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Here we go again, maxed out on so here's our newest thread...

We sold our car to a Toyota dealership in Idaho yesterday!!! 🥳 We were very clear about the importation situation, and it took a while to make it clear that we didn't have a separate piece of paper called “title” as American cars do, but they bought it for even more money than my husband had been promised as a “Kelly blue book offer” in Canada, and we traded it in for an American car. Problem solved! I'm mentioning it in case anybody has the same issue. It cost us a bit, but less than we expected, and at this stage, we just wanted to get it over with. It would be nice, but no. I think it's the same thing as someone who is already in the US having to go back to the border to renew their visa (at least, that's how it works in Canada, I think). You can't have your car already in the US if you're trying to import it, and an airport parking lot is “already in the US”. Here's the thread we had found on this topic—some people have luck with the after-market TPMS system, but it appears most people don't: —

Has anyone ever tried to request Direct Consular Filing through Montreal? I just emailed them today to ask if they would consider our situation and attached a bunch or supporting documentation.

Here is an update for anyone that has a visa / passport stuck at the consulate and they must travel. You can get a temporary passport. Cost is about $200 CAD. Be prepared to spend many hours at the passport office and also be prepared for the staff there not knowing what you're talking about. You'll need to be polite but push for what is allowed to get the temp passport and when you get your original back with the visa in it to do a exchange, where the original passport with the visa in it is activated again (only one passport can be active at a time) and surrender the temp passport. Ask for a temporary passport application, because your current passport is "Inaccessible" (official term is Inaccessible Passport) You can get a temp passport if you prove your current passport is stuck at a foreign consulate for processing AND you must travel Show proof of your passport being stuck in processing with the consulate and also proof that you have corresponded with them about the delays. Show proof of upcoming travel Bring an original birth certificate and proof of your identity Fill-out an application for a temporary passport (might be the same as a regular passport, but make sure they file it properly) Provide a guarantor (my wife used her adult daughter that is not living with her). The agent will call. Provide 2 references that are friends that can vouch for you. The agent will call them. If travel is urgent, the passport can be made within a couple of days, so show proof that you must pick it up in time for travel. Once you pick-up the temp passport, make sure there is a stamp/sticker inside that shows that it is a temp passport (the cover won't say it). I heard the temp passport is good for one year, not just for this specific travel date. When you arrive at the border, bring your proof of travel, proof of needing the temp passport, and of course your temp passport. In our case, the USA agent didn't ask for anything other than the passport and didn't say anything or ask about it, but that's no guarantee. When you finally receive your original passport with the visa, go to the passport office again Request that you need to surrender your temp passport and have the original activated again. You cannot carry two passports (from what we were told), so you need to activate one and surrender the other. You might need to push that you're not applying for anything new and all the agent needs to do is accept your temp passport and activate the original. My wife had to push a little about the urgency of this swap, because the initial staff wanted her to wait in the long application line all day. This wasn't necessary. My wife stood with the agent while the original was being activated again on the screen. It takes about 30 minutes for the system to process the swap, but it will be fairly quick (not hours or days).

Got DQ today and now thinking about everything that's about to transpire in the next few months. Any recommendations on how to get my stuff from Canada to USA?

Honestly, I am at a loss to pick out anything that would red flag me. Interviews seemed perfectly good. No missing documentation. I have never had arrests or anything like that. I asked about what the reason for this was and officer had no actual information as to why it would be. Bureaucratic answer of following protocol of US govt, erc. Ok. Disappointing, and bewildering.

Just checking. Am I able to cross, activate my visa and then travel back to Canada a few times to pack up and move? I don’t intend to import my car but will use it for a couple months to travel while I get settled.

Hey guys, this is the compliance letter I got from Hyundai for my car. Is this good enough to pass the border? As it says it is not complaining with the FMVSS regulations, only the EPA. Anyone out there can confirm and let me know, thank you for all your help guys! Thank you for all your help guys.

