Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time

[ascb 1]

12 hours ago, vnca said:

Hi,

 

Yes.  Family based interviews  are granted in 2 months where as EB  interviews take longer only in montreal consulate. Many family based cases with september CC date already got interview for December.  Until March and April,  Montreal EB cases were getting interview dates in 90 to 120 days. But Since May it is significantly delayed. So, everyone is getting frustrated and not even updating their information once they get interview date. I used personal messenger to get the interview date from two members who got interview.  

 

What about your case? please update. it will be useful for others.

Thanks for your note. I had already added my case to the spreadsheet and will update it today on the timeline. I am filing under EB3 with CC date at NVC of Oct 11.

[ascb 1]

Online searches appear to indicate that the best way to elicit a response from Montreal consulate is through their facebook page. Should one of us (any volunteers?) perhaps post a question, specifically asking if EB based interviews are really taking 6 months, while family based take half that much. Even if nothing can be done to expedite EB cases, at least a confirmation from the consulate will allow us to plan our time/schedule better.

[vnca 2]

2 minutes ago, ascb said:

Online searches appear to indicate that the best way to elicit a response from Montreal consulate is through their facebook page. Should one of us (any volunteers?) perhaps post a question, specifically asking if EB based interviews are really taking 6 months, while family based take half that much. Even if nothing can be done to expedite EB cases, at least a confirmation from the consulate will allow us to plan our time/schedule better.

good idea

[CanMon 1]

15 hours ago, Shaki said:

This is no good news! What if one's status expire before the interview?

This is ridiculous!!!

Then we can conclude that Consular Processing (CP) is not faster than Adjustment of status (AOS), Montreal in particular as I have no clue about other consulates.

My TN status did expire and I still do not have an interview. At least with CP you can renew TN status, though it is highly recommended to file the I-129 rather than risk doing it at the border.

[AshleyJill 3]

19 minutes ago, CanMon said:

My TN status did expire and I still do not have an interview. At least with CP you can renew TN status, though it is highly recommended to file the I-129 rather than risk doing it at the border.

How are you able to renew TN status while doing CP?  TN is a non-immigrant visa and you are required to prove that you have non-immigrant intent.  USCIS can see that there is an open visa for CP and will typically deny.

[LoveCalifornia 3]

Hi everyone, I am kind of new here currently waiting for my NIW approval at TSC for the past 5 months. Does anyone know once that is approved how long does the rest of process take if I plan to apply for my visa at Montreal Consulate? I know 5 months into the process is way too early but I am planning to renew my contract at work and lease a place so I have got to have a proper plan. Appreciate it.

[AshleyJill 3]

44 minutes ago, GottaLoveCalif said:

Hi everyone, I am kind of new here currently waiting for my NIW approval at TSC for the past 5 months. Does anyone know once that is approved how long does the rest of process take if I plan to apply for my visa at Montreal Consulate? I know 5 months into the process is way too early but I am planning to renew my contract at work and lease a place so I have got to have a proper plan. Appreciate it.

Once you get your approval from USCIS it will take about 4-6 weeks before you get your case number from NVC.  Then plan for about 1-2 weeks for payment, DS-260 and document submission.  Then around another 1-2 weeks for case complete, possibly 3-4 weeks.  After that it's currently a shot in the dark as to the timing for interviews at the consulate.  If I were you I'd plan on around 6 months from approval from USCIS.

Edited November 14, 2018 by AshleyJill

[LoveCalifornia 3]

4 minutes ago, AshleyJill said:

Once you get your approval from USCIS it will take about 4-6 weeks before you get your case number from NVC.  Then plan for about 1-2 weeks for payment, DS-260 and document submission.  Then around another 1-2 weeks for case complete, possibly 3-4 weeks.  After that it's currently a shot in the dark as to the timing for interviews at the consulate.  If I were you I'd plan on around 6 months from approval from USCIS.

Thanks Ashley. Do they issue the visa shortly after the interview?

[AshleyJill 3]

10 minutes ago, GottaLoveCalif said:

Thanks Ashley. Do they issue the visa shortly after the interview?

I'm waiting on my interview myself, but from what I've read on here most are either able to pick up at the consulate within 3-5 business days, or pending no postal strike, it is sent to you within 2 weeks.

[LoveCalifornia 3]

2 minutes ago, AshleyJill said:

I'm waiting on my interview myself, but from what I've read on here most are either able to pick up at the consulate within 3-5 business days, or pending no postal strike, it is sent to you within 2 weeks.

Thanks again Ashley. I was hoping my approval would come after 6 months but it looks like typical cases at TSC take about 9 months. Do you happen to know the processing time for some similar cases at TSC? I know the website says 7 to 9.5 months but I am just being optimistic. My lawyer says they have approval from April so mine shouldn't be too far.

