mbodwams

7 hours ago, ap4295 said:

Dang, and we still haven't even gotten anything since mid-March when we completed the biometrics. Wish they'd send us the interview appointment already. Congrats to you though!

I wish that this process made more sense. I don’t understand why some people get EAD or a combo card approved right away and some people wait months, or never have it approved before the green card.

I hope that you hear something back soon! IMO, Not receiving an RFE at all is a good sign. 

My I-485 just got approved!!

I’m so relieved! I received an email that they’d taken an action on my case, and assumed that it was my combo card finally being mailed — what an amazing surprise!

On 5/3/2024 at 8:14 AM, mbodwams said:

My EAD was approved today! The wording doesn’t seem like I’m receiving a combo card, but I’m not able to log into my USCIS account to confirm (cell service isn’t working properly so I’m not receiving the verification code).

 

Biometrics were on 03/13 and NOA1 was 02/29. Hoping for AOS approval soon! 

Update: I was approved for a combo card on 05/03!

23 hours ago, M and Mike said:

Hi guys, about to applied but need help on these documents that I have put together. Just want to check if all is ok. Thanks in advance.

 

I-765

 

I-485

 

 

 

There’s a separate fee for filing I-765 now, don’t forget to include a cheque for that. 

My EAD was approved today! The wording doesn’t seem like I’m receiving a combo card, but I’m not able to log into my USCIS account to confirm (cell service isn’t working properly so I’m not receiving the verification code).

Biometrics were on 03/13 and NOA1 was 02/29. Hoping for AOS approval soon! 

I'll add my short timeline as well:

Mailed to the Chicago lockbox: February 23

NOA1: February 29

Biometrics: March 13

No movement so far, which I was expecting, but I've seen some people in my Facebook group receive their EAD right away after their biometrics. Maybe the recent fee increase is slowing things down.

When I had my interview, the consulate officer asked what my wedding plans were and I answered honestly -- that we haven't really been able to plan much due to the uncertainty of the K1 timeline, but that we were planning on having it at city hall with some close family members and friends in attendance. She didn't ask for any further information or proof, and I was approved.

Since this visa makes it very difficult to plan anything, I don't think they really expect you to provide concrete evidence of a venue or wedding invitations. If they ask what your wedding plans are, being able to describe what you guys are thinking of should be satisfactory, but it wouldn't hurt to bring along screenshots. Sounding unsure of your answer, or saying something like "oh we haven't really thought about it, we'll just figure it out when I get there" would likely seem suspicious.

5 hours ago, L. Jones said:

Did you all ever get your appointments? I've been checking twice a day everyday since end of July. From the thread looks like I will have to check around midnight everyday for a better chance at an appointment.

Yes I did, and I apologize for not updating my post in this thread! It’s been a hectic week. I was so upset after missing out on the appointments that opened up last Monday, but then they opened up again on Wednesday and a bunch of people from the K1 Facebook group tagged me, so I was able to book in for today and I just got approved!!

The last 2 openings both happened at 12PM Montreal time. You really have to be right there when it happens because they’re gone very quickly. Best of luck with booking!

1 hour ago, CV & KM said:

Still waiting for Montreal consulate to open dates. It's so stressful! I'm scared I'm gonna miss out on dates so I check every 1 to 3 hour.

Please join the FB group if you haven’t already! I was tagged when appointments opened and that’s seriously the only reason that I was able to get one. At my worst and most stressed I was checking multiple times an hour, so I totally understand. At this point I don’t think they’ll open any more this month, but be prepared on the first Monday of September. 

8 hours ago, jflashman said:

Congrats! We're also coming from Montreal embassy, and just received NVC Case Number. Any advice on how you got such an early appointment?

 

Also Just FYI, Friday is August 18th. Don't miss your interview!

Ahaha thank you! I meant to type Thursday August 17th. I’m actually on my way to the airport right now!

My #1 piece of advice would be to join the Montreal K1 Visa group on FB if you haven’t already. I don’t know how I would have booked an appointment without their help. The embassy only opens up a couple of days at a time and the time slots fill up very quickly. People in that group post when appointments open up so it’s a less stressful experience. Good luck!

2 hours ago, Adze said:

If there was an issue I’m sure they would tell me so I just gotta wait. Also that being said to make sure I shouldn’t have to worry about the expiry date on the i797 correct?

The expiry date doesn’t seem to matter. My I-797 technically expired on the 3rd of this month and my interview isn’t until next week. I believe they’ll just automatically renew it since the recent delays with this whole process are completely out of the petitioner/beneficiary’s control. 

I just wanted to share that I’ve booked an interview for next Thursday, August 18th! The Montreal embassy didn’t have any appointment dates open up for a month and the waiting was agony! My NOA1 was Feb 7, 2022 and NOA2 was April 4, 2023. 

17 minutes ago, Liam H. said:

Dang, must have been a cancellation. I checked around noon, and just now again 5pm CST, and saw nothing. Probably got snapped up quick.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but they opened up appointments for the 6th and the 15th and both were gone within 45 minutes. I missed them too and now I’m spiralling thinking that I’ll have to wait another month because I wasn’t fast enough. 

20 minutes ago, Liam H. said:

Right? Its especially weird considering for most other visas, THEY tell US when we are going to come in for the interview. Its odd that this one seems to just kind of leave to chance who is able to check the website most often. Its definitely discriminatory against petitioners who don't have reliable internet access or are not able to check a website multiple times a day. 

