Rustbelt

My wife has a chronic condition (relatively newly diagnosed) that is being treated. She's covered on my US employer's health insurance: we're right on the border, so this is more practical than it seems, and her own Canadian additional insurance won't cover her medications.

When Montreal gets around to sending us an interview date, she'll go for her medical. I was wondering if this will be an issue for the IR-1? Or, to ask it a different way, what documentation (if any) should she bring from her doctor about her health?

It's not a contagious disease, so I can't think it would be an issue, but thought I'd check. With all this waiting I'd hate for there to be yet MORE delays . . .

Our case was completed at NVC on June 24 and we still don't have an appt. for Montreal. Hoping maybe they will get us in for October....

Yep, our case was completed on June 4th . . . still waiting . . . . I suspect it will be November, as most past interviews seem to have been scheduled 1.5 months ahead of time. I hope I'm wrong.

Don't forget that if you move out of the US you will lose your green card unless you can prove that your move is temporary. And if you do lose your green card, you have to start the immigration process all over again. I know this because it happened to my wife. Wait until you have US citizenship before moving unless you're absolutely certain you won't live in the US again.

My parents have some friends where the girlfriend moved to Canada & had the whole sponsorship thing going on for Canada, and when he lost his job they decided to move to the US. My parents said "oh, well he just needs to get a SSN". Yeah, like it's really that easy - have you not been listening to me about OUR immigration process the past year++???

OK, so we used to live in Ottawa and cross often at Ogdensburg and I hate to say this (and it's probably unfair) but they just don't have quite as good a grasp on the whole immigration thing as they should. They once told my wife that the only way she could hand in her I94 (visa waiver card) was in person at a land border. Um, no . . . and she got into trouble when she next crossed because she believed them and her I94 was well past its expiry date . . .

You really SHOULD have been able to cross. There's no reason why not. Is your spouse already in the US? If so, I'd try taking your marriage certificate and some proof that he's there; because really, even if you turn up with a truckload of stuff, how is that "proving" that you're moving to the US???? I mean, you could theoretically turn right around and come back again with that same truckload of stuff, right?

Hey, just thought I'd bump this up even though they won't start scheduling for another couple of weeks. You never know, right?

Hey, Steve_traible, if you read this... you're not on this list???

Wanna be?

Sure. I think I asked to be added a couple of pages back. I130 was approved December something-or-other 2008; sent everything off to the NVC in April; got an RFE (forgot the photos - DOH! and they didn't like our marriage certificate); sent that stuff off in May; Case done at NVC June 4th. Now waiting, endlessly, for the interview.

Thanks!

Steve

We're a ways behind you (done @ NVC on June 4th) but I don't see any issue with it. We're right on the border and my wife crosses just about daily to see me (yes, we're very lucky with that).

When she eventually gets her IR1 visa, she'll cross & take care of the immigration stuff. Then cross again to import the car. Then frequently with personal belongings. And lastly with a truck with the rest of our stuff. You don't have to import the car when you do the immigration - she called & asked and the customs guy specifically said she wouldn't have to. You just need a list of everything you're bringing in, and personally I'd include everything in the car on that list down to the ice-scraper & CDs.

She's almost on first name basis with the folks at the border anyway. Well, perhaps not. She has only had a hard time three times in the past two years of doing this; each time when renewing her I94 (she's a UK citizen, not Canadian; Canadian PR - long story). The first was because she was bringing three of my shirts over (do NOT try this), the second was because he was just grumpy, and the third time was because the woman just didn't believe that she really lived in Canada. *Sigh*.

I know, but I thought we poo pooed your priority date part of the theory....or are we waiting for MTL to confirm that?

It's not really my priority date during one of these rare occasions when I called NVC I was given an opportunity to talk with a supervisor and she mentioned that they use different criteria when scheduling...priority date being one of them so...

it is also possible that "priority date" matters for certain categories: it applies to family based preferences (all the F1, F2, F3...) but not CR/IR

...that would be called a theoretical extension of MAST

OK, I have to ask. How the hell did you manage to talk to a supervisor!?! And for that matter, how the heck did you dig that information out of her!?!

This is off the thread a little, but I did actually contact my congressman, who could do nothing for us (as expected), but did pass on this little nugget of information: that NVC won't budge on interviews for anything, not even a job offer with start date that you're going to miss, health issues, nothing. Either one of you has to be dying or about to be deployed. Those are the only two exceptions . . .

He did also say that our interview should be October, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

So for those of you keeping track, that's June 4th done at NVC to October ?? (maybe). Four months. Sorry to all those who are a little way behind us, but I think the worst of this is not the delay so much as the not knowing when. Well okay. It's the delay too.

My new theory of how MTL schedules interviews is that they sort by last name of the petitioner (begins with T), then the last name of the beneficiary (begins with W) and then country of citizenship of the beneficiary (begins with U for UK). So I reckon our interview will be sometime in mid-2010.

I think it's just a huge mystery.

