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Kai G. Llewellyn's US Immigration Timeline

  Petitioner's Name: Jayce
Beneficiary's Name: Will
VJ Member: Kai G. Llewellyn
Country: Canada

Last Updated: 2023-06-17
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Immigration Checklist for Jayce & Will:

USCIS I-130 Petition:      
Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:    
USCIS I-751 Petition:  
USCIS N-400 Petition:  


IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Event Date
Service Center : Texas Service Center
Transferred? No
Consulate : Montreal, Canada
Marriage (if applicable): 2020-02-17
I-130 Sent : 2020-04-04
I-130 NOA1 : 2020-04-06
I-130 RFE :
I-130 RFE Sent :
I-130 Approved : 2020-08-11
NVC Received : 2020-08-14
Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : 2020-08-14
Pay AOS Bill : 2020-08-18
Receive I-864 Package :
Send AOS Package : 2020-09-11
Submit DS-261 :
Receive IV Bill : 2020-08-14
Pay IV Bill : 2020-08-21
Send IV Package : 2020-09-10
Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter :
Case Completed at NVC : 2020-09-23
NVC Left : 2021-07-09
Consulate Received : 2021-07-10
Packet 3 Received :
Packet 3 Sent :
Packet 4 Received :
Interview Date : 2021-08-04
Interview Result : Approved
Second Interview
(If Required):
Second Interview Result:
Visa Received : 2021-08-09
US Entry : 2021-08-09
Comments :
Processing
Estimates/Stats :
Your I-130 was approved in 127 days from your NOA1 date.

Your interview took 485 days from your I-130 NOA1 date.


Lifting Conditions
Event Date
CIS Office : National Benefits Center
Date Filed : 2023-06-08
NOA Date : 2023-06-16
RFE(s) :
Bio. Appt. : 2023-07-03
Interview Date :
Approval / Denial Date :
Approved :
Got I551 Stamp : No
Green Card Received :
Comments :


Member Reviews:

Consulate Review: Montreal, Canada
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Event Description
Review Date : August 4, 2021
Embassy Review : So this was quite a nervous experience given that I had never been interviewed for a visa before in my life, but it went as routinely as I could've asked for, here's how it went:

I ended up heading out a bit early and got to the consulate an hour before my appointment to make sure I was familiar with the location and to my dismay Spousal Purgatory (Second Cup) opposite the consulate was closed due to an issue with their coffee machines! D: Undeterred, I went out in search of another coffee shop, and found Starbucks which closed in Feb...I finally found Joe's Panini which provided me a 'coffee' and much needed breakfast. After that, I made my return to the Consulate for 9:20am. The security guard came out at 9:30am and confirmed who I was and asked me the following:
-Have you been outside of Canada in the last 14 days*
-Do you have any symptoms of Covid?
-Have you been in close contact with someone who tested positive?

After saying no to the above, I proceeded to have my docs X-Rayed and put my phone in the lockers. (There's plenty of lockers here and not many were in use thanks to reduced interview capacity due to Covid), following that I proceeded up to Window 6 and checked in and handed over my passport, quietly hoping the next time I would see it that it would have a shiny IV foil.

I proceeded to sit and about 10 minutes later I was called over to Window 4 and spoke to one of their Admin people and provided my birth certificate, marriage certificate and police certificates. They asked me to confirm my status in Canada, and I said that I was a Canadian PR, they didn't ask to see my PR card. No other docs were needed, we uploaded a new I-864 to CEAC so no need for them to see the physical affidavit.

After what felt like an eternity and figuring out which 'queue' was for the actual interviews in their ticket callup thingie, I was called up to Window 2 and I spoke with a young male Consular Officer who thanked me for my patience (I wasn't sure whether he was referring to the wait for the appointment or to see him specifically...maybe both). Anyways, the questions were very routine, they were:

What is your name and date of birth?
What is the petitioner's name?
How and where did you meet? "I mentioned how we met through an IT Professionals telegram group and that we started talking after we noticed we were both furries and into running servers in our apartments!" - I went to explain what furries are and he said "Yeah, I know what it is, we get a few of those people"

When did you meet for the first time in person?
When did you get married? He said 'Jeez, just before the pandemic huh?'
What does the petitioner do for work?
What do you do for work?
What was the longest stay in the US?
Have you ever overstayed?
Have you ever been refused a visa?
Have you ever been denied entry?
Did you read the pamphlet and do you have any questions? I said "no, was pretty straightforward tbh"

After that he mentioned, everything looks 'very good' in your file and that he informed me that he was 'planning to approve my visa', he handed the Welcome to the USA letter and I was outta there!

