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

[Cath&Claire 150]

1 minute ago, legendqueue said:

Sorry all, I don't mean to bring anyone down, but I just started typing and it felt good to get it off my chest.  I know we're all gonna make it.  This is just really, really hard.  Haha I've had cancer and six months of chemo and hip replacements because of the chemo and this is hands down more stressful than that.

That’s so stressful and I’m so hoping you’re doing well! And you’re right; my amazing mama was ill and passed away last year, December 26th.  This process definitely messes up the psyche far more than dealing with life and death events in our personal lives.   

[legendqueue 163]

9 minutes ago, Cath&Claire said:

That’s so stressful and I’m so hoping you’re doing well! And you’re right; my amazing mama was ill and passed away last year, December 26th.  This process definitely messes up the psyche far more than dealing with life and death events in our personal lives.   

Yeah, wife and I were talking about this a couple months ago and reckon it's because when I was on chemo (long before I knew her) I had a plan and a schedule.  Chemo was on a set day of the week and lasted roughly the same amount of time.  I knew what I had to do between treatments and it was a very treatable form so I was actually optimistic, but I had other plans in place for if things went pear-shaped, and that was that.  Not knowing is awful and not being able to make plans is awful.  We all understand this and that's why every once in a while someone in this group just screams at the sky and everyone else nods and goes to give a hug.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your mama but it sounds like your memories of her are great because of her amazingness :).  I hope your family is doing well.

Edited October 23, 2020 by legendqueue

[Lovenature 117]

6 minutes ago, legendqueue said:

Sorry all, I don't mean to bring anyone down, but I just started typing and it felt good to get it off my chest.  I know we're all gonna make it.  This is just really, really hard.  Haha I've had cancer and six months of chemo and hip replacements because of the chemo and this is hands down more stressful than that.

Sorry to hear what you are going through. Don't feel bad...it gets the best of us. We all have unique challenges in our situations but the feelings are the same. I honestly don't recognize myself anymore. I hope when it is done I can feel normal again. I find no one outside this forum understands what we are going through or what this is like so I'm glad you could vent. You are not alone!!!

[Lovepeace0303 310]

39 minutes ago, legendqueue said:

I like this in spirit, especially since among my family and friends I'm known as the most optimistic person and the one to go to if you need someone to talk to or to find a good side or angle to a situation.  Being optimistic about this process, however, has broken me.  Our NOA1 to I-130 approved was 16 months, months longer than expected or reasonable, months of daily despair and speculation and desperately doing everything we could to get answers.  Now we're seemingly back there again, having no idea what's going on, having no idea of any time frame, going from being sure I was going to be down there for my step-son's 5th birthday to knowing for sure I'm not going to be for his *sixth*.  To just want to do stuff alongside my wife and not do this ridiculous two homes thing, separated by 30km but a million miles at the same time, blessedly able to steal moments at the Peace Arch ditch which is more than others get, and be given no insight nor hope nor reassurance from Montreal that any of this is ever going to change.  Some days I can manage to ignore all that and manage a smile and we have a great video call all together and feel that everything is going to be OK, but more often these days a call like that ends and I immediately get the hollow feeling because I feel *that's all I get now and that's all I might ever get*, and it's being increasingly difficult to tell myself that's not true.  I'm sad and frustrated and more and more I'm *angry* because I *don't understand* what they're doing and *they don't care* that we don't understand.  

We're ALL going to get through this together. This group has relieved me so much of my constant anxiety and is definitely an open place to vent. We all understand the pains of this process, so you definitely don't have to apologize for how you're feeling. Sending virtual hugs and positive vibes your way and to all of us stuck in this painful process. ❤️ 

[Jacqueline H 33]

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone knows how long it is currently taking to process greencards.  Does anyone have a pulse on this?

 

[Hawk Riders 814]

26 minutes ago, Jacqueline H said:

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone knows how long it is currently taking to process greencards.  Does anyone have a pulse on this?

 

Someone in this thread reported receiving theirs surprisingly rapidly.

