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Wow that’s so great to hear! We received NVC’s confirmation of the upgrade in mid April, and I got the IL in early May - about 2 weeks time. We were DQ’d in July 2021, so it looks like they put us right onto the top of the pile after we were upgraded. Good luck - you are nearly there!!

Thanks! I got it by email from Canada Post.

Hi all, I had my interview this morning (June 1) and was approved. The VJ forum has been immensely helpful to me throughout this journey and I thought I would share my experience in case it would benefit anyone else. Please let me know if I should post this in a different forum instead. For the most part, my interview experience was quite similar to what other VJers have shared. Here's a rough order of events: Arrive ~5 min prior to your appointment time. They would not let you in before that. My interview was at 7:45am; I got there at 7:40 and there were a bunch of people lining up in front of me with appointment times at 8 or later. They let me in and the rest had to wait outside until it's almost their scheduled time. Check in and security check - they issue you a ticket number at check in and put a sticker at the back of your passport (I believe for shipping purposes). They have tiny lockers to store things like cellphone, car keys, smart watches, etc. Do not bring any big electronics or big purses. 1st call to the window: provide documentation (see more below) and answer some basic questions 2nd call to the window: oath, Q&A, return of documents and next steps Documents requested: Ticket number (that you received at check in) Interview letter Passport Marriage certificate Birth certificate Police certificate (note: the officer asked whether I had an updated police certificate for Canada as mine was done in March 2021. I said no as my understanding is it is valid for 2 years. He did not make any comment to my statement, but he did step away to speak to someone else, presumably about this. It made me super nervous while I was waiting for them to review my documents!! But this never came up when I was called back for the second time for the actual interview so I guess it was not an issue) Updated tax forms for the petitioner (my husband has not yet received his 2021 tax transcript, so I gave them his 2021 tax return and 2021 W2 and there were no issues) 1 passport photo, which they returned to me after scanning Q&A Your name / DOB Your petitioner's name, what he does for work, status in the US Address where you will be staying in the US When/where did you get married (anniversary date), how did you meet and how long have you known each other Is this you / your husband's first marriage Do you / your husband have any children What do you do for work Where have you travelled to in the last 5 years What is the longest period (approximately) you've stayed in the US Have you ever been arrested / denied for entry / turned around at the border Any questions about the pamphlet At the end of the interview, the officer said they would be issuing me a visa and I should expect to get my passport back within 2 weeks. They kept my passport and the original police certificates and gave me back my marriage/birth certificates. The officer told me it would take about 2 weeks to get my passport back but I already received a tracking number at noon ET today with ETA of June 3, what a pleasant surprise! It was such a relief to get this over with! Final thoughts: I was extremely anxious (couldn't sleep much leading up to the interview) and kept worrying about whether I've missed anything. Turns out that things will eventually work out as long as you do your homework (which you definitely are if you are in this forum). Good luck all!! P.S. I have not provided my timeline as mine was a bit distorted given I was initially in the F2A category and was only upgraded to IR1 recently when my husband became a US citizen. Happy to answer any questions if it would be helpful though.

Thank you so much! I was born in Taiwan and you’re right that the original birth certificate is kept in my city of birth. As for the tax forms, I’ll upload my husband’s 2021 Form 1040 and W2 (he has not received the 2021 tax transcript yet). I understand from the FAQ that an updated I-864 is not needed as long as there’s no change in information, but please let me know if I have misunderstood!

Hi all, I am getting ready (and a little anxious!) for my IR-1 interview next week and I was hoping to ask a group a few questions after searching over 10 posts and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. 1. The pre-interview checklist from the US Consulate Montreal office website noted that an "original birth certificate" is needed. However, I only have a (wet-ink) certified true copy of the original, which was acceptable based on NVC's requirement. Would this be an issue at all in my interview? 2. I have been reading mixed messages about what to do with the updated tax information. It looks like some people uploaded their last year's Form 1040 and/or tax transcript to CEAC before the interview and also bring a copy with them. Is there a best practice when it comes to the tax forms? There has been no major change to my husband (petitioner)'s financial situation so it would just be a matter of providing updated tax forms. Thank you!

Hello, are you able to advise how long it took for you to receive your passport?

Thank you! Does anyone know how likely it is for me to get my passport back by June 10 after my interview on June 1 (assuming no AP, fingers crossed)? There weren't a lot of data points on passport received, so wanted to see if more people could share their experience.

Hi all, after 2.5 years, at last I received my interview letter for June 1! I wanted to ask the following for feedback: • Is it possible to have someone else pick up my passport on my behalf at the courier pick-up location? Looking at the wording on the courier registration website it seems like the case, but wanted to see if anyone has done this before? • The reason for having someone else pick up my passport is that I am flying out of the country on June 11 (to a country where I am a dual citizen for, so I do not need my Canadian passport to leave Canada). I had a quick look at the visa-in-hand dates after interview and it seems a little all over the place. In the event that I am not able to get my passport by June 11, I thought I could ask a friend to pick it up for me and courier it to me overseas so that I can travel back to Canada. • Any other ideas, recommendations or advice would be much appreciated! Fingers crossed!

Just an update on my case - we contacted NVC to upgrade our case to IR1 in late February and received a response in mid-April (which was in line with their processing time posted on the website) confirming the upgrade. Today, I received an interview invite for June 1, 2022, which is quite a bit faster than I had expected. Wanted to share my experience/timeline in case it is helpful for anyone. Fingers crossed and good luck all.