I-130 petition thru Vancouver

[lynnmatic 0]

I am a US Citizen (and dual Canadian Citizen) and live with my Canadian wife in British Columbia. We

took the plunge today and filed our I-130 petition for Her thru the Vancouver Consulate. It was approved!

Here is our story:

We are employed by a Canadian company doing catering and providing housing for various companies in the oil and gas industry. I had previously been with this company providing civilian services to the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan. When I returned last fall from overseas, we decided to pursue work with our company whereby we could be together.

Our company won contracts in the Western US recently, and they asked us to be part of this project, providing camps to oil companies in Wyoming. This would be a long term employment situation, so I decided to find the best way to get my wife the proper papers to come down to the US after I go there.

We settled on the DCF method, hence our trip to Vancouver US consulate to start the process.

We arrived at the consulate and were searched twice. One thing I would note to all who come there to do the same thing, would be to leave all electronic devices in the car, including cell phones, calculators, etc. They even found my travel alarm in my brief case, and I just tossed it in the garbage, rather than walk all the way back to our parking garage!

Also, these type of petitions are done on a walk in basis between 8 am and noon on Mondays and Fridays only!!

After two thorough searches and metal detectors, we were ushered to the 20th floor of the Consulate and presented to the information window. We showed our paperwork and documents, and were taken to another room to wait our turn. After 30 minutes, we were called to a window, and our petition and documents were inspected again. We were given a slip and asked to go to the cashier window to pay the $190 fee. They take cash (US prefered) or credit card. After paying, we were asked to report back to the first window, and after a couple of minutes, we were taken to another window for another inspection of our documents and asked a few questions about our situation, such as place of birth, our place of residence, and marriages past and present. They did ask that my wife get the long form birth certificate showing Her parents signatures, rather than the pocket size birth certificate, before doing the final interview in Montreal

Then we were sent back to the first window, and told that our petition was approved and will be sent to the Montreal Consulate General. They will send the packets to us for completion, and then my wife will go to Montreal for the interview. They had no idea how long the process would take. Anyone else know??

The staff was extremely courteous and low key in their questioning, despite being very busy due to the previous Monday holiday here in Canada backing things up. (Note they only take walk in petitions on Mondays and on Fridays)

Now I will head to the US to start the new assignment, and my wife will wait until the process is complete.

Thanks to the very helpful tips and shared experiences in this group, and I hope the above will help those about to embark on similar experiences.

Lynnmatic

[Flames9_RN 358]

hasnt been too many DCF experiences on VJ as DCF is fairly new to Canada. I belive the 1 other DCF post I have read took about 6 months from start to finish. Best of luck

[meauxna 15]

"They had no idea how long the process would take. Anyone else know?? "

It doesn't seem like it. You will be held up by whatever delay MTL is experiencing at the moment. Keep your eye on the Canada forum here, and the CR/IR people there; they get the same type of visa appointment as your wife will. I would count on it being a few months yet.

laura428 is closest to you timelinewise; she just posted the same day as you did: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15375

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12235

They DCF'd started in Nov and ended in Apr. They were the first ( I think)from Canada on VJ to post about their DCF experience.

[knowbody 0]

I am a US Citizen (and dual Canadian Citizen) and live with my Canadian wife in British Columbia. We

took the plunge today and filed our I-130 petition for Her thru the Vancouver Consulate. It was approved!

Here is our story:

We are employed by a Canadian company doing catering and providing housing for various companies in the oil and gas industry. I had previously been with this company providing civilian services to the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan. When I returned last fall from overseas, we decided to pursue work with our company whereby we could be together.

Our company won contracts in the Western US recently, and they asked us to be part of this project, providing camps to oil companies in Wyoming. This would be a long term employment situation, so I decided to find the best way to get my wife the proper papers to come down to the US after I go there.

We settled on the DCF method, hence our trip to Vancouver US consulate to start the process.

We arrived at the consulate and were searched twice. One thing I would note to all who come there to do the same thing, would be to leave all electronic devices in the car, including cell phones, calculators, etc. They even found my travel alarm in my brief case, and I just tossed it in the garbage, rather than walk all the way back to our parking garage!

Also, these type of petitions are done on a walk in basis between 8 am and noon on Mondays and Fridays only!!

After two thorough searches and metal detectors, we were ushered to the 20th floor of the Consulate and presented to the information window. We showed our paperwork and documents, and were taken to another room to wait our turn. After 30 minutes, we were called to a window, and our petition and documents were inspected again. We were given a slip and asked to go to the cashier window to pay the $190 fee. They take cash (US prefered) or credit card. After paying, we were asked to report back to the first window, and after a couple of minutes, we were taken to another window for another inspection of our documents and asked a few questions about our situation, such as place of birth, our place of residence, and marriages past and present. They did ask that my wife get the long form birth certificate showing Her parents signatures, rather than the pocket size birth certificate, before doing the final interview in Montreal

Then we were sent back to the first window, and told that our petition was approved and will be sent to the Montreal Consulate General. They will send the packets to us for completion, and then my wife will go to Montreal for the interview. They had no idea how long the process would take. Anyone else know??

The staff was extremely courteous and low key in their questioning, despite being very busy due to the previous Monday holiday here in Canada backing things up. (Note they only take walk in petitions on Mondays and on Fridays)

Now I will head to the US to start the new assignment, and my wife will wait until the process is complete.

Thanks to the very helpful tips and shared experiences in this group, and I hope the above will help those about to embark on similar experiences.

Lynnmatic

I went into the Calgary consulate today to ask a few questions about the I-130. They said the current processing time was 6-8 months in Montreal.

Now I have a question for you. On the I-130, what did you put down for the "Address in the United States where your relative intends to live" question (18)? I'm struggling with this one as I just accepted a job in Washington state and know the city I'll be living in, but definitely not the full address yet.

[meauxna 15]

I went into the Calgary consulate today to ask a few questions about the I-130. They said the current processing time was 6-8 months in Montreal.

Now I have a question for you. On the I-130, what did you put down for the "Address in the United States where your relative intends to live" question (18)? I'm struggling with this one as I just accepted a job in Washington state and know the city I'll be living in, but definitely not the full address yet.

It should be OK to just put the city + state for now. You'll have lots more opportunities to narrow it all down later on!

I see many forms in your future......

[laura428 0]

"They had no idea how long the process would take. Anyone else know?? "

It doesn't seem like it. You will be held up by whatever delay MTL is experiencing at the moment. Keep your eye on the Canada forum here, and the CR/IR people there; they get the same type of visa appointment as your wife will. I would count on it being a few months yet.

laura428 is closest to you timelinewise; she just posted the same day as you did: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15375

Yep, we're in the middle of it now. They received our Packet 3 on April 20th, but still no idea when we'll get the interview. We'd originally planned on making our move in October (which would make for a seven month process altogether), and are still hoping for that, but we'll see.

Good luck, neighbor!