ACC24

15 hours ago, farzady said:

Is there any issues with  Upack?

Not really, we just wanted to hear more options and experiences better than Upack  If possible, would like to avoid us packing the bigger furniture and any items that does not easily fit into boxes. Thanks!

Any recent experiences/suggestions on efficient ways (  $$ and professionalism of packing) of moving household things ( 3 BR townhome) between Toronto to North Carolina other than Upack?? Thanks!!

On 6/28/2023 at 7:18 PM, Lkkclub123 said:

Does anyone know that the Quebec driver's license can be replaced with a North Carolina driver's license?

From what I have heard that licenses from Canadian provinces are not swapped in North Carolina. I would be happy and glad if it did, please do let us know.

On 11/27/2022 at 10:19 PM, F3MTL said:

I successfully swapped my “G” Ontario license for an Arizona driver license on Friday. The DMV gave me my old Ontario license back and didn’t keep it. Do I need to inform Service Ontario that I am no longer an Ontario resident? 

That's awesome, I wish it worked for all US states

6 hours ago, New_123 said:

thanks, @ACC24!  did they send you just the vaccination records or did they send an email confirming that the medicals were submitted to the consulate/anything else?

They just emailed us the vaccination records

On 6/19/2023 at 3:06 PM, New_123 said:

hi @ACC24, I had a quick question about medicals with Dr. Randall Lee. Did you get any confirmation from them / copy for your records after they sent the medicals to the consulate?

@New_123We called them a week after our medicals I guess to confirm if our medical reports were sent to the consulate for confirmation and were orally confirmed. We did ask for records for our copy and they emailed it to us later. All the best!

27 minutes ago, farzady said:

It was a long journey for me. my application was started on 2019 and I was told it just takes something around 8 months to get the visa but I received it after 4 yrs.

 

Thank you YJ members, you guys help me a lot during this frustrating time and I hope the process will back on track and rest of pending applications will get their visas on time.

Congratulations on reaching end of this super long uncertain journey like many of us!! All is good if it ends well and utmost patience is a absolute necessity for whatever it is worth :)) Very best in all your future endeavors.

Hope to see everyone else done with this journey soon.

36 minutes ago, JustHopeful said:

Congrats !! How many days did it take to receive the physical green cards. Must feel great to be finally done with the wait for everything . Happy for u .

@JustHopeful Thank you, indeed its a big relief to finally come to the end of this journey. It took less than a month from the day we crossed the border to activate the immigrant visa until receiving the physical GC.

42 minutes ago, AgriSiva said:

@newbie75 @ACC24 when my wife and I did our landing at YVR airport, the first officer took pictures but the second officer who did the actual processing didn't do any biometrics, no finger-printing, nothing. At least, he opened our sealed envelopes, processed them and kept the contents. Finally, I asked him about fingerprints but he simply said, "nope not needed, you will get your greencards". 🙄

I guess if you already have biometrics from the recent past when you have crossed to US and it matches, they might not do it again. By the way, we received our physical/plastic Greencards!

1 hour ago, newbie75 said:

We completed the landing. It was smooth. @ACC24 The officers did not take a pic of my son who is just 7 or his biometrics during the process. Is that common?

I am not really aware of any such situation/s. Hopefully someone else in the forum might be able to provide any insight.

16 hours ago, newbie75 said:

 @ACC24 Thanks for sharing your experience. We are planning to do the final move later this summer after the school year is done. Is there any documents to carry other than the sealed packages, passports when this isn't the final move? Did you return back to Canada the same day after landing? Thank you!

We did not carry any other documents other than mentioned. This was not our final move which will happen eventually   We returned back to Canada after 4 days in US. Hope all works out good for  you all as well!

1 hour ago, 3LabMom said:

@Ava1  Instructions were sent back with our passports.  Just paid the fees online, really easy.  They sent us envelopes to bring to the POE, I thought it was all digital now.

Cool, looks like you got your passports. I guess, for EB category, we still get sealed envelopes to bring to POE. Probably its gone digital for some other categories.

44 minutes ago, 3LabMom said:

E-mail received just now!!  Now I can relax a bit.

I totally get it, we all know how stressful every minute or days of waiting would be in these matters. Glad you can relax now and wait for the passports to arrive.

14 hours ago, 3LabMom said:

@ACC24  - Did the site that you registered your interview at ever change from this:

 

CEAC was updated again today.  Still showing "Issued".  Of course I am anxious as we are hoping to leave in 13 days.

If I remember it correct, once the passport is dispatched this will get updated with the tracking info along with email notification. Did you receive your tracking info yet on email?

58 minutes ago, 3LabMom said:

By chance does anyone know how long it is taking to get the notification that your passport is being returned via Purolator?

In our case, status on the site changed from Ready to Issued the same day of the interview and received Purolator notification for tracking passport email next day evening.

