Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time

[VA21202 109]

1 hour ago, Blueeyes1989 said:

Old consulate: Mumbai. New: Montreal. EB1 

Got it, thanks and Good Luck! Based on IR/CR being almost up to date we can just hope and pray that the ~400 interviews each month for IR/CR gets redistributed quickly to EB and other categories, that will speed things up. Here’s hoping that the end of Jan stats are much better!

Edited January 22, 2022 by VA21202

[pow123 14]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:38 PM, Blueeyes1989 said:

Here is visa statistics for 2021 for Montreal:

 

75% of the interviews shouldn't be going to IR/CR when there is such a discrepancy in backlog in comparison to E, especially when tiered processing has been removed. Extremely unfair system. 

[Leeching Spouse 87]

7 hours ago, pow123 said:

75% of the interviews shouldn't be going to IR/CR when there is such a discrepancy in backlog in comparison to E, especially when tiered processing has been removed. Extremely unfair system. 

Agreed. Any way to sue them for arbitrary prioritization? 

[Blueeyes1989 90]

[pow123 14]

25 minutes ago, Blueeyes1989 said:

They issued that in place of the unlawful tiered processing guidance. Bottom line is DOS and consulate aren’t above the law. Immigration & Nationality Act says nothing about “approve IR/CR faster” and all are considered on equal grounds provided visa numbers are available. 

[Leeching Spouse 87]

12 hours ago, pow123 said:

They issued that in place of the unlawful tiered processing guidance. Bottom line is DOS and consulate aren’t above the law. Immigration & Nationality Act says nothing about “approve IR/CR faster” and all are considered on equal grounds provided visa numbers are available. 

Exactly. They are picking and choosing who they want to approve at their own discretion and at their own pace. The disparity is unacceptable.

 

In Seoul, they issued 225 E1/E2/E3, compared to 58 IR1/CR1.

In Guangzhou, they issued 857 E1/E2/E3, compared to 65 IR1/CR1.

In Montreal, they issued 69 E1/E2/E3, compared to 257 IR1/CR1.

 

[Perseus 10]

8 hours ago, CanadianMD said:

Exactly. They are picking and choosing who they want to approve at their own discretion and at their own pace. The disparity is unacceptable.

 

In Seoul, they issued 225 E1/E2/E3, compared to 58 IR1/CR1.

In Guangzhou, they issued 857 E1/E2/E3, compared to 65 IR1/CR1.

In Montreal, they issued 69 E1/E2/E3, compared to 257 IR1/CR1.

 

Agreed, maybe we can @busy Montreal Twitter.

[mam521 1,986]

8 hours ago, CanadianMD said:

Exactly. They are picking and choosing who they want to approve at their own discretion and at their own pace. The disparity is unacceptable.

 

In Seoul, they issued 225 E1/E2/E3, compared to 58 IR1/CR1.

In Guangzhou, they issued 857 E1/E2/E3, compared to 65 IR1/CR1.

In Montreal, they issued 69 E1/E2/E3, compared to 257 IR1/CR1.

 

I know you guys are all waiting and don't want to hear this, but I suspect this is abuse of statistics to fit a narrative. Montreal is a VERY backed up consulate.  There was a back up of IR/CR and K visa cases before the pandemic started and I suspect if you look at those other consulates, you'll find there weren't as many people stuck for 2 years in an IR/CR category.  So yes, Montreal has worked to reunify families because that's what the government administration told them to prioritize, likely in part because there are no limits on family visas.  There are limits on employment visas.  

 

Remember, EVERYONE is going through an immigration battle.  EVERYONE stuck in that battle wants to get on with their lives and move forward.  Getting angry with one category receiving interviews over another isn't going to change anything other than make you feel awful about the entire situation.  Just take a breath and cheer each other on.  There's no point in throwing rocks at another group when it's not going to change your situation for the better.  

[pow123 14]

17 minutes ago, mam521 said:

I know you guys are all waiting and don't want to hear this, but I suspect this is abuse of statistics to fit a narrative. Montreal is a VERY backed up consulate.  There was a back up of IR/CR and K visa cases before the pandemic started and I suspect if you look at those other consulates, you'll find there weren't as many people stuck for 2 years in an IR/CR category.  So yes, Montreal has worked to reunify families because that's what the government administration told them to prioritize, likely in part because there are no limits on family visas.  There are limits on employment visas.  

 

Remember, EVERYONE is going through an immigration battle.  EVERYONE stuck in that battle wants to get on with their lives and move forward.  Getting angry with one category receiving interviews over another isn't going to change anything other than make you feel awful about the entire situation.  Just take a breath and cheer each other on.  There's no point in throwing rocks at another group when it's not going to change your situation for the better.  

It’s not about throwing rocks and there is no “abuse” of statistics the numbers are what they are. This is about what the law is. The prioritization guidance was removed because it was unlawful and unfortunately Montreal is continuing to proceed in an unlawful manner. There is no legal justification for IR/CR having a 2 month wait for an interview while EB waits 2.5 years. 

