Adichiwa

Just received a letter that was mailed Aug 4th from Montreal..... Sept 24th baby!!!! This is a good sign guys (and gals) and maybe things are moving and shaking (slowwwwly). Do keep patient and just have faith in the system (I had to tell myself that every day when I checked my empty mailbox).

Best of luck to everyone and just have faith that it will happen.

Well done on the interview and congrads on the visa. May I ask why was she denied entry back in Sept?

Arrived at 6:45am. One other person was in line. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day!. After approx 20 mins more people arrived. We all lined up behind the left door. My husband and I received letter B by the guard and proceeded up the 4 stairs to another guard. We had to remove everything from our pockets. The guard kept cigarettes and lighter and gave us a ticket to get them back. We go down the 20 or so steps to the elevator. There we waited about 5 mins and a guard called letters A - D to enter the elevator. We went up to the 19th floor. the 6 of us sat on the chairs and waited for our letter to be called. Around 8:15am we were called to Window 10. A nice, young black woman asked for my appt letter, photo's, Birth Certificate, divorce doc's, marriage doc's, I-864, DS 230, 2009 Taxes, medical results. My medical was done on Tuesday 25th and therefore the results wouldn't be ready until 2pm day of interview, so I provided the consulate with a letter from Dr. Seiden's office stating that I will be back with the results that afternoon. She asked us to have a seat. 10 mins later called up to window again and was fingerprinted. We sat back down. Waited 20 mins and called to interview room 7. ( we were called in before letter A. We later saw letter A guy at our hotel and he said we were called before him because we were a couple, and he was alone...so hint for all of you...go as a couple to been seen first!). Interviewer was a super nice woman, with long light brown/grey hair. Asked to raise right hand to swear we were going to tell the truth. Asked me to sign the DS 230 and while doing that she asked my husband what he does for a living, and how we met. When did he propose to me. Asked last time i was in USA, and last time he came to Canada (she asked because I was denied entry into USA in September until I received my VISA). She asked how we kept our marriage going during this time...we responded with calls, email, chats, web cam and mic. Asked if he has medical insurance through his job. She then thanked my husband for serving the in Military. Then she said our Visa is approved, all we need to do is bring back the medical. She gave me an orange paper stating I need to come back at 3:30pm with medical and passport. We were out of the consulate at 9:15am. My husband asked the interviewer if she was American and she confirmed she was. He asked her how long she was in Montreal for because she speaks English very well. She said 2 years and prior to that she was in Panama. She said they all move around every 2 years. She made the interview experience very pleasurable and enjoyable.

I was also stumped on that question and never kept a travel log (does anyone??)

I listed the 3 or so most recent visits and the wrote that I was in the U.S for the purposes of business and vacation for short durations many times over the years. Let's hope this is sufficient (I sent it off in Feb and haven't heard any issues yet).

Hope this helps.

Just out of curiosity, is there anyone who filed for DCF (Montreal) in December 2009? I did, and wanted to have an idea of the length of time it's taken some people to obtain an interview date.

Thanks.

Hi Dan and Gina,

Nice to see another couple immigrating to Florida. We (husband USC and I) started our DCF process at the end of December and just awaiting for our interview date still remains a mystery. Just like you, I too believe in the system and try to stay optimistic on the time frame of this entire process. My husband is starting his job in a few weeks in the US and I will go with him... only I'll be coming back to await my papers in Canada shortly after (hopefully not too shortly after). I would strongly recommend to get together all the necessary documents that prove your ties to Canada (or your wifes). We held off on selling our property and we still kept all bank accounts and utilities for the time being... hopefully that's sufficient ties.

Best of luck and keep us all posted.

I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to your question as I have yet to receive my interview in Montreal... but I was wondering about your timeline. When did you apply and how long did it take for your interview?

Thanks.

Hello,

I have recently obtained my green card papers from my DCF application in Canada. Now I am required to cross the border into the US to get the real green card and that is why I still have questions.

