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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on December 19, 2015: |
oncefuturealien
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My appointment was for 09:30, so actually kind of late in the day for them I was able to enter almost immediately, and got #19.
After all the warnings about not being able to bring in electronics, I left my mobile at the hotel's left luggage, and was annoyed to find that they were checking in cell phones for people, after all.
Waited upstairs for 77 pages of The English Patient until I was called to Window #1. Gave my medical envelope, passport, passport photos, and letter, gave my fingerprints. Answered a few questions about address and email address and so on (reminded me of calling NVC :D), tax transcripts, and then was sent back to sit and wait for the next summons. That was about only 30 pages of my book later.
I got the CO with the short beard, who was quite nice. He took original marriage certificate, my birth certificate, police clearance, and the amended I-864 they'd asked for. We chatted about this and that, how I'd lived in the US before, how I'd surrendered my green card, where my husband lives, when he had come to Canada and his status here, yada yada.
He then blew me away with news that I'd need a joint sponsor, since my husband's earnings had all been in Canada, his employment letter didn't specify USD or transfer to US division, and we don't have any liquid assets in the US currently. This was a shock as my husband has been guaranteed to keep his job when we move and he makes a good living, and it hadn't even occurred to me that there would be any issue. But there it is. So we need a joint sponsor or else to show a bank account with ~$60K US in it. Easier to get the former in the short term, so we're going to go with that.
He very kindly emphasized that there are two kinds of refusal: my kind where everything is OK but you need to submit some additional paperwork to be approved, and the kind where you're actually denied and have to start over again from the beginning. He didn't want me to freak out which was nice :D But I have a "221(g) Refusal Worksheet" which is looking not that bad to me at the moment although I was just in shock yesterday.
He went through a bunch of options for getting the documentation back and getting my passport back, and was generally quite nice about the whole thing.
When I left, I was a block away before I realized I forgot my purse in the little room, but I guess I was his last person for the day, so by the time I got back through security and got back upstairs, there was nobody in there, and he walked me back over there (from inside) to retrieve it.
Try to keep your wits about you, it's hard though, especially if you've spent the previous day flying and night not sleeping very well because time zones!!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #18601