cndwife

Hey, I didn't get my visa yet I can't even find it in the tracking system. Hope they didn't lose it!!! ha ha, We both had the same CO so he better had taken care of my visa too, anyway glad you POE'd ok and can't wait till July 30 to come. Nice meeting you at the Consulate it made it fun, I am still wondering what happend to all those people behind us Ha Ha!!!

Wow I can't belive you didn't get your visa yet...and of course you won't get it today because it's a holiday. Good thing you weren't planning to move right away. Mine got sent out on the friday and I received it monday...so it was over night. I was waiting for my compliance letter from Chrysler...finally got that yesterday and I did go through customs and filled out the paper work for the car and imported it. I have to wait for my SSN to get my license so I may as well wait till then to register the car.

It was weird at the consulate how we were separate from the rest of the people...it's a big deal getting in with a letter I guess? It was funny you and I got the same people...the blonde lady who was super nice (she asked if I was on Visa Journey), and the nice man. You know I could have killed my husband...when we were in the interview room and were asked to swear an oathe..he said I'm an American citizen what do I need to swear an oath for? I just looked at him in unbelief (because I told him he would have to take an oath...but he wasn't listening!!)as the very very nice man told him that he was swearing that he was telling the truth...to which hubby said the last time he took an oath he ended up in the army...hahaha. Anywho...that started a whole other conversation which turned out to be quite pleasant. So glad the man was nice and didn't take offence to my dufus hubby!! haha

It was fun at the consulate wasn't it?...so glad you were there too...the wait time just flew by...I hope others have a similar experience...the other girl that was there...I didn't catch her name...was great too. Anyways...good luck with the rest of your journey and keep me posted on how you progress!!

call ahead 1-800-715-6722...I have the number programed into my phone...it gives you the status of the niagara bridges every hour. Peace bridge usually can take more volume than the Rainbow...The Lewiston Bridge is usually the worst...near Christmas several years ago, when they were doing some kind of orange alert we waited FIVE hours...and we tried all three!!!

Thank you!! Just an update..I went to the DMV here in Niagara Falls and they said I do need the form from customs...so I will have to get that. Also I need a SSN do get my driver's license changed over...an ITIN isn't good enough.

Well I just officially became a PR of USA!! I'm sure my experience is similar to others except maybe my wait time was probably longer. I waited for about 50 minutes before I was called and it took about 15 minutes to process my visa.

I'm a little confused though because they did not ask me if I was bringing anything in with me...so once the visa was processed they told me I was finished and I left. However...I brought my car. I thought I would have to fill out some paper work for it...but they never asked and I was just so glad it was over I never said anything!! So can someone tell me if I will need to go back to the border or can I just go to the nearest DMV and register??

Hey!! It was great meeting you yesterday and congratulations!! Weren't they great people?

Ha !! My day are flying because I"m preparing my house to list on the market so it's been a steady few weeks of selling, purging, cleaning, shredding blah blah blah, almost there, I'm hoping to list it this week. I also head out to Arizona to see my wife !! at the end of the week for two weeks so that'll be great. By the time I come back home I'll be about two weeks away from interview day !! So it's moving quickly for me given the tasks at hand.

Giddyap.

The days really have gone by quickly. I can't believe our interview is Wednesday! We did much the same as you zenaxe, we sold our home too, so that was a process and making the new one home has also been a process. Our situation is different than most folks here in that I see my husband everyday because we live just across the border from one another. So I have been making our home "our home", even though I technically don't live there yet!!

Hey just wondering what's going on with this idea??? Popped into my head today.

Yeah me too...is anyone still interested in getting together?

I have my interview in Montreal on Wednesday getting excited now!!

Too funny, I did see him/sat beside him in fact. I was in a black dress...bloody knees...wonder if he noticed...I was so embarassed! Fell on the streetcar on the way over...the nurses patched me up when I arrived, such nice people!

That is funny! Sorry about your fall though. I'm sure he never noticed...but I will ask him when I see him.