My husbands domicile is in one part of the US while we are looking for work in a different part. If we cross the border with our papers I am worried that they may not like this and cause us difficulties. We have a few options:

1) Cross the border en route to my husbands domicile - this will be much more expensive considering the distances involved with then later going to future 'job' city

2) Cross the border for a quick cheap day trip or weekend and then come back knowing that my green card papers have officially been filed.

3) Cross the border en route to future 'job' city and possibly have lots of difficulties with border agents.

Does anyone have experience with this border crossing? Are they quite tough? Does anyone know of other people who crossed with a similar story?

thank you very much

I was told at the embassy in Toronto that the Montreal office laid off a lot of people a few months ago so they've been really struggling to stay on top of things. To top it all off, apparently after Haiti's quake they received a great deal of new applicants.

Having said that, my I-130 acceptance letter mentioned that I should expect an interview date within 6-8 months and another letter shortly after mentioned 4-6 months (this is through DCF).

I guess I just have to have faith in the system and remain hopeful.

I noticed that some of you have been able to "log on"? Is this for the Montreal office to check your status or am I also drunk?

Thanks.

Thank you Trailmix. Choles... I'll be watching you as we seem to be in the exact same boat.

Best of luck!

So here's yet another question:

I understand the uncertainty of crossing the border. Having said that, does anyone know what's the maximum length of time one could enter the US for while the IV is pending? I seem to think it's 3 months but not totally sure. My husband is starting his job in June and I'm just waiting for interview date to be assigned. I would obviously rather be with husband than here on my own. I have very strong ties to Canada and will have a return ticket.

Any thoughts?

I'm moving my stuff down in 6 weeks and spoke to Abbywood Moving & Storage which is the local company for United here in Toronto. I'm just waiting for a quote from them but feel very comfortable with their professionalism and representation. The estimator came to my place and gave me a really good feeling about their services. They're coming to pack my fragile things and will also ship my car.

Good luck.

Congrads on your upcoming wedding. I've been in the same boat and my husband is starting his job in the US in early June. I will be going with him but the length of my stay and frequency will depend on the officer at the border. Hardly fair. As far as I understand, you'll be able to enter the US but will need to show STRONG ties to your home country (i.e. job, property, bank accounts, etc.)and proof that you submitted you're following all the legal requirements for your papers... the rest of your fate lies in the officer having a good day.

Good luck with that... and good luck to all other married couples in the same boat.

I'm glad to know I'm not an idiot because I'm having the exact same problem (also DCF from Canada). You would THINK that applying through what is the closest neighbour and ally to the US would be just a little easier or simpler.

Amazing to see just how the two countries are so close yet so disconnected.

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm too late to respond to you but I just came across your question (which I recently posted the exact same one). I asked an immigration lawyer to look over the letter stating the requirement to make sure that I was reading it correctly... and he also confirmed that we only needed the 230 and the checklist. No supporting documents sent at this time.

Confusing, I know.

Good luck!

Congrads! I'm sure it's soooo exciting. Could you please tell me when did you first send your I-130? I'm just trying to figure out how long it took you all together. Thanks.

Hello everyone,

I was approved yesterday for a green card!!!

I just want to thank all the people that helped me in this forum!!!

I am really thankful to all of you guys!!!

I might have some other questions later I am sure!

Thank you again and again!

P.

Does anyone know how to check the status of a case if you've applied through the Visa Center in Monteal? Or.... ask a freakin' question to human being???

I noticed that entering the Case number into the NVC website doesn't work.

Thanks.

Were you requested to send in you I864 along with the DS-230? I was only requested to send in the DS-230 and a checklist confirming that I'm in possession of certain documents (i.e. passport, photos, Affidavit of support, etc.) I was under the impression that the consulate will send a separate request to fill in the I-864 at a later stage.

Are you just getting a head start? or am I missing something??