I don't have the full timeline, but our case was closed at NVC on June 4th and we didn't move things along as fast as we could have as there was a three month delay on our part in getting stuff to the NVC. We're still waiting for our interview date. We're on a IR1 timeline.

Anyway, by your reckoning, we should be up near the top of the list because the last VJ folks with an interview in August had their case completed on May 24th, IIRC. We're a mere 11 days after that. We had hoped for August. Then September. Now we're hoping for October, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was November.

Reminds me of the time my wife flew back from the UK via Philadelphia. She had flown out of Buffalo, NY because the airport there is a whole lot closer to where she lives than Toronto. Anyway, so at Philadelphia, they asked her where she was going ("to Buffalo") and that caused a whole long line of questioning about where she lived which went something like:

Customs guy: "So you live in Buffalo?"

Wife: "No, I live in XXX (Canadian town)"

Customs guy: "So you'll be heading back to Buffalo?

Wife: "Yes, and then back to XXX"

Customs guy: "So how long have you lived in Buffalo?"

Wife: "I don't, I live in XXX"

This went on for a couple of minutes. They were for sure hoping to catch her out in a lie.

What utter nonsense! I exchanged e-mails with the consulate today and they didn't have our case number as a pending case and said it must still be with the NVC. The consulate did indicated that they were done scheduling for the month of September, SO, I called the NVC and asked if I could speak with a supevisor. The person I spoke to said, "Why, the supervisor doesn't do the interview." Yeah, no kidding. After going round and round, it was back to the old, call back sometime between the 15th and 16th of September because the scheduling is done in the second week of the month.....this is a recording, please call back again, thank you....

How frustrating. Why don't they implement an online system? Wouldn't that make it SO much easier? Oh that's right, that would be giving us too much information.

How annoying!

After all that - did you actually get to speak with a supervisor?

Nope. The response was "why? The supervisor doesn't do the interviews!" So I dropped it. You get tired of beating your head up against a brick wall.

My wife did get an email from her lawyer (we thought we'd get all the information we could from all sources) and she said that this long of a wait in the summer months is not unusual. It can easily take four months to hear anything. She did offer to try to intervene if we get to mid-September with nothing (that would be 3.5 months), but I'm not sure the $$$$ will be worth it (I mean, they will come up with a date EVENTUALLY), and paying for two places to live for an extra month or two is likely cheaper than her fees for a probably fruitless intervention.

I suppose that I'm reassured in that NOBODY here has had September interviews. At least we're not being overlooked.

What utter nonsense! I exchanged e-mails with the consulate today and they didn't have our case number as a pending case and said it must still be with the NVC. The consulate did indicated that they were done scheduling for the month of September, SO, I called the NVC and asked if I could speak with a supevisor. The person I spoke to said, "Why, the supervisor doesn't do the interview." Yeah, no kidding. After going round and round, it was back to the old, call back sometime between the 15th and 16th of September because the scheduling is done in the second week of the month.....this is a recording, please call back again, thank you....

How frustrating. Why don't they implement an online system? Wouldn't that make it SO much easier? Oh that's right, that would be giving us too much information.

I'm only going off past posts here, but if it helps at all, I was calling the NVC like crazy in July too, and right at the second week of July (i.e. Friday the 17th) they said "we're all done scheduling for August). But a bunch of folks here didn't hear anything - email or otherwise - until the 23rd (the following Thursday). So I still hold out hope for September . . .

If not it will be October. Egads!! June 4th to October!!!!! That must be the longest wait since, what?, middle of 2008??

Trailmix, maybe you can add us to the tracking thingy - don't have all the dates to hand, but for whatever it's worth we have June 4th done @ NVC and interview "whenever".

I don't mean to put a damper on your hope for a September interview, but the few of us that were scheduled for August found out on June 23, not July 23. Sorry man. I know the waiting really sucks. It seems like over the past few months (since February or so), they have been scheduling interviews for Montreal between the 23rd and 28th of the month for two months later. For example, people who had interviews in May found out at the end of March, and people who had interviews in June found out at the end of April etc. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if you find out next week about an interview in October. Sorry you've had to wait so long!

That's a major bummer. Of course my wife's parents will be visiting from the UK in October, so that's going to suck having to hike off to Montreal while they're here . . .

Trailmix, the NOA2 was December 4th, 2008. BUT, we waited about 3 months before sending stuff off to the NVC; partly because our lawyer said we had to wait for the forms to be sent to us (they didn't - as soon as we paid the fees we could download the forms - one wonders what we're paying her for . . .). And partly because I wanted my 2008 tax return in there. So it's not a realistic timeline. We originally filed the I130 in May 2008.

I'm only going off past posts here, but if it helps at all, I was calling the NVC like crazy in July too, and right at the second week of July (i.e. Friday the 17th) they said "we're all done scheduling for August). But a bunch of folks here didn't hear anything - email or otherwise - until the 23rd (the following Thursday). So I still hold out hope for September . . .

If not it will be October. Egads!! June 4th to October!!!!! That must be the longest wait since, what?, middle of 2008??

