 Submit New Consulate Review
Submit New Local CIS Office Review
Statistics: Country || Local CIS Office
Canada US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 4.2
/ 5
1651 Review(s)
|
| Montreal, Canada |  Review #33217 on June 3, 2024: |
Nelly & John
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Because I have read a lot of reviews on here that discuss getting delayed and/or other negative outcomes, I wanted to quickly drop a note from a more positive experience. If anything, our bigger delay was the time between my spouse being approved by USCIS and her children being approved. USCIS issued my wife's approval in late October but then didn't approve the children until February. So that was very frustrating because the first approval triggered the NVC process and we were really hopeful to have things moving fairly quickly. However, this turned out to be somewhat good anyway, because in gathering all the documents for NVC, we found a couple of issues that took time to fix. So by the time the children were approved in February, we really had our documents correct.
As for the consulate in Montreal, after a February approval from USCIS, the NVC did their paperwork approval in a couple of weeks and then they notified us in April of an early May interview time. My wife went to the interview with the two children accompanying her. The process was fairly quick, with a very early 7:45am time. She was done by about 10am and we spent the rest of the day touring Montreal. She said the interviewer and other staff were very friendly and helpful. Now, our case was probably as standard as they come - both long-time residents and native-born citizens of our respective countries, with no recent international extended travel, no other red flags at all really. I do suspect that some people get delayed because of small issues, like being born elsewhere, living in other countries recently, etc. But I'm just speculating.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #33216 on June 2, 2024: |
sundim
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Checking in:
I arrived at the embassy at 7:25 for my 7:30 AM appointment. When the embassy opened, an officer put everyone in chronological appointment order. I was checked in at the lobby by another officer using my full name. Inside on the main floor, another administrator checked my passport and put a purolator sticker on the back of my passport (I had pre-registered for shipping). They also gave me a card showing a checklist of what documents to have ready. They also gave me two slips of paper with the same number on it.
Security:
An officer directed me to put my belongings in the x-ray tray (like TSA) and store my cell phone in a lockbox before walking through the metal detector. Once I collected my things, I took the elevator upstairs and waited for my number to be called.
Waiting area:
There are chairs, water fountains and bathrooms. I waited until my number was called and the TV monitor directed me which visa window to go to.
Visa window 1:
Here, I provided all my original documents to the officer: Passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, police certificate, passport photos. My finger prints were scanned digitally, both hands and thumbs. All documents were all returned to me except the police certificate. The photos were also returned to me, possibly because I had uploaded the digital file. The officer confirmed a few personal details, details of my case, and commented "good" that I had uploaded all my supporting documents and proof of income/assets. They directed me to sit and wait until my number was called again.
Visa window 2:
Here I took an oath to tell the truth and scanned 1 hand for finger prints. The officer asked questions about my case. How & when I met my spouse, when we first met in person, when we got married, had either of us been married before, any kids, why are we now choosing to move to the US, how many times I had visited the US, what did my spouse do for a living, where did my spouse live, how long did he live there. The officer returned my passport and said that my case was refused and not to be alarmed, it was a temporary status.
Special notes:
I was given a 221g refusal form directing me to complete the DS-5535 form online using a QR code or a website URL. The officer commented that it was positive that my spouse was already domiciled in the US and indicated that it would make the process go faster. The officer also commented that there was nothing I could have done ahead of time to prevent this outcome.
My spouse was born in the US, both parents born in the US.
I was born in Canada, 1 parent born in Canada and 1 parent naturalized long before I was born.
Neither of us work in sensitive jobs.
My travel history is only to the US.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #33167 on May 8, 2024: |
Delinaella
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: EB-3 Visa
Hello
I just want to share my experience with you all
Everything what is written here about the embassy location and not arriving too early is true. I just want to share what is different.
My visa category is EB3
DQ in Sep
Visa bulletin become current on January,2024
January 9th, 2024 expedition request submitted
January 10 2024 approved by the embassy
January 17th NVC send all my documents to the embassy for interview schedule
March 19,2024 I got Interview appointment email from Montreal US embassy
April 15,2024 Interview date it was very smooth and took us about an hour and half
However we forgot one original document so the consular asked us to submit it with our passport
April 17th,2024 we send the document and our passport via Canada post
April 22 they received it
April 29 status changed to ready
April 30 morning visa was issued
May 1st we received tracking number
May 2nd afternoon we got our stamped passport along with documents
Even if I recieved 212g form it only took them a week to issue our visa after receiving the missing document
Good luck to you all
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #33151 on April 30, 2024: |
inbriars
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Please note: our situation has no children, no prior marriages, and no criminal records involved.
My appointment was on a Tuesday (April 2024) for 0900 and we got there at 0840 (fiance came with me). I was asked to wait outside. It feels like you're walking into an RBC but the door to the consulate is to your immediate left.
I was brought into the first set of doors at 0855 - she asked for my appointment time, name, and passport. She used my passport to confirm my name on her list. She gave it back to me, told my fiance he cannot come in and should come back in a couple hours, and I headed through the US Consulate doors.
