K-3 Visa in Hand!!!

[Flames9_RN 358]

I'm sure they could,but the chances of that would be extremely slim under normal conditions!! Now if today you go out and kill someone, chances are u would be denied,lol

Hard to say if u can blame it on Canada post, Mtl may not mail the visa the next day, they may be just mailing visa's a few times a week.

Yes, this a good point, flames. Although my Visa was approved on the 19th (Monday), it actually says that it was issued on the 22nd (Thursday), so I'll bet it didn't go out until either Thursday or Friday which is why it didn't arrive until today. Had I remembered to write down the XpressPost tracking number, I would have had a much better weekend.

Man, am I gonna sleep well tonight!

I just checked my tracking number and it looks like they mailed it out Friday AM....I am anxiously waiting at home for the delivery!! I had my interview last Wednesday. If everything's OK with the visa I will be crossing at Detroit or Sarnia (probably Sarnia) this weekend! Wahoo!

Question: can the CBP guys at POE still deny you entry even though you have your K1? I am worried that they'll find a reason to send me back...I might just be scared still from all of the time's I've crossed and been interrogated!!

[EmilyRugBurn 0]

Question: can the CBP guys at POE still deny you entry even though you have your K1? I am worried that they'll find a reason to send me back...I might just be scared still from all of the time's I've crossed and been interrogated!!

I'm sure they could,but the chances of that would be extremely slim under normal conditions!! Now if today you go out and kill someone, chances are u would be denied,lol

And just don't label any of your boxes "Bongs and Pirated Software". That might get you into trouble.

[Our Mao 0]

Congratulations!!!!

[Jasman0717 9]

Congratulations

[kimmbo 0]

Emily congrats! so nice to read of your quick and easy interview in Montreal...

Did you drive from Toronto? or fly? We plan to drive when the time comes, if you drove did you get the directions from MapQuest? Once you were in Montreal was it easy to find your way around and to the hotel? My husband and I are notorious for getting lost..LOL

Kimmbo

[Jashley820 0]

Emily congrats! so nice to read of your quick and easy interview in Montreal...

Did you drive from Toronto? or fly? We plan to drive when the time comes, if you drove did you get the directions from MapQuest? Once you were in Montreal was it easy to find your way around and to the hotel? My husband and I are notorious for getting lost..LOL

Kimmbo

We drove and it wasn't bad at all...I think it took us about 5 1/2 hours from Mississauga.

Mapquest TOTALLY sent us to the wrong place! I had printed out a general map of downtown Montreal so I was able to get us to the Hotel. I stayed at the Hyatt using Hotwire "4-star" option...it was $73/night USD and totally worth it. It was less than a 5 minute walk to the Consulate. I could give you directions if you want to both the Hyatt and the Consulate. Let me know!!

[mozplay 29]

Emily congrats! so nice to read of your quick and easy interview in Montreal...

Did you drive from Toronto? or fly? We plan to drive when the time comes, if you drove did you get the directions from MapQuest? Once you were in Montreal was it easy to find your way around and to the hotel? My husband and I are notorious for getting lost..LOL

Kimmbo

We drove and it was really easy. The 401 simply becomes other highways to follow once you are in Quebec. We had no problems at all finding the hotel and the embassy. We stayed at the one across the street.

Monique

[EmilyRugBurn 0]

Emily congrats! so nice to read of your quick and easy interview in Montreal...

Did you drive from Toronto? or fly? We plan to drive when the time comes, if you drove did you get the directions from MapQuest? Once you were in Montreal was it easy to find your way around and to the hotel? My husband and I are notorious for getting lost..LOL

Kimmbo

Yup, we (rented a car and) drove. Took us about 5 hours + 15 min. as well. Very easy drive via the 401. We stayed at Hôtel La Tour Centre-Ville which was, literally, across the street from the consulate. ($74/per night from expedia.ca, plus $18 for underground, overnight parking.) As others have mentioned, it's only a 2.5 star hotel, but our room was clean and quite large (had a kitchen, bathroom - shower and tub -, sitting area, table & chairs, queen-size bed and indoor pool on the top floor) and, since I didn't want to have to drive the morning of the interview and I didn't trust Hotwire to pick a hotel for me, it was the best option for us.

Our directions from MapQuest were actually very accurate, although, the hotel is super close to the highway so we didn't have to do much downtown driving/navigating (which, the little that I did do, I found moderately confusing; not the roads, per se, but the location of the street signs and traffic lights -- I didn't know where to look! And also, keep in mind, no right turns on red lights!)

Good luck!!

[misa 2]

Yes, the crazy packing has already begun! I own a house so I'll be moving some (large-ish) furniture so it's not like I can just pack up a car and go. (Blech!)

We'll be crossing at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge. Hopefully sometime in May, but I have to sell my house before activating the Visa (and before hubby and I can buy a new house in upstate NY), so I'm thinking the first week of June at the very latest.

