Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time

[Sorrel 83]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:52 PM, VA21202 said:

Yeah just got the same one. The challenge for this month is we don’t have any Dec 2019 DQ’s on our tracker so we might not even hear about letters being sent in a couple of weeks, unless they power through Dec and a bit of Jan in the same batch (I hope they get 3-4 months in one go!)

Did anyone get any response to all the letters we sent, other than the auto generated response?  Why are other countries conducting EB interviews and not Montreal (I know it's just a rhetorical question that we keep asking every month!)? Just venting my frustration!

[era101 9]

3 minutes ago, F2J_March said:

@era101 Congratulations of your visa approval.I  am a little confused here about self petition and having no employer. If you are applying based on employement, arent you supposed to have job and sponsored by employer?? Asking just for my knowledge.  Am I missing something here?? 

I have a national interest waiver based on my academic and scientific qualifications. This waiver gives a pathway to green card without employer sponsorship. 

[VA21202 109]

2 minutes ago, Sorrel said:

Did anyone get any response to all the letters we sent, other than the auto generated response?  Why are other countries conducting EB interviews and not Montreal (I know it's just a rhetorical question that we keep asking every month!)? Just venting my frustration!

Don’t think there was any non-auto generated responses for anyone, pretty sure we would’ve heard here otherwise. I did get congressman’s office to put in an enquiry into the status and no surprises there, they pasted the same messages on the website into a formal letter addressed to the congressman and sent it over. They did confirm my case is still at the NVC and that it is awaiting interview at MTL.
 

[VA21202 109]

34 minutes ago, era101 said:

We are approved today  but the visa will be pending till we send the updated RCMP police certificates that is taking longer than expected.

Amazing, Congrats and thanks for sharing your update so quick! Good luck with the remaining formalities.

[3LabMom 76]

1 hour ago, era101 said:

I have a national interest waiver based on my academic and scientific qualifications. This waiver gives a pathway to green card without employer sponsorship. 

Congratulations.  I am also a self petitioner!  Glad to hear it went so smoothy.  Are the police checks good for 1 year or 2 years?

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

Just now, 3LabMom said:

Congratulations.  I am also a self petitioner!  Glad to hear it went so smoothy.  Are the police checks good for 1 year or 2 years?

Police certificates for the country you are currently residing in is good for two years. For countries of previous residence, it is also valid for 2 years, but if the certificate was issued after the last time you were in the country, it will remain valid indefinitely. Please note that the consulate may ask for a new police certificate even if the ones you submit are still valid (although I have never personally seen a case where they have done that).

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

1 hour ago, era101 said:

We are approved today  but the visa will be pending till we send the updated RCMP police certificates that is taking longer than expected. I applied for the police certificates on February 2nd but not received yet. The officer at the consulate said everything is fine. They will keep the passports until I send the updated rcmp police certificate. We spent less than 1 hour inside the consulate. We met two officers. The first one asked for passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, US address, photos, and police certificates, then took fingerprints. Then the second made the oath that we are telling the truth, asked about previous stays at USA, my job in Canada and what I plan to work in USA (note that I am a self petitioner and don't have a US employer yet). They didn't ask for any financial documents. Overall the experience was smooth and things went well. I hope now that I get my RCMP police certificate soon and sent via mail to the consulate. 

I did the medical on Monday February 14 in Vancouver. It went great, and the doctor was very nice.

Wish you all the best!

Congratulations! 
 

Unfortunate that the police certificate was delayed. I have seen that quite often with RCMP. One of mine took over 5 weeks to arrive.

 

Hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but Montreal is known to not be fast to issue the visa when there is any missing documentation. I have seen cases where it can be as soon as 2 weeks from receipt of the missing document, but seen others that take 4-5 months. Hope yours will be issued expediently.

Edited February 24, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[3LabMom 76]

1 minute ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Police certificates for the country you are currently residing in is good for two years. For countries of previous residence, it is also valid for 2 years, but if the certificate was issued after the last time you were in the country, it will remain valid indefinitely. Please note that the consulate may ask for a new police certificate even if the ones you submit are still valid (although I have never personally seen a case where they have done that).

Thank you!  I'm good for a while yet then since it was completed in June 2021.  Always trying to be prepared...even though I'm sure we have like another year to wait before we finally get an interview.

[era101 9]

41 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Congratulations! 
 

Unfortunate that the police certificate was delayed. I have seen that quite often with RCMP. One of mine took over 5 weeks to arrive.

 

Hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but Montreal is known to not be fast to issue the visa when there is any missing documentation. I have seen cases where it can be as soon as 2 weeks from receipt of the missing document, but seen others that take 4-5 months. Hope yours will be issued expediently.

The officer advised to leave the passports with consulate to expedite the visa issuance once we send the police certificates. He said if we took the passports, they will have reprocess them again once we send them back and this will cause some delay.

[204 59]

4 hours ago, Sorrel said:

Did anyone get any response to all the letters we sent, other than the auto generated response?  Why are other countries conducting EB interviews and not Montreal (I know it's just a rhetorical question that we keep asking every month!)? Just venting my frustration!

Unfortunately, no and I’ll be surprised if they replied any of our emails. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

2 hours ago, era101 said:

The officer advised to leave the passports with consulate to expedite the visa issuance once we send the police certificates. He said if we took the passports, they will have reprocess them again once we send them back and this will cause some delay.

Yes, that’s normal. They don’t return passports when there is just a missing document. They return passports in cases where applicants are issued DS-5535, and even in those cases half the time they keep the passport. This when the visa, is in most cases, takes months or even years to issue.
 

There was one VJ’er who interviewed in October, but their medicals hadn’t arrived in time. Montreal kept their passport but only issued their visa last week or the week before even thought their medicals arrived a couple of days after their interview. Took over 4 months….

 

On the other hand, I have also seen cases where Montreal has issued the visa 2 weeks after receiving the missing document.
 

There doesn’t appear to be any reason why some are delayed while others are not, and it’s pretty infuriating. Hopefully you fall under the fortunate ones…

 

It does save time (and cost) though when the consulate keeps your passport, because you save the time it takes for it to be sent.

 

Word of advice to those who are yet to interview - if at the interview, for whatever reason, you are returned your passport, insist that they keep it (unless you have urgent travel plans in the future). You can also request them to send it back in case you need it.

[can_do 18]

long time lurker, first time poster... This forum is a treasure. Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.

 

I lost my job just before Covid and decided to start my own business. My new employer in the US filed for PERM and, long story short, I have been DQ'd since Mar 2021.

Like many of you, the endless wait continues...

BUT: my US employer has gone quiet, very very quiet. We've barely spoken over the last 18 months. I know the position is still unfulfilled but I am losing hope. They won't take back the application but I doubt their cooperation in the steps ahead (with consular processing, documentation, etc). 

 

I'm now planning a backup. Should I find something using my TN status or go for the E-2 and buy a business in the US? Of course both are temporary.

 

Thanks!

[New_123 18]

has anyone here gotten married after their case was documentarily complete at NVC, but before their EB interview at the MTL consulate?

[New_123 18]

19 hours ago, New_123 said:

has anyone here gotten married after their case was documentarily complete at NVC, but before their EB interview at the MTL consulate?

does anyone know how it works if you do get married during this time between case being DQ-ed and waiting for an interview? do we have to submit the marriage certificate to NVC, or is that not needed since at the time of submission of documents, I wasn't married.
are there any repercussions at all?

 

any help on this would be great! Thanks!

[dcisw 20]

Just got my interview letter!  March 28th.  My DQ was January 2, 2020.