8 hours ago, 3LabMom said:

We had our interview in Montreal today for EB-1.  It was approved and CEAC is showing "Issued."  They asked very few questions, most of the time was spent providing original documents and finger prints.  Our questions were what I intended to do for work/was I going to just find a job once I approved, if either of us had previously been married, had either of us ever lived outside of Canada and where we planned on living once we arrived in the US.  There were no issues updating our address or passport.  We were in and out in under an hour.

@3LabMomCongratulations!!

1 minute ago, PVancouver said:

After activating your EB2 at the border can you come back to Canada? Or you need to wait your GC in USA?

There is no need to wait for physical GC to arrive in USA and you can come back to Canada to finalize the loose ends before the final move.

1 hour ago, F2J_March said:

@ACC24 Do we track the status of GC card using receipt number that was provided when immigrant visa fee was paid? Currently, it just shows payment received. Does it show other status as well??

Yes. Our status shows "payment received" as of today as well and hoping it changes/updates soon. I am not exactly sure of the timeline for the update in status while tracking.

@F2J_March by any chance are you importing car from Canada to US? I am looking info/discussion on the forum if anyone imported the cars from Canada to US that were initially bought in US? We had imported our cars from US to Canada when we moved in 2018 and now we have to reverse it all back 🤪

15 hours ago, F2J_March said:

My spouse activated his immigrant visa today at US port of entry Lynden,  made a U turn and came back to canada at the same time. He was planning to go through Pacific Highway but landed at Lynden  due to a missed turn. He was able to complete the process within 30 min or so. Border officer stamped the visa and was told he can use the visa for a year to enter US. However, officer did not take my husband's fingerprint and photograph during the process. My husband realized this later while he was driving back home. I hope thats not an issue.

@F2J_March Congratulations!! As I have read earlier in this forum, 3 important things for smoothly receiving physical GC is

- sealed envelope being sent from border office to USCIS

- immigrant fee being paid

- fingerprints ( not sure if photograph too) on file at USCIS

There are ways to follow up in case receiving physical GC is delayed, but if there is a chance its better to make sure things are done right from our end to avoid any delays. 

2 hours ago, Lkkclub123 said:

From submitting the DS-260 to the interview, it has been at least two years. Now we wiill interview,during the gap, do we need to update the DS-260 file again?  Such as study, work, place of residence, or even passport information（change a new passport）?  Or we don't need do anything for DS-260?

 

Please help me to answer this question, thank you

As far I have understood & read in the forum, it appears like any updates made to DS-260 might push back the DQ date. It is better to carry all the evidence of the changes/updates to the interview and Interviewing officer has the ability to make those updates. Please consult your lawyer before making any such changes.

25 minutes ago, shara9c said:

@ACC24 What was your DQ date? and do you know officially how much time we have to make final move to US after getting Green Card Processed at Border. I mean importing car, Car title transfer, License transfer,  Buying/renting house and relocate permanently. Any official guideline from USCIS..?

I hope someone else will chime in especially official guidelines from USCIS ( DQ date: March 2021)

At this point all we know is once your IV is activated, one needs to be physically present in US at least 6 months out of 1 year. Anything beyond 6 months out of US in a given year might create issues while applying for citizenship where they count number of days present in US but heard there are ways to work around when one reaches that stage if needed.

3 minutes ago, JustHopeful said:

@ACC24 That's great news,  Congrats. Which land border crossing did you use ?

We crossed over Queenston - Lewinston bridge from Toronto

We crossed the land border from Toronto over the weekend to activate our EB2 immigrant visa. It was very smooth process that was completed in 30mins or less. The officer asked for sealed packages, original passports and confirmed US mailing address to received GC. He took fingerprints and photo as well during the process and we were good to go. No questions asked regarding importing our cars or the final move.

This almost brings us to the end of never ending EB2 Immigrant journey ( though final move for my wife and son will be pending for sometime). We couldn't thank enough for the VJ forum and support throughout the stressful process and will continue to be part of the forum. Happy to help/answer any related questions whenever possible.

Wishing very best for everyone still going though the process for their journey to end at the earliest possible.

1 hour ago, F2J_March said:

For crossing border, is it required to carry original documents as well or just the passport and the sealed envelop is good enough?

We are carrying passports and sealed envelope, nothing else. Hope that's all they need

We will be crossing land border from Toronto soon first time to activate our Immigrant Visa. We are not planning to import our cars ( Toyota Highlander 2011 and Honda CRV 2007) right away but will do eventually over couple months. Will this raise any questions by the border officers that we need to be aware of? Thanks!

We will be crossing land border from Toronto soon first time to activate our Immigrant Visa. We are not planning to import our cars ( Toyota Highlander 2011 and Honda CRV 2007) right away but will do eventually over couple months. Will this raise any questions by the border officers that we need to be aware of? Thanks!