I definitely hope there is something to the timelines you mentioned, but given that we have already passed the first tuesday of this month and are well through the first thursday with 0 new appointments added, I am not hopeful.  Can you link that Facebook group though? I would like to join as info on the Montreal consulate operations is thin online. 

I don’t understand it either. From what I can see the extended wait time is unusual — someone in the FB group said that they had to wait 4 weeks for appointments to open up during the holiday season, but I haven’t seen anything else about random long waits. I’m crossing my fingers for next Tuesday but I’m also going to keep checking every day regardless. Since I can’t link it directly, just search “Montreal K1 Visa Applicants” on FB. 
 

I also reached out to the Help Desk a few days ago and received a response that they can only answer questions about technical difficulties, so it’s funny that you got a real answer. Maybe they’re tired of people contacting them, I imagine they’ve been getting a lot of emails over the past few weeks.

But you’re right, there’s no real answer and they won’t be providing any further insight. We’re just going to have to keep waiting. 

I’m in the same boat and I wish that I had some kind of answer! I received my P4 on July 6th and have been obsessively checking during business hours ever since. It seems ridiculous that there’s been no new appointments for over a month. 

I’m in a Facebook group for Montreal K1 filers and it seems like everyone is having the same experience, so we haven’t missed any appointments randomly being released. I can’t imagine why anyone would be cancelling or rescheduling with no new dates available. Someone recently mentioned that the embassy seems to release new appointments for the first and second Tuesday of the month, as well as the first Thursday. I can’t attest to how true this information is, but it’s been giving me something to hope for. 

12 hours ago, ivision413 said:

We got the "Ready" status on 7/7 (checked from CEAC) and submitted DS-160 on 7/8. But, we are still waiting for the P3 to arrive. Did you finally get the interview date? I wish I can know this in advance so that I can plan for a trip to Montreal.

Congratulations!! Unfortunately there are no appointments available for Montreal right now.
 

My status changed to Ready on 6/27 and I sent in the P3 checklist the same day. Don’t wait for it to come in the mail before sending the checklist, it’s a waste of time. Use the P3 checklist that I linked in a previous reply and send it to the embassy ASAP.

I just received my P4 email on the 6th (I believe there was a delay because of the long weekend) and now I’m just waiting for them to open up appointments so I can book one. From what I’m seeing in the Facebook group, we’re likely looking at October. 

20 hours ago, ivision413 said:

You can only check if CEAC tracker "Ready" with the case number right? When and how did you receive your case number?

Thanks for the Facebook page. I'll join!

Yes, you can’t use the tracker unless you have a code to input. 
 

I received my case number on June 20th, it was included in the email letting me know that my case had been shipped to the embassy. 

15 hours ago, ivision413 said:

Didyou receive the full message by mail or email? What does Packet 3 mean? Did you already submit your DS160?

The email that my fiancée received only told us that the case had been shipped and provided us with a tracking number. From there, I tracked it using the CEAC website.

Packet 3 is the letter with instructions that K1 visa applicants receive from their embassy. The Montreal one is available online here.

All of the advice that I was seeing online said to just go ahead and submit Packet 3 as soon as the CEAC tracker shows “Ready”, so I emailed the embassy with everything they asked for as soon as the status changed. That included the completed DS-160. If you have Facebook, I would suggest joining the “Montreal K1 Visa Applicants” group. They’ve been incredibly helpful. 

18 hours ago, ivision413 said:

Thank you!!! What does it mean when it's "Ready"? Ready to submit the DS-160 interview application to the embassy?

So, for me, I will have to wait another 15 days for me to receive that case number in the Welcome letter package, right?

Please keep me updated. Best of luck to you and your spouse!

The full message on the CEAC website actually says “your case is now ready for you to schedule an interview at the US consulate in Montreal”, which doesn’t actually apply to K1 visas. So for us, it means that we can send them an email response to Packet 3 (DS160 confirmation page, checklist and passport scan). So it should really say Partially Ready…

I wasn’t able to confirm the exact date that the NVC received my case, so I estimated on my timeline. It took 15 days after that for them to email me with both the case number and shipping confirmation. I’m not sure if that typically happens within the same email, I might have gotten lucky that they created my case on their shipment date. 

On 6/26/2023 at 10:43 AM, ivision413 said:

My NOA2 date is on 4/14, and I am still waiting for the update. Did you receive any other updates between your NOA2 and the mail?

The NVC didn’t contact me at all - they only emailed my fiancée when the case was already in transit to the Montreal consulate. I’d emailed NVC Research twice to check on the processing status which is how I found out that they’d received the petition from USCIS around ~60 days after the NOA2.

It took maybe around 15 days to receive a case number and ship my case (this may have happened on the same day?). I’ve been checking my status on the CEAC tracker and it changed to Ready today! We have the same embassy so at least it seems to be quick once it’s left the NVC! Best of luck, I hope that you hear some good news soon. 💕

6 hours ago, T&IApplication said:

This is wonderful! What was the email address you sent your inquiry to? I want to establish a paper trail for our application as well.

 

Best of luck!

I’ve been emailing nvcresearch@state.gov!

14 minutes ago, Mychal said:

Oh goodness I almost died... I just saw here that they started with February filers so I checked my status and our case was approved!!!

congratulations!! what was your NOA1 date?