Waiting for our passports from Montreal

[ninjaduck8 0]

My interview was May 19 and the status just changed to Administrative Processing today, which marks 3 weeks. My travel plans aren't until September thank goodness.

[Trenz 52]

My interview was May 19 and the status just changed to Administrative Processing today, which marks 3 weeks. My travel plans aren't until September thank goodness.

At least you have some leeway for your travel time! Just out of curiosity, did your interviewer give you a time frame as to when your passport/visa would be sent to you? If so, what was that time frame?

[ninjaduck8 0]

At least you have some leeway for your travel time! Just out of curiosity, did your interviewer give you a time frame as to when your passport/visa would be sent to you? If so, what was that time frame?

He told me I would get an email in two week saying it was ready to pick up at the loomis branch. Seems to be the standard response.

[Mshp 0]

We are still waiting for answer and CEAC website shows updated from the day they sent me the email as answer to my email, that's it! It seems they are doing nothing about our case! It is more than 5 weeks from the interview day.

I started the case as CR-1 and it becames IR-1, two months before the interview date. I am thinking to contact my representative soon, It seems the only option for us in this phase!

Hope we all recieve our visa soon.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Mshp

[Trenz 52]

We are still waiting for answer and CEAC website shows updated from the day they sent me the email as answer to my email, that's it! It seems they are doing nothing about our case! It is more than 5 weeks from the interview day.

I started the case as CR-1 and it becames IR-1, two months before the interview date. I am thinking to contact my representative soon, It seems the only option for us in this phase!

Hope we all recieve our visa soon.

That is understandable. To be honest, I am at around the 4 week mark since my interview and my fiancé and I just yesterday sent an email to our representative. As to whether or not this will help, I am unsure, but it is literally the only course of action we have.

My only advice is to first find your representative's website and scour it looking for a "privacy release" form which you will have to sign and scan/fax back to them. It essentially gives them permission to inquire about your issue. I would say do not wait, get that contact letter/email in as soon as possible. If you were given the standard "2 weeks from today" line from your interviewer then you are surely owed a response or investigation into why this hasn't happened.

[YVRDualCouple 5]

That is understandable. To be honest, I am at around the 4 week mark since my interview and my fiancé and I just yesterday sent an email to our representative. As to whether or not this will help, I am unsure, but it is literally the only course of action we have.

My only advice is to first find your representative's website and scour it looking for a "privacy release" form which you will have to sign and scan/fax back to them. It essentially gives them permission to inquire about your issue. I would say do not wait, get that contact letter/email in as soon as possible. If you were given the standard "2 weeks from today" line from your interviewer then you are surely owed a response or investigation into why this hasn't happened.

This whole thing is beyond acceptable. It appears there are now at least THREE of us on this thread who are utilizing the services of elected officials to try and unblock the Montreal consulate. It doesn't make sense that this is happening--that the consular officials are so blatantly not delivering on their promises.

Our congresswoman's (Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii) office confirmed that they have sent a request to the appropriate place, and will let us know what they hear back. I should think that the minute an email hits Montreal with any of our MTL numbers and a congressional request, our file should get opened and dealt with. We shall see.

We are approaching EIGHT WEEKS since our interview. Really our ONLY course of action at this point is our the help of our member of congress. If, god forbid, this drags into the 10+ week point for any of us, perhaps we should try to get our respective congressional offices working together to figure out what's causing a division of the State Department to make promises they don't keep, and effect a solution on a larger scale. I'm sure Montreal isn't the only consulate where such things are happening.

This is all so far below the radar of the average American citizen, and it's amazing to see Americans' faces when we tell them what's going on. "But you and your (Canadian) husband are such good people; America should feel lucky to have you," they say. Yup. They're right.

Thoughts?

[Trenz 52]

This whole thing is beyond acceptable. It appears there are now at least THREE of us on this thread who are utilizing the services of elected officials to try and unblock the Montreal consulate. It doesn't make sense that this is happening--that the consular officials are so blatantly not delivering on their promises.

Our congresswoman's (Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii) office confirmed that they have sent a request to the appropriate place, and will let us know what they hear back. I should think that the minute an email hits Montreal with any of our MTL numbers and a congressional request, our file should get opened and dealt with. We shall see.

