ZansGirl and the Consulate

[ZansGirl 0]

My interview was February 5th, and my mother and I arrived the night before. Took a quick walk after dinner to get our bearings so I knew how long it would take to walk in the morning.

Friday morning, we arrived at the Consulate around 6:30, and one couple was ahead..She was from Toronto and he was from California. My mom left to warm up about 7 and I was quite surprised that it was almost 7:30 before the line really started forming. A guard opened the door shortly asfter 7:30 and one at a time he checked our letters and passports and sent us to security. Just a note..when they say,­`empty your pockets of everything` they mean everything, and are a little peeved if you don`t. I made it through security first, got my B and headed down the stairs to the waiting room. The A couple followed then a lady who was being petioned as the parent of a USC was letter C.. if there were any other letters, they never came in that lot. The guard came out, opened the elevator and off we went.

The view from the waiting room is stunning and it was a beautiful clear day...so you really could see all of Montreal. About 8 couple A was called to a room and they were back within a few short minutes. I was called next to Window 9 where a pleasent gentleman greeted me and the first thing he said was ­"did you freeze this morning?" He asked for my letter, Expresspost and medical envelope. He then proceeded to hand me some paperwork to confirm my name and birthdate, and then began going over all the paperwork, which looked like a big stack! He asked how we met and I answered World of Warcraft,..he then spent 3 or 4 minutes chatting about the game and what level of toons I had, how long we played...I had to grin... He asked me my name, hubbies name, where I lived, where hubby lived... when was my divorce, when was his, when did he propose, when did we get married....what does he do, where does he live..etc. He kept making notes and cicling things on the forms and then after 10 or 15 minutes or so he told me he needed to work on my file, go have a seat and he would call me back for finger printing. He was very personable and made me feel very comfortable. Around 8:30 I was called back and fingerprinted and then told to take a seat again. By now the room was quite full, but it seemed like everyone else except the 3 of us were other Visa`s as most went to the cashier and had numbers like A2, B3,C1 and D5...they mostly went to the windows lining the main waiting room and for awhile "A" couple and I watched as person after person began leaving on the elevator, wondering when we would be called.

Finally around 9 "A" couple was called to room 8 and about 10 minutes later, out they came with smiles and thumbs up. Unknown to me, they met my mom out on the street and told her, they had just finished so I should be out any minute. YA NO......

By 9:30 I was getting worried as other people were called to room 8 and then exited via the elevator, but I was still waiting.... I was sure there was something wrong..or they forgot about me..or or or

Finally 10:20 I was called to Room 7 where a very nice woman was waiting (in fact..she was about to go call me again, because after waiting outside from 6:30 to 7:30 and then waiting almost 3 hours inside, I finally broke down and headed for the washroom, which is where I was when lady "C" came in and said "quick they just called you!!!") She asked me to raise my right hand and swear thet the information given in my application and given by me today was the truth. Then the questions..

1) How did you meet? on line playing World of Warcraft (small grin)

2) Where did you fist meet? He came to see me in Victoria in the summer of 06

3) Where did we get married? Lakewood Washington

4) Have you ever had denials crossing the border? No..other than asking me for an A number, which I don`t have.

5) Have you lived anywhere else other than Canada since the age of 16. Nope

Thenshe says...." Hmm...there is one other thing..." and starts rifling through my paperwork. She pulls out this paper and smiles and says "Welcome to the United States of America!!" In true form, I BURST into tears and slap my hand over my mouth! "Oh my goodness", she said, "I do hope those are tears of joy!!!" I assured her they most definatly was and thanked her very much! She wished me well, and told me my Visa and Passport would be mailed out and I should get it next week, but she really cannot promise any less than 2 weeks.

All in all...other than the pounding in my cheast waiting to be called, Montreal was great! And one other thing that my mom and I noticed...people in Montreal are the most friendliest and helpful people we have met! Good luck to all those yet to come!!!

Edited February 5, 2010 by ZansGirl

[bowflex 0]

Big huge congrats to you

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Glad everything went so well ZansGirl! Well, aside from the wait... But it sounds like it was all worth it in the end!

[Peachey 10]

Congrats

The people that went to the cashier window probably had the same type of visa, they only hand a certain number of letters out at the door. I guess a gift for those who arrived first

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations! Great review

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Aww...that's great...congratulations

[Sprailenes 47]

Congratulations!

[lgg 2]

That's great, Zans! So awesome, eh? Big big congrats to you!

Yay!

LGG

[chochamu 0]

congrats on the approval!!!

[Darnell 8,479]

hey - thats great ! are you and yer mom having a special meal to celebrate ?

[TimandJoyce 1]

Wonderful ZansGirl!!! I love the review! Makes me wish I had gone to Montreal!! Oh well, someday we'll tour it.

Congrats on your approval!!!

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Congrats!

[MrsCat 6]

I like how she surprised you with the welcome to the USA. Congrats.

[darkchilde794 5]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Safe POE and welcome!

[Married2009 32]

Grats! Doesn't it figure the one time you leave the room is when they will call you?