What are my options?

[aaron2020 11,651]

How many people?

Even if it's expensive to go through with the event, that's a pretty bogus cancellation policy. I'd run from that venue.

It's not a bogus cancellation policy. It's actually very common when renting venues for a wedding reception. If the OP cancels, it will be extremely hard to find another couple who are willing to pay full price on such short notice. If there is no one willing to rent the venue, then the owner is out a lot of money. Also, all the waiters and cooks would not get paid that weekend.

Edited February 14, 2012 by aaron2020

[sheeshkabelle 153]

Member Floella stuck in AP in Montreal

This is fairly recent, right after the new year.

[MCMLXXXII 29]

Member Floella stuck in AP in Montreal

This is fairly recent, right after the new year.

Thank you!

[hikergirl 277]

Canadian permanent residents who are born in foreign countries in the middle east almost always are put in AP in Montreal and the receipt of their visa is delayed. This has been common practice since 9/11 because the terrorists came through Canada. No I'm not saying your wife is a terrorist, it's crappy and unfair towards her but that is unfortunately the reality of immigration to the USA, even when going through a Canadian embassy.

Actually not one single terrorist from 9/11 came through Canada. It is one of my pet peeves that this misconception continues to get spread around.

"Unfortunately, misconceptions arise on something as fundamental as where the 9-11 terrorists came from," said Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador in Washington.

"As the 9-11 commission reported in 2004, all of the 9-11 terrorists arrived in the United States from outside North America. They flew to major U.S. airports. They entered the U.S. with documents issued by the United States government and no 9-11 terrorists came from Canada."

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/QPeriod/20090421/USA_Border_090421/#ixzz1mPMrEjrz

[pocheros 101]

Actually not one single terrorist from 9/11 came through Canada. It is one of my pet peeves that this misconception continues to get spread around.

I stand corrected. Still, there's been a tightening of security along the Canada/US border since then.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Canadian permanent residents who are born in foreign countries in the middle east almost always are put in AP in Montreal and the receipt of their visa is delayed. This has been common practice since 9/11 because the terrorists came through Canada. No I'm not saying your wife is a terrorist, it's crappy and unfair towards her but that is unfortunately the reality of immigration to the USA, even when going through a Canadian embassy.

I need to correct this - NONE of the 9/11 terrorists who attacked the US on that date came to the US through Canada. All of them came to the US on visas issued overseas either in their home countries or in various European countries. NONE of them entered the US through Canada.

The reason for APs have nothing to do with terrorists entering the US from Canada and everything to do with the terrorists originating from specific countries that are either less than friendly terms with the US or host established factions hostile to the US. The actual reason for the major delays at Montreal is that they have insufficient staff to manage the workload.

edited to add: OOPS - see that hikergirl already corrected this. Yes, it is one of my pet peeves too!

Edited February 15, 2012 by Kathryn41

[SapphireDreams 71]

To get back on topic, I was thinking about this and I really think you should consider rescheduling with the venue for a later date in 2013. Maybe not the summer, but later like November 2013. That gives you more than a year and half to get through immigration.

There is no doubt that they will be able to re-book your summer date. Of course there is no guarantee, and they don't want you to know that, but if they are as busy as they claim to be, I'm sure they will have no problem. I think you should talk to them about working out a deal, like you'll rebook and if they don't book someone on your original date, you'll add $2,000-$3,000 to your bill. Because it's not like you're cancelling altogether, you still want to give them business, you just need to reschedule. I know how crazy these contracts can be though, hopefully they are willing to work with you.

[MCMLXXXII 29]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I am going to talk to them soon and determine what can be worked out.

[SF2007 48]

Also, I have not been able to find much information about cases from montreal that went to AP. I would like to know if there are specific cases that I can look at to get a better idea.

Unfortunately, you will have to do your own digging. I don't know of any place on VJ where you could find them gathered. What I can tell you from over a year of being on VJ weekly (daily at times), people going through Montreal that went through AP after their interview were either : LPR of Canada born abroad OR Canadians who had absolutely no clue why they were in AP.

And they don't tell you why you are/were in AP. They don't give you clues you'll be in AP prior to you finding out you are. You learn you are stuck in there after the interview, when you call DOS to know whether your visa has been issued & sent. I was in AP for a few days after my interview. I know because I called DOS everyday. Did my name slightly matched some other suspicious person? Has anyone with a name similar to mine ever applied for a visa and they wanted to double check it wasn't that person applying again? Were they backlogged printing the visas at that time? Did my interviewer or her supervisor simply got sick and couldn't approve the visa on the spot? No clue. And there's no say for how long you'll be in there.

Sadly, I have to say with your wife being a LPR, I would plan for several weeks in AP. Seems to be standard protocol for LPR to have to go through it.

[Ippsy Pippsy 31]

I hope that includes all food and everything. If so, I guess $40/person isn't too bad. I'd reschedule ASAP though, it sounds like there is little chance you'll be able to make it.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I hope that includes all food and everything. If so, I guess $40/person isn't too bad. I'd reschedule ASAP though, it sounds like there is little chance you'll be able to make it.

$12,000 is not the full amount I'm guessing.

It's not uncommon in Northern NJ for weddings to cost upwards of $100+ person. I know people who have paid double that. That's why they have such high cancellation policies.

Good luck!!

[Elisinha 1]

I feel really sorry for your situation, I was reading your case.how sad.

Listen, what does AP mean? I`m new here. and I`m from Brazil, living in Canada applying to have an interview in Montreal, I`m not PR yet and I wont be,cause I cant afford to apply for two permanent residence. I have a legal long status in Canada. Just wanted to understand a bit more about this AP situation, especially from another country applying in Canada as it was mentioned above. Thx..

Hope you will figure your situation in the best and happiest way.

[MCMLXXXII 29]

AP is Additional Processing. You can be placed in to it for a variety of reasons. It is basically investigating the beneficiary further and includes things like FBI name checks, or any other thing that might warrant taking a second look at your case. No one really knows what it is and they don't disclose why your case is in AP. You just have to wait it out.

[MCMLXXXII 29]

So I wanted to ask the opinion of people here. I was thiking of tentatively rescheduling something with the venue for December. I know there are no guarantees but would it be probable that my wife will be here by then? I need to give some tentative information for when I will be rescheduling it for.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

AP is Additional Processing. You can be placed in to it for a variety of reasons. It is basically investigating the beneficiary further and includes things like FBI name checks, or any other thing that might warrant taking a second look at your case. No one really knows what it is and they don't disclose why your case is in AP. You just have to wait it out.

Administrative processing