E3 in Canada - third country national appt wait times?

[drvamp 0]

Hi all.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has any inside info on the current wait times for a visa appointment in Canada as a third country national. I'm applying for my second E3 visa with the same company as my current one, and it'd be much simpler to go to Canada than all the way back to Australia to get the next visa. 

 

I know that I can see general appointment wait times at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html, but I've been told that the ACTUAL wait times for third country nationals are much different. However, it seems I can't find what the actual wait times are until after I fill out the DS-160 specifying a precise consulate and then pay the application fee. Obviously, I'd rather not waste a few hundred on the fee to find out that there's nothing soon enough and have to pay it again for an Australian application.

 

Has anyone recently applied in Canada as a third country national and or has had experience with the wait times? Ideally I'd go to Toronto or Vancouver.

 

Thank you!

[geowrian 22,337]

I'm not aware of third country nationals waiting any longer for the interview. The longer wait, if any, is usually due to AP after the interview while they verify information and/or do security checks that they cannot do locally.

[Boiler 45,486]

Second the AP comment that is the big variable, any reason yours might take longer?

[drvamp 0]

Thanks for your responses!

 

I don't think it's related to additional processing. As this blog post detailing another E3 applicant's experiences notes, there seem to be different wait-times if you're not a national of the country you're applying: https://geoffmcqueen.com/2015/07/11/e3-visa-renewal-in-vancouver/.

 

This law firm also posted last summer about a three-month wait time specifically for third country national applicants: http://lhscimmigration.com/immigration-news/news/u-s-consulates-in-canada-have-no-availability-for-third-country-national-i-e-non-canadian-u-s-visa-applications-this-summer/.

 

These posts lead me to believe that there may be a significant difference in wait times when I go to actually book the appointment, because I am a third country national. And based on the instructions at https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv/information/niv, it seems the only way to book the appointment is after paying the visa fee. 

 

 

[kdownes 0]

I know it's been a while since this post but just thought i'd check to see what you ended up doing drvamp?

We are going through the same process and trying to work out what to do...avoiding the trip back to aus would be great, love to her what you ended up doing.

 

thanks