Hi, I have a weird question. How is pre-moving seen at the border? By that I mean the act of bringing stuff to my spouse's place before getting the visa. My guess is that it's not really popular with border officer because it is a big sign of you probably wanting to overstay your tourist visa and just stay (even though I'm pretty sure somebody like me that is 1 month away from their interview never did that ever). In my case I would pre-move my summer tires because after some weird circumstance I have them currently in my car and do not want to put them in my apartment or drive to go store them. AND on top of that I'm getting my interview in the next 1-2 months so I WILL need to move them very soon. I'm planning on going to the US this weekend and will have basically nothing else in the car except 4 tires. Thanks!

My province is not listed here. How do I surpass this to get it mailed to my house?

Hello everyone. I have a question about renewing a Canadian passport from USA. Has anyone had such an expereince recently. I have not heard back from them, On the gov site it says I should hear something after 20 business days if not fill out an application status and will receive an answer in 3 days I have done that and nothing after 3 days. I just want to have peace of mind that the application is there and is being processed. Help!!!! Thank you !

Just an update on my journey. I crossed the border with my car, belongings, and pets on Oct 15, at the Alcan crossing (Alaska). A few things to note: If anyone is activating their visa there, the "immigration" agent is only there on certain days of the week so call to confirm. They were inexperienced with car imports and so I had to convince them my car met the standards for import. I had all the paperwork in order (form and letter from manufacturer saying that my car met EPA and Safety standards). The issue was that there are a few things that Canadian cars are exempt from (e.g. the displays KM vs. Miles). The manufacturer wrote that those did not conform, but on the declaration form you fill out it clearly says that those are exempt. In the end they imported my car, and I was able to register my car no problem at the DMV to get plates. If you import pets to Alaska you are required to have updated rabies vaccination certificate and a health certificate from your vet, that then needs to be handed over to your Canadian Food Inspection Agency Veterinarian for an International Health Certificate. A regular check from the vet won't cut it because it needs to have a registered traceable number, which is only provided by CFIA. However, it's up to the discretion of the border agents whether or not your paperwork satisfies them. They didn't look at my paperwork or look at my physical pets. Very annoying with all the trouble I went through, but better safe than sorry if they wanted to be sticklers about the official paperwork. They didn't care about the inventory of my belongings, but I didn't bring a whole lot.

Here's the next thread for our ongoing discussion... Thanks @KartineeKartoons continued from here:

Hi everyone, Has anyone traveled back to Canada recently and being vaccinated I want to know if we can still cross the land border without the vacine ??? Thanks guys!

I’m a USC who has been staying in Canada since March 2020 while we’ve been waiting for the IR1 process to play out. Prior to that, I’d go back and forth from the us to Canada every week or two over and over for 4 years (probably 200 crossings). I applied for a visitor record and was granted one extension. I applied again at the 1 year mark and am waiting for that to be processed, which should be in Sept. I need to go back to the US for a week or two in September. Will I have problems getting back into Canada? If this were a Canadian trying to get into the US after staying as a visitor for 18 months, I feel like there is a good chance they would be turned away. My wife and two kids are in Canada so I don’t want to leave if there’s a chance I’ll get locked out of the country. thinking about hiring an immigration lawyer to advise on this (recommendations welcome) but figured I’d ask here first in case anyone knows. my DQ date is in late April so I still have some time before this is over.

