DCF in Canada - YES, it *IS* possible!

[Lemonslice 4,841]

1 hour ago, PoodleLove said:

I have emailed Montreal twice (not about DCFs) and they always took about 48 hours to email back. They do not seem to read emails very well so it seems like 1 question at a time is what works...

 

I am just saying that to also give an additional perspective on how timely they answer to emails.

I think they're known to be slow to open mail items. Anything paper. 

[skyzee 182]

Update: After a bit and back and forth, and I swear whoever answers those emails in Montreal are bots, we finally heard back today from USCIS Mexico that the DCF request was denied, as expected, only for the reason that we had a pending I-130 petition in place. They encouraged us to write to the USCIS National Customer Service Center with the same information to see if we can get it expedited that way. I'm skeptical as USCIS doesn't list the job thing as an expedite criteria, but will give it a go anyways.

 

Extremely frustrating, I'm almost certain it would have been approved otherwise back in June when this situation first came up. Anyways, just a heads up for any future Canadian / US couples who might be looking into a method for DCF and are caught in this situation with a US job offer in hand, that it is definitely worth a try to e-mail Montreal consulate first to see if DCF can be filed before filing the I-130.

[acidrain 325]

Thanks for the update @skyzee and sorry your DCF application was denied.

 

I thought you could technically have 2 - i130's pending (correct me if I'm wrong). When reading the UK consulate thread I thought the consulate could start another i130 and the petitioner would have to withdraw the second i130 from USCIS.

 

Good luck on your expedite with USCIS. I know the situation is difficult. We are almost at the 1 year mark and I am starting to get moody as we are still waiting for an interview appointment.

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, acidrain said:

I thought you could technically have 2 - i130's pending (correct me if I'm wrong). When reading the UK consulate thread I thought the consulate could start another i130 and the petitioner would have to withdraw the second i130 from USCIS.

That is correct as a general rule. You can have 2 concurrent I-130s for an individual, but only 1 approved I-130 at a time (with the same petitioner and beneficiary). Others have filed DCF after having filed in the US...there's a recent case here on VJ where RapidVisa said they couldn't do DCF so they filed in the US. But then they found out that DCF was available and filed that instead.

Edited January 17, 2018 by geowrian

[skyzee 182]

It's all up to whoever is at the other end reading the request, I'm sure. It looks like one person who tried in Canada with similar circumstances with the job situation got their DCF filing request denied at Montreal consulate also given the pending I-130 they had filed with Chicago, yet somehow got it approved in 14 days anyways.

 

Anyways, I've written to the local congressman about this situation now.  I'm convinced that the US immigration process is intended to maximize pain for spouses, and it's definitely not giving me a good first impression of the country before I even have to adjust to living in the US. If my spouse didn't dislike living in Canada so much, I'd be more than happy to give my tax dollars to Canada instead.

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, skyzee said:

I'm convinced that the US immigration process is intended to maximize pain for spouses

What convinced you of this?

[skyzee 182]

8 minutes ago, geowrian said:

What convinced you of this?

Forcing couples to be apart for a year and keep you in the dark for 6+ months after immediately cashing your check? They sure have enough resources on hand for that. I'm already in a really good situation given that both my spouse and I have excellent jobs in our respective countries, and I'm going nuts from being stuck in this. I think to myself, what about those even less fortunate financially and worse, with kids like acidrain? 

 

You can do that, or you can risk immigration fraud by doing AOS if you want to stay together. Or, you can do the IR1 and risk being denied at the border each time your cross for having a pending I-130 in place. Choose your poison. Oh, and let's not forget to hide the updated memo on the main visa site when people are doing their research so that we don't have to deal with you and your unnecessary wants of being together sooner.

 

Take away the K3, and take away DCF, makes sense to me. You play by the rules, and you'll get burned. I had my issues with the Canadian immigration process for my spouse, but at least there was visibility during the entire process through their online portal and it was blazing fast by comparison. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

You have to wait on everything. Even if you get a job at Walmart, it is not like you walk out of the interview and go to a register. Even Wallymart takes time to do background checks. 

 

And immigration is at a much grander scale.

 

Yes it sucks but we all know that government moves slow.

[skyzee 182]

 Well, one more update.

