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After More Than Two Years — My Wife Finally Got Her Visa After more than two years of stress and waiting under DS-5535 administrative processing, my wife’s visa was finally issued. It has been a long and stressful journey. Thankfully, since she is a Canadian citizen, she was still able to visit the U.S. during this time — although we often had to travel back and forth between Canada and the U.S. Based on our experience, here’s my advice to anyone currently waiting for their immigrant visa: 1. The U.S. Consulate in Montreal Is Very Slow Be prepared to wait patiently. The process can take a long time — especially if your case is under DS-5535 review. 2. Don’t Panic If Your Visa Shows as “Refused” After the interview, you might see your visa status marked as “Refused.” Don’t panic! This usually means your case is in Administrative Processing, not that your visa has been denied permanently. 3. Communicate Professionally When emailing the consulate, always be polite and professional. If English writing is difficult, consider using AI tools to help you write professional emails. They do respond — and when they do, follow their instructions carefully. 📧 Email: montreal-iv-dv@state.gov 4. DS-5535 Takes Time In our case, the DS-5535 process took about one full year before clearance. 5. Watch for Expiring Documents While waiting, remember that: Your medical exam and police certificate will eventually expire. Once your DS-5535 clears, the consulate will email you. Be ready to redo your medical exam and renew your police report quickly to avoid further delays. 6. Check Your Email Regularly Use a computer to check your email daily or at least weekly. Sometimes, new emails from the consulate might not appear correctly on your phone. 7. For Canadian Citizens If your spouse is a Canadian passport holder, they are still allowed to enter the U.S. even if their immigrant visa is pending or refused. We had one situation where U.S. border officers initially stopped my wife for questioning because her visa showed as “refused.” After consulting their supervisor, they allowed her to enter the U.S. — because she is a Canadian citizen. Final Advice Be patient, professional, and follow instructions carefully — you will get your visa eventually. If possible, consider having your case handled at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, as it may be faster than the Consulate in Montreal.

Question: my wife got a ds-5535, she is a Candian citizen, while we're waiting, can she visit the US??, (of course she will go back to CANADA) should we notify the consulate every time she visits the US??, or she has to wait until the process is done. Thanks

It's Immigration visa

Hi everyone, my wife got issues a ds-5535, we did file it online after I sent an email to the consulate of US in Montreal, so my question: can she enter the US for a visit with her Canadian Passport while waiting on the ds-5535 or it's not recommended??, also can she travel to other countries as well???, will the travel affect the decision regarding her visa??

Can you please share the MTL email you guys have been using???

thanks a lot for all the info, just another question plz, in case we have to wait for 6 months or more, will they at least send the passport back??

Hi Thanks for the response, but the question is my wife didn't receive any form during the interview and nothing is showing up in the website of CEAC, it only says refused, and after i sent an email I got this response, should I file this form??, it was sent online, you mentioned that it used to be this way but not anymore, even in the website it says the officer will hand you a form in case they need more info, I am just confused, is this legit???,

Hi everyone, I hope that you can help, I am a US citizen and my wife who lives in Canada had her interview on Jan 23, 2024 everything went well, but after checking the status it says Refused, I checked the CEAC website nothing was mentioned there just Refused without any reason, I called 438-793-1947 and they said that I have to wait and they have no info meanwhile I sent an email to: Canada.Visas@gdit-gss.com, they said this is just for support, I called some numbers for embassy or I don't even remember they gave me this email: montreal-iv-dv@state.gov, they replied that my case is refused and it's under administrative processing under 221g and they sent me a an online form, I am not sure if it's legit? any of you had experienced that??, any info will be apricated. this is how the link looks like: