TayL

We called last night. They're not sure what happened. They have the correct address. It should have been sent to the correct address. He's called all the post offices in his area--none have had any mail for him. The USCIS folks said that they'll send us a letter in a month and a half saying what they have or haven't found in their quest to discover where our NOA2 is. It kind of irritates me, since the last thing they were supposed to be sending us never arrived, but there isn't anything that we can do.

If you do have to get a replacement (and I think we need clarification on that) you would fill out this form and the fee is $ 340

I expect we'll need it replaced, though I'm not willing to give in and pay 340 bucks until we've exhausted every other possible way of obtaining the original. And neither's he. Ooooh I'm mad. Cause we went online and his address seems to be correct. And it's been that one since April. But I have this horrible feeling that they've sent it to his old address, in which case we'll never see it.

I hope it can be found , but got a question you said he changed adresse at the postoffice ,

did he also change it with USCIS and kept the proof ( a print out or copy of the orig change of ad send in mail ) ?

I would call them and see if they got the right adresse in theyr system ,good luck

We changed it both with USCIS and with the post office, just in case. I don't know if he's got the confirmation--but we confirmed it on a couple occasions. I have repeatedly TOLD him that we NEED to save EVERYTHING, but he's got a bad habit of deleting emails once read and I'm fairly sure he's deleted this one. >.< But I *know* we've got the right one on file, cause he attempted to change it again, just to double check that he hadn't messed up any digits, and they told him that they already had his new address on file.

My husband moved midway through the process and we never received the NOA2 either. You need to document all your attempts to obtain it. Keep copies of every piece of correspondence. Make a hard copy of the online approval. I sent everything I could with an explanation as to why I couldn't include a NOA2 with the AOS application and we got through without an RFE. Some have done the same, and others have not been so lucky. It's worth the attempt though. Good luck.

We haven't even gotten the online approval! It still shows that the case is 'received and pending' on the USCIS website--which is why we didn't know we should be looking for the NOA2 yet! If we'd known that we should be looking, we would have contacted his current post office and his old post office and his parents' post office (just in case) and said that we were looking for a piece of mail and that anything with his name on it, we needed a call if it went to the wrong one. Unfortunately, he thinks that the post office only holds undeliverable mail for 2 days before doing a 'return to sender.'

If you do have to get a replacement (and I think we need clarification on that) you would fill out this form and the fee is $ 340

I expect we'll need it replaced, though I'm not willing to give in and pay 340 bucks until we've exhausted every other possible way of obtaining the original. And neither's he. Ooooh I'm mad. Cause we went online and his address seems to be correct. And it's been that one since April. But I have this horrible feeling that they've sent it to his old address, in which case we'll never see it.

He's currently shaking down housemates and having them search the whole house and if it doesn't get called tonight, he's going to be calling the post offices in his area to look for mis-delivered mail tomorrow right after work and he'll call USCIS on Thursday (or tomorrow, if they're open once he gets done with the post offices and the NOA2 hasn't been found) to find out what he has to do next to get it replaced. I'll be spending tomorrow filling out forms. I can't wait to fill them out and get them sent off!

And 300 dollars for a piece of paper we never got? Holy crackerjacks, Batman! We can't afford that! I hope it's not that much or that he can get them to resend it. I'm hoping it's not something stupid like his change of address didn't go through. He's checked multiple times, though, and everything SHOULD be going to his new address. But I have this horrible feeling that somewhere in the bowels of their system, there's ONE place where it wasn't changed properly and they've latched onto that and sent it to his old address.

Hmmm... Focussing on the probable good news--YAY!

Focussing on the possible bad news--with ANY luck it's either been delayed in the mail somewhere or one of his roommates put his mail in the wrong place. I'll have him question them all as soon as he gets home.

I just received a package with checklists of forms to fill out and so on from Montreal. I've got a Montreal case number and everything!

But there's one thing that's confusing me greatly. Our case status hasn't changed on the USCIS website and we never got any notification that we were getting moved to Montreal. I thought you got NOA2 before you got packets from Montreal? Am I wrong? It's very possible I've misunderstood something.

It's just, since our case status hasn't changed (we got what appeared to be a 'touch' on August 12, 2009) and I got this out of what I *perceive* to be the correct order, I'm worried there's been a mistake somewhere and I shouldn't have this packet yet!

Please tell me that either a) I've got the order of events wrong or B) I've misunderstood something or c) sometimes they just screw up sending notifications and so on/don't update their system? I know it's stupid to be worried that there's a mistake and I shouldn't have this packet, but I can't help it! We've been waiting so long (or at least, it feels that way, I know many have been waiting longer and I shouldn't complain) and so far haven't had any major snafus, no RFEs or anything, so I'm stupidly worried that I shouldn't get too excited about this in case it's a mistake or I'm misunderstanding.

Thanks for understanding about my fit of nerves here.

I'm not sure what my CSIS will say for sure. I'll probably end up calling USCIS or whatever and asking. It just seems to me that a CSIS would be EVEN BETTER than a criminal records check, since they literally check everything, including sealed records you had as a young offender.

I'm about to have a CSIS clearance done for my new job. At the time of my interview, it will be less than one year old, unless we get delayed. This is like, the UBER criminal background check. I was wondering if anyone knew if they'd accept a copy of this instead of a police check, or if I'll have to do a police check specifically for immigration?

Didn't happen to me, happened to my best friend who was dating an American at the time.

She was at a convention for her boyfriend's university and one of his best friends kept following her around, asking where her pet moose was. She tried to tell him she didn't have one, but he wouldn't listen. My friend is an INCREDIBLE actress and, frustrated, she finally turned around and burst into tears. The guy asked her what was wrong and she said "My pet moose died right before I came here, okay?"

The guy turned BRIGHT red, apologised, and bought her a bunch of plushies from one of the vendors at the convention.

He's had bank accounts, he just does everything electronically, so he's never bothered to order cheques. I should have gotten him to check it with someone other than her. He was on the phone with me while he was filling it out and he actually asked "Is this line here just for symmetry?" I didn't hear her response, but seriously, I should have said "show it to someone else."

Ah, he somehow got told by the post office you had to send it overnight to get it registered. He probably got talked to by a moron. I've had that happen to me before, at just about any office in any way run by the government.

As for his cheques? Well, his bank doesn't label the lines. There's no little spot saying "memo" and there isn't one saying "signature." There's no "paid to the order of." It's all just lines. So he went to his flatmate for help. She told him where to put all the information. And she had him put his signature on the memo line and the memo on the signature line. No idea why, considering she writes cheques all the time. If I wasn't trying to give her benefit of the doubt, I'd think she did it on purpose so he'd have more money to keep paying towards their share of the bills. Apparently, they won't take a cheque that has those two lines reversed.

Completely understandable about the cheque!

Stupid bank! first cheque I ever wrote bounced Live and learn

The irony of this is that my fiancé has difficulty with finances because of ADHD (he's got poor impulse control when it comes to money, but he's working really hard on it and I'm really proud of him) and he was really smart about all this and opened a bank account that was separate from everything else for this process so that he couldn't touch the money he'd set aside for visa stuff. He has no bank card on it. He only got internet banking for it that he can view--he can't do anything to it. He made sure there was extra padding the account in case of some kind of service charge popping up unexpectedly. He's being so careful to make sure that he doesn't overspend and end up with the cheque bouncing. And this happens. It's so frustrating. He was so proud of himself for doing this all right. It really hurt him when he messed up.

Thank you so much! I appreciate it.

I know, I know, I'm a Canuck and should get back to my own regional forum. I just thought maybe someone here might have a minute to spare to help a friend of mine.

I've got a friend, from the US, who wants to go visit her boyfriend who lives in England.

I was wondering what the tourist visa requirements are, if any, for such a trip?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Ah, he somehow got told by the post office you had to send it overnight to get it registered. He probably got talked to by a moron. I've had that happen to me before, at just about any office in any way run by the government.

As for his cheques? Well, his bank doesn't label the lines. There's no little spot saying "memo" and there isn't one saying "signature." There's no "paid to the order of." It's all just lines. So he went to his flatmate for help. She told him where to put all the information. And she had him put his signature on the memo line and the memo on the signature line. No idea why, considering she writes cheques all the time. If I wasn't trying to give her benefit of the doubt, I'd think she did it on purpose so he'd have more money to keep paying towards their share of the bills. Apparently, they won't take a cheque that has those two lines reversed.

I was right to be worried. He got the entire packet back today. This was the first cheque he ever wrote, so he asked his flatmates for help. They told him the wrong way to do it. So they sent him back the packet with instructions on how to write the cheque correctly. So we're back at square one. And because of the fact he's moving, he can't afford to send it with signature required and a tracking number, and that's the only way that he'll send something with his SSN on it, we can't send it back until after he's fully moved.

