Hopelessincanada

Our lawyer hasn’t contacted anyone outside of LegalNet. I’m trying to be patient but I hit my limit months ago when they were holding his passport with no response.

I’m glad you were linked over to the other thread on our case- our cases are nearly identical. I wish we hired a lawyer before we even applied, but can’t do anything about that now. Our lawyer reviewed Canadian code at the time of my fiancés shoe theft (those shoes have become the most expensive in history! 🤪) and penalty was a year or less. So all of your points to meet exemption are the same as ours. Your interview went very similar to ours as well, zero questions asked about crime, one question about our relationship and it was over. He just wasn’t denied during the interview because he forgot a document- he was give 221g and was asked to send passport in with docs- we were very optimistic because they asked for passport. We sent everything in and they held his passport for almost 9 months, then denied him. So for that entire time we couldn’t travel to US and I couldn’t go home to my family (we have babies, not easy to go solo). And now we can’t even go because the inadmissibility ruling. If you hire a lawyer, they have to send the request to review to the consulate first- if the consulate doesn’t reply within 30 days, then another request gets sent. If that is also ignored, then they can go to LegalNet. Montreal ignored our first request, then immediately responding to the second and said they weren’t going to review it. Because they responded, that allowed our lawyer to go ahead with the escalation to LegalNet. Same process, request every 30 days. We just had our third request sent out. I found another case on here that went through LegalNet with a positive outcome of reversal- it took 8 months for them to receive a response. I will gladly keep you posted if/when we have an update on our case.

Hi penny, I don’t have any updates— a third request has gone out to LegalNet, so we’re up to 90 days no response from them. we have not tried to cross the border, our lawyer said he’d now be denied due to this process. It’s infuriating, considering we’ve traveled freely with no issue. I deeply regret even starting this process in the first place. It has been nothing but a nightmare for our family. To boot, he was conditionally approved recently for a nexus pass too- how does that work!!! We’ve delayed the interview because we anticipate they will also deny that once he brings up the visa—- we don’t need to flush more money down the toilet. It’s just a perfect example of the useless govt bureaucracy.

No, our immigration lawyer has filed a review with LegalNet, but that’s been difficult as well. First request was sent in March, no response. Second in April, still no response. Third request goes out next week.

I’m sorry. We were informed this is the case for my fiancé now too. It’s crushing and incredibly upsetting. He never had a problem visiting the US and now because we did this visa- he can’t get in at all. It’s a very helpless situation. do you have any updates?

Thought I’d give an update. The consulate ignored the first request, so at the 30 day mark the request was sent again. The consulate responded 2 days later saying they weren’t going to review. Our lawyer escalated to LegalNet. We passed the 30 day mark there and the second follow up request was sent 15 days ago.

Yes, that was sent in last spring.

Hi there, do you mind if I ask if you were required to file for an exemption for crimes involving moral turpitude? If not, how were you approved with arrest record? Our case was denied due to a single petty theft offense that happened over 15 years ago, with no jail time- consulate said we needed exemption. We hired a lawyer and now LegalNet is reviewing our case. Been stuck in the limbo since denial in Nov 2024. Interview was Jan 2024 (I filed for k1 Feb of 2022!)- they held his passport all of last year just to finally get around to denying in Nov. 😒

Idk what an ESTA is. He’s never had issue going back and forth to US.

No idea if the consulate informed DHS. My fiancé was never asked about the theft during the interview. We’re waiting on the response to our lawyer from now and will go from there.

It’s been a nightmare every step of the way, so I’m preparing myself that it might fail and we’d have to go the I-601 route. Don’t know what else to do beyond that point.

This applicant was approved in the interview despite CIMT and up to TEN year prison sentence of the crime in her country of origin. Not asked about it either. This process makes no sense

Idk what is so humorous to you. It’s called advocacy. Considering we’ve sent the application in three years ago, he was never even asked about the theft during the interview, which lasted maybe 5 minutes and they kept his passport for 8 months only to then deny it, so yeah I’m appreciative they’re asking for a response in a reasonable timeframe. As to another poster, The court record itself says the maximum punishment was one year, if given jail time. Which he wasn’t. Single offense, paid fine, no jail time, crime occurred more than 15 years ago. It is what it is at this point, so whatever happens we’ll just keep moving forward.