We are approaching EIGHT WEEKS since our interview. Really our ONLY course of action at this point is our the help of our member of congress. If, god forbid, this drags into the 10+ week point for any of us, perhaps we should try to get our respective congressional offices working together to figure out what's causing a division of the State Department to make promises they don't keep, and effect a solution on a larger scale. I'm sure Montreal isn't the only consulate where such things are happening.

This is all so far below the radar of the average American citizen, and it's amazing to see Americans' faces when we tell them what's going on. "But you and your (Canadian) husband are such good people; America should feel lucky to have you," they say. Yup. They're right.

Thoughts?

Pretty much verbatim as I would say it!

I cannot, for the life of me, understand how some of these applications are being delayed upwards of 8 weeks. This is completely unacceptable for you or anyone else over that 2 week time frame for that matter. Do these people taking "care" of our applications not understand that life is slowly but surely passing us by with every day? That employment opportunities are going by the wayside? That we are missing out on experiences and opportunities that will never return due to this wait?

I get the exact same puzzled looks and questions from my American friends I explain this situation to as well. They cannot even understand what the hold up is after I explain everything.

I can only imagine how crestfallen some other new members are on here when I explain to them that a two week turn around is now the exception, no longer the rule.

Just out of idle curiosity, as I just contacted my (soon-to-be) representative, how long did it take from the point of sending in your privacy release and letter explaining the situation to getting your reply that they sent a request in to the appropriate office?

P.S. Once all of this is sorted out for myself and my life can finally get on track, I am going to make it a point to donate my time and resources for helping others who fall into this type of situation with immigration.

[Mshp 0]

Thanks for the advice.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Mshp

[Danielle and Jake 24]

I really feel for all of you going through this, I can only literally hope things get better by the end of the month, but I've learned with this process it's probably best to expect the worst at this point.

I just have a question and I don't want it to come across as unsympathetic or anything, but, would everybody here waiting over two weeks for their passport say they are the majority of those interviewed in the last month or are they the minority, and that their situation is typically unusual? I guess it really doesn't matter but I'm just curious

Hope that question makes sense lol

Edited June 10, 2015 by Danielle and Jake

[Trenz 52]

I really feel for all of you going through this, I can only literally hope things get better by the end of the month, but I've learned with this process it's probably best to expect the worst at this point.

I just have a question and I don't want it to come across as unsympathetic or anything, but, would everybody here waiting over two weeks for their passport say they are the majority of those interviewed in the last month or are they the minority, and that their situation is typically unusual? I guess it really doesn't matter but I'm just curious

Hope that question makes sense lol

I was ready to answer you that from March-May there seems to be a delay, but upon reading a bit further from other recent posts I feel unsure if I can even make that claim anymore. For instance, my interview was May 14th and my status only entered the "Administrative Processing" stage on June 3, while someone else had their interview May 22 and had their status changed to "Issued" on June 3.

Believe me the sick irony of that for me is almost palpable. How is it possible with a flawless interview and documentation package that I am being bypassed with a later interview date than me? Your guess is as good as mine.

I can sense the anxiousness you are experiencing at the moment and believe me, I am right there with you. I recall you saying you wished to leave by July 12th, correct? It is entirely possible you may be one of the lucky ones that does not experience a severe delay that I am right now but then again you may be one of the unlucky ones that do.

My advice is don't gamble with this, as bad as it is to hear. At this point it literally seems as though this is just an elaborate coin toss for the speed of your processing. At the end of the day that gamble is entirely up to you, so do not let anyone dissuade you from what you pick after you've thought it through and read up on it.

[Danielle and Jake 24]

I was ready to answer you that from March-May there seems to be a delay, but upon reading a bit further from other recent posts I feel unsure if I can even make that claim anymore. For instance, my interview was May 14th and my status only entered the "Administrative Processing" stage on June 3, while someone else had their interview May 22 and had their status changed to "Issued" on June 3.

Believe me the sick irony of that for me is almost palpable. How is it possible with a flawless interview and documentation package that I am being bypassed with a later interview date than me? Your guess is as good as mine.