Which means we have to re-fill out half the bloody packet. This sucks.

GRRR. HOw come it's here twice? Ignore this, please. If a moderator's about, delete this one?

So, they received our package with our K-1 application a week ago today. And the money hasn't left the account. They haven't cashed the cheque. How long should I wait before getting worried that they're just going to send it back because something important got forgotten? I've seen people whose cheques were cashed 4 or 5 days after the service centre received their packages.

I know this might sound stupid, but I think I'm getting my first serious dose of "waiting nerves." How long did your fees take to leave your accounts?

Haven't gotten NOA1 yet, which is part of why I'm impatient for the cheque to get cashed. My fiancé HAS to move. Like, now. (His flatmates were smoking certain illicit substances that are a bit more of a problem than pot last night, won't go into details, but they could have killed him since he's severely allergic) And I'm concerned that we're gonna miss getting our NOA1 by a day or two because he's trying to be moved out by this weekend at the latest. And I didn't think you could get NOA1 until after the cheque was cashed.

Does the US have a way that you can have your post redirected, like CanadaPost does? Cause after he runs out of the apartment (he's afraid that they might become violent if he tells them he's leaving), he doesn't want them getting his mail.

So, they received our package with our K-1 application a week ago today. And the money hasn't left the account. They haven't cashed the cheque. How long should I wait before getting worried that they're just going to send it back because something important got forgotten? I've seen people whose cheques were cashed 4 or 5 days after the service centre received their packages.

I know this might sound stupid, but I think I'm getting my first serious dose of "waiting nerves." How long did your fees take to leave your accounts?

PS: We're with the VSC, if that helps?

Fort Erie is where I used to cross when I was at University, to go down to Rochester and visit friends.

Though it wasn't for visa activation, I did have one really bad experience there. I was swarm questioned on my first ever border crossing. The subject of my questioning? Did I play guitar?

Seriously. I had four border guards in the customs area of the bus building swarm me and start questioning me on whether or not I played guitar.

I also had a friend who (briefly) dated one of the Fort Erie boys. He was just as immature as the rest of them. And he was for the Canadian side! I personally think that they end up with, not necessarily University students, but University age guys who are out just for a party. There are several colleges and universities within a half hour of that crossing and that's my theory, anyway.

Sounds awesome. I've got to go on my own (Kori can't afford to take a lot of time off work because of how slowly time off accumulates there and he wants to take a couple days off for us when I move down and when we actually do our "courthouse run"), and that sounds like the kind of place you *can't* feel alone.

Thank you for your experience, LDora. I figured that would be about the atmosphere. I'm not worried about axe murdering--just theft. And even that, I suspect is rare. I'm a Scout leader and an avid folk festival goer--I can sleep almost literally anywhere. That sounds like what I was hoping it would sound like. There are a couple hostels that are literally one bus away from the consulate and it seems like the best option to me. I think I'd feel WAY more isolated and nervous in a hotel where people keep entirely to themselves.

I've been looking for ways to keep the costs down when I have to go to Montreal and one of the things I've considered is going to one of Montreal's hostels. They're much less expensive than a hotel. I typically pack very light, so I could get away with not taking anything that I would care if it was stolen (aside from my important documents, which I would obviously keep on my person at all times). If I did this, I could afford to stay in Montreal long enough to book my medical a couple days before the interview. I'm pretty good at navigating bus systems, so even though the hostels are further from the consulate and stuff, I should be okay.

What do you guys think? Anyone tried this? How did it go?

do they make you have vaccinations to things that youre not immune to? ie will they refuse the medical exam as complete if you dont want some of the vaccinations? some of these have mercury in them and I am currently dealing with mercury poisoning and really alarmed about being forced to have them. I am an Aussie and moved to Ontario with my ex and went through the visa process here and wasnt subjected to vaccination issues.

In your case, with a mercury issue already, your doctor may be able to write you a letter saying that you are contraindicated for any vaccination with mercury in it as he does not want your mercury levels even marginally increased. I can't guarantee that will be enough to prevent the vaccination requirement, but I would think that it would be sufficient.

I work with Scouts and have to have police checks regularly for that. We have to have a national record search. We can't get one done for our leaders who are under 18. We've tried and the police won't run the check, so Scouts Canada relaxed the police check rule for leaders who are under 18, so long as they get a police check done within two months of their 18th birthday.

I'm not sure it's POSSIBLE to get a police check for kids that old.