Sorry for my delay in response. I would very much appreciate your insight anyway! my lawyer is filing a petty exemption (fiancé beyond qualifies for it) request directly to the consulate, they’re giving them 30 days to respond. If they don’t, they Will send another request and give a 15 day timeframe. If the consulate doesn’t respond, they’re going to the DC office which oversees the consulate. They were very clear that Montreal is not very responsive (that will shock no one here haha). They said if it’s not approved that we will have to file for exemption, which last I checked was 29 month processing time.

He never had a I-192 waiver. He’s never has a problem entering the US. Nothing comes up when we have gone to the US to visit my family. The theft and fees he paid for the theft were on his initial I-129f application. The theft occurred almost 16 years ago now. He was approved no problem from the start. It’s just bizarre, he wasn’t even asked a single question during the interview about it and when they gave him 221g they wanted his passport sent with the additional docs they asked for. They’ve been sitting on his passport for 7 months so we’ve been just stuck in canada, only for them to do this now. We’re waiting on the lawyers analysis now. He’s strictly an immigration lawyer, including winning CIMT cases (I assume that means the win sent the case back to the consulate without having the I-160 waiver). The processing time for the waiver right now is 29 MONTHS. We just found out we’re expecting too, we’re in the process of selling our house. It’s all just a nightmare.

I received the email from the consulate today. In part: In light of the information available to us, the applicant is found ineligible for a visa under section 212(A)(2)(A)(I)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Under this section of law, any individual who was convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude is ineligible for a visa and inadmissible to the United States He has never had an issue entering the US. It has never even been brought up, by land or air.

I don’t know if you’ll answer as your post is back in June. We were JUST informed by my senator that my fiancé is denied under CIMT and to file I-601. I’m at a loss at how your fiancé was approved. My fiancé stole a pair of shoes from his job in 2009- so almost 16 years ago now- was never in jail, paid for the shoes and fine, and that was that. We’ve been approved every step of the way in this process and they’ve now held his passport for SEVEN months before dropping this bomb on us. They didn’t even ask my fiancé about it during his interview!! I just retained a lawyer using emergency $ because I just don’t know what to do anymore. Even on the instructions of the 601 is says that you don’t need a waiver if it was one CIMT. So now we wait. Pay more. And our family suffers in the meantime. If anyone else wants to chime in too with their experience, I’d appreciate it too!

Ahh one of the lucky ones! Hope you guys don’t experience any delays.

They use a courier to send visas. It won’t impact anything. Sort of update on our case: I’ve had 2 unsolicited updates this week, the 13th and today. No emails from consulate though. We will have to be updating fiancés medical and photos. His medical was in Jan.

I was hoping I’d just get date changes on CEAC but I got an email just now. No end in sight Thank you for your inquiry. We acknowledge receipt of the documents you have provided. This case is currently pending review by a consular officer. As soon as the review is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case. We realize that these extended time periods cause frustration to many individuals, and we are sensitive to the fact that the purpose of the immigrant visa program is to facilitate legitimate travel to the U.S. Nonetheless, the Consulate in Montreal, like all U.S. Embassies and Consulates, must adjudicate visas in accordance with the provisions of the law, and, in some cases, this involves extensive consular review and administrative processing. While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the Department of State are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete. I’ve seen people interview months after us, have further screening because their country of origin and still get their stuff back in a couple months. Just brutal.

Date change, last time our file was touched was Aug 22. I emailed them on status Oct 21. Haven’t been given a reply to it

K1. Started this process Feb 2022, interviewed Jan 16. They’ve had passport since April. I actually got a case update yesterday on CEAC. Didn’t receive an email yesterday or so far today- I was wondering if a generic response was on the way, but not yet.

No. CEAC is unchanged, last update on case Aug 22. Never heard from Senator, called their DC office again and left a note. It’s just crushing. How about you?

Yeah. For SEVEN months.

My senator in CA has offices all over the state besides their DC office. The office that handles immigration concerns is in San Diego, but they aren’t getting back to me so that’s why I reached out to the DC office to get someone else and figure out what’s going on.