CBM

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Sorry but in the post I was refering to VSC/ Vermont.....they have completed most of June and are in the first week of July...the "explosion" was for this branch...I apologize if someone didnt understand that..not that my feeble hope will have any influence on the outcome anyway.

I didn't realize you were talking about VSC, I just assumed CSC because of the thread topic... I must admit, I don't follow that service centre very closely! Hopefully they do make it through June & July quickly! ... then send some of that determination to CSC!

and, for what it's worth, I don't think hope necessarily has to be about outcomes, but about how we perceive situations. I think your optimism is a good thing in this process.

woah woah woah..... your mother has her i94??

why does she have it if you are supposed to mail it with the I-539????

Sorry, I missed that the first time I read your post. That's the whole reason I mailed mine back afterwards. USCIS had it until they denied my petition, at which time, my original I-539 was mailed back to me, stapled to my denial.

And, I forgot to mention this.... I called CBP (don't ask where I got the number, I think it was the USCIS hotline).... and the woman I spoke to said it was fine to leave with the petition pending, they would just consider it abandoned, I believe is what she said.

Anyway.... long story short, as long as your mother keeps proof she left the US on time, I don't think it'll be a problem in the future.

Good luck.

I submitted a petition to extend my stay back in February. It wasn't approved/denied by the time I had to leave the US for my summer job (I'm a student), so I flew out the day of my original return flight. When my fiance (then boyfriend) received the letter to his apartment, he mailed it to me. I mailed the following to CBP when I received my NoA2 (denial, actually):

- copy of I-539 extension denial

- original i-94 that was attached to the I-539 (I made a copy for myself)

- copies of my boarding passes back to Canada

- copy of my passport photo page

- copy of my "welcome back" letter from my employer, showing what date I started & my contract for the summer

- copy of my first & most recent paystub (to show I was actually working and didn't just generate the work contract myself)

Now, maybe I went a bit overkill with what I sent to CBP, but the website says, if you must mail an i-94 to show you left the US, be able to prove you left.

I think as long as your mother keeps her boarding passes, and mails them to CBP along with her i-94 when you receive it to the address listed on her i-539, she should be fine.

For what it's worth, I mailed all that back in June, because I didn't want a Customs officer to see that I was still in the US in the computer, since my i-94 was not given back when I flew back to Canada. The CBP website says they will correct the date you exited the US, so long as they are provided with proper documentation.

I also kept a copy of the entire package I sent to CBP and keep that with my visa (K1) binder, in case it ever comes up.

So, like I said, I may have went overboard with what I sent as proof, but it seems to have worked. I was just in the US twice a couple weeks ago. Once in Niagara Falls & once visiting Detroit. No problems at the border.

Hope this helps!

Good luck.

finally a October approval from yesterday..Just watch the explosion coming!!!....I bet that by Oct 15 they will be almost thru the July cases!!

It's nice to be optimistic, but I think that's a little unrealistic. Essentially NO June filers have been approved yet, and keep in mind, VJ represents only a small portion of people that actually file petitions. There are MANY, MANY more people that filed in June that are not on VJ.

I'm not saying you're wrong - it could happen. Just that it probably won't. But, it would be nice!

June 1st here, this is our 118th day. I and a couple other June 1 filers will probably (hopefully) be the leading indicators whenever things start really moving again.

I'd infinitely rather be in this with a bunch of other people than be the only one who got left behind in a dust-cloud of approvals.

we're the same filing day & NOA1 day, so I figure we should be getting NOA2 around the same time-ish... hopefully!!

If it makes anyone feel any better, I found not 1, not 2 but THREE lucky pennies today, so I feel that is an omen.... 3 NOA2's approaching?! haha hopefully!!

I sure am getting tired of saying, "maybe next week" haha.... maybe this week!

Those little baby corns you put in stir fry... they're found in the canned veggie section in Nova Scotia.... it took me several trips (while visiting) to find them in California.... I think I finally found them in the ethnic food section!!

Huggles, we may be food soulmates, haha... I love ketchup and HATE mayo. I am not above telling a waitress I am allergic to mayo just to make sure it doesn't come with my meal, haha

my fiance doesn't like any condiments

It's not personal - they very well could look at June/July filers before they get to our petition, including yours! It has nothing to do with that... there seems to be no rhyme or reason to CSC these days.... it just depends... someone's background check could take longer than another persons... or maybe some people frontloaded their application by sending in a 9 pound petition with 500 photos and 6 years worth of emails,phone records, skype, texts, and greeting cards, and that's probably going to take longer to sift through. It also probably depends on the speed of the adjudicator... there's bound to be faster and slower workers.

