IR-1/CR-1 Montreal DQ'd private message group goes public

[realmadrid23 18]

14 minutes ago, Hawk Riders said:

So that means you got approved, right?

Sorry i forgot to write in the first post! Yes i did got appproved!!!

1 hour ago, Rose__ said:

Hi everyone! My visa was approved this morning

 

I was in and out in a little over an hour! The security lady made me feel bad when I showed up because I was "very early"... In reality it couldn't have been earlier than 10.40am for a 10.45am appointment... I waited on the subway platform for a while since I didn't bring my phone and it was the only way I could know what time it was! But anyway, everyone else was fine. I was told to go to the first floor, booth 5 or 7. Before getting on the elevator, I confirmed to one of the agent that he said the "first" and not the "third" (because I didn't want to get yelled at lol). He was empathetic and said "yeah I know, with the masks I'm always having people repeat themselves". Regardless, there's a sticker with the name of the consulate right by the elevator button for the consulate so you can't get it wrong. The security guy upstairs was nice. I was very very stressed going there, but once I sat down it got better. The building isn't nearly as intimidating and formal as I was expecting it to be - it reminded me of where I went to get my health care (RAMQ) card. The two officers I spoke with were very nice, the second was actually very friendly!

 

Now for the details, I'll try to remember as well as I can! The first officer only asked for my passport, birth certificate, our marriage certificate, police check and passport pictures. I'm a temporary resident here so he did ask about my status, I showed him my work permit. He confirmed my husband's address, phone number, occupation; my date of birth; the date of our marriage; he asked if I ever had any issue crossing the border, if I had ever been arrested. He confirmed how long I'd been here in Canada for. He gave me the pamphlet on domestic violence. It was a little hard to hear him with the mask and the glass but he seemed to be mindful of it and he was also kind of turning his head to have his ears towards me when I was speaking. So I think that if you can't hear them well, they'll be understanding of it (I'm specifying because that was my worry!). Then I sat back and waited to be called for the second part of the process.

 

The second officer started off by thanking me for my patience and saying I was at the end of a long road - which kind of told me right away that I was going to be approved!! He had a speaker of some sort so it was very easy to hear him. Then he asked me to tell him about my husband, how we met. He asked what was the longest I'd ever stayed in the US (I said about 2.5 months during the lockdown), how often we see each other, if it was a first marriage for both of us, what does my husband do, what do I do. He said everything looked really good, lots of green lights. Then he said he'd hang on to my passport. He gave me a paper to show at customs because my packet will be electronic, I won't have an actual envelope to give them when I cross at POE. He told me a couple of logistic things about getting my passport back that I can't remember at all (oops) because I was suddenly realizing that we were finally DONE and I was getting emotional lol. But I live in Montreal so the passport just has to cross the city. Then my eyes filled with tears, I couldn't speak for a couple of seconds so I just looked at him with the most grateful look. He was like "yay, happy tears, that's good right?" lol. He congratulated me, told me to "take care". A very nice gentleman!

 

So globally, I would say it was very stressful leading up to it but the actual interview was painless. The officers are nice, the questions are very standard ones. I was definitely over prepared paperwork wise, knowing now what they actually asked me for. But I would 10000% recommend doing in this way: it's best going in knowing that, whatever they ask you for, you can just pull it out of your binder and give it to them. It was definitely a thought I held on to when I got nervous about interviewing! 

Also note that I had uploaded the following documents on CEAC a week before the interview, even though I didn't get an email: 2019 tax transcripts and W2, my more recent police check, and an updated I-864. This last one had changed quite a bit since the NVC stage but they didn't ask for any supporting documents (namely updated bank statements or a letter from my employer, since we're using my income and assets to qualify). I think we really went to town at the NVC stage with the supporting documents, so it made the rest of the process go smoothly.

 

That's it, I hope it helps! Pheeeew, what a crazy ride. Seeing my husband's smile on my phone screen when I told him was just amazing 😍: 😭  I'll relax for real once I get my tracking number. I hope to be able to fly down this weekend, I cannot wait to be reunited with my spouse... and our 2 cats of course!!! I'm going home!!!!

Congratulations!!! 

[Hawk Riders 814]

@Tbeck, @Zelna: got passport news?