Just had my medical this morning - J & J, great review, hardly anything to add except:

- I arrived at 7:15 am, about 12 people in front of me (including couple families), was out at 9:15 am

- I paid first, then x-ray, then blood, then medical history/questionnaire (with very hilarious male doctor), then breast exam (with female nurse)

It really was all very uneventful. Lots of waiting around but just used the time to get caught up on my reading. Was told to come back on Weds. to pick up the file and xrays.

So happy, another thing off my list!

Did you happen to see my husband sleeping in the waiting room??(big guy, shaved head, tatoos, red shirt). I was ahead of you by a few people I guess...I was there 6:20 and out by 8:20.

Hi Everyone,

For those who will be getting their medical done in Toronto; just thought I'd let you know what to expect.

I came in from Niagara, it's very easy to get to from the Gardner Expressway...from the Jarvis exit, Front street is a couple traffic lights up, right hand turn and a the office is a couple blocks down. We parked in front put two toonies in the meter at 6:20am...we were good till 10am.

There's a covered area outside to wait under...I was FORTH in line at 6:20!! Get there early!! A lady who worked there opened the door so we followed her in. The Office is immediately to your left inside the door. The secretary opened up as soon as we walked in and asked for the page of our letter from the NVC that had our name and case number on it. Then she had us go to the waiting room. The secretary began calling people almost immediately. I was called at 6:45. This is where you give your passport, pictures, immunization records and I would assume pay...however I did not remember to bring cash...so we did that at the end. Which cost $325 including the $50 charge to have them couriered to my home. Don't forget to bring CASH!

The secretary then sent me down the hall to the X-ray waiting area. I waited maybe 5 minutes and I went in she handed me a paper gown and pulled a curtain between us and had me remove everything above waist and put gown on open to the back. Took chest X-ray had me get dressed and told me to keep gown for later. She sent me back to where the secretary was to wait. At 7am another nurse came and took me into the exam room, she asked my height and weight...they do have a scale there and a tape measure on the wall for those that don't know. She said someone would be with me shortly...

At 7:25 a different nurse came in, she checked my blood pressure and pulse. She left and came back a few moments later and told me to remove everything including my bra, under wear and socks and put the gown on open to the back.

At 8am a woman Dr came in with a man named Michael who I assume was also a Dr. She asked me my medical history and wrote as I answered. She finished and told me Michael would do the medical. He checked my breathing, poked my abdoman and feet, checked breathing again and said a woman would be in to do the breast exam. The same nurse who took my blood pressure did the exam. I got dressed and headed up front to get the blood test...Michael saw me coming and he took me into the lab and did the test. I went back to pay the secretary once I collected the money from my husband. We were walking out of the building at 8:20, exactly two hours after we came in.

My husband waited in the waiting room and he said at one point every chair was filled and about 10 people were sitting on the floor...he said the majority were middle eastern people with lots of children. I did over hear a conversation between the x-ray tech and one of the nurses...one asking the other how many they had today and she replied 30-40. According to my hubby they didn't include the children!!

Anyway...it was a pretty easy experience, the people were exceptionally nice. It was early enough in the morning that traffic wasn't a big issue and parking was easy. My advice is get there EARLY and don't forget the CASH!!

I'm not as concerned about how close the hotel is to the consulate.

Are there any reviews for hotels that were under $100/night that are maybe a little furthur out?

I'm sure there is [free/pay] parking around the consulate?

I just finished booking with Priceline. I'm paying $89 for the Maritime Plaza. It's about 12 blocks or so from the consulate and it has a 3 star rating. The reviews seemed to be positive. I was trying for a 3.5 or 4 star but settled for 3. Priceline is like Hotwire in that you don't know what hotel it is until you've booked it. But they guarantee you the quality of whatever star rating you are bidding on.

I was wondering about paying fees as well. I have been reading people's feedback from their interview experience and most of them had to pay fees. I have already paid the IV bill is there more? My interview appointment letter never stated that there are any more fees..is there?

Yours and another member's timeline to interview is very encouraging. There are four of us that completed our case in mid and late April and we're really hoping for at most a July interview date. Seeing yours got me all excited !! But it is what it is....

I think it would make sense if you got your interview within the first two weeks of July. Here's hoping eh?

If your case is complete before the 14th of May you might get an interview by the end of July. I'm just going by my timeline. My case was complete within the first two weeks of April (the 9th) and my interview is June 23rd. This is of course just a guestimate. I hope it happens for you.