[AshleyJill 3]

10 minutes ago, GottaLoveCalif said:

Thanks again Ashley. I was hoping my approval would come after 6 months but it looks like typical cases at TSC take about 9 months. Do you happen to know the processing time for some similar cases at TSC? I know the website says 7 to 9.5 months but I am just being optimistic. My lawyer says they have approval from April so mine shouldn't be too far.

I couldn't tell you.  Mine was filed with premium processing which guarantees you a response in 15 days.  You should be able to do a search for other EB timelines through this site.  However you'll find that there isn't a lot of information pertaining to EB's from Canada.

 

In my experience so far, always go with what the gov't website says for planning, and then some.

[CanMon 1]

1 hour ago, AshleyJill said:

How are you able to renew TN status while doing CP?  TN is a non-immigrant visa and you are required to prove that you have non-immigrant intent.  USCIS can see that there is an open visa for CP and will typically deny.

Under TN status you can not have an intent to immigrate during any particular trip to the USA. Filing via consular processing (CP) requires a person to leave the USA to do the immigration interview, therefore while you are in the USA you technically do not have intent to immigrate. If you file for adjustment of status while under TN status you do have "immigration intent" and is against the rules of the TN status.

 

Because I am filing through CP, I was able to renew my status because my I do not have "intent to immigrate" on this stay in the USA. This is all according to my Lawyer who specializing in TN and TN to GC cases.

 

It is recommended that you file such an extension through USIS rather than going to the border since, the people at UCSIS are familiar with all the regulations and at the border it is up to the CBO officer

[ascb 1]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 9:21 AM, AshleyJill said:

I'm actually not sure but was asking to see if I could help determine what is affecting this.  The lawyer I'm working with has other Canadian clients with EB visa's who have gotten interviews in just 30 days - one was just in May.  There seems to be some possible anomalies.

 

Apologies for trying to help.

Well, I hope your lawyer's EB clients from Canada represent a more typical dataset. Based on information on this thread, looks like you and I may not have our interview until April-May, 2019.

[AshleyJill 3]

13 minutes ago, ascb said:

Well, I hope your lawyer's EB clients from Canada represent a more typical dataset. Based on information on this thread, looks like you and I may not have our interview until April-May, 2019.

With all due respect to everyone going through the process - which really is painful and long, there just doesn't appear to be enough "data" on this site with respect to EB Visas to really make those determinations.  From what I've gathered, there are people filing for EB visas at Montreal yet their "Foreign State of Chargeability" is another country, no one possibly knows how the EB-1/2/3 etc factor in to things, and I'm sure there could be a multitude other things that affect processing.  

 

Frankly I think there are far too many factors that could lead to all different kinds of processing times and interview dates.  I'm going to rely on my lawyer and her advice as it's been pretty accurate and sound for my whole process.

[ascb 1]

16 minutes ago, AshleyJill said:

With all due respect to everyone going through the process - which really is painful and long, there just doesn't appear to be enough "data" on this site with respect to EB Visas to really make those determinations.  From what I've gathered, there are people filing for EB visas at Montreal yet their "Foreign State of Chargeability" is another country, no one possibly knows how the EB-1/2/3 etc factor in to things, and I'm sure there could be a multitude other things that affect processing.  

 

Frankly I think there are far too many factors that could lead to all different kinds of processing times and interview dates.  I'm going to rely on my lawyer and her advice as it's been pretty accurate and sound for my whole process.

The country of chargeability only plays a role in determining if one's priority date is current. If someone was born in Armenia, but is a naturalized Canadian citizen living in Canada, their chargeability will be Armenia, but their CP will be done at the Montreal consulate. For the purposes of this discussion, it is assumed that everyone expecting an interview is current on their priority dates, regardless of where they (or their spouse) was born.

 

That said, yes, we all will go with what our respective lawyers suggest. However, it would be prudent for us to pay attention to what other folks in the same boat are experiencing or have experienced. Lawyers may or may not have information specific to a particular CP center. There are over 150 centers in the world where CP occurs, and each CP center has their own policy on the factors they use in scheduling interviews. NVC clearly states they receive open slots from the respective consulates, and the NVC computer just fills them. I tried finding out from NVC analyst if she knew the logic for the algorithm, but that information is not known to the analyst. All NVC says is that it is usually on a FIFO method for all applications where the priority date is current, but there are other factors that may play a role. Such as, the type of application (EB1/2/3, Family etc.), potentially the priority date itself, if someone has kids reaching 21 soon etc., and hopefully being able to exchange whatever little information we can on sites like these may enable us to get insights over and beyond what NVC or lawyers may state out of a book. It doesn't take anything away from what our lawyers may say, but merely add to it.

Edited November 14, 2018 by ascb