Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time

[Leeching Spouse 87]

36 minutes ago, viksaw said:

They are correct that AOS process is taking 14-16 months but after your i485 is pending for more than 6 months you can switch jobs under i485 J supplement. This gives you additional security if something happens to underline job offer. Also since there is no interview process, there is no chance of denial. If I had a chance I will go AOS route any day!!!

Yes, I think given that you can continue to work while AOS and I-485 is pending is huge. This cuts the wait time down by 12-15 months (given this is the wait time for Montreal Consulate at present).

 

FWIW, my friend in the US on a J-1 visa in the field of Arts. She filed concurrent I-140 + I-485 + EAD, and she received her EAD within 2 months. US is in need of workers and big companies are probably pressuring them to process work authorizations faster.

[VA21202 109]

47 minutes ago, CanadianMD said:

Yes, I think given that you can continue to work while AOS and I-485 is pending is huge. This cuts the wait time down by 12-15 months (given this is the wait time for Montreal Consulate at present).

 

FWIW, my friend in the US on a J-1 visa in the field of Arts. She filed concurrent I-140 + I-485 + EAD, and she received her EAD within 2 months. US is in need of workers and big companies are probably pressuring them to process work authorizations faster.

Interesting, thanks for the insights. Looking forward to my chat with the lawyers to explore those options. I would need to switch from Consular to AOS first, and then file for the EAD concurrently since PD is current. Just curious, was your friend’s EAD filed recently? i.e 2021?

[Leeching Spouse 87]

Just now, VA21202 said:

Interesting, thanks for the insights. Looking forward to my chat with the lawyers to explore those options. I would need to switch from Consular to AOS first, and then file for the EAD concurrently since PD is current. Just curious, was your friend’s EAD filed recently? i.e 2021?

Anytime, of course! We are here to help each other through this arduous process.

 

Yes you would need to switch from Consular to AOS. I am not sure how long this process would take though.

 

Yes my friend filed at the start of June 2021, and received her EAD on July 23.

[PradSim 6]

1 hour ago, viksaw said:

They are correct that AOS process is taking 14-16 months but after your i485 is pending for more than 6 months you can switch jobs under i485 J supplement. This gives you additional security if something happens to underline job offer. Also since there is no interview process, there is no chance of denial. If I had a chance I will go AOS route any day!!!

USCIS has introduced interview as the final step for GC approval for all in country candidates as well since 2017. I know 2 of my friends who had to attend interview in Dallas area .. both were EB1 though, not sure if it's limited only to EB1 category.

[Leeching Spouse 87]

2 minutes ago, PradSim said:

USCIS has introduced interview as the final step for GC approval for all in country candidates as well since 2017. I know 2 of my friends who had to attend interview in Dallas area .. both were EB1 though, not sure if it's limited only to EB1 category.

I don't think that is specific to EB1, but rather where they are applying for the GC from.

 

For those who are currently in the US and applied for AOS, it seems like quite a few of them had their interviews waived d/t COVID.

 

For those applying for IVP/Consular Processing (i.e. outside US), the interview requirement has not yet been waived, unfortunately.

[viksaw 12]

2 minutes ago, PradSim said:

USCIS has introduced interview as the final step for GC approval for all in country candidates as well since 2017. I know 2 of my friends who had to attend interview in Dallas area .. both were EB1 though, not sure if it's limited only to EB1 category.

They started interviewing EB petitions in president Trumps presidency. Currently there are no interview's being conducted (of course there are exceptions but by large there are no interviews)

[PradSim 6]

That's right .. Both of them attended before the start of pandemic. Not sure if the current administration has completely waived off that step.

[dskar 15]

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

[Van24 13]

7 minutes ago, dskar said:

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

Congrats! Can you please remind what's their DQ date? 

[viksaw 12]

13 minutes ago, dskar said:

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

Congrats. What was the DQ date for your family member?

Also, did you receive invitation today? 

[legit_immigrant 6]

18 minutes ago, dskar said:

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/14yZKxht6igwJPXPU0EehKmmN2hx1g3EchEuB5G0yNO4/htmlview

 

Could you please add the details here?

[PradSim 6]

2 hours ago, dskar said:

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

Congrats! Good luck with the interview ..

[akposphil 1]

3 hours ago, dskar said:

I received an interview appointment for my family for Aug 25. This is a "Follow to join" case under EB-2, principal applicant already has GC which was approved at MTL in 2018.

Congrats @dskar. Great to hear some good news amidst the slow movement in Montreal. Please your response to all the questions from @viksaw  will be super helpful to give some 'hopeful" 😃 context. My case is also a follow-to-join same with @F2J_March

[dskar 15]

19 hours ago, viksaw said:

Congrats. What was the DQ date for your family member?

Also, did you receive invitation today? 

I don't know which date should be considered as their DQ date here since it's a "follow to join" case, but the following timeline might help:

- Sep 2018: DQ for the Principal applicant, EB-2

- Mar 2019: Interview in Montreal and PR at a US/CAN land border few days later. I opted for a C2-Commuter GC therefore only principal applicant was asked to submit a DS-260 and was called for an interview at MTL

- Feb 2021: Contacted the MTL consulate via email (montreal-iv-dv@state.gov) giving them my MTL case number and requested an IV interview date for the family. Received a prompt response within days mentioning Presidential Proclamations 10014 and 10052 (PP10014 and PP10052) and that visa issuance was suspended for now

- 6/28/2021: Received email from MTL asking to submit DS-260 for the family members online. They didn't ask me to submit IV application fee or upload any documents 

- 7/26/2021: Received interview appointment letter for family members for 8/25. Again no mention of uploading soft copies or pay fees online. Only asked me to bring in originals of everything plus one copy of each. IV Visa Application fee ($345 per person) will be collected at the time of interview 

 

I believe my case was prioritized for some reason. Just guessing but maybe because it's a "follow to join" and therefore fell under family reunion. Either way, it came as a pleasant surprise and now we have less than a month to go through visa prep steps (collect civil documents/police reports, have medical exam done etc.). It's going to be a hectic one month for sure but we are happy.

[Pasand 5]

hey all. I have another quick question:

Since I was in Canada, in order to land as a Canadian permanent resident I had to go to the US border. now if during the interview the officer asks me whether I've been ever turned around at the border, what should I say? does this PR land count? thank you