Thanks.

Thanks for the reply Birdnerd. Definately helps.

I just don't understand why the government voice messages spell every word out for you but the written instructions are so damn unclear.

Two comments:

1) when you received Packet 3 from the consulate did you need to return the actual documents (police cert, etc.) or just the DS230 and a checklist? There's no instructions to say that the actual documents need to be sent in, just the DS230, the I864 and the checklist (what's the point of just the checklist then).

2) April interviews sound pretty quick (that's only a month from when your I130 was approved). I was under the impression that it takes 4-6 months for an interview from the time your packet is returned.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

This may be a silly question, but NO silly questions on this site....

I received Packet 3 from Montreal and was asked to send in 1) Form DS 230 and 2) an attached checklist stating that I've obtained certain documentation (passport, birth certificate, etc.)

Question:

Am I required to send the documentation (passport, birth certificate, etc.) with the checklist? ... or just the DS230 and checklist (and no documentation). The way I read this, it seems that the checklist is just included so that we can ensure all documents are prepared for the interview... but not required to be sent in at this time.

Is anyone in the same boat and/or knows the answer?

Thanks.

Hi, could someone please tell me where on the US Embassy website could I find that date of the application being processed? I received my NOA1 on Feb 26, 2010 and don't have a case number just yet. Where would I be able to find the status of my case? (I filled for through DCF filling).

Thanks in advance.

The only reason I'm quite paranoid is because once you file for an IR you're no longer considered a "visitor" into the U.S. This means that in order for you to enter the US on a visit, you need to prove (and I mean PROVE) that you're not going to disappear in the US and either await your visa there, or work illegally while your visa is pending.

The thing that sucks about this most, is that even though I'll bring my ENTIRE filling cabinet to the border, at the end of the day, I may be forced to live apart from my husband for as long as the officer decides. I've looked into this with Immigration Lawyers and the Supervisor of the US Customs and Border Patrol and they both confirmed that it's up to whatever officer we happen to meet..... living apart from my husband is not what I imagined for a new marriage.

HERE'S TO STAYING POSITIVE (and maybe show some leg).

I'd just like to say that when I travelled to the states with my then 4 month old son and my USC husband in 2008 I didnt give immigration another thought cos I wasn't intending to emigrate to the states at all, we were only going for a couple of weeks so our son could meet his grandparents. We entered in Newark, flew to Houston and then finally landed in Seattle.

Infact I would have been really suprised and mystified as to why I was being asked about ties to Ireland etc.

Maybe going through this whole process of obtaining an immigrant visa and reading about other folks applying for visas,and theres so much info on here about every aspect of immigration has made people paranoid, unless theres something I'm not understanding here?

I'm not saying you are paranoid Jaremedios, ofcourse I'm not and apologies if it comes across like that. I'm just trying to get my head around why anyone would be randomly questioned when innocently going on holiday .

Crossing by car may be a bit harder. With an airline ticket, at least you can show a return flight, which is important as they did ask how long he would be in the US.

Thanks for your feedback. HE will be staying there permanently but I will already purchase a return flight and will need to show that at the border.

Does anyone know what's the maximum length of time that I would be able to stay with my husband in the US before I'm forced to return to the mother land?

Gee, that almost sounds too easy. The thing is... my husband will be moving back to the US in June to start a job. I will obviously wait until I get my visa to permanently move there. He will be DRIVING down in June and I will go with him. I will obviously bring a return flight to show that I'm coming back to Canada and any ties that I have here.

Has anyone had any experience crossing the border by car?

Hi everyone,

My husband and I received our NOA1 on Feb 26 and are just awaiting the packet from Montreal (anyone in the same boat?) Does anyone know where I could find the instructions for that packet (i.e. forms / tests required)? I would obviously like to get a head start on it so that when I receive it I can get things moving quickly.

And.... if you're in the same boat, say Hi. I'd love to hear your story.