Journeyman23

Hello everyone, I'm happy to say that after a very long wait, our visa journey is coming to an end! I had my interview last Friday and got approval (visa has been issued but still waiting for my passport). Our case was follow-to-join -- my wife has been a US permanent resident since 2022 and I applied through her self-petitioned I-140 (hers was EB2-NIW so my visa category was also E2). As many other similar cases have reported previously, we did not expect the process to take this long (there was a USCIS error along the way which caused a long delay). Now about the interview - it was very smooth and straightforward. After the security check, I was given a list of documents that I needed to provide at the first desk -- my passport, two photos, birth and marriage certificate, and police report(s). For my case, I was also asked for a copy of my wife's green card. I was given a sleeve to put those documents and a token number. After waiting for about 10 minutes, my number was called to the first interview station. The lady was nice and friendly - she asked for the documents and some basic questions like: - my date of birth, contact information (email, phone number, address) - the US address where I'll be moving to - countries I've lived before (for more than six months) She kept the documents and asked me to go to the fingerprinting station. It was quick and then I waited until my number was called again after 15 minutes or so. This was the main interview. Again, the guy was friendly and kept a casual conversational manner to the interview which helped me feel relaxed. He first looked through some documents - mainly my passport and my wife's green card. Here were some of the questions he asked: - My previous stay and status in the US (I was an F-1 student before) - My wife's green card status - when she received it - My wife's employment - what does she do, the company she works for (I had documents like her employment verification, paystubs, etc. but he didn't ask for them) - Where I'm planning to move - Ever overstayed in the US - Ever been arrested or convicted of any crime in the countries I've lived in - Ever had any issues during entry at the US border The conversation and questioning took less than 10 minutes. At the end, he said he'd approve the visa and try to issue it by the end of the day or next day. I was filled with joy and relief at the same time but tried keeping my cool. He handed me a flier with further instructions, I thanked him and headed out of the consulate to meet my wife who was waiting in the Second Cup purgatory across the street. We are very thankful to this community as people here have been really helpful in our long and difficult journey . Wishing all of you the best of luck for your road ahead and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you receive any verbal approval at the end of the interview although your case was in adminstrative processing (AP)? It seems like there are different levels of AP, where even if people receive approval after the interview, their case status shows AP.

In Montreal, yes. The TELUS clinic asked me to bring 5 passport photos so I did. They also took a photo at the registration desk...now that I think of it I have no idea why 5 photos 🤔

Hello, I had a medical exam done recently for my upcoming interview at Telus Health (Montreal) - the authorized clinic for US immigration. Since I don't have a vaccine record from my home country, I had to take some of the required vaccines there. On the day of the exam, they had run out of the MMR vaccine and the nurse said they will just send the information on the vaccines given that day and the US consulate will be fine even without that vaccine. Has anyone had a similar experience, i.e. not having a vaccine due to unavailability and not have an issue during the interview? Please do share if you have any knowledge about this. Thank you!

It had not changed until yesterday but I just checked it now and it says 'in transit'.

Hi all, happy to report that I (DQ Aug 2024) got my interview letter this evening. The interview is scheduled for Dec 19, 2025. Good luck and best wishes to everyone waiting, more must be on the way!

No worries, congratulations to you and your family and thanks for sharing your experience!

Hi @sapkde9 @MaraR @Mano17, I noticed from the Google Sheet that your interviews are coming up soon -- wishing you the very best for it! I’d like to ask a small favor on behalf of everyone still waiting for their interview letter. After your interview (if you feel comfortable doing so), could you kindly ask any friendly consulate staff whether they happen to know anything about the current delays, how often interview letters are being sent out, or any other related updates? Of course, no worries at all if the situation doesn’t allow. We completely understand that staff may not be closely involved with NVC scheduling. Your effort would still mean a lot to all of us. Best of luck again with your interview!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NnYTWRgdQB9gj2SyQjBL3fzz5-OS9FJZQXFXCbSe0Ig/edit?gid=0#gid=0

I got it on Oct 2. I see from the google sheet that you're Sep 2024 - so I think your last 60 day reminder was only last month (September), correct?

Are there any people on this forum who were DQ'ed June/July 2024? Wondering if anyone has received ILs this month.

Last few months it has been between the 20th and end of the month..hoping we get some next week 🙏

Wish it was the case! It doesn't look right - FAQ page still says only Montreal consulate processes immigrant visas (https://ca.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visa-process/)

We're in the same boat...got one yesterday. Hopefully that was the final reminder and next is the IL.. 🙏

That has been my guess too for the lack of updates in the last couple of months. Looking at visa issuance stats for Montreal (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html) from last year, the number of visas issued in EB category went down from ~60 in June'24 to ~30-40 in July & August to only 4 in September'24. Then, it jumped to ~390 in October'24. Am I correct in thinking that the hundreds of visas that were issued in October must have received their ILs in August'24?