Alberta Canadian Beneficiary - Is an interview in Montreal, Quebec normal?

[wittyamber 7]

I am the petitioner from Texas and my husband of 4 years resides in Alberta, Canada.

I just received our NVC Welcome Letter (ACL) this week and it states that the case visa interview will be schedule in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I find this odd, because I distinctly remember the I-130 making it clear that Quebec applicants use different forms, so I assumed they were separate from the rest of Canadian applicants.

Anyone have the same thing happen? I am just concerned that I am going somewhere french and we know zilch about the French language. Thanks all.

[Ontarkie 14,221]

Interview will be in Montreal, that is the only place that does CR1/IR1 visas.

It's not that bad though. Montreal gets a lot of tourist you will be fine.

[wittyamber 7]

Relief. I got so bugged eyed when I read it, that I thought maybe it could of been a mistake since there are other embassies. Thank you for clearing the 'why' part of it.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Terminology - there is only one embassy in Canada and that's in Ottawa. You'll interview in the consulate at Montreal.

It is no big deal, most people will approach you in French (hotels, restaurants) and just ask them if they speak English (they all do) and you'll be fine.

Montreal is one of my favourite cities in the world, spend a few days there, enjoy the city

good luck

[Bonnie&Bob 33]

Mine will be in Montreal as well. Don't sweat it. The officers that interview are to only know the french language. They are USA Customs and speak perfect English. People in Montreal can all speak English. It is Quebec that chose to only speak french. Montreal loves your money and will speak what ever you want. They are nice people.

[NikLR 13,227]

Montreal is in Quebec. Outside of downtown you'd likely find people are less apt to speak English but in the downtown area of Montreal, it's quite touristy so English is quite often spoken. You may have some issues with restaurants and menus however, but you can always inquire with the waitstaff.

Mine will be in Montreal as well. Don't sweat it. The officers that interview are to only know the french language. They are USA Customs and speak perfect English. People in Montreal can all speak English. It is Quebec that chose to only speak french. Montreal loves your money and will speak what ever you want. They are nice people.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Perhaps she meant Quebec City? But even there I've encountered very nice people with nearly perfect English. Yes, in some of the more rural areas they are less likely to want practice their English but Montreal is not one of them

good luck

[Transborderwife 4,666]

My sister and her husband survived 4 years of university living in Montreal with little to no French. Most of the time you try and speak to them in French, they'll respond back to you in English. My mother grew up in Terrebon Heights, Quebec and the main spoken language was English. Not to worry.

[Bonnie&Bob 33]

Yes I did mean Quebec City. Montreal is so much nicer. Don't forget your smoked meat sandwich at the deli. They are to die for...yum.

[NikLR 13,227]

BTW I was also from Alberta. Grew up in BC tho!

[BennoG 0]

We had the same thought when our paperwork came. I grew up in Alberta and hadn't been to Montreal and unfortunately had some built in biases. But my wife and I fell in love with Montreal and if we moved back to Canada that's likely where we'd live. The smoked meat sandwich mentioned above is a must as is the poutine. I'm guessing that the rules are different for Quebec residents for some reason - kind of odd. The one downer is that if you have to do a physical exam it takes 2 or 3 days for them to get the results back and the only doctors authorized to do it are in Montreal and Vancouver so you kind of have to do it there (or at least that's how it was when we did it 5 years ago). So if you're interview is on a Monday or Tuesday you have to do the exam on a Thursday or Friday and you end up there for almost a week. If I can suggest it though, you're only a couple hours from Ottawa which is also well worth the visit. The Canadian government buildings are beautiful and there's lots to see.

[NikLR 13,227]

You can also get the medical done in Ontario at a few different doctors but the wait times on those are 10 days to 2-3 weeks.

I chose to stay in Montreal for a week. It would have been a little cheaper to fly back and forth twice, but I enjoyed my time there as it was spring. Montreal honestly was never a place I wanted to visit. I knew the city waa beautiful but I'm not much of a city visiting person. So I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy my time there as mini vacay before the move.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Montreal is one of my favorite cities. You'll have a good time. You'll get approached in French, like people said, but if you hesitate at all or your French back is not good, you'll just get English immediately thereafter.

My French was fine in the rest of Quebec and people were patient enough to let me speak it. English is definitely all you'll need in Montreal, though.

Sort of off topic, but I thought French was a de-facto second language taught in Canadian schools?

[NikLR 13,227]

No. Ypu get a choice of French or German most often. Some schools you can learn Japanese or Mandarin too or other languages. But throughout Canada there are french immersion or purely francophone schools.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

No. Ypu get a choice of French or German most often. Some schools you can learn Japanese or Mandarin too or other languages. But throughout Canada there are french immersion or purely francophone schools.

Interesting. I always kind of assumed they were run like my school in NY, where you start French in Kindergarten and you do an hour a day through 12th grade and they you would add other languages on later.