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bradleyboy

Visa approved!

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Filed: K-3 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline

My wife's visa interview (IR-1) yesterday in Montreal went great. Here's a summary of our visit to the consulate.

We live in Montreal, so getting there was no problem. We arrived at the consulate at about 6:30am, and while some people were milling around, no one was actually lined up at the door so we parked ourselves there :) Eventually, everyone else started lining up as well, and when the doors opened at about 7:30am, we all started filing in. A family went in before us, but they were there on a non-immigrant visa, so we received the prized letter "A". We cleared security quickly (I had all of our documents in a clear, accordion file folder) and were sent downstairs to wait by the elevator.

About 7:45am a security officer came and took the first three or four letters up to the 19th floor. Once upstairs, we waited 10 minutes or so and were called back to one of the windows. There, we were asked for my wife's medical exam results (just the results, they had no interest in the x-ray), her passport pictures and the xpresspost prepaid mailer. She then asked us a few questions like where did we meet, how long have we been married, if I still lived in Canada, and when are we planning on moving. Since I still live in Canada, I knew domicile would be an issue. At the NVC stage, our house was not yet completed (it was under construction), so all I could send was the deed to the property it was built on. The house was completed shortly after NVC completed our case, so I was able to bring utility bills, mortgage statements and proof of home insurance for the new house to the interview. She definitely wanted to see more proof than the property deed, so I handed over the mortgage statements and the insurance proof. She seemed satisfied with that and made copies for our file. I am also self-employed, and even though I sent in 3 years of tax returns, I fully expected to be asked for more proof of my income, but she never asked and sent us back to the waiting room.

Somewhere around 8:30 we were called back to do the fingerprinting. As I have read before here many times, the systems in the consulate are slow and the officer seemed frustrated trying to get it to start. Finally she did, and after a few false starts the fingerprinting was complete. Once again, we were sent back to the waiting room.

By this time, it was getting pretty full in the consulate. With all the chatter, crying babies, etc, I was very glad to hear our name called to booth 8 at around 9am. We went it to find a very nice guy behind a window who welcomed us, asked us how our day had gone so far, then he proceeded to give us both the oath. Once we were under oath, he asked us each questions very casually, he was not intimidating at all and kept us both at ease through the entire interview, which we appreciated. He meticulously went through all of our application, asking about where we met, why I had originally come to Canada, when we were married, where we were moving back to, what kind of work I do (I own a software company), what kind of software I develop, then made a funny quip about how the government needed to catch up in that regard, to which I wholeheartedly agreed. He also brought up domicile, then looked over the mortgage statements and insurance paperwork we had submitted earlier at the other window and was satisfied with that. He looked over my tax returns and seemed satisfied with them, so again I didn't need any more financial proof. After some other smalltalk, he looked up with a smile and said, "Congratulations, we are able to issue you a visa!" He then explained exactly what would happen, gave us a letter with basically that same information, and wished us luck. We skipped out of the interview booth on cloud nine and were out of the consulate by 9:30am. All in all, it took almost exactly 2 hours from the time the doors opened, not too bad!

My only disappointment in the process was that I had this huge folder of paperwork that I had prepared, and in the end they only asked for 3 pieces of paper :) But in the end, I guess you never know what 3 pieces of paper they will ask for, so it is best to be prepared. After this experience, I'm also convinced that it is a huge plus if the petitioner can attend the interview. Even though we've been married for 5+ years now, I think the fact that we were there together made it easier on them, and in turn easier on us.

Anyway, many thanks to all the folks here at VJ! I read nearly every consulate review for Montreal and felt more than prepared. Now, I just need some tips on how to make boxes pack themselves...anyone know how to do that? ;)

Edited by bradleyboy

Timeline

06/19/2004 - Married

09/16/08 - I-130 NOA1

10/03/08 - I-129F NOA1

10/06/08, 10/7/08, 10/20/08, 10/21/08 - Touches on the I-130

10/08/08 - I-129F touched

12/06/08 - Senator sent inquiry, both applications touched

04/03/09 - Called USCIS and initiated service request

04/14/09 - Both applications touched

04/15/09 - NOA2 notification received for both I-130 and I-129F (via email)

NVC (IR-1)

04/21/09 - NVC received and assigned case number

04/23/09 - Received DS-3032 form letter via email / AOS bill generated

04/23/09 - Sent DS-3032 via email

04/24/09 - Sent DS-3032 via FedEx (just in case)

04/27/09 - NVC received DS-3032 (AVR updated)

04/29/09 - Received IV Fee agent email, paid both AOS and IV bills online

04/30/09 - Both IV and AOS fee bills show as PAID online

04/30/09 - Sent AOS and IV packages via FedEx overnight

05/01/09 - AOS and IV packages delivered to NVC

05/05/09 - AVR says "NVC received your documents and they are under review..."

05/08/09 - Sign in no longer works on Payment Center site, operator says case is under final review

05/11/09 - Case complete!

06/23/09 - Interview date assigned - August 12th

08/12/09 - Interview ... Approved!

08/17/09 - Visa in hand - Delivered via Canada Post

08/28/09 - Moving day

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Yay! Congratulations! :)

02/13/09 -

:)

02/19/09 - I-130 mailed out

02/27/09 - NOA1

03/19/09 - NOA2

05/07/09 - NVC CASE COMPLETE!

06/23/09 - Received interview appointment letter via email! Yay!

08/19/09 -Interview! SUCCESS!! (Wanna read a ridiculously long interview review? Click the link!)

08/21/09 - Visa received!

09/11/09 - POE (Alexandria Bay, NY)

09/28/09 - Received Permanent Resident card

06/28/11 - Sent 1-751 to VSC

07/29/11 - Biometrics appointment (OKC)

01/20/12 - I-751 approved!