I guess my point was... the wait sucks, but if we can focus on something else, it makes it a little more bearable.... hopefully everyone will get their NoA2s soon, but just by looking at the past month of approvals.... that's not likely to happen.

Look on the bright side.... at least London is a fairly quick consulate and once you get NOA2, it will most likely go more quickly.

I'm not sure why they'd be on July yet, when not even all May filers have gotten approvals/RFE's, suggesting they haven't been looked at yet. I don't mean that in a snide way, but I'm just suggesting it wouldn't make sense. Tomorrow will be 4 months since we filed, and we haven't heard anything since a June 7th touch.

I still check USCIS, but I don't do so with the eager hope I did in the first couple months... I just check it to see if it's changed, and when it hasn't, I continue on with my day. I find doing things really does help. I know it sounds lame and whatnot, but really - keeping myself busy does help. Don't get me wrong... I still want to send my fiance to Laguna Niguel (CSC) to make sure it ACTUALLY still exists and has not disappeared... but I'm trying not to let the wait run my life like I was letting it a month or so ago. I just can't obsess over it anymore. It'll be approved when it's approved, and in the meantime, I'm going to go absolutely insane if I allow it to have that effect.

Thinking about wedding stuff/the future helps. It doesn't matter that we don't know when that future will FOR SURE be... just looking at wedding stuff, and looking around for stuff to do in my future new state (california), and looking on the school board websites for prospective jobs and such... I like to focus on that stuff. I know it's hard when the future seems to be at a standstill, but it won't be forever, and by the time your visa comes around, you will already have lots of great ideas for your future together. (I think I just possibly just broke the world record for use of the word "future" in one paragraph haha)

Anyway, good luck to everyone, and here's to hoping CSC starts to pump out some approvals!!

Some airlines allow you to request confirmation of flights in the past.

I did this with AirCanada. All I had to do was go online, and request them, and they emailed to me within about 2 days. I printed them out, and also had passport stamps for some visits (Canadians don't often get stamps).

Not sure if they airline you used allows requests of confirmation, but it's worth looking into if you don't have passport stamps.

Not even all the May filers have been approved. We filed at the end of May, with NoA1 June 1st. Not a touch since June 7th.

I've just learned to accept that the wait sucks and to sit tight until November 1st, when 5 months is up and we can start asking questions.

Okay, fair enough. Me and CBM were concerned we'd have to drive up to London, ON everyday and see if it's there.

hahaha which is obviously convenient given I'm in school every weekday and it's an hour away.

thank goodness there's a tracking device!

See if you can do mid-October, I'm working on that.

In the meantime I'll trot off to be fitted for a much lighter wallet, what with the mounting costs of this wedding...

I must say, I've been watching this thread for some time, and watching the ridiculousness of it all unfold..... but I have to admit, that was fairly witty, Julian. Maybe my fiance and I will join you for that drink when I finally get to SoCal for good

Pasadena area, correct? My fiance and I aren't far from that, he works in Diamond Bar, if either you or Melissa are familiar.

Anywho, I don't know if your MP helped, and to be honest, I really really REALLY don't care if he helped, but I'm happy you guys have your interview date, and congratulations to you both!

We filed May 25th and havent had a touch since June 7th, so to be honest, RFE or not, I'm not sure July petitions have been looked at. I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news, just being realistic. I used to check USCIS literally like 10 times a day and be all hopeful and keen and now I've just accepted it will be a wait that I'm not happy with, and have started counting days to when my fiance can make an inquiry past the 5 month day (46 days). At least it's something to have a "definite" on - that we can start asking questions in 46 days!

Good luck to everyone, and I hope this all goes smoothly for you

oh okay, awesome, thanks Hendea!

I saw on some of the forums you're kind of stressing over planning a biggish wedding and trying to work around BM's all over the world... trust me, I know the feeling. I hope it all works the way you plan!!!

Good luck!

Question for all of you lucky enough to schedule interviews right now (I know, you all waited your turn!!!! I'm just happy SOMETHING is happening at Montreal these days!)... anywho, when you go to schedule, does it only give you options for October right now? Like Hendea was saying, if she wanted to schedule for November, would she have to wait til October to do that??

I'm just wondering for future reference, because there could be bad and exponentially WORSE times for me to schedule my interview around the teaching year, so I just wanted to prepare myself!

Good luck to everyone and again, I'm so happy something is happening at Montreal and hopefully this new system will help the backlog!

I don't think goverment officials really give options like that when they suspect fraud.

It sounds like someone trying to ruffle your feathers, as you ruffled a few in an earlier thread, about certain countries getting preferential treatment.

However, as J pointed out, you may want to reconsider discussing "lying" in a public forum, especially with regards to the government. A lie is an untruth, and if you knew your fiance was not being deployed imminently, then yes, it would be an untruth, hence, a lie, to say he was, in an effort to get your visa faster.

gap1, for what it's worth, don't give up on the post just yet! my fiance is originally from England (now a naturalized USC), so I sent a few things to his family at Christmas and it literally took 2 MONTHS for the tiny package to arrive. It was not a large parcel by any stretch... it was small, a bubble envelope actually. Anyway, maybe there's just some sort of delay... we never did figure out why the package took so long, but it did eventually turn up!

I wouldnt worry too much about your fiance not having it through customs.... as long as he proves ties to the UK, he should be good to go.

this waiting game is getting hard on the head! no touches since June 7th.. we were hoping for a June wedding in 2011, but given how backed up Montreal is, that may not be feasible.... uuugh, hoping for NoA2 asap!!

When we get to that point (I won't be there for at least 8 more months..), I'll be looking on CraigsList, and the schoolboard websites. I hope that it works out!

I have this problem, too. I'm going to university in Windsor starting next week, and will be interviewing for my K-1 hopefully in the next several months (still waiting on NoA2 though!)... I know what you're saying, flying in/out of Windsor is REALLY expensive, and Westjet doesn't fly from Windsor - Montreal, and Air Canada prices are too high.

I personally do not plan to risk flying back from Montreal - Detroit without my passport, but there is a Nexus card option. I think the cards about $50, but your savings would be WAY more than that on the flight. I think your husband would just have to have his Nexus appointment at a retina scanning office, and he could use his Nexus at an airport, and I think he'd be good to go. Someone with more Nexus card experience could help more than me!

OR, you could fly Detroit - Montreal, and Montreal - Toronto to avoid any possible debacles. Montreal - Toronto can be REALLY cheap; I've seen it as cheap as $29 on Westjet for a seat sale... of course, add all the taxes and fees and the "just because we feel like adding it" charges, it comes to about $90 I think... but still, not too bad at all. I just did a search right now, and for the month of November (I Just estimated for your interview month), and some days were still $29, with all fees, $89.31!

Anyway, I hope this helps!

I hope you get your interview soon!!

For anyone in California, World Market has a lot of British/international stuff. It's a bit expensive, but needs must sometimes

My fiance (USC) grew up in England, and notices there's a lot of "British" brands in Canada (I point out, are they really just British if they're in Canada, too?! ..haha)... anyway, there are some similarities, at least in Nova Scotia, in case anyone is ever visiting!

I hope your transition is going smoothly, and glad to see you enjoying the US!

I actually read about this in the Canadian forum, but thought it could be helpful!

"Seven Corners offers an affordable and comprehensive medical insurance program for new or recent immigrants to the United States. It provides up to five years of protection. This policy is ideal for immigrants who are not covered by employer sponsored or government funded programs, self-employed, in-between jobs or retired"

http://www.sevencorn...migrantmedical/

Like yourself, I will be between insurance policies once I leave Canada & get married... about a 6 week span, we are thinking (we haven't been approved yet.. I'm just trying to get everything figured out!)... and I seem to recall, even with a decent amount of coverage, it was only going to cost $60 or something like that for 6 weeks, which I felt was very reasonable for a piece of mind on the health insurance matter!

anyway, I hope this helps!

The N-400 (Naturalization test) isn't $3000!! My fiance did it earlier in the year, and it was about $800 I believe... maybe $900.. I can't remember, but it was under $1000 for sure. Even with the AOS, which is $1010 (assuming it hasn't changed)... that's still under 2K.

It's still a lot of money, agreed.... but not 3K!

It may say they're on June 8th, but that doesn't mean everyone before June 8th has been approved.... we are June 1st, and haven't been "touched" since June 7th... so hoping for this week!

NoA1 dated June 1st, touched June 7th... still waiting for NoA2.

And, like Liltiggster, I'll be going through the Montreal consulate... so sadly, this may be the "short" part of the wait for us. Hoping for NoA2 this week. Trying to keep the faith for it.

Look on the bright side.... if we DO all have to wait 5 months to start making a stink about not getting NoA2.. we're alomst 3/5ths of the way there! haha... I'm trying to just keep myself sane by remembering it will happen when it happens, and I can't control it... as much as I wish I could!