 

We did end up contacting my spouse's local congressman office in St Pete with the same info I provided Montreal and got a very quick response within a couple hours by a real person (imagine that), and that they're sending a congressional request to the Texas USCIS office on our behalf, which then takes 30 days for them to respond to.

 

Goes to show how inefficient USCIS is, but I do give props to Congress for giving us a quick response at least.

[geowrian 22,337]

5 hours ago, skyzee said:

Forcing couples to be apart for a year and keep you in the dark for 6+ months after immediately cashing your check? They sure have enough resources on hand for that. I'm already in a really good situation given that both my spouse and I have excellent jobs in our respective countries, and I'm going nuts from being stuck in this. I think to myself, what about those even less fortunate financially and worse, with kids like acidrain? 

Nobody's forcing couples to be apart. They can be together outside the US while the case processes.

They need to properly vet and process every application. They get hundreds of thousands of I-130s for a spouse every year that need to be reviewed by human eyes. Plus they get even more for children of USCs. There's a huge difference between backlogs and trying to keep spouses apart.

 

I'm not sure how not updating your case for 6+ months means they are trying to keep you apart. I 100% understand the frustration with the wait and slowness. But attributing that to wanting to "maximize pain for spouses" doesn't hold up in my book. That just feels like an overly cynical perspective when a much simpler (and more likely) one exists: bureaucracy, backlogs, and an outdated process. There's a saying that I think applies here: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

5 hours ago, skyzee said:

You can do that, or you can risk immigration fraud by doing AOS if you want to stay together. Or, you can do the IR1 and risk being denied at the border each time your cross for having a pending I-130 in place. Choose your poison. Oh, and let's not forget to hide the updated memo on the main visa site when people are doing their research so that we don't have to deal with you and your unnecessary wants of being together sooner.

Immigration fraud is not a valid option so I won't address those who attempt to do so (in any form...lying at POE, jumping the border, using fake documents, etc.).

Many couples do not even have the opportunity to visit the US because they require a visa, which is virtually impossible for some individuals to get. They would virtually kill to be in the same situation.

 

5 hours ago, skyzee said:

Take away the K3, and take away DCF, makes sense to me. You play by the rules, and you'll get burned. I had my issues with the Canadian immigration process for my spouse, but at least there was visibility during the entire process through their online portal and it was blazing fast by comparison. 

The wait sucks, and it's hard. The system needs improvements. But playing by the rules doesn't get you burned.

 

Again, my question was regarding why you are convinced "that the US immigration process is intended to maximize pain for spouses". The process has all sorts of problems, which I 100% agree on, but I don't see any intent or attempt to try to make it as painful as possible. I see an archaic system, overworked employees, and a massive mountain of papers waiting to be adjudicated. I don't see IOs, COs, or lawmakers getting pleasure out of those delays (again, for spouses...some may have their own opinions on chain migration and such).

[acidrain 325]

I will not be popular for saying so but our attitude might be something only Canadians understand. I realize the system is set up to be fair to everyone no matter where you come from. Canadians see themselves like an extended family member to the US. We share police databases, natural resources, intelligence information, professional sports teams, musicians and box stores. There is an estimated 1 million Americans living in Canada. For a country with 36 million people that's significant. Believe it or not some Americans think Canada is part of the US (like Puerto Rico).

 

When I packed up a U-Haul and headed for the border I did so because I felt entitled to. I am sure many of you think how stupid I was for doing that. We share the largest open border in the entire world. I grew up on a border town and crossed the border drunk in my early 20's. Americans do it all the time as the legal age in Canada to drink is 19. The general treatment on both sides is extremely relaxed. You can visit the US with only one or two questions being asked. I learned it's relaxed until the moment you try to immigrate.

 

This is where the confusion set in for me and those around me. As Canadians we assume we have up to 180 days in the US. There are people called snowbirds who spend 1/2 the year in the US no questions asked. What I found particularly shocking was how unreasonable our consulate is. Why on earth is there only one city that processes immigrant visas in the 2nd largest country? Why is there no DCF option? Canada is also very rough on the domicile issue which forces people like my spouse to separate from his son. Perhaps we get less sympathy because people don't get why we would want to leave Canada. 

