Hi everyone,
I wish to share my experience in this ‘journey that requires patience.’ I extend my sincere gratitude to all those who have shared their experiences, as your contributions are immensely valuable to this community. Too long, but may be helpful for others!
Background:
I was in the U.S. on an F1 visa and worked under STEM OPT for 2.5 years. I missed out on the H1B lottery twice. My employer then decided to sponsor my green card and had to leave the U.S. because my OPT expired. I applied for Canada PR when I was studying in the U.S., so I moved to Canada.
I continued working for my US employer from Canada while the green card process was ongoing. While in Canada, I missed out on the H1B lottery again twice. During my time in Canada, I applied for B1/B2 so I can visit the States.
I visited the States via the land border more than 100 times for personal reasons with no problems at the border. I applied for Canadian citizenship at the end of last year, and it is still in process (it was a pain filling out my absences due to my numerous travels).
Profile:
Class: EB2
Country: ROW
Priority date: 21 Sep 2022
I-140 Approval: 9 Sep 2023 (approved in 3 days via premium processing)
NVC Welcome Letter: 02 Oct 2023
Civil documents ‘A’ received by NVC: 18 Jan 2024
Civil documents ‘B’ received by NVC: 29 Jan 2024
I got a letter back from NVC to send in my proof of residence in Canada. I forgot to add to the first document.
DQ: 09 Feb 2024
Interview Letter (IL) received: 31 Jan 2025
For some time now, Montreal sends IL for EB category at the end of the month.
Interview Date: 18 Mar 2025 @ 9:30AM
Once you get an IL, your status will show ‘In-Transit’, then when Montreal receives the physical files from NVC, it will change to “At Montreal’, then it will later change to ‘Ready’.
Current visa status: Issued as of 18 March.
Medical exams:
I did medicals on February 25, with Dr. Lydon. The process was smooth. Be sure to get all your vaccines and send them to him when you register for an appointment. Depending on your age, you may need only an x-ray, an x-ray and blood test, or an x-ray, blood test, and urine test. The x-ray is in the basement of the building. Blood and urine tests are done across the street at Life Labs (it’s recommended to make an appointment online ahead of time to reduce waiting time).
In my experience, you will spend a maximum of 20 minutes at Dr. Lydon’s office and about 20 minutes at the x-ray. The medicals were sent to the consulate about 10 days after the exam (unless you have a follow-up with Dr. Lydon). You will see an update to the ‘Last Update date’ to your DS-260 case status once they receive your medical results.
Hotel reservation:
I stayed at the Best Western Hotel (recommended: a 2–3-minute walk to the US Consulate, fair price, friendly reception, and flexible with late check-out).
Interview:
Interview was scheduled for 9:30AM. Arrived at the embassy at 9:20AM. If you have kids and cannot get a babysitter for them, go with them (It’s nice to email the Consulate about that but not required). Remember to take their ID and some books for them and yourself to keep them busy while waiting. I went through TSA/Airport-like security and was given a ticket number and a small piece of paper that tells you how to arrange your documents before you see the officer. You will then be directed to go to the first floor.
Once I got to the first floor, I just grabbed a seat and waited for your number to show up on the screen.
First Officer: Documents check and verification. They will ask for the originals of the civil documents. You will NOT need to go with photocopies as they have all the photocopies that were sent to NVC. They will cross check to make sure all the information is correct. The Officer asked for a copy of I-140 approval (weird). I told her I would have to look through my documents if I brought it. She later asked me to sit down and show it to the officer during the interview, if I find it. The time with this Officer took about 20-25 minutes because she also checked my spouse’s documents as we applied together. I was then asked to sit down and wait for my number to show up to see the second officer.
Second Officer: Fingerprints. She took my biometrics (4 left fingers, 4 right fingers, and then the index fingers) and told me to sit down until I am called for the interview with the officer. She took about 5-10 minutes.
Third Officer: Actual interview. There was a long wait before we were called. We were first asked to take an oath to provide true information. After the oath, our biometrics were taken (this time, only the left 4 fingers) as a form of a signature to the oath. I was asked to sign the offer letter (note: this is employer sponsored. Not required for NIW folks!), and she signed her portion. She did not ask about the i-797 form (i-140 approval) – this is not required so I do not understand why the first officer asked!
She asked a couple of questions:
How long have you been working for your employer?
What is your job title?
Where are you intending to settle in the US?
Have you been arrested before?
What was your visa status when you were in the US?
Have you had trouble crossing the border in the past?
How long have you been in Canada?
After these, she told me your visas have been approved, and I have issued your visas. You should get your passport soon and she handed us a paper on how we can track our passports. She told me to do our landing before 25 August (which is 6 months from the medical). The interview took about 15 minutes and finished at 12PM exactly. So, expect about 2.5 hours (it could be less depending on your ticket number) to go through this process.
All the staff (visa officers and security) were nice and friendly. This is more like formality and nothing serious!
After Interview:
In about 2.5 hours after the interview, my status had changed from Ready to Issued.
At 12:40PM on 19 March, I received an email that my passport has been released to Purolator with the tracking information.
At 1PM on 20 March, I missed the delivery, although I was home. They did not knock harder or ring the bell. Purolator left a notice at my door.
At 9:30AM on 21 March, I picked up my envelope (passport & do not open envelope’) from the Purolator office.
Next steps:
Looking forward to landing before 25 Aug 2025.
Planning on apply re-entry permits to enable me stay in Canada for 1 more year due to some personal reasons.
Navigating tax residency issues.
I’m happy to answer any questions. Good luck everyone!
Glory to God! God is the greatest! Jesus is Lord! #gratefulheart🙏