[Lovepeace0303 310]

1 hour ago, MWhite said:

There was some Monday. Nothing since 

Hopefully, they are done or will finish soon and move on to Spousal... 

[Kimchi 190]

1 minute ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Hopefully, they are done or will finish soon and move on to Spousal... 

about half so far look to be rescheduled 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yXsBaODEcERCnBkkVhTklmw1LrFVkY9dE6z2Q5D2kCc/edit

[pooj97 89]

19 minutes ago, MWhite said:

about half so far look to be rescheduled 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yXsBaODEcERCnBkkVhTklmw1LrFVkY9dE6z2Q5D2kCc/edit

Do you all know how often spousal and fiancé interviews were done pre-Covid? Is it true that spousal interviews were done twice a week and fiancé once a week? Do you think the same will continue with the pending cases that havent been scheduled yet?

[Hawk Riders 814]

5 minutes ago, pooj97 said:

Do you all know how often spousal and fiancé interviews were done pre-Covid? Is it true that spousal interviews were done twice a week and fiancé once a week? Do you think the same will continue with the pending cases that havent been scheduled yet?

On the spreadsheet is a link to a useful calendar about scheduling.

[Lovepeace0303 310]

1 hour ago, MWhite said:

about half so far look to be rescheduled 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yXsBaODEcERCnBkkVhTklmw1LrFVkY9dE6z2Q5D2kCc/edit

Seems like they just need to do 1 more week of scheduling to get through the rest (M & W). That's hopeful and then they can start to move on to spousals again, yay! 😀

[Hawk Riders 814]

It is a matter of *when* in Nov the batch of spousal interviews will be set.

 

Remember, this is the normal process:

NVC schedules appointments one month in advance. The U.S. Embassy/Consulate General tells us on which dates they are holding interviews, and NVC fills these appointments with cases in the order they become documentarily complete.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/appointment.html#int1

[AAA0523 20]

Hey everyone,

My interview went well but they requested a police certificate from my home country as that was expired and I have visited my family a few times. The CO said they will approve my visa once they receive the new police certificate. 

[Rose__ 303]

2 minutes ago, AAA0523 said:

Hey everyone,

My interview went well but they requested a police certificate from my home country as that was expired and I have visited my family a few times. The CO said they will approve my visa once they receive the new police certificate. 

Oh I'm sorry they couldn't approve you right away 😕 but it'll be an easy fix, hopefully they'll process it asap! The hardest part is behind you.

[Hawk Riders 814]

12 minutes ago, AAA0523 said:

Hey everyone,

My interview went well but they requested a police certificate from my home country as that was expired and I have visited my family a few times. The CO said they will approve my visa once they receive the new police certificate. 

I hope this is easy to obtain!

[Jay&Sid 211]

@Rose__ Congratulations and I am so pleased to see you happy.

Thank you very much for sharing a detailed write up

 

@realmadrid23Congratulations and best wishes for your next chapter of life

 

[Jay&Sid 211]

10 minutes ago, AAA0523 said:

Hey everyone,

My interview went well but they requested a police certificate from my home country as that was expired and I have visited my family a few times. The CO said they will approve my visa once they receive the new police certificate. 

 

I am glad that your interview went well and yes you have left hardest part behind.

Best of luck!

[Rose__ 303]

I just went through the pictures on my phone to delete all of the screenshots I had of paperwork tips and interview recaps from this forum 😂 The end of an era. 

 

I also finally found how to check the status of my visa (spoiler: it was absolutely not by using the link that the officer gave me lol, that one gave me nothing). It already says "ISSUED "Your visa is in final processing"". Yay!

[Jay&Sid 211]

24 minutes ago, Hawk Riders said:

It is a matter of *when* in Nov the batch of spousal interviews will be set.

 

Remember, this is the normal process:

NVC schedules appointments one month in advance. The U.S. Embassy/Consulate General tells us on which dates they are holding interviews, and NVC fills these appointments with cases in the order they become documentarily complete.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/appointment.html#int1

 

You are so right.

September is gone and last K-1 was booked by MTL on Oct21.

Still plenty of K-1 interviews are due for rescheduling.

It might take whole month of October.

 

I guess they will start coordinating with NVC by the end of October.