 

The amount of money we have invested into this venture has been crippling. I have no idea how other couples manage to pay for everything. Border agents I've spoken to have apologized for the immigration process and say it needs to change. I have been together with my spouse for almost 13 years. I doubt the immigration system will ever change it's approach to low fraud vs high fraud countries or couples who have been together years. We live in a politically correct world. I know our attitude as Canadians comes across we have more of a right to be in the US. It goes back to the fact we don't see ourselves as any different. 

 

This past year has been hard on my marriage. My spouse missed my son's preschool graduation, first day of Kindergarten, 5th birthday among other milestones. Yes, we made a choice to immigrate but why should a IR1 visa take longer than a K1 visa? I know at the end of the process I get a green card but there is irony boyfriends and girlfriends get reunited with their partners sooner (I find the show 90 day fiancé insulting). I was appalled when I learned those who illegally entered the US get to spend the entire process inside the United States if they file a waiver excusing their illegal entry. They just have to fly back for the interview. Canadians aren't known to work the system so it's disheartening to see others succeed at it. I am just adding perspective.

Edited January 18, 2018 by acidrain

[skyzee 182]

Without getting into it since it really does make my blood bubble thinking about it, I respectfully disagree especially with deep insight into another country's immigration process where it was immensely better, faster, and infinitely less painful by comparison. I also don't excuse inefficient and ineffective government agencies and policies. The immigration system for spouses needs an overhaul and there are no excuses for it nor am I going to be convinced of it otherwise. 

 

I completely agree with acidrain especially K1 visa timeline 'slap in the face' and all that bs about intent to immigrate for aos. Sure, aos might work 99.9 percent of the time for Canadians, but like I said, want to follow the rules? Then you're not going to do that and yeah well, too bad for us law abiding citizens. 

[NikLR 13,227]

I know people who have spent 2-3 years trying to immigrate to Canada and eventually give up and move to the USA.  The main difference between our two systems, from the research I did at the time, is Canada allows to immigrant intent.   But outland immigration to Canada is about the same timeframe as the CR1/IR1.

There is no USCIS office in Canada.  That is why DCF unless an extreme emergency isn't possible.  Is that dumb when there are 3 of them in Mexico? Absolutely but it is what it is.  

US spousal immigration used to take several years (like 3-5) which was why the k3 was introduced at the time. Now it takes about a year.  Hubs and I missed our first two anniversaries together due to immigration and then his work.  I missed most major things in my kid's life because of their choice to live with Dad vs Mom.  We ran two completely separate households for our immigration process.  Sure if you have never lived on your own you may not know how to so it, but it is completely doable.  Does visiting every 3 months suck? Yes but its not forever.  It's a year in forever.  Meaningless in the grand scheme of your life; just another notch on the belt or a milestone to overcome.  

Edited January 19, 2018 by NikLR
Tiny phone keyboards are the devil

[skyzee 182]

Inland may have taken that long, but outland, equivalent of IR1, has been fast for a number of years now and you could stay with your spouse while it processes, which was 4-6 months from start to finish for US/CA couples. Both  lawyers we talked to in Canada pushed for inland for the extra money for themselves but thankfully, the Canadian forums strongly advised against that and we went outland and got it done in 4 months. There was always some form of visibility in each step of the process from when it lands on an officer's desk to the background check. Regardless, Canada overhauled their immigration system and it all takes one year tops now with inland/work permit being issued much faster than it used to be. 

 

Like I said, maximizing pain for families. I'm not a government apologist and that kind of story sounds similar to acidrain's situation, which is ridiculous to me to put a family through. Just because it is, doesn't make it acceptable or immune to criticism. 

[geowrian 22,337]

Nobody said the process is immune from criticism. Even many posts on VJ are very critical of it, and rightfully so IMHO. But I would still not attribute it to trying to maximize pain.

The US does have some of the most lenient family-based immigration rules in the western world. A consequence of that is having the massive workload to try to accommodate it. For better or worse, the organization that handles most of the workload (USCIS) is almost entirely self-funded and not equipped to handle that workload in a timely manner.

 

If they wanted to maximize pain, they could be doing far worse. Far, far worse... (anybody remember when it took 3+ years on average for a spouse?)