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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on February 1, 2017: |
AstroCanada
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Overall we had a very straightforward interview experience. The night before the interview, we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott down the street. Nice hotel, highly recommended for easily getting to the interview. They were more than happy to let us have a late checkout.
Our interview was scheduled at 9:30 and we arrived shortly after 9:05. Security was fast but thorough. No water, electronics, etc. The elevator is slow and we were upstairs 5-10 minutes after arrival. Sit in the center section for immigrant visas where everyone appears to be served first-come, first-served. You're handed a laminated piece of paper with instructions to sort your documents in their desired order.
After about 10-15 minutes my partner was called to window 1 to hand over the documents. This was the most time-consuming part of the process. The woman took some financial evidence but didn't want more than 2 years of tax transcripts for example. This part took longer than the actual interview. They were calling immigrant visas to 3 or 4 different windows, so at some point they even had called people before they were up the elevator.
It was maybe another 10-15 minute wait before my partner was called to Window #7 for the actual interview. He got the super-friendly guy. The guy asked for "his story", if he'd ever be in trouble or had problems at the border. Our case was pronounced "cut and dry" and he was handed a "Welcome to the USA" letter. The interview couldn't have been longer than 5 minutes. He was told he would have the visa in 1-2 weeks. All together, we were out of the office about 45-50 minutes from arrival!
Just because I haven't seen it posted, here's the timeline for after the interview.
1) That afternoon, CEAC status turned to "Issued" status with the description below "Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing.
2) 2 days later CEAC status turned to "Issued" with the description below "Your visa is in final processing" with some text that says it should be received within 5 days.
3) On the 3rd day after the interview, we received the tracking number from the appointment registration website.
4) On the 4th day after the interview, the visa and packet were in hand in Toronto!
Altogether, aside from the expense and time of traveling to Montreal, this part was definitely the smoothest and fastest.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #21314