Montreal Consulate: Nerve wrecking, but Approved

[ajay416 0]

I had my interview on June 10th, and we were approved! Woo hoo. I thought I'd just write a review before hopping on the train back to Toronto tomorrow. Hopefully it will help those waiting for their K1.

- I Arrived in Montreal from Toronto by train. 5 hours went by pretty fast. The fiancee flew in from Seattle Washington.

- We stayed at Le Crystal de la Montage , a new hotel right beside the Novotel. The free upgrade to a bigger suite made it feel more like a mid-sized condo than an actual hotel room. The walk to the consulate is about 15mins from the hotel, for anyone planning to stay around that area.

- Woke up at 4am, because we are really bad at setting alarms. Sat around for awhile, then walked over to the consulate, arriving at around 6:50. Again, we were there too early. I think we just suck with clocks.

- The consulate was open around 7:30 or so. Went though security rather quickly... the guards were very polite.

- Walked up to window 11, where we gave the lady our number and our appointment letter. She told us to go back to the waiting area and wait to be called.

- Called back to window 11 after about 10 mins. At this time the lady asked me for my Passport, DS-156 in duplicate, DS-156k, 2 passport photos, I-134 with the supporting documents (3 years of tax transcripts, 5 pay stubs and the letter from my fiancee's employer. We had a bank letter, but they didn't care for it), petitioner's letter of intent, police certificate and my birth certificate. I was also asked a few questions about all the places where I lived and my age.

- Went back and sat around in the waiting room again, waiting to be called. We got called back after 15 minutes or so... and were told that they couldn't find our file and that it was possibly deleted, YAY! But not really. The lady asked us if we brought our NOA2. Unfortunately, we didn't have the document, and I wasn't sure what it was or where it was (since we weren't members on VJ during our process, grr). The lady told us that they sent my fiancee 2 letters, requesting that we bring the NOA2 with us to the interview, but we never received the letters, I'm assuming it went to our lawyer. I only brought the documents outlined in the checklist and some extra copies of the G-235 I had printed out. At this point, we weren't feeling very happy and I had a horrible feeling in my stomach that we would get an RFE after the interview. The lady also asked us if we brought the express post envelope and we didn't since the supplements to the interview letter said that we could purchase one at the consulate office; however, this was not the case. We were told that they stopped selling them there the week before.

- Walked back to the waiting room to be called back to window 11 after about 25 minutes. The lady told us to go pay the $131 at window #14 and bring the receipt back. And that's when I was fingerprinted.

- After 15 minutes or so, we were I was called to room #8 for the actual interview. I brought my fiancee in with me. The man interviewing us was EXTREMELY NICE. He had glasses and was very energetic. We were interviewed together, and he mentioned that he likes it when he gets to meet both parties, even though it is not required. He asked us a few questions about how we met, what my fiancee did for a living and what I did for a living. He also asked us about where I lived and where my fiancee lived. That was pretty much it as far as the interview was concerned. Overall a great interview... nothing scary at all. Oh, he didn't care about all the evidence we brought with us.

- After the interview questions he told us that we seemed like a nice couple and that everything was good, but he couldn't approve the visa just yet since there were some issues with our file, and that they were trying to rebuild it since it was deleted. We received an RFE, and he told us that we would have to mail or fax them the NOA2 and until then, the visa will be considered denied.

Fortunately, during time when the interviewer was explaining to us what document we need to send in, my genius fiancee remembers that she brought some sort of extra letter/document (even though I told her before her flight that we didn't need it since it wasn't on the checklist) with her, which we left at the hotel. After explaining this to the interviewer, had another appointment made for 12:00 for us to bring in the document if it was the NOA2 and also to purchase an express post envelope.

We bought the envelope at the Pharmaprix at the end of the block (turn right after exiting the consulate) and walked back to the hotel. We pretty much agreed that finding the NOA2 at the hotel was pretty much one of the happiest moments in our lives. We took a cab back to the consulate and gave the envelope and the NOA2 to the lady and went back to the waiting area to be called.

- After about 15 minutes we were called back to window #11 and the lady told us that everything was fine, we were approved and the visa would be mailed to my address. Yipee! At that moment, everything was good again.

The whole consulate experience lasted about 4 hours, but that's just an estimate. Like I said, we suck with clocks.

I can't start to explain how much of a relief it is knowing that I will finally be be with Sarah after 9 years of knowing each other.

Good luck to anyone else having an interview soon, and don't worry so much. It's not as scary as you may think. From my experience, it's probably a good idea to bring everything you have just in case and be very organized.

Oh, and opaque file folders are fine. You don't need to bring transparent ones. If you bring stuff like cellphones, they provide you with a cubby hole and there are 3 vending machines, one has snacks, one has coffee and the third one has cold drinks.

Stuff to do down by the Old Port: Some nice restaurants... we ate dinner twice. The fondue place on St-Paul street is pretty yummy. St-Paul street itself is pretty cool.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Glad it turned out well!! Good point in bringing everything with ya,lol but like ya sais, you would by the checklist, and one would have figured ur lawyer should have known better. oh well, your approved, who cares, lol congrtas

[Eric_and_Corinna 0]

Congrats Ajay!! So are you moving to Seattle now?

[Carlawarla 1]

Congratulations! Thanks for the posting. Sorry you didn't find us sooner here. How DID you find us here at the last minute anyway? So glad that you had the NOA2 at the hotel room, what a string of LUCK!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Wow! What a nerve-racking experience. Congratulations! and welcome to VJ. hehehe, your journey is really just beginning - but you get to spend the rest of it with your sweetheart:-).

[Leafgal 3]

Glad everything turned out well and Congratulations. Best of luck with your move.

[trailmix 77]

Interesting to note that you were told they stopped selling the envelopes last week!

Also a good point about taking everything with you, there is always talk of getting duplicates of your civil documents, but little talk about having a copy of everything that USCIS or NVC ever sent you (who would think you would need copies of stuff THEY sent you )

Congratulations and great review.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Congratulations!!!

Make sure you hold onto that NOA2, it's probably one of the most important documents through all of this, other than the actual K1 visa!!!

You'll need to it adjust status for your green card.

Glad everything turned out well!!!!

[T.O_2_FL 0]

Wow glad to hear that Sarah is so well prepared!

Congrats!

p.s. same here....9 years and finally we are together!

[CBR 0]

Wow I'm so glad it turned out good for you. Congratulations!!

[Cassie 8]

Congratulations!!!!

[ajay416 0]

Thanks for the congratulations all.

Wow, the news just got better. I'm back in Toronto now an just got my tax assessment and I owe the government less than 1/2 as much as I calculated. Now, we may have money for a normal wedding!

I'm still not going to be 100% relieved of all this till i have that visa in my hand

[Mina76 0]

Congratulations and Best Wishes to you both!!!

[BH45 0]

Congrats Ajay. May your visa be in your hand before you know it.....may your move be smooth sailing or driving or flying....glad everything worked out well for you and that NOA2 was handy for you.