Hi Everyone, I have been meaning to write this for a few days. We crossed in Saturday, but it was an adventure to do so, and I think I'm only recovering now. The crossing part was easy - we drove to Windsor/Detroit, was taken into secondary, had to leave the cat and our cell phones in the car, went into the little building, they scanned our passports (there were issues with that but they were technical because they had a new system that only one person knew how to run, so it was giving everyone problems, including the family in front of us who were also activating their family visas at the same time), they reviewed my list of goods, and my teenager and I (and the cat) were admitted. However, my car was not. There were debates back and forth on VJ about whether or not one can drive one's vehicle down and import the vehicle later instead of at the time of crossing. I know we should have probably called the border to ask first, but I was in such a state of flux about packing and selling my house, I figured we could just tell them we were importing the vehicle later and deal with it. Wrong. In order to admit a personal vehicle into the US, it must actually be importable. That's why you need that letter from your car's manufacturer. Which of course I didn't have. When I told the border guard I thought I could do it all later and just drive the car down to get down there, he said, "This is why you always call first. You can't just drive it down. It is your property and so you are importing it and because it's a vehicle, it is subject to certain taxes you would have to pay prior to entry, regardless of whether or not you're doing the paperwork today." Since my car was an old beater (a 2012 car with over 243k on it) and didn't have an OEM Tire Pressure Monitor, it would not be road certifiable in Texas (where we were headed), and the customs officers determined that the car was "unimportable". So we were given a letter explaining the situation, which also stated that neither my teenager nor I were charged with any criminal offences, and that we were admitted to the US as permanent residents, and we were turned around and told to take the car back to Canada. This is where it gets interesting. We drove back across the Ambassador Bridge to Canada Customs. The Customs officer took a look at the letter, looked at our passports and said, "Really? They wouldn't let your car in but you can go? That's crazy. So what are you going to do?" I said I guess I have to figure out how to get rid of the car and try to go back. Then he asked, "Are you both fully vaccinated?" Thank goodness my teen had their second shot exactly two weeks to the day before we decided to cross. I showed the Canada Customs officer our slips evidencing full vaccination from the Ontario Ministry of Health, and he sat there, looking at our documents. Then he handed them all back, except the letter about the car, and said, "Good luck with your car. You can go back. You don't need to quarantine." If it had been any other time, or even a day before, we would have had to have waited another two weeks before we could cross. When we got back over to Windsor, in a matter of 3 hours, I sold my car for scrap and rented a U-Haul. I transferred all of our stuff into the U-Haul, and went back to the same crossing at Detroit. When we crossed, we were met by the border guard who had driven us to the turnaround point with our car. "What did you do with the car?" he asked. "Sold it for scrap." He scanned our passports and asked, "Does the U Haul have any dirt in it?" I told him that the woman at U-Haul had actually just mopped it out before she gave me the keys. He handed back our passports and said, "OK. Good luck today. Have a good drive." And we were off on our two day drive to Houston, Texas. TLDR: no problems with our documents when we crossed, scanned everything, took pics, all good, waiting for our SSNs to start our lives. Thanks, everyone!

Looking at the ridiculous wait times, my wife and I have been exploring alternatives. The best alternative at this point seems having her move to Canada permanently. If I wanted to withdraw my DQ'd application from the interview queue and have her move here, would I have to go through the I-130 and NVC process again? Or would my case remain at the NVC? I'd prefer to be able to move to the US with a few month's notice if I wanted to. Also would it make it harder to immigrate in the future or visit the US for tourism/recreation?