I give this Consular experience a solid four out of five...the Consular Officer was very friendly and welcoming but I'm docking a point for the long wait in anxiety and the fact that it took ELEVEN DAMN MONTHS to get this interview. I am over the moon this is over.

*N.B. the Consulate confirmed to me that if you're fully vaccinated you can still be interviewed if it's less than 14 days but I did not want to try and be the guinea pig for this and returned to Canada over 14 days ago.

** There were two officers actually performing interviews there, it's producing a pretty major bottleneck. No wonder it took 11 months.

(updated on August 4, 2021)
Rating : Good


POE Review: CDN-USA Border
Event Description
Entry Date : 2021-08-09
Embassy Review : I entered using the Pacific Highway Land Port of Entry. It was fairly uneventful and I was traveling down to activate my visa with my motorcycle. I came up to the CBP booth and advised them that I was in possession of an immigrant visa, and they had asked "have you used this visa before" and I said "no". He processed me for secondary inspection, and advised me that I will be required to formally import my vehicles once I'm moved in otherwise they will be likely to deny entry to my vehicles in the future if they still had their BC Plates. After acknowledging this, I proceeded to secondary, provided my passport and address to the officer who came out of the building. I waited about 10-20 minutes and he came out and handed my passport back to me, saying that I was "stamped in" and that your green card should show up within 6 months and congratulations and I was sent on my way.

Probably the easiest crossing I've done, and no harassment. I'll be returning to Canada for the rest of my things on the weekend, so we'll see how subsequent entries go.

I'm not a Nexus card holder, but I do have a pending application which isn't being processed due to the pandemic closing enrollment centers.
Harassment Level : Low


Timeline Comments: 11

Kai G. Llewellyn on 2021-04-14 said:
I-130 Expedite Approved in August. Still awaiting Interview at Montreal Consulate. 200 days and counting. 8D
HAB on 2021-07-03 said:
Good morning, I am just curious cuz you should be on the next batch for interviews. Did you check you case ? is it still at NVC or it is send to the embassy. This is the web site they use https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=IV I checked mine and is still at NVC.
Kai G. Llewellyn on 2021-07-07 said:
Hello HAB, yes, this is correct. Our cases will remain at NVC until we get issued our IL after that point our cases will be sent to the embassy/consulate and the status should change to 'Ready'. Mine still says 'At NVC'. Hope this helps. :)
Kai G. Llewellyn on 2021-07-09 said:
Medical booked for July 27th! Whoop whoop!
HAB on 2021-07-09 said:
Gongrates :)
blank avatar TedsGirl on 2021-08-05 said:
Congratulations to you from a quiet lurker who has admired your help on the Montreal forum :) I've only just started my visajourney and unsure about doing the medical and interview at Montreal since it is so slow. Looking to do it in London instead. All the very best to you!
Kai G. Llewellyn on 2021-08-06 said:
Hi @TedsGirl , if you're eligible to interview in London and you can make it into the UK re. their amber list, then I would say London is absolutely the way to go. I think they're on Feb/Mar 2021 DQ's while Montreal are still only up to Oct 5th 2020. I was absolutely kicking myself not getting my case moved to London last year as it would have saved me months. Double check to see if you have to get your Medical done in the UK as well. The London Embassy might not accept a Canadian medical, but I'm not 100% sure either way on that.
blank avatar TedsGirl on 2021-08-07 said:
Thank you! Yeah. I'm a Canadian PR, UK citizen. Apparently both medical and interview will be done there. They are motoring through applications there, so I'll see and hope I can swing it. Yes, I'm hoping to connect with the medical team there soon to find out if my Canadian history carries weight, if not it's all good too.
Kai G. Llewellyn on 2021-08-08 said:
Sounds good. Just a FYI with your Canadian PR. You can continue to hold your Canadian PR concurrently with your US PR, however Canada requires you to by physically present in the country for two years out of every five year rolling period (unless you're married to a Canadian, then you keep it indefinitely). If eligible you can still apply for Canadian citizenship despite moving to the US, if you are already eligible and are able to make it back to Canada for the test and oath.
blank avatar TedsGirl on 2021-08-09 said:
Thank you! ☺️
Aurmorr on 2021-08-13 said:
IT'S OVER!! I'm so happy for you and I'm so glad that you can take the next steps that you've been waiting so long to take. Good luck with anything, and if you're ever in LA/San Diego, don't be afraid to drop a line :)
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*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.

** Not all cases are transfered

vjTimeline ver 5.0




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