[DGF 730]

1 hour ago, legendqueue said:

I like this in spirit, especially since among my family and friends I'm known as the most optimistic person and the one to go to if you need someone to talk to or to find a good side or angle to a situation.  Being optimistic about this process, however, has broken me.  Our NOA1 to I-130 approved was 16 months, months longer than expected or reasonable, months of daily despair and speculation and desperately doing everything we could to get answers.  Now we're seemingly back there again, having no idea what's going on, having no idea of any time frame, going from being sure I was going to be down there for my step-son's 5th birthday to knowing for sure I'm not going to be for his *sixth*.  To just want to do stuff alongside my wife and not do this ridiculous two homes thing, separated by 30km but a million miles at the same time, blessedly able to steal moments at the Peace Arch ditch which is more than others get, and be given no insight nor hope nor reassurance from Montreal that any of this is ever going to change.  Some days I can manage to ignore all that and manage a smile and we have a great video call all together and feel that everything is going to be OK, but more often these days a call like that ends and I immediately get the hollow feeling because I feel *that's all I get now and that's all I might ever get*, and it's being increasingly difficult to tell myself that's not true.  I'm sad and frustrated and more and more I'm *angry* because I *don't understand* what they're doing and *they don't care* that we don't understand.  

I remember briefly chatting to you when we were both at USCIS because we were both Canadian September 2018 filers and both of our cases were taking longer than expected. Evidently yours took much longer than mine, something I didn't know until today, and I'm very sorry to hear that it did. I remember you talking about your step son back then and how hard it was being away from him and your wife despite being so close geographically and I continue to think about that whenever you update us. I'm so sorry to hear that you're going to have to miss another one of his birthdays. I've found myself getting somewhat invested in the stories of those that post here frequently and you are one of them. I can't wait for the day that you post that you've received your IL, that you've been approved, and that you've finally been reunited with your step son and wife for good.  

 

Please don't apologize or feel bad for posting this. It's what we're here for and I can only hope that this group is as much of a source of comfort for you and others as I know it has been for me.

[Kai G. Llewellyn 838]

Regarding getting Montreal to get a move on, we need to make a lot of noise. We should be calling them them out on social media, but also petitioners ought to be writing to their US Representatives and Senators. Essentially, this is hardship on the voters here, the US Citizens who have petitioned for their Canadian spouses and fiances so the politicians really ought to give a grilling on this. I'd also mention that maybe go to the media on this too. If you search up "Montreal Interview Backlog" on Google only VJ, Reddit and Social Media Posts that show up, which of course is no good in terms of getting this issue out there. Perhaps even writing to the Biden campaign would be a good idea on this too; because lets be honest, Biden is going to be far more receptive to lawful immigration than the current administration. I've worked in politics and the same boilerplate emails to politicians don't generally work, but people writing their specific stories and cases usually gets traction.

 

No one would believe you that Canadians have been waiting sometimes over two years to finally be reunited with their loved ones in the US, the politicians don't know, the general public doesn't know. It's a scandal that's had zero attention which has been made all the more worse due to the border closure. We should change that.

Edited October 23, 2020 by CanadaDude

[Cath&Claire 150]

13 minutes ago, CanadaDude said:

Regarding getting Montreal to get a move on, we need to make a lot of noise. We should be calling them them out on social media, but also petitioners ought to be writing to their US Representatives and Senators. Essentially, this is hardship on the voters here, the US Citizens who have petitioned for their Canadian spouses and fiances so the politicians really ought to give a grilling on this. I'd also mention that maybe go to the media on this too. If you search up "Montreal Interview Backlog" on Google only VJ, Reddit and Social Media Posts that show up, which of course is no good in terms of getting this issue out there. Perhaps even writing to the Biden campaign would be a good idea on this too; because lets be honest, Biden is going to be far more receptive to lawful immigration than the current administration. I've worked in politics and the same boilerplate emails to politicians don't generally work, but people writing their specific stories and cases usually gets traction.

 

No one would believe you that Canadians have been waiting sometimes over two years to finally be reunited with their loved ones in the US, the politicians don't know, the general public doesn't know. It's a scandal that's had zero attention which has been made all the more worse due to the border closure. We should change that.