I can sense the anxiousness you are experiencing at the moment and believe me, I am right there with you. I recall you saying you wished to leave by July 12th, correct? It is entirely possible you may be one of the lucky ones that does not experience a severe delay that I am right now but then again you may be one of the unlucky ones that do.

My advice is don't gamble with this, as bad as it is to hear. At this point it literally seems as though this is just an elaborate coin toss for the speed of your processing. At the end of the day that gamble is entirely up to you, so do not let anyone dissuade you from what you pick after you've thought it through and read up on it.

It's unbelievable that the outcome literally changes from one day to the next, so it's almost impossible to really know what is going on until it eventually happens. It's so unfair to everybody who have been waiting plus two weeks for their ticket in, just really is the final blow of this exhausting process.

I've never been so stressed and overwhelmed about anything in my life, at this point we're keeping our July 12th moving plans, but also fabricated a "worst comes to worst" plan as well.

I just feel like I won't be getting any decent sleep until I have the passport in my hand.

[Trenz 52]

It's unbelievable that the outcome literally changes from one day to the next, so it's almost impossible to really know what is going on until it eventually happens. It's so unfair to everybody who have been waiting plus two weeks for their ticket in, just really is the final blow of this exhausting process.

I've never been so stressed and overwhelmed about anything in my life, at this point we're keeping our July 12th moving plans, but also fabricated a "worst comes to worst" plan as well.

I just feel like I won't be getting any decent sleep until I have the passport in my hand.

It is indeed one of the more stressful things I have gone through in my life, that is for sure. If you and your partner have made up your minds that July 12th is Plan A, more power to you! Do not let me nor anyone else change what you believe is best. At the end of the day you must make your own decisions.

I would suggest looking at this as a positive really. Barring any setbacks you at least have your moving date already in mind. Think of that as a positive rather than having it completely unknown. I would only suggest having a solid Plan B in place so you aren't scrambling come July 12th if things haven't worked out as planned. If possible, avoid setting down any significant amounts of money that you otherwise would not be able to absorb a loss on.

And above all...try and put your mind at ease so as to be able to get some sleep. It is difficult and easier said than done, that is for sure. But just think of how much better you will feel without those knots in your stomach or stress weighing on your mind. This is just a situation where it is out of your hands and you cannot change the path it will go on. Just have to find that zen place in your mind, even if only to escape it for a few hours per day.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

It strikes me that anyone going forward from now should NOT make any solid moving or travel plans in light of the recent CR1/IR1 experiences through Montreal. Lawyers definitely cannot expedite, congress people don't seem to be of much help other than being able to make inquiries. I am sorry though that so many seem to be stuck.

[Trenz 52]

It strikes me that anyone going forward from now should NOT make any solid moving or travel plans in light of the recent CR1/IR1 experiences through Montreal. Lawyers definitely cannot expedite, congress people don't seem to be of much help other than being able to make inquiries. I am sorry though that so many seem to be stuck.

I agree that the majority of people should not make travel plans if it is avoidable; however I understand some people are wishing to take that gamble, which I think is their personal choice.

I honestly have no idea what is going on with the processing at Montreal post-interview. Whether it is CR1/IR1 or K1, random people are seemingly slowed right down, myself being one of them.

I just absolutely detest the fact that they are making promises of 2 weeks or less to have your visa in hand while some people have waited 4x that amount. It would still be a horrible wait but a tolerable pill to swallow if interviewers just came right out and said: "We have absolutely no idea when this will be completed. It may be under a week all the way up to months on end."

It is truly sad that people have to request that their petitioners contact their political representatives just to get the wheels moving as they should be in the first place. My fiancé and I just contacted our representative only yesterday. As to what the outcome will be is anyone's guess. I have seen some on here claim that after making contact their visa magically was issued 2 days later after months of waiting while others have said absolutely nothing comes of it.

Gah. The uncertainty at all points of this process is just absolutely killer.

[YVRDualCouple 5]

I will repeat it again and again: those of you who about to go to Montreal for your interview, ASK QUESTIONS. Come back more enlightened about what may be ahead for you than folks like us who believed the officer when she said, "we will be issuing your visa," and told us to watch for a loomis number in 7-10 days.

ASK ASK ASK. You have nothing to lose by politely inquiring about what may happen next.

Thank me later.