Hello All, I had my visa interview yesterday at the Montreal consulate, and just want to give my account here before I forget the details. I arrived at the consulate about 40 minutes before my interview. There were a few people standing outside waiting. When one of the guards came out to let someone in, I talked to him and he told me to come back 10 minutes before my interview. So, they wouldn't let you in early even if you come early. Once I was inside, and went through the airport-like security at the ground floor and put my i-phone in a locker as one of the guards instructed. I brought all my massive 3 folders full of documents, and a small purse with me, and I was allowed to bring all of it except my i-phone to the interview hall. They sent me upstairs to join others sitting and waiting in a hall. At the first window, they took my passport, and nothing else and I sat down and waited. I think this wait was at least for 40 minutes and the longest. Then they called me with my number on the screen again. This time, they took the necessary documents, which were as best as I can remember: -Original birth certificate -original marriage certtificate -W-2s and 1040 for 2020 -i864 -Police certificate from Canada -Police certificate from my home country -my Canadian PR card Then they sent me back to the waiting area to wait more. This time, I didn't need to wait long as I was called again shortly afterwards for the interview. I was interviewed by an older gentleman, who was polite, friendly even. He asked some questions related to my marriage after taking an oath: -Who is your petitioner -Tell me how you met your husband and where and when you got married -What does you husband to for living -Where you will you be living in US? -Have you ever arrested? -What is the longest time you stayed in US? -What do you do? -Do you have children? It felt more like a conversation, rather than an interview. One thing to note here is I brought a letter from my mother-in-law stating we will be living with her in her place and we were welcome to stay as long as we like. She actually had the letter notarized by a public notary in California and attached her driver's license to it. When he asked where will be living in the US, I pulled out the letter and gave it to him and after he looked at it and said 'It is very complete and good. It really helps.'. I actually took someone's wise and informed advise here in this forum and asked my mother-in-law to write me a letter and have it notarized. I thank this forum for it! The interview was for about 5-7 minutes in length. In the end, he said that he was planning to approve my visa, explained the procedure etc. and gave me the welcome letter. I thanked him and left. I was inside for about 1 hr and 40 minutes. It was generally a good experience. The security guards were polite. Inside, there were only 4 people were working, 2 taking documents and other 2 interviewing. I thought they were efficient. I wanted to thank all the wonderful members in this forum. You all have been an enormous help during a challenging time. I would have been in the total dark without any knowledge as to what is going in regards to the application/interview schedule without this forum, and would probably have driven myself mad. So, thank you all!

This is the continuance thread from:

In June 2019 @KartineeKartoons started a group message for Canadian spousal applicant VJers who were stuck in the Montreal interview scheduling backlog. They invited members at the same stage in the IV process and the message group has remained active more than a year later, currently with 199 VJ members. Not all members are active in the conversation, and a few weeks ago someone suggested it was time to disband the message group. I am inviting all the active members to hold our discussion here, publicly in the forum, moving forward. Having our collective experiences and knowledge siloed behind closed doors is a disservice to the the whole of the VJ community. Let's strengthen the community as a whole by making a shift. Invitations: @DGF @shammykay @Tofu @sjb17 @rainbow-skies @Mzamour @Cath&Claire @sh114 @S.H.11 @Leah123 @DoubleE @Hadarah @MWhite @legendqueue @SeriaRisa11 @PawlD @i5love @Jay&Sid @mizzem @Kingsrish @Abhikochar @Je9ala @Madison99 @ArgiE0601 @Lovepeace0303 @leo18 @A&RN @marahm18 @acmanu @Sanmcall @Dkw @SASAS @Romans13 @Rose__ @InspectorGrover @canadavisa22 @chefcurry88 @lngtimecoming @Lovenature @mam521 @Noam D @Pat1976 @dee&vee @AMSAL @ReadIcculus @Jacqueline H @Couchpotato560 @Dbrennan @eketros @MrsDex @wordsfromdani @kburbasaur @Jenn&Matt @Waitin-Game @mika__ @Specter @ameena1423 @chanel167 @TOtoVA @Michelle_VM @BunyanP @HRubin @Irregularblob @US-EH @C&L2018 @rafale1973 @Lois K @2Ps @Rush11 @jackanddeona @Kaleigh11 @vjcl @SJS8581 @Ptitchou @fxch3 @starboogie @tmac99 @Flowergirl 737 @Prairiegirl3 @Skaur0609 @Cammabear @Emilini @jacketconfident @eagle212 @betzzymathew @Sarjb77 @Akaur @JACHA @Rotorhead @BeeSee @CGs_Mother @SAsal @Todd@Alya @Hamlet @AfterTheSnow @JandTK @Mel and Deb @Abe&Noha @anto3knee @PennyLaneB @JenTex @Aminac13 @Canadiangirl38 @Jaret&Rachael @llednew.rm Group members not specifically listed above haven't signed into and/or read VJ messages for a while but are more than welcome to participate. Let's all help keep information accessible to all and transparent, and alleviate the anxiety other visa applicants experience navigating this convoluted process.