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline

Congrats!

Sept.09/06 Married!!!

Dec.21/06 Sent I-130

Jan.04/04 Received NOA1

Feb.23/06 Sent I-129F

March06/06 USCIS Website States: "Approval Notice Sent."

March15/07 Approval notice arrives in snail mail

March 18/07 NOA1 for I-129F

April 10/07 DS-3032+ AOS fee arrive

April 17/07 Sent back DS-3032 + AOS fee via overnight delivery

May 05/07 AOS arrives in mail

May 07/07 IV bill arrives in mail

May 08/08 Sent back IV bill

May 21 NVC generates DS-230

June 4/07 Mailed DS-230 via overnight delivery.

June 7/07 DS-230 entered into the system

June 18/07 Case Complete!

July 25/07 Medical

September 4/07 Contacted State Senator Re: MTL backlog

Dec.6/07 INTERVIEW..... APPROVED!!!! (After being kept awake all night in dirty clothes standing outside my hotel because Air Canada lost my luggage and my hotel started on fire. Meh, sleep is highly over-rated anyways.)

Dec.18/07 Moved to the US

Oct. 29/09 Citizenship Oath Ceremony

"We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly"

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Congratulations! And yes, thank you for the review. They are so very helpful for the rest of us anxiously waiting for that stage!! :) Good luck packing!

For details visit My Timeline or Profile

ROC Timeline:
May 23, 2012 - Mailed I-751
January 7, 2013 - RFE Received
March 26, 2013 - RFE Response Sent
April 11, 2013 - ROC APPROVED

June 8th, 2013 - 10 yr GC Received (FINALLY)

AOS Timeline:
March 23, 2010 - Mailed I-485 (AOS), I-131 (AP), I-765 (EAD)
June 7, 2010 - AP received
June 12, 2010 - EAD received
August 27, 2010 - 2 yr Green Card Received!


K-1 Timeline:
April 22, 2009 - I-129F Sent
November 20, 2009 - Interview in Montreal - Approved!
January 3, 2010 - POE (Ambassador Bridge)
January 20, 2010 - Wedding

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Congratulations!!

AOS

Sent- 10-21-09

Tracking says Delivered by USPS-10-23-09

Check cashed-10-30-09 (MSC case # on back)

NOA 1 date-10-29-09 (Received Date 10-23-09)

Hard copy NOA - 11-02-09

Touch- 11-03-09

Received bio appt letter-11-07-09(dated 11-03-09)

Bio appt- 11-19-09

Transfer to CSC-11-18-09

Touch on 485/765- 11-19-09

Touch on 485/765- 11-20-09

Hard copy of transfer to CSC- 11-23-09

Touch on 485- 11-24-09 (now processing @ CSC email)

Touch on 485- 11-25-09

Touch on 485- 11-27-09

Touch on 485- 11-30-09

Touch on 485- 12-01-09

Touch on 485- 12-02-09

Touch on 485- 12-03-09

EAD/AP approved-12-18-09

EAD/AP touch- 12-21-09

GC APPROVED!!- 12-21-09

Notice mailed welcoming PR-12-21-09

2nd Card Production ordered email-12-22-09

Approval notice sent-12-28-09

GC arrived in the mail-01-05-10

Done with USCIS until September 14, 2011!!

ROC

Sent: 09-14-11

Received: 09-16-11

Check cashed: 09-21-11

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Syria
Timeline

congratulations, great news!!

Timeline:

Sent in I-130 form: 01/29/09

Interview Date: 11/08/09 (APPROVED!)

Visa in Hand: 11/12/09

POE: 01/30/10 (!!!!) at JFK Airport in NYC... can't wait!

Got the green card maybe 8 weeks after 01/30/10...

TBC....

======================================================================

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline

Congrats on the approval!!

I tried rather hard to make the boxes pack themselves... I even waited til a couple days before the move in hopes they would learn but it never worked out for me...

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Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Iran
Timeline

Congratulations! :dance::dance:

Has anyone not had a statement from the bank for affidavit of support and been OK? I have letter of employment with my annual salary, 3 years of tax transcripts, and I've printed out my pay stubs for this year. I just don't really want to bother with the bank if I don't have to.

Pandora and Hesam

K-3 Visa

Service Center : Vermont Service Center

Consulate : Montreal, Canada

Marriage : 2008-08-29 in Canada

I-130 Sent : 2008-10-14

I-130 NOA1 : 2008-10-20

I-130F NOA2 : 2009-05-04

I-129F Sent : 2008-11-25

I-129F NOA1 : 2008-11-28

I-129F NOA2 : 2009-05-04

NVC Received : 2009-05-12

Packet 3 Received : 2009-05-19

Packet 3 Sent : 2009-06-10

Interview: 2009-09-10 APPROVED

See my interview experience here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=217544&hl=

Visa Received : 2009-09-16

US Entry : 2009-09-27

EAD received: 2009-12-21

AOS interview: 2010-02-05 (medical exam missing from documents)

Recieved RFE for missing medical exam that they lost. Submitted new exam March 10, 2010.

Notified that he is in background checks after submitting three service requests: July, 2010

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Congratulations-2.gif

thank u for sharing

abby n sheryl

Our time line for CR1 visa took only 5 months and 1 week or 156 days; from the filing the I-130 on the 03-12-2009 to Approval of NOA2 on the 05/13/2009, then Interview on the 08/18/2009 at Manila, Philippines. We had a daughter on the 11-12-2010 named AISHA JOY means HAPPY LIFE.a1_opt-1.jpga2_opt-1.jpga3_opt-1.jpg

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