Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time

[Mary184 5]

1 minute ago, immishok said:

anecdotal evidences seem to suggest that ds5535 is issued more often for iranians, and I would bet that this is indeed a statistical fact, based on the long history of DOS having far more aggressive regulations/unwritten rules when it comes to adjudicating cases of iranian nationals. So if I were to bet, I would bet you got that form precisely because of your nationality, esp. for the US Consulate at Montreal, where they have fewer cases of iranians, so their officers are not too familiar with the details of how to manage such cases, and they rather be extra cautious (and so send the case for AP). 

I think so too … hope this gets resolved soon and we finally settle after such long time and money we have invested in this process 

[VA21202 109]

5 minutes ago, 204 said:

Aug. 04, 2022 @ CST 3:45PM - My CEAC was updated  to issued. 

 

I'm still waiting for my passport to be sent back to me; I'll update when I get it. , 

Amazing! Thanks so much for that update!  Indeed you have waited a long time like most of us, I’m really glad to hear everything went well! Thanks for the awesome detailed experience. I also believe that we’ll have a big surge in EB ILs in the coming months, let’s hope no one has to wait 2.5 years for interviews moving ahead. Thanks and enjoy 😃

[David San 11]

6 hours ago, Mary184 said:

I think so too … hope this gets resolved soon and we finally settle after such long time and money we have invested in this process 

Do you mind sharing your knowledge about ds5535? what's the process and how long every step is going to take? what do they ask in it? Is there any preparation we can do to save time? Because I am guessing that I will get that too

[Mary184 5]

33 minutes ago, David San said:

Do you mind sharing your knowledge about ds5535? what's the process and how long every step is going to take? what do they ask in it? Is there any preparation we can do to save time? Because I am guessing that I will get that too

Nothing to be honest. They ask normal questions like what do you do and all that. Nothing specific, our interview was very short … no prep is needed, there is a high chance if someone is from some countries they’ll be hit as far as I’ve heard. Hope that doesn’t happen to you but if it does the timeline is not clear unfortunately. They told us a few weeks but it’s been a few months now and many people on other forum had similar experience. I’d say don’t worry much and answer questions they ask with your best knowledge. I don’t think anything I answered triggered the form, it’s most likely where I was born as people say, so they need to do their background check and make sure my history was clean before issuing the Visa. I believe this is something typical. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Mary184

[F2J_March 49]

@pow123: looks like you had been interviewed already. Did you put expedite request and received interview letter??

[pow123 14]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:36 PM, pow123 said:

Category: EB2 NIW

DQ: October 2021

Expedite: June 2022

IL: June 2022

Medical: June 2022

Interview: end of July 2022

 

My wife and I got to the consulate early in the morning before it opened. We were instructed to wait outside by a guard for the building. Eventually more people arrived and lined up behind us. After the consulate opened we were asked to come in based on the time of our interview. We did not take any electronics or a bag of any kind, just a folder with our documents. There is a locker for small items like a cellphone if needed, but we had left ours in the car. Our folder and personal items were placed in a bin and scanned like at an airport and we were handed a paper with a number. We then went up an elevator to the interview area. We were eventually called up. The first officer asked for our passports, police checks, original birth and marriage certificates. Eventually he asked for our passport photos and scanned them in. Also asked us about our address in the US. He then asked us to go sit down. We were then called by a second officer who asked us a couple more questions and said he intended to approve us and that we would receive our passports within 2 weeks. CEAC status changed to issued - final processing a few hours after our interview. We received our passports on the 3rd business day after the interview along with a large packet that said "DO NOT OPEN". We traveled via a major airport the same day we received our passports. CBP did not give us any issues, we were taken into secondary processing where they confirmed our address again and stamped our passports. Glad to be done with this whole ordeal. 

 

 

@F2J_March yes I did. See above. 

[farzady 42]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:56 PM, Mary184 said:

Nothing to be honest. They ask normal questions like what do you do and all that. Nothing specific, our interview was very short … no prep is needed, there is a high chance if someone is from some countries they’ll be hit as far as I’ve heard. Hope that doesn’t happen to you but if it does the timeline is not clear unfortunately. They told us a few weeks but it’s been a few months now and many people on other forum had similar experience. I’d say don’t worry much and answer questions they ask with your best knowledge. I don’t think anything I answered triggered the form, it’s most likely where I was born as people say, so they need to do their background check and make sure my history was clean before issuing the Visa. I believe this is something typical. 

Hi Mary,

Sorry to hear about the form after long wait to get IL and still another wait. Did you do your military in sepah?

[Mary184 5]

39 minutes ago, farzady said:

Hi Mary,

Sorry to hear about the form after long wait to get IL and still another wait. Did you do your military in sepah?

Hi, no. It’s probably the country of birth that has triggered this, I’m not sure

[David San 11]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:56 PM, Mary184 said:

Nothing to be honest. They ask normal questions like what do you do and all that. Nothing specific, our interview was very short … no prep is needed, there is a high chance if someone is from some countries they’ll be hit as far as I’ve heard. Hope that doesn’t happen to you but if it does the timeline is not clear unfortunately. They told us a few weeks but it’s been a few months now and many people on other forum had similar experience. I’d say don’t worry much and answer questions they ask with your best knowledge. I don’t think anything I answered triggered the form, it’s most likely where I was born as people say, so they need to do their background check and make sure my history was clean before issuing the Visa. I believe this is something typical. 

Thanks for sharing your experience. So they give a form called ds5535 to fill out? look like it can take up to 8 months.

[Mary184 5]

54 minutes ago, David San said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. So they give a form called ds5535 to fill out? look like it can take up to 8 months.

No problem, yes they give the form and you just fill it your and send it back. Timing is not certain, some get cleared in a couple of months and for some it could be longer. I know people that have been waiting for several months on other threads …

[Bog-can 6]

 

Quick question regarding emailing Montreal consulate.  Are you supposed to always get an auto response from IV email address? I didn’t get one today, and now wondering if that means they didn’t get my email somehow.   Anybody want to share their experiences? 

[farzady 42]

5 hours ago, Bog-can said:

 

 

Quick question regarding emailing Montreal consulate.  Are you supposed to always get an auto response from IV email address? I didn’t get one today, and now wondering if that means they didn’t get my email somehow.   Anybody want to share their experiences? 

I think you will receive their auto reply in couple of days. 

[EternalWait 77]

Update from CO
"As of August 8, 2022, most Immediate Relative and fiancé(e) visa cases being scheduled for interview in Montreal were documentarily complete at the National Visa Center in May 2022;  most Family Preference cases scheduled for interview were documentarily qualified in August 2020; and most Employment cases scheduled for interview were documentarily complete in April 2020."

[mam521 2,062]

Just a note here - the treads lock out at 200 pages.  You guys may want to start a "Part 2" to keep the conversation going. 

[Blueeyes1989 90]

I added a new page. Please lock this one and move to the next one. @Ontarkie

 

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Blueeyes1989