Security:
The security room is small and immediate upon entry. I was asked for my passport and told to turn off my phone. They placed a sticker on the back of my passport with my name and interview date details, along with a barcode. I took off my jacket and placed my items in the security bin, then I walked through the scanner. He told me to grab my phone and put it in a locker. Previous reviews are correct, the lockers are extremely small, large enough to fit a phone and a small wallet. He gave me a number and told me that’s what they’ll use to call me up and then told me to proceed upstairs. The US Consulate is on the first floor but it is marked by the elevator.
Waiting Room:
When you get off the elevator, to your immediate right is the TV mounted on the wall that displays the ticket numbers. The waiting room is also to your right (it is all one big room divided up, you can’t get lost). I sat down and saw on the TV where they were in queue and my number was going to be one of the next ones (it wasn’t in exact order, ie. 1510, 1512). The room is fairly quiet. The TV will ding for the next number and will tell you which window to go to. I saw there were 12 windows - 1-5 along the hallway to the left and 6-12 lining the waiting room. It appears 1-5 are for the interviews and 6-12 are for document collection, but I do not know if this is factual. My number appeared quickly after sitting down, within 5 minutes I would say.
Window 1: Documents, done at 0920
The first person was a kind lady, she asked me for my documents. She asked for:
-Payment receipt
-My passport and a copy of it
-My birth certificate and a copy of it
-Police certificate (I offered the copy as well and she took it)
-I-134
-Evidence of I-134 (I gave her these in this order: letter of employment, military orders, 2023 W2, 2023 1040, 2023 IRS Transcript. I asked if she needed more because I also brought pay stubs and bank statements but she said she had more than enough)
-2 passport photos
For the financial total, she looked at the 2023 IRS Transcript. She asked me for my fiance’s phone number and address. I don’t think this was a trick question or anything because she was actively entering it into the database. The address they had was different from where my fiance is because he is in the military, so we used a stationary address in between orders. She asked if I had anything written for the new address and I provided the letter of intent. She used it to input the address correctly and gave it back to me. She had me take my fingerprints. I highly recommend putting on some lotion beforehand so your fingerprints show up more prominently on the display. I had to rub my forehead because they were too faint. She then told me to sit down and wait a while for the interview.
Window 2: Interview, done at 0945
I was fortunate and did not wait long for the interview, around 5-10 minutes. This part is a blur, as it is for most, so I will include what I remember but it won’t be complete. We had a casual conversation where he asked me random questions.
The random questions he asked me, that I remember are:
-How did you first meet?
-When did you first meet?
-What was your first virtual date?
-What was your first in person date?
-How often would you see each other?
-What was your longest trip in the US?
He proceeded to read through my file. He looked at the I-134 and 2023 1040. He then went through the original I-129F application and read the original letter we submitted along with all the photographs/explanations to them. He smiled to himself and said there was too much love. Before he got to the actual interview questions requiring an oath, he asked me for my fingerprints on my right hand. He then had me hold up my hand and swear an oath that everything was true. He prefaced that some of these may be awkward to answer.
The interview questions he asked me, that I remember are:
-Is this your first marriage?
-Is this his first marriage?
-Do you have any children?
-Does he have any children?
-Do either of you have children outside the relationship?
-Have you ever traveled anywhere outside Canada and the US in the last 5 years?
-When was the last time you were in trouble with law enforcement? (I said a speeding ticket when I was 17 and he said oh, that doesn’t count)
-When was the last time you saw him?
He was nice overall. He said he was waiting for some documents and would hopefully be able to approve it later that day. He handed me a sheet with instructions on how to track your visa. This made me super confused and stressed because I had all the documents and then some and I knew the medical was submitted on time. I didn’t know what documents he was waiting for and I should have asked in hindsight. Perhaps this is my fault because I came in with the expectation to receive a verbal approval and also overheard one during my own interview. I asked him, “Is it approved?” and he said, “Yes, go celebrate!” to which I replied my thanks and promptly left. All is good now, I’ve come to realize perhaps he led with this because a verbal approval can be overturned after the interview. Maybe this is new guidance or something for them. I monitored my case through CEAC for the next couple days and the updates were as follows:
-Tuesday - from Ready to Application Received
-Wednesday - to Approved
-Thursday - to Issued
-Monday - Visa delivered (note: if you get it sent directly to your house you will need to sign for it)
Fun fact I wish I knew - I thought the passport photos were for documents and did assume the visa would be a stamp in my passport. It is not, it is a thick sticker-like document that looks like a passport bio page… with the passport photo you provided at the interview. Just so you know, because I definitely would have made different choices hahaha.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #33143 on April 25, 2024: |
Emmaaaaaaaaaaaa
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
They were very nice and the questions were straightforwards. If you have a Quebec birth certificate I’d suggest to get a certified translation as I was asked for one (glad I had it on me). The questions included: how long you’ve been engaged? When did we meet? Do we have any kids? What does my fiancé do for living? And if it was our first marriage.
| | | Now Showing Records 1 to 5 (of 1651 total) | |
Pages: 1 2 3 Last
|
|
