lemurianelf

23 minutes ago, RM1996 said:

Hi, I'm having the same problem. You did a walk-in after missing your biometrics appointment an they let you do it? I went in today and was informed I could not do my biometrics as I do not have a schedule appointment date.

Yes, I went to the office in Manhattan and mine was 2 hours away. However, I did first get a new appointment date and then did a walk in.

You need to call the uscis number. Then an agent will take your credentials and get back to you. I received a notice 2 days via the online portal with a new appointment date. Then I did a walk in. Try that.

Thank you so much! Cant wait to end this "journey" as well...

Thank you! I appreciate the confirmation.

And yes, I got extremely lucky it seems. They approved it within 2.5 months!

On 8/13/2024 at 1:08 PM, From_CAN_2_US said:

Yes I did. This is what I learned:

 

Technically a US border agent could have detained for for not having proper documentation for entry (my conditional greencard was no longer valid as i am not a conditional resident anymore). They could have charged me $700 for not having the new 10 year greencard while still granting me you entry based on 10 year green card approval letter. 
 

However in practice, in most cases, they just let you enter.

 

To improve my chances, I chose a friendly, smaller border crossing, and calked them in advance describing my situation and asked if they will allow me to enter with the old green card, extension letter and 10 year green card approval letter. I didn’t face any issues.

Having this exact issue here, debating whether to fly. Where did you get the info they can fine you? You are not doing anything illegal.

I have received the 797 which extends the green card by 48 months and have a trip to Canada planned. I just received an approval for the 751 i have filed in September and it says :

"You should not travel outside the United States until you receive your new Green Card, as you may have difficulty reentering the United States. If an emergency arises and you have a need to travel outside the United States before you receive your Green Card, you may make an appointment at your local USCIS office to request an I-551 stamp in your passport that shows temporary evidence of status as a lawful permanent resident. Please be aware that USCIS field office management determines whether to issue an I-551 stamp on a case-by-case basis. To make an appointment at your local USCIS office, please visit www.uscis.gov."\

is this just boilerplate language or does this override the 797? Very confused by the contradictory language.

On 10/12/2024 at 4:29 PM, Ban Hammer said:

note that the advice from the previous member is on target.  you may not like it, but it's worth following.

No it wasnt on target.  Telling me to get ready for deportation because I missed an appointment is not on target, not accurate and not helpful. It was easy peasy to reschedule and to walk into an office I wasnt assigned to. Zero problem. No one tried to deport me. Maybe before giving advice that could cause someone to panic and have a heart attack, inform yourself and know what youre talking about.

Just an update for any future readers who might be alarmed by the helpful person who told me "to prepare for removal proceeding". I called the next day for reschedule which they did no problem. Despite that, I dropped into the NYC ASC and was admitted zero problem with no appointment when I told them I lived far from the assigned Port Chester one. They took my prints and thats it.

7 hours ago, ineedadisplayname said:

Go to the assigned place as soon as possible and try to sort it out there.

 

This is a very good lesson on while dealing with USCIS taking month long vacations are not always advised since vacation doesn't count as a valid "excuse" of missing or rescheduling appointments. 

 

In general when dealing with USCIS think of it as they are not there to accommodate you at all. (there are exceptions for the rule, like ADA and acceptable reasons on why you need to reschedule an appointment).

 

Also create an account on their website and add your case plus sign up for informed delivery with usps to be sure you don't miss letters  (it can happen that usps messes it up which can delay things and out of your control)

Yes thank you. Driving there first thing on tuesday.

I saw the letter on my return. I came back Wednesday. I had no idea they would send it within 2 weeks.

Also thanks that was very helpful just increasing my anxiety.

Hello good people.

I submitted the packed for the removal of conditions a week before going on a month long trip abroad.  Upon return I went through my mail and realized I missed the appointment. From my research, doing a walk in is a good option but the office they assigned to me is far and I'm going to be this week in NYC and want to try walk in there. Does anyone know if you can go to the ASC that you were not assigned as your ASC or should I only do a walk in in the office I was assigned?

24 minutes ago, NYQC said:

what time was your appointment at the office? i asked what the odds are of them canceling our appointment and he said it’s rare especially if your medical appt is in the morning 

It was 1pm. The doctor supposedly got covid. They then gave me attitude and told me only appointment they had was on the same day as the interview. "Maybe if you hurry at the interview you can come after?" I was dumbfounded.

If you don't believe me read the reviews on Google.

50 minutes ago, JJ1008 said:

I had a feeling that was the case! I am booked with Dr. Michel Lapointe. 

So you're going to the montreal one? I was booked there and they cancelled on me two days before. They are the worst doctor and most expensive. And I heard they often forget to send the results for two weeks to the embassy so you may get refused and delayed as a result by weeks

8 minutes ago, mike_b2020 said:

My understanding is it’s the interview appointment email, which used to be called packet 4. I also booked my medical yesterday, they didn’t mention packet 4, only the email letter. 
 

Question I have is how many passport photos do we have to bring to the Exam? Medical office website says 4, but embassy says 5. And assuming it’s US photo specifications, not Canada? 