Thanks to everyone. Looking forward to everyone else getting their interview date as well!! Come on MTL!!

Only Can be positive! I dont know about for you guys, but time is cruising by for me. I really cant belive its already May, and we are waiting for our interviews to be scheduled. We started this journey in January (Atleast a few of us here did.) And reading through the posts and peoples timelines, folks are moving right along. The nvc seems to be going through things faster now. Next thing we know, we will be with our significant others enjoying their company.

**Sending out the positive vibes**

You guys aren't far behind me and I got my interview date today!!! June 23rd! My case was complete at NVC on April 9th...sooo from case complete to interview 74 days...not as bad as it was.

I got my interview date today as well!! June 23rd in Montreal, Canada!!

Hi Trailmix I guess I should be on this list too! Our case was complete at NVC on April 9. I'm playing the waiting game like everyone else here

I didn't communicate with the operators at NVC except at the very begining when I gave our email address...I only gave ONE email for both of us. We began this process when both of us were living together in Canada. (Hubs is back in the US)I followed the wiki instructions and found them to be extremely helpful and would recommend if you're going to EP then follow instructions and you will get through NVC within a month if you have no issues. We did have one problem..somehow they lost the first I 864 that we sent and it wasn't noticed until I sent the DS230, then they sent an email requesting the documents that we had already sent. So we resent and it delayed us a couple days maybe...but all in all it was pretty smooth and we got through in less than a month. But as we are all finding out...we're speeding through NVC only to come to a screeching halt awaiting out MTL interview. Come on MTL give us our appointments!!!!!

Congratulations!! I guess we are all waiting for our interview date in MTL now. It kind of sucks because if you read other countries on this site they're getting their interview dates within a couple weeks of case complete. Here we are...Canadian and we're waiting for months not weeks!!

I'm frustrated at being separated from my husband for the first time in 6 years...

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know if there is any preference given between a CR1 or an IR1?

Zenaxe..Thank you. It was great to get through so quick, especially since we had so much other stuff going on in our lives at the same time. My husband moved back to the states 2 1/2 weeks ago, after living in Canada for 6 years!! So now we are separated and it SUCKS!!

I did the Electronic Processing and I have mixed feelings about it actually...I had to send the I-864 twice because they never received the first one...even though I got an electronic reponse saying they did!! So it could have been even quicker without the error.

Our case has just been completed at the NVC, April 9. I'm wondering what the timeline is to get an appointment in Montreal?

Just thought I would update this thread with what we ended up doing, incase anyone runs into the same problem. Couple days before we closed on our house(s) we wire transferred $40,000 US from cnd account into our US bank account it only took 24 hours. The day of closing we prayed real hard and asked the lawyers to be as fast on the Cnd side as possible and they were! We had our lawyer deposit our funds directly into our cnd account and we withdrew $90,000 in US cash (we let the bank know in advance to have it ready.0 My husband declared the funds leaving Cnd and again entering the US...the US delayed him 1 1/2 hours because they didn't know how to fill out the forms!! Anyways...we did get to the bank and did close on time...so happy ending after all the stress!!

I have just sent my DS-230 package electronically. I can't believe how quickley everything happened once it got rolling. My husband has moved back to the US this past week so now I'm really wanting this process to hurry up! I wanted to make a comment about the PDF reader and such. I gotta thank Darnell for the wiki on the electronic processing. I downloaded the cutepdf and the Foxit Phantom and wow was it ever easy to scan and convert AND organize my files to send to the NVC. Anyway...if anyone wants to know any of the particulars just ask and I will fill you in. So far this has been an excellent experience for me (all things considered!).

They sent me an email 8 days after I sent in my optin email. This is the email address to send stuff to NVCElectronic@state.gov

Im pretty sure you can do all the aos stiff before you get the email for EP but Im not entirely sure.

Good luck

Well, according to the woman I talked to at the NVC...I have to wait for confirmation of electronic processing before I send anything else. Should be soon. I read in the wiki that once you optin you will send stuff to a montreal email addy...so I will wait and make sure...I'm sure it will be today or tomorrow.