘recieved’ but I’m wondering if I misheard him say ‘refused’ because that’s what it says now. He said my case will go

thru AP, that there is nothing else I need to do and that I will receive my visa ‘when it’s ready’. I know that it is normal for the tracker to say ‘refused’ right before switching to ‘issued’, but given my border refusal and the fact that I was contacted by phone I am really scratching my head here. It seems unlikely that they would call me just to reassure me everything’s good. Either way I’m sure I should expect to be waiting at least a few more weeks for my passport, hopefully not longer. Very anxious and confused by this.
 

Sorry for the lengthy post, would love to hear if anyone has experienced something similar.

1 hour ago, hilaryb said:

So yesterday I sent an email to the consulate inquiring about my case status on CEAC still saying ‘ready’ after over a week past my interview. Around 7:30 this morning I received a phone call - it was my interviewing officer. He told me that I can check to see that my status has been changed to ‘received’ (he meant ‘issued’, I assume?), that there is nothing else I need to do, my case is now undergoing administrative processing and I will get my visa ‘when it is ready’….yay?? I guess I was just a little thrown off by the phone call as I don’t think I’ve heard of that from anyone here before. I would like to assume that maybe they legitimately skipped over me and felt bad? Haha. Montreal certainly has cryptic ways about them. But anyway, CEAC tracker has been updated from READY to REFUSED and I expect to see it change to ISSUED AP later today. 

Still, I can’t help feeling wary of the fact I was contacted by phone….anyone have any insight to help put my mind at ease?

So yesterday I sent an email to the consulate inquiring about my case status on CEAC still saying ‘ready’ after over a week past my interview. Around 7:30 this morning I received a phone call - it was my interviewing officer. He told me that I can check to see that my status has been changed to ‘received’ (he meant ‘issued’, I assume?), that there is nothing else I need to do, my case is now undergoing administrative processing and I will get my visa ‘when it is ready’….yay?? I guess I was just a little thrown off by the phone call as I don’t think I’ve heard of that from anyone here before. I would like to assume that maybe they legitimately skipped over me and felt bad? Haha. Montreal certainly has cryptic ways about them. But anyway, CEAC tracker has been updated from READY to REFUSED and I expect to see it change to ISSUED AP later today. 

3 hours ago, cantous said:

Thank you @mam521 that makes sense, very frustrating but nothing more we can do.

 

@hilaryb Is the CEAC tracker working for you now? The page doesn't update when I click submit.

It has been working for me since a couple hours ago now. Still no status update though 😪

Mine hasn’t been working for the last hour either.

On 10/9/2022 at 2:18 PM, ClemsonC said:

It shouldn't, I don't think. Does it still say READY on CEAC?

Still says ‘ready’ now after a week…not feeling too optimistic it will change without some form of inquiry. Have seen folks in this thread have to contact their state senator in similar cases to get things moving.

On 10/7/2022 at 7:38 PM, ClemsonC said:

I just got shipping notification that its been sent. Hopefully Tuesday you will get one too ❤️ 

Woohoo!! Happy for you!! I did have to submit an amended tax return at my interview, it dawned on me that might cause a delay in my processing. Just praying I don’t get shoved into a stack and forgotten about. 

54 minutes ago, ClemsonC said:

I had mine on Tuesday, as well as someone else I know. Ours all changed to Issued later that afternoon. Our visa info says “appointment” still as well. My CO did say it wouldn’t be printed until next week though.

Good to know - thank you! I wonder if all of ours will be printed at once. 

Hi all, had my interview on Wednesday and was approved. Ceac tracker is still saying “ready” and the visainfo portal says “appointment”. Is this normal? This process has conditioned me to worry about every little thing, and fear for the worst lol. Hoping for an update today so I can set my move date in stone 

Anybody with October interviews received their physical IL in the mail yet? Got the email but still waiting on the paper copy. If it doesn’t show in the mail, I can print the email in place of it for

the interview, right?

53 minutes ago, ConsistentCut said:

Ya, why do you think they have slowed down? Interviews are all sent out on one day during a month, May interviews were scheduled on July 25th, and August isn't over yet. Some people here were suggesting that August interview letters have already been sent out, but I see no evidence for that. I was DQed in June, so I am still expecting my interview letter sometime this month.

According to the spreadsheet kellykms and Luna were DQed near the end of may, 20th and 21st respectively. I don't know for sure, but I expect all us June DQs will get our interview letters before August 31st.

Looks like you and I were both DQ’d June 21st, impatiently holding out for our IL this week or next!!