As soon as the house is sold, I'm going to cross and activate the Visa. During that week-long trip, we'll buy a house there (we have an agent looking for us), and then we'll come back here to move all my stuff to the new house. It sounds pretty stressful and hectic, but I truly believe the hard part is over. (Until I begin AOS, that is!)

Did you figure out if you're using Uhaul to move the stuff yourself or a moving company?

Good luck with the house selling and packing and moving! I ended up leaving all my furniture behind except my expensive Queen mattress that I bought last year. I purged like crazy! My cube with my stuff in it should arrive sometime tomorrow.

For now, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you're legally allowed to be reunited with your husband! Seems almost surreal, eh?

[EmilyRugBurn 0]

Good luck with the house selling and packing and moving! I ended up leaving all my furniture behind except my expensive Queen mattress that I bought last year. I purged like crazy! My cube with my stuff in it should arrive sometime tomorrow.

For now, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you're legally allowed to be reunited with your husband! Seems almost surreal, eh?

I think I read about the Cube thing on another thread. Basically, you pack that yourself, right? Because I'm moving some furniture (I think...) I'll probably need to hire movers just so they can carry heavy stuff up & down stairs (I'm not exactly a She-Woman!). But you've got me re-thinking this cube thing; if I can sell all my furniture, then maybe it's for me... Is there a website you can post?

So basically, you cross the border and your stuff follows you? They don't need you at the border when your stuff comes in? Interesting...

[misa 2]

I went with ABF Upack (http://www.upack.com). They offer "relocubes" that you stuff full and partial trailers. You may want a partial trailer though and you can hire people locally to move it into the trailer if that works out cheaper.

I think you need to cross first before your stuff can follow since there is a spot on the customs form asking when the "importer" (that's me) crossed the border and where.

All ABF needed from me was:

- photocopy of visa

- photocopy of passport

- photocopy of birth certificate

- filled out Customs Form 3299 (U.S.) - it's a little confusing but if you need help let me know, I had the driver go over it with me

You can request a free online quote. The cubes look deceivingly small when you first see them but they fit a lot of stuff... 1 cube fits enough stuff for say a studio/bachelor apartment easily. So you may need 2 cubes if you are selling your furniture. The cube option was better for me since in Toronto I lived on a weird street where there was no parking anywhere so they put the cube in front of my house (the house was recessed from the sidewalk). The cubes are not measured by weight but there is a limit on how much weight you can put in it (something really huge though, can't remember). The partial trailers are measured by square foot that you take up.

I put several large paintings in there (the largest being 7 foot by 4 foot), a queen sized mattress, about 10 heavy file boxes full of books and cds, a tv, tv stand, 7 large rubbermaid containers full of clothes, kitchenware, miscellaneous and there was still room for more stuff so we just padded the empty spaces with blankets and pillows. I didn't move any other furniture (too much of a pain and too expensive!).

One cube from Toronto to Richmond, VA cost me over $1,100 USD.

Edited March 27, 2007 by misa

[EmilyRugBurn 0]

I went with ABF Upack (http://www.upack.com). They offer "relocubes" that you stuff full and partial trailers. You may want a partial trailer though and you can hire people locally to move it into the trailer if that works out cheaper.

Thanks so much for this, misa! It sounds like you've had a good experience with them so I'll definitely see if they're for me.

And I just may enlist your help with that form...

[misa 2]

So far so good! And if anything is smashed on arrival, it'll be my own fault for not packing it properly. I'll resurrect the Upack thread when I get my stuff and probably copy and paste my post from here to there as well.

[kimmbo 0]

Thanks for the replies on driving to Montreal... We usually use MapQuest but once when we went to a bed and breakfast near Barrie and it took us in a completely wrong direction...had to call the owners of the B&B to tell them where we were and they said "how did you end up out there?"...LOL

we will be driving from Brampton... and most likely staying at the Center Ville across from the Consulate..

[Jashley820 0]

Good luck with the house selling and packing and moving! I ended up leaving all my furniture behind except my expensive Queen mattress that I bought last year. I purged like crazy! My cube with my stuff in it should arrive sometime tomorrow.

For now, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you're legally allowed to be reunited with your husband! Seems almost surreal, eh?

I think I read about the Cube thing on another thread. Basically, you pack that yourself, right? Because I'm moving some furniture (I think...) I'll probably need to hire movers just so they can carry heavy stuff up & down stairs (I'm not exactly a She-Woman!). But you've got me re-thinking this cube thing; if I can sell all my furniture, then maybe it's for me... Is there a website you can post?

So basically, you cross the border and your stuff follows you? They don't need you at the border when your stuff comes in? Interesting...

Try posting your stuff on Craigslist....really great website....go to http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/ca and choose the city closest to where you are!