Montreal Consulate - Evidence Request for beneficiary's Canadian citizenship for fiances born elsewhere

[HF & HB 6]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this for Canadian fiances in the consular phase.

Our consulate receive date was April 5th and after approval from the USCIS without any RFEs I was surprised to find out that the consulate stopped processing our case since they mistakenly thought I had no legal status in Canada. This is not the case since I have been a citizen almost all of my life and apart from living in my birth country for a few years before arriving in Canada I never lived anywhere else. We only found out that they stopped processing our case by chance since I happened to email them regarding what to do with my NOA2 expiry date since it was becoming clear that due to not receiving Packet 3 I would probably not be able to book an interview by the expiry date. (Side note - I had also emailed them as soon as my papers reached the Consulate asking if they needed anything from me or if I could submit anything and at that point I wasn't made aware of any problem and was told to not submit anything).

After receiving the very disappointing email two Fridays ago that a Packet 3 letter had never been sent and that our case was not moving forward, we quickly sent all my citizenship and proof of residence documents via email. I received confirmation last Wednesday (5 days later) that it was received but beyond that no information or help whatsoever. We are very much hoping to hear back this week. I can definitely say that due to there being no assistance via phone (as was the case with the USCIS and Visa center) dealing with the Consulate has by far been the most frustrating part of this entire visa journey. 

 

My hope in sharing this is

1) To let fiances who are Canadian but born elsewhere know that they may also encounter this and that in the I-129 F there appeared to be no requirement for proof of beneficiary's citizenship ( Our USCIS approval with no RFE suggests this also)

2) To ask if anyone else encountered this, and if so how long did it delay your ability to book an interview/the rest of the process.

 

Thanks for reading, and good luck in your visa journey!

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by HF & HB

[treppenwitz 78]

20 minutes ago, HF & HB said:

that in the I-129 F there appeared to be no requirement for proof of beneficiary's citizenship ( Our USCIS approval with no RFE suggests this also)

Correct. The form is flawed regarding this.

20 minutes ago, HF & HB said:

To ask if anyone else encountered this, and if so how long did it delay your ability to book an interview/the rest of the process.

First time I've seen it. Seems they (very) wrongly assumed the beneficiary only had a Canadian tourist visa. Most embassies are strict regarding beneficiary's status in the embassy's jurisdiction.

Edited May 7, 2019 by treppenwitz

[LOve17 87]

27 minutes ago, HF & HB said:

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this for Canadian fiances in the consular phase.

Our consulate receive date was April 5th and after approval from the USCIS without any RFEs I was surprised to find out that the consulate stopped processing our case since they mistakenly thought I had no legal status in Canada. This is not the case since I have been a citizen almost all of my life and apart from living in my birth country for a few years before arriving in Canada I never lived anywhere else. We only found out that they stopped processing our case by chance since I happened to email them regarding what to do with my NOA2 expiry date since it was becoming clear that due to not receiving Packet 3 I would probably not be able to book an interview by the expiry date. (Side note - I had also emailed them as soon as my papers reached the Consulate asking if they needed anything from me or if I could submit anything and at that point I wasn't made aware of any problem and was told to not submit anything).

After receiving the very disappointing email two Fridays ago that a Packet 3 letter had never been sent and that our case was not moving forward, we quickly sent all my citizenship and proof of residence documents via email. I received confirmation last Wednesday (5 days later) that it was received but beyond that no information or help whatsoever. We are very much hoping to hear back this week. I can definitely say that due to there being no assistance via phone (as was the case with the USCIS and Visa center) dealing with the Consulate has by far been the most frustrating part of this entire visa journey. 

 

My hope in sharing this is

1) To let fiances who are Canadian but born elsewhere know that they may also encounter this and that in the I-129 F there appeared to be no requirement for proof of beneficiary's citizenship ( Our USCIS approval with no RFE suggests this also)

2) To ask if anyone else encountered this, and if so how long did it delay your ability to book an interview/the rest of the process.