It depends on the doctor. Dr Mascarenhas takes his own pictures. The purpose is just to attach your picture to the file to send to the embassy so they can be sure you were the one who did the medical. I would bring as many as the doctor says and US green card size.

31 minutes ago, JJ1008 said:

 

That's what I thought, so I asked her if that's what she meant by Packet 4. I told her the email address for my interview appointment came from the email national_visa_center@state.gov, and I mentioned that it said in the letter to bring it to my medical exam, and she told me that was not it, and that it had to say Packet 4 at the bottom and include all of the instructions, so now I'm just confused. 

She's misinformed. I believe the packet 4 was an old thing they used to send in the mail. Who is the doctor?

3 minutes ago, JJ1008 said:

I just booked my medical exam and the woman I spoke with mentioned that I have to bring my  Packet 4 doc to my medical appointment, but I haven't received anything that says packet 4. She said the email should come from montreal-iv-dv@state.gov but I don't see it anywhere. Is this something I should be expecting soon, or did I just not get it? Has anyone received a packet 4 email after you got your immigrant visa interview appointment email? 

She meant your interview email you received from nvc.

4 minutes ago, kkeys said:

Interviewing tomorrow morning! Wish me luck everyone! 

Will update on everything tomorrow afternoon, including how my  medical went, where I'm staying in Montreal and so on! Been so so busy this month getting things together I haven't had a chance to update here ! ❤️

Best of luck ! The interview itself was the easiest part of the process for me. Almost there 👍

40 minutes ago, hilaryb said:

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! 

Congrats!!! I picked up my passport this morning. Don't forget to pay the green card $220 fee before heading to the border.

12 hours ago, kryptonite said:

Yeah it truly was a good spot. Not really a private interview though lol. 
 

Off the top of my head, one lady stayed in the US over 6 months and they wanted to look into that, one person had their police certificate from another country that wasn’t the right one, another person’s story was all over the place and she was also missing some documents so they needed those submitted. 

Well I'm sending you the best vibes so this adventure ends in less than a few weeks!

4 minutes ago, kryptonite said:

The guy I went to was very nice but yes he did ask a lot of questions and took a very long time. I coincidentally was sitting right in front of his booth and heard all the interviews lol. I was answering the questions in my head as he was asking them to the others. However, I don’t remember any kids or families going to that booth they were going to another person. 
 

While I was waiting there and listening to the interviews, he put a LOT of cases into AP. If I’m being honest, all of them were for valid reasons though. Mine seems the most unreasonable but even that I understand that they have to match my story in case I was denied entry for some other reason. 
 

Anyways, I do remember seeing you and I remember you walking out just a few minutes after being called up and I was wishing so bad that I got called to the same person as you but I didn’t lol. Happy yours went well though!

Yeah I remember you.  You had a good spot to listen in. What were the reasons people were put in AP if you remember?

2 hours ago, kryptonite said:

We definitely did see each other lol just didn't know who was who. The person I got was spending a lot of time with each applicant. I've read people's reviews and experiences at the embassy and have seen the questions they ask. It's almost like they have a list of 10-15 questions and they choose 4-5 of them to ask. It felt like my officer was asking all of them. I saw people coming out of the other side of the room in 3-5 minutes. I hope things go quickly for me as well. It's frustrating that each step is so long. They said I don't have to do anything and it's all on them and I just hope they just do their part quickly rather than in 3-4 weeks.

I was the woman in the green and red sweater sitting by the bathroom! I expected way more people. There must have been less than 30 spousal visas that whole day.

And I guess you were called to booth 11. There was a young guy who would grill everyone for over 15-20 minutes including a woman who had a baby and her husband was waiting outside. I was called to booth 1 and it took legit 2 minutes. Just goes to show how that plays a part in it too.

I read stories of people who got denied at border and the consular officer didn't care and granted visa anyway.

28 minutes ago, hilaryb said:

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. 

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?

8 minutes ago, michael_n1988 said:

Thanks, yea we’ll be flying too. 
 

That makes sense as crossing via land border has higher potential of an over stay, having your car and likely more belongings..

My perception is that most people flying are generally more well off and the agents seem less on edge and more chill. They interact with businessmen, people flying on vacation to Vegas and just plain people who have more money. The car is a cheaper mode of travel and the agents are very on edge and trigger happy. I crossed twice by land and decided against it in order not to jeopardize my petition.

4 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!

We must have seen each other in the wait room. I was very surprised how some people spend 2 mins with the officer and some were 20 + minutes. Hope it's quick for you. 

50 minutes 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?

I highly recommend you fly. I almost got denied once for crossing for one weekend. The officer was "this" close for denying me for having an open immigration petition. Flying though? "Oh can't wait for your immigration journey to be over! Just don't overstay haha!". There is a very noticeable difference between agents on land and air border. Yes it costs more money but I would cross for a week monthly and it was never an issue. Definitely worth extra money not to be delayed for your visa.

On 10/29/2022 at 6:13 PM, michael_n1988 said:

For those that already had their interview and officer asked to see 1040 tax returns, I have mine but their missing signatures since they were E-filed. 
 

Did anyone provide an unsigned 1040 and the CO did not ask about that?

Just happened today and they accepted the transcript with missing signature. Don't worry but do bring the 2021 one