Abike

Thank You all for the replies! You've all helped to reinforce my confidence and quell my need to panic.

I should know this i guess : what do all of you mean by N0A documents?

Cheers Again.

Abike

Hi There!

I have posted to this forum earlier this year and have found you all to be a very helpful community. I would really welcome some insight from anyone out there in a similar situation or if you know of anyone in my boat, please help me, your advice or anecdotes would be helpful.

I am a Canadian Citizen and my husband is an American Citezen currently living in Minneapolis.

We have filed my I-130 on my behalf in Vancouver where we both lived for the last four years. He moved back to Minneapolis to establish a US Domicile.

I am in a professional development program (a participant in a Nationally Recognized program that finishes in Feburary 2011). After which I would like to emigrate to the US.

On Sept 28 2010 we obtained our Visa packet from the NVC advising us to gather our paperwork, schedule my doctor's examination & Visa Interview at the Montreal Consulate. My husband wants to come to the interview with me so we are saving money and trying to time our interview for Jan 30 2011.

My question is this: Can I travel on land From Toronto to Minneapolis for visit my husband for Xmas? Would anyone out there advise this? If I am turned away at the Border will any record of this on my Canadian Passport affect my Visa application? I took a shopping trip to Seattle this year and was not turned away on land. And when I called the NVC with this question the operator told me that I was travelling at my own expense and it was at the discretion of the BPS officer whether or not they wanted to turn me away. I thought if I bring with me my travel itinerary [return plane ticket] a letter from my organization and proof of my Toronto address that this will be enough to satisfy that I am returning to my country and not planning to immigrate illegally.

Please Help. Thank You

Glad to find some fellow Vancouverites on this forum!! You all seem further ahead in the process than us, congratulations. Can I ask you where you had your fingerprinting done or how you obtained a police record check? I've been waiting since May 27 for ink based prints from the International Finger Printing Service and they strike me as quite disorganized. I'm afraid my prints have been lost! I went to the VPD 312 main street and they sent me away (to the IFPS actually) stating that they dont do poliece record checks for visas. Any help or advice on this issue would be great!!

I understand the US Consulate in Vancouver only allows walk in for I130 applications on Fridays between the hours of 2-3pm. They do not take appointments. Wondering if anyone has applied in person during these hours and what the wait time is. We would have to drive 5 hours to the consulate and are worried about not being able to get in once we get there. Many thanks for your help.

It's pretty quick. We got there at 145pm and the line up moved very quickly. The entire process has us out of the consulate by 4pm.

So my wife (Canadian) and I (US Citizen) filed our I-130 via DCF in Ottawa back in early May. We were told the next step is to hear back from Montreal in 2-3 weeks.

It's been 6 weeks now, and still no word. Is that normal? How long does it usually take to hear back from Montreal?

Good to find fellow Canadian's on this forum. Hope you don't mind my asking - I'm in a similar situation - My husband is American and I am Canadian. We used DCF in Vancouver 9/2009 and heard back from Montreal 02/2010. We are now compiling our information and waiting a very long time for my fingerprint based police record check. Has your wife obtained a police record check? How long did it take you to obtain it and how did you do so?

Hi there!

Is there anyone out there in the Vancouver area? I live in Vancouver and used the International Finger Printing (IFS) service to submit my ink prints to the RCMP for my Police check. I've been waiting since May 27. Has anyone else tried a faster approach for obtaining their police record check? I went to 312 Main St. and asked for a fingerprint scan for a police record check and they referred me to the IFS. They seem disorganized and I'm worried that I'm waiting too long for obtaining this record check. Does anyone know the standard wait time? It would be helpful to know how everyone else out here obtained their Canadian police record check.

Thanks for your help!

1. Do you have a criminal record? If not, you just need to go to your local police station and have them run a name check. It covers all of Canada, and you should be able to get it while you wait. Otherwise, recently I heard of someone getting their fingerprint results back in about 3 months, so close to your 90 days. Am I right in assuming your CR-1 expires in September, hence the question?

2. I don't believe this should affect your CR-1 process, but others with more experience with this will surely chime in.

Thanks for the reply! Neither of us have a criminal record - I went to the Poliece Headquartes in Downtown Vancouver. I was told that they don't do fingerprint checks for visa purposes. If I'm wrong I'm hoping someone else has had a different experence. I also don't have an expiry date or priorty dated printed on any of the documents that I recieved from the Montreal Consulate. How does one find out thier expiriy date? Is there an expiry date inbetween the 1-130 and CR1 Visa application processes?

Hi there!

I'm a newbie to this forum please forgive me if the acronyms or lingo that I may use is incorrect. My husband [married two years this coming November] is residing in with me here Vancouver BC. We applied for my I - 130 successfully last September and recieved a package from the Montreal Consulte. In the past 10 years I've lived in Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. so I am waiting on my criminal record check from the RCMP. Two things are holding up this process for us and I was hoping someone outhere could shed some light on or current situation.

1) I went to have my finger prints done at a place in Vancouver called International Finger Printing Services. This was in the first week of June. I had to do it the old fashion way (with ink). I'm worried that the wait will exceed 90days. The RCMP website has posted that the wait time for ink print based criminal record checks is 120days. Does this seem to be a standard amount of time to wait for fingerprints from a third party agency?

2)My husband (my visa petitionner) had his work pemit renewal denied. He was here on a two year student visa, during which time we filed the I-130. During the process of gathering my fingerprints and waiting for my RCMP criminal record check results my husband's status in Canada is now without a valid visa. How will this affect my CR1 interview process? Does anyone know if we need to file for Canadian Permanent residency on my husband's behalf?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!