Trailmix, maybe you can add us to the tracking thingy - don't have all the dates to hand, but for whatever it's worth we have June 4th done @ NVC and interview "whenever".

Thanks for the very helpful info, Krikit. Her doctor has gone on vacation until the end of August, so we're a little worried!

I think for our own peace of mind we'll try & get titers done for the T/D/P and she can tell them about the TB shot. It's a little complicated getting doctor's records together because she's also been going to a doctor on the US side (we live right on the border - she's one side, me the other).

I guess she won't mention the "abnormal" X-ray that wasn't unless she's specifically asked.

Just tried calling the NVC because, well, it's hard to resist. Anyway, they said there was nothing on the file as yet, which I sure hope does NOT mean that we've been bumped over to October. I'm guessing it will be next week that we hear anything, if at all. *Sigh*.

Thanks for the review. My wife will be getting her medical done there (assuming she EVER gets an interview date).

She doesn't have any of her childhood vaccination records (they were all done in the UK), but did get a booster for the Tetanus/diphtheria (I think that's the "TD" shot, right?). I was wondering if she should have antibody titers done for the tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis because she doesn't have documentation for the childhood series? She did have titers done for all the others and boosters as necessary, but only has evidence of the adult booster shot for TD and I'm not sure that will be enough.

Also, if anyone has any thoughts on this: when she did her Canadian immigration medical a few years back the initial X-ray showed some kind of shadow. She had a follow up scan done and has a report from her family doctor at the time reporting that all was well, but the original X-ray, and the subsequent MRI films are somewhere in the depths of Canada's immigration system. Do you think this will be a problem? Should she even mention the x-ray as being abnormal? Because it really wasn't, it was just some kind of artifact.

LGG, I could be proven wrong, but my best guess is that your interview will be October. Hopefully.

My wife's case was completed at the NVC on June 4th. We really hoped for an August interview, but it's going to be September, hopefully. We're still waiting to hear on an interview date. Based on the IR1/CR1 Montreal timeline posted elsewhere here I'm thinking it might be tomorrow that we hear, or next Tuesday (looks like everyone who had August interviews heard on July 23rd). All we can do is wait. *SIGH*.

Does anyone have the best number to reach the DOS? We've had our case approved on June 4th, 2009 and we're waiting for an interview in Montreal also. Any help would be appreciated.

Steve

Congratz you guys on the approvals! My husband and I are still waiting for our letter and are getting a little ansy. =( Has anyone who sent in their package three in early June, heard anything back?

We're on the IR1 track. Wife's case was completed at the NVC on June 4th and we're still waiting for an interview date. We were hoping to get in for an August interview, but now we're hoping for September. I think this is the worst wait of all!!! Based on recent responses here we're thinking we might hear either next week or the week after. We've been collecting all the documents & reading up on reviews here so we're prepared when we eventually get the interview.

Hi Steve,

Have you called the National Visa Center to see if an interview has been scheduled yet?

W-a-a-a-y too many times! I think they're sick of me, LOL!

Last time I called I was told to try again this Friday. I'll call again early next week.

Just thinking ahead here . . .

No interview date as yet but thanks to you guys I know my wife will need an Xpresspost envelope. I was wondering if that needed a signature on it or not? I know it's an option with that service, but didn't know if it was required. Would hate to purchase something unnecessary!! Also, how long will it take for them to mail it all back? We were thinking of a detour to Ottawa on the way back from Montreal, but don't want to miss the Xpresspost envelope . . .

Congratz you guys on the approvals! My husband and I are still waiting for our letter and are getting a little ansy. =( Has anyone who sent in their package three in early June, heard anything back?

We're on the IR1 track. Wife's case was completed at the NVC on June 4th and we're still waiting for an interview date. We were hoping to get in for an August interview, but now we're hoping for September. I think this is the worst wait of all!!! Based on recent responses here we're thinking we might hear either next week or the week after. We've been collecting all the documents & reading up on reviews here so we're prepared when we eventually get the interview.

We're right on the border and the best plan we've found for covering both US and Canadian calls/texting is Verizon. It's expensive - $120/month for our two phones - but the only one that gives us the coverage we need.

We also have a landline of sorts. We use Vonage which for $40/month gives us unlimited calling to the US, UK (my wife's family are all there) and Canada. It also allows us to take the phone back & forth between her place & mine, if necessary. As long as we have an internet connection, we can get on the phone. Plus we have three numbers - one US and two Canadian (for my wife's business).

How long does it take to receive the Visa after the interview? Are you able collect your passport the day after the interview?

Our understanding is that they will mail it to you, using the ExpressPost envelope you provide them with on the day of the interview. It will take a week or so to get to you.

My wife is waiting for her interview . . . I think this is the worst of the "waits" in the whole process. So near, and yet so far . . .

Does anyone have an idea of the waiting time for an interview in Montreal for an immigrant visa (I-130)? My wife is the beneficiary, resident in Canada, I am in the US. Our case was approved by the NVC on June 4th, 2009. The NVC indicated they do the consular interview scheduling the second week of each month for the following month, so I called yesterday and no date as of yet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve