nneettiiee

35 minutes ago, Cholte cholte said:

Expereince-Driving into the US after getting a DS 5535 

 

Hi..drove in yesterday into the US. I have a GC while my wife's DS 5535 is processing at the Montreal consulate (since march 19, 2024). We both have NEXUS cards and we thought it would be easy. The officer at the border asked my wife if she had a job in Canada. She replied that she had just been laid off. He then asked how long she planned to stay....and she replied 1 mont. We were then asked to park our car and go to secondary inspection. The officers were courteous and let us enter after clarifiying how long she would be staying. Do you always get pulled up for secondary questioning at land borders if you have a DS 5535 pending?

 

It would be great if others could share similar experienes.

My husband travelled back and forth a lot. We still own and run a business in Canada so they always seemed good. He got pulled into secondary maybe three out of 15 times. He always made sure he had something to tie him to his return. Most often a plane ticket.

2 hours ago, ajxl888 said:

Has anyone abandoned this route and decided to have their American spouse immigrate to Canada instead?  What is that process like?  Is it just as slow?

My Father-in-law's fiancé just did. It took approx. a year. They chose to do the Canadian one as it was faster and would ensure they could be together sooner. She is American and he is Canadian. 

2 hours ago, WMBB said:

So realistically how long am I to wait for Montreal to finalize and issue my VISA?

 

The requested documents, including passport have been received (or at least with their mail processing center) since March 22.

 

The google doc tracker shows some are issued a week after submitting but some are up to 8 weeks if not longer.

 

this is beyond frustrating since this could have been issued in November 2022 after interview but thanks to DS5355 it was not!  

It took four weeks from the time they received my husband's passport back to the Issue date. That was January-Feb of this year. 

15 hours ago, Undefinedornull said:

If the consulate requests the passport, does this mean that administrative processing has been completed? My friend sent their passport back a month ago, and since then, there has been no change—still the same refused status. Medical exams are about to expire soon, causing a bit of anxiety. The main applicant has already received the passport back with the visa and an issued status, but the other one is still waiting. If consulate requested their passports on the same day, it's odd that only one was processed. Anyone experienced something like that? EB-x

my husbands took 5 weeks to be issued. 

4 hours ago, mam521 said:

E-Verify instructions state explicitly that if an immigrant has applied for a SSN but hasn't yet received it, make a note on I-9 and continue to allow the employee to work.  

 

https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/guides/E4en.pdf

 

New immigrants cannot be discriminated against.  It's important to know your rights.  

thank you.

On 2/23/2024 at 10:27 AM, mam521 said:

Technically, they cannot deny him the right to work.  It's considered immigration discrimination.  If he showed his passport with valid I-551, it's a List A proof.  He could have filed a claim with the Department of Justice.  

 

I realize in this case, it turned out not to be a big deal because he got his social right away, but it's a violation of civil rights and is important for other LPR's entering the US to know.  

 

https://www.justice.gov/crt/iers-frequently-asked-questions-faqs

My husband was told at his POE that he could work, but some employers would need the physical card if they use E-Verify. In Florida, Beginning July 1, 2023, Florida requires all private employers with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify to determine a new employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. Luckily his only took a week after crossing to arrive at our house. He did apply for the SSN with his Immigration application.

9 hours ago, JamesTan said:

I haven't got my interview date yet. I DQ also 3 years ago, and my PD is up in about 2 months. My guess is my interview with be in the 6-12 month time frame. 

 

Family-based immigration is tricker. My wait time is 9 years until my priority date is current. I've been almost waiting for 10 years to enter the US. I never got to settle down and laid roots or foundation in Canada. I never bought real estate in Canada, and because of my category is unmarried sons of US citizens, I've also steered away from marriage. My only solace is traveling and seeing the world which is an aspiration of mine. The mental stress of these years is taking a toll. I'm in my mid-30s now and am considering if I would be better off not even immigrating in the first place as I would probably be more established in Canada. This even more apparent if somehow I don't get approved.  Although I would love to live in the United States don't get me wrong.

 

Some comments on this thread...

 

1. I still don't see how renewing your passport before the interview will trigger any red flags. I was considering renewing my passport before I even found out that my travel history may trigger ds5355. Im sure a lot of people may want to renew their passports before they move to a new country especially if the expire date is within 2 years or so or even less. This may be common practice.

 

2. I agree that the USA can see entry and border crossing into the United States and maybe even EU countries or whatnot (although not 100% certain of this), not sure if there is such thing as a global record keeping of passport and entry and exits of all countries and where all countries share this amongst each other. Anyway, if Im asked to fill out a DS5355, I might as well be honest. I am however kind of scared and debating if I should include my travel to Cuba because I'm sure Cuba doesn't share info with the US and they don't stamp my passport either. Not sure how immigration would view my trip to Cuba as well. 

 

3. Although I get the whole life is all about having a career, family and work to make end meets and working the 9-5 grind and this makes the most sense to immigration officers, there are many different types of people out there in the world. Not everyone is confined to the same financial restraints. People may not even view and have an outlook on life compared to the Western hamster wheel lifestyle of work, having a family, saving for rrsp/401k, retire and die. In fact, some people might consider that insanity. I'm sure there are many american that view it this way as well. We should all have life liberty and the pursuit of happiness(which is different for everyone).

4. Hopefully because this thread is full of people who have had a DS-5355 notice sent to them, the replies may be a little biased. Yes, I'm worried but maybe the chances of me getting a DS-5355 are 50/50 or even less. Although 40-50 countries is a little excessive, I doubt all people with a history of travel(say 10+) countries will get served with AP.

 

I feel for all of you guys, however. I pray I don't get served with a DS-5355.

 

 

Well as far as the Cuba one, they did care at all on my husband's application. Canadians have been travelling there for years. 

On 2/20/2024 at 8:29 AM, nneettiiee said:

My husband got a 221g at his interview on December 13th.  VO just said to send in passport when requested. It was requested on January 17th, so he flew back to Canada the next day and it was received in Montreal on January 25th. It has been almost 4 weeks. Hoping they update status and send off soon. I just have to keep on telling him to have patience. Everything has taken longer than expected in this whole process. 

My husbands' status just changed to Issued! If anyone is waiting on a review of a 221g, not the terrible additional administrative processing that people get stuck in forever, his took 4 weeks from when they received his passport for his status to change. The 221g asked for nothing extra, they were reviewing an arrest from years ago that did not result in charges, but I guess the VO wanted a second opinion? That review took about 5 weeks to complete. 2  months after the interview he is approved!!! The whole process took 2 years 2 months. 

My husband got a 221g at his interview on December 13th.  VO just said to send in passport when requested. It was requested on January 17th, so he flew back to Canada the next day and it was received in Montreal on January 25th. It has been almost 4 weeks. Hoping they update status and send off soon. I just have to keep on telling him to have patience. Everything has taken longer than expected in this whole process. 

On 2/7/2024 at 11:30 AM, Blue473 said:

Any ideas how long it takes to get tracking information on a passport? Or if they give one for drop off locations?

 

I'm not sure if the delay is my fault - I changed the delivery location after the interview (as I was refused for missing medical results and got a 221G). 

 

The Visa was issued on Friday (2nd February), the embassy stated that my passport was returned to me via courier (yesterday 6 February). 

 

The initial delivery was to a CPC location on Toronto. 

Did you get your information?

On 2/3/2024 at 3:23 PM, Blue473 said:

Mine also says this -- my interview was on December 18th 2023. I got a 221g because my medical results were late (got there a day after the interview). My visa was approved 6 weeks after (2nd February 2024). 

My husband got a 221g at his Interview on December 13, 2023. He then got notification to send in his passport on January 16th. "We are writing to request the following documents to move forward with you immigration visa application - Passport" How long from when they received your passport to when you got it back in the mail? They have had his for 2 weeks and his visa status has not changed since January 16th.

Crossing my fingers. My husband was DQ'd Aug 1. I am hoping to not have to bring the kids and I to Canada for Christmas this year. Florida is so much warmer.