[Leeching Spouse 87]

24 minutes ago, mam521 said:

I know you guys are all waiting and don't want to hear this, but I suspect this is abuse of statistics to fit a narrative. Montreal is a VERY backed up consulate.  There was a back up of IR/CR and K visa cases before the pandemic started and I suspect if you look at those other consulates, you'll find there weren't as many people stuck for 2 years in an IR/CR category.  So yes, Montreal has worked to reunify families because that's what the government administration told them to prioritize, likely in part because there are no limits on family visas.  There are limits on employment visas.  

 

Remember, EVERYONE is going through an immigration battle.  EVERYONE stuck in that battle wants to get on with their lives and move forward.  Getting angry with one category receiving interviews over another isn't going to change anything other than make you feel awful about the entire situation.  Just take a breath and cheer each other on.  There's no point in throwing rocks at another group when it's not going to change your situation for the better.  

When one group is waiting more than two years to receive their interview date, compared to the other group that is waiting less than 6 months to receive their interview, tell me this is not a discrepancy created by Montreal Consulate?

 

The government mandate to prioritize reunification of family has expired and is no longer valid. This is now Montreal's discretion to create such a huge discrepancy in wait time between the two groups. This deserves more attention.

Edited January 24, 2022 by CanadianMD

[204 59]

2 minutes ago, pow123 said:

It’s not about throwing rocks and there is no “abuse” of statistics the numbers are what they are. This is about what the law is. The prioritization guidance was removed because it was unlawful and unfortunately Montreal is continuing to proceed in an unlawful manner. There is no legal justification for IR/CR having a 2 month wait for an interview while EB waits 2.5 years. 

Agreed! I'm a F2B visa applicant and have been waiting to reunify with my mother since Jun. 2015. Plus, an immigrant visa is available to me and I'm still waiting for the interview, which I've been waiting since Aug. 2020. This process takes almost seven years! 

[pow123 14]

7 minutes ago, 204 said:

Agreed! I'm a F2B visa applicant and have been waiting to reunify with my mother since Jun. 2015. Plus, an immigrant visa is available to me and I'm still waiting for the interview, which I've been waiting since Aug. 2020. This process takes almost seven years! 

Montreal chose a Nov 30 2021 DQ IR/CR case for an IL in January, over your Aug 2020 DQ case. If both have visa numbers available and there is no legal justification for this. 
 

“consulates of broad discretion…”. Sure, but nobody is above the law. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by pow123

[mam521 1,986]

The long and short: IR visas are considered immediately available.  EB and FP are numerically limited.  Until recently, Montreal's IR/CR's waited more than 3 months from QD until interview.  It averaged 157 days for multiple years.  For a visa type that is supposedly immediately available and without limits unlike numerically limited EB's, that doesn't sound very instantaneous.  Not sure where it's "law" that EB's and FP's supersede IR's in priority.  As stated by USCIS: 

 

When the demand is higher than the supply of visas for a given year in any given category or country, a visa queue (a waiting list or backlog) forms. To distribute the visas among all preference categories, DOS allocates the visas according to a prospective immigrant’s preference category, country of chargeability, and priority date. DOS uses the priority date to determine an immigrant’s place in the visa queue. When the priority date becomes available, or is “current,” immigrants may be able to apply for adjustment of status (or apply for an immigrant visa with DOS if they are outside the U.S.) and obtain lawful permanent resident status, if otherwise eligible.

 

No one is arguing that Montreal isn't a hot mess.  Montreal is ridiculous and it's beyond understandable how a consulate so close to the US border and not a high fraud country is so delayed.  It also doesn't make any sense why some of these other categories couldn't be handled by Calgary or Vancouver.  However, for this reason, you can't compare the number of visas issued by Korea for any given category unless you're going to compare the backlog for that visa type as well.  Other consulates are far more up to date and have never had backlogs like Montreal.  

[mam521 1,986]

6 minutes ago, pow123 said:

Montreal chose a Nov 30 2021 DQ IR/CR case over your Aug 2020 DQ case. If both have visa numbers available and there is no legal justification for this. 
 

“consulates of broad discretion…”. Sure, but nobody is above the law. 

DQ and PD aren't the same thing.  PD could have been from 2007 for all you know.  

[204 59]

14 minutes ago, pow123 said:

Montreal chose a Nov 30 2021 DQ IR/CR case for an IL in January, over your Aug 2020 DQ case. If both have visa numbers available and there is no legal justification for this. 
 

“consulates of broad discretion…”. Sure, but nobody is above the law. 

Exactly! My visa was current about one year ago. If my mother petitioned for me, I would believe I could be considered "immediate relative". However, this's not the case. Basically, Montreal is prioritizing IR/ CR, not family union. Even though Visa Prioritization System was rescinded, Montreal is still processing based on that.