 

Thanks for reading, and good luck in your visa journey!

 

I've read on a few forums where the beneficiary was asked for proof of citizenship out of the Montreal consulate (if the beneficiary wasn't born in Canada), so I think it's quite common for them to be asking. Good luck!

Edited May 7, 2019 by LOve17

[HF & HB 6]

Thanks treppenwitz for your reply, it really helps to have a second opinion and input! And yes you are correct, in the email I got the impression that they thought I was a visitor. Hopefully this info helps others who may be doing their I-129 F. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by HF & HB

[payxibka 10,045]

A week or more to receive a response is not unheard of 

[Nashvan 133]

3 hours ago, HF & HB said:

I was surprised to find out that the consulate stopped processing our case since they mistakenly thought I had no legal status in Canada. This is not the case since I have been a citizen almost all of my life and apart from living in my birth country for a few years before arriving in Canada I never lived anywhere else.

After receiving the very disappointing email two Fridays ago that a Packet 3 letter had never been sent and that our case was not moving forward, we quickly sent all my citizenship and proof of residence documents via email. I received confirmation last Wednesday (5 days later) that it was received but beyond that no information or help whatsoever. We are very much hoping to hear back this week.

Sorry to hear about your case. Form I-129F is made to be unfair to foreign-born Canadian citizens. I'm also foreign-born and had my case held up for 3 weeks because they wanted to see my proof of citizenship before P3. What surprises me is that they didn't initially ask you for proof of citizenship.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Vans

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from K1 Process & Procedures to Canada regional forum; issue is country specific.

[NikLR 13,227]

Montreal is quite slow. Wait a week or two then send packet 3.  You dont need to recieve it to send it.  You also dont need all the items on the checklist to send it either just have them all by interview.  

[MeghanK 629]

My fiance was a Canadian PR at the time of filing our petition. We sent a copy of his PR card with our I-129f packet, though looking back, I'm not sure what exactly prompted us to do that. He was never asked for further proof of status from the Consulate, while many others on our timeline were. So it is good to note that sending proof of status with the initial petition likely helps prevent that. 

 

And like others have said, MTL is super slow. Even at consulate received April 5, you're really not that far beyond averages of late. Also keep in mind, if your birth country is a high fraud country, you may expect to see an extended Administrative Processing time after interview even though you spent hardly any time there. Just in case you need to mentally prepare. 

Edited May 8, 2019 by MeghanK

[HF & HB 6]

Hi Vans,

 

Thanks for letting me know about your  experience. Sorry to hear you faced the same road block tho.

[HF & HB 6]

Thanks NikLR for the suggestion to  send off Packet 3. I did actually include those documents in the same email as my citizenship proof in the hopes that maybe they would proceed with Packet 4. 

[HF & HB 6]

Thanks MeghanK for sharing your experience, and I will keep that in mind in case of further delay past the interview. 

[NikLR 13,227]

7 hours ago, HF & HB said:

Thanks NikLR for the suggestion to  send off Packet 3. I did actually include those documents in the same email as my citizenship proof in the hopes that maybe they would proceed with Packet 4. 

You included a signed packet 3 checklist and the DS-160 confirmation? Good. 

[HF & HB 6]

I received Packet 3 today visa email requesting me to resubmit Packet 3 info since they now want to proceed with my case after submitting citizenship/residency proof.  In total we have been set back roughly 3-4 weeks. It seems that it is similar to the set back previously mentioned by Vans. Thanks everyone for your input. 

 

 

[HF & HB 6]

I received Packet 4 today via email, and I have the interview set for July 10. For anyone that is waiting for Packet 4 and wondering what the availability of interview dates looks like, as of today the soonest interview is July 10. It seems though that the Consulate is allowing people to book an interview pretty far in advance and even now mid-month, which is good, since I read in some comments, people saying that the scheduling wasn't open until the last week of the month. 

Edited May 14, 2019 by HF & HB