You’re so right that most people don’t realize or even believe how long we have to wait, compared to countries thousands of miles away! I’m compiling an email now for my spouse to send to her senators, again,  and will add the House of Representatives! The family advocacy group has done a great job with media exposure for their cause of expanding the definition of immediate family.  I’m part of the group on Facebook so will check out who they’ve contacted in the media.

[Cath&Claire 150]

I just messaged Alex Panetta on Twitter. He did a story about the spousal reunification. I attached his info. He’s a CBC journalist in Washington. It’s a start .... 

Also here’s a copy of a tweet done by the Advocacy Group on Twitter. We could definitely  do the same. Outlining the lack of approvals and for us we could also  compare it to London. 

[Lovenature 117]

1 hour ago, CanadaDude said:

Regarding getting Montreal to get a move on, we need to make a lot of noise. We should be calling them them out on social media, but also petitioners ought to be writing to their US Representatives and Senators.

 

No one would believe you that Canadians have been waiting sometimes over two years to finally be reunited with their loved ones in the US, the politicians don't know, the general public doesn't know. 

I totally agree that no one knows but the sad part is no one seems to care. My husband reached out to all our representatives. One of the senators has been "monitoring" our case but all they do is pass along whatever garbage the State Department tells them.

 

For example, we get a form letter update every 60 days since summer 2019. Last one was on Oct 14 2020. All the ones since January say the same thing every time, our case is DQ and they don't know when we will get an interview.

 

My husband called them when he received it and they told him they can't interview us because the consulate is still closed! He corrected them and shared what he knew. They seemed surprised and embarrassed but not enough to do anything about it. We have provided data and asked them to make deeper inquiries but they won't. 60 days will pass and if I'm still waiting for my interview we will get the same form letter again.

 

Not trying to dissuade anyone. I think we all need to advocate for our cases and use whatever means or tools are available. Maybe your representatives are better. Either way, I'm just sharing our experience for realistic expectations. 

[Cath&Claire 150]

13 minutes ago, Lovenature said:

I totally agree that no one knows but the sad part is no one seems to care. My husband reached out to all our representatives. One of the senators has been "monitoring" our case but all they do is pass along whatever garbage the State Department tells them.

 

For example, we get a form letter update every 60 days since summer 2019. Last one was on Oct 14 2020. All the ones since January say the same thing every time, our case is DQ and they don't know when we will get an interview.

 

My husband called them when he received it and they told him they can't interview us because the consulate is still closed! He corrected them and shared what he knew. They seemed surprised and embarrassed but not enough to do anything about it. We have provided data and asked them to make deeper inquiries but they won't. 60 days will pass and if I'm still waiting for my interview we will get the same form letter again.

 

Not trying to dissuade anyone. I think we all need to advocate for our cases and use whatever means or tools are available. Maybe your representatives are better. Either way, I'm just sharing our experience for realistic expectations. 

Politicians are all about lip service, that’s for sure. I think social media would be better in terms of directness but good to hit them both with a message.  

[Kai G. Llewellyn 838]

34 minutes ago, Lovenature said:

I totally agree that no one knows but the sad part is no one seems to care. My husband reached out to all our representatives. One of the senators has been "monitoring" our case but all they do is pass along whatever garbage the State Department tells them.

 

For example, we get a form letter update every 60 days since summer 2019. Last one was on Oct 14 2020. All the ones since January say the same thing every time, our case is DQ and they don't know when we will get an interview.

 

My husband called them when he received it and they told him they can't interview us because the consulate is still closed! He corrected them and shared what he knew. They seemed surprised and embarrassed but not enough to do anything about it. We have provided data and asked them to make deeper inquiries but they won't. 60 days will pass and if I'm still waiting for my interview we will get the same form letter again.

 

Not trying to dissuade anyone. I think we all need to advocate for our cases and use whatever means or tools are available. Maybe your representatives are better. Either way, I'm just sharing our experience for realistic expectations. 

The issue here is that this is taken up as 'casework' which means assisting an individual regarding government services, but not so much as actively pressuring them with a policy change. Granted, there is very little change that can happen with this administration, but November may change things, and if there's a more receptive administration, increasing the profile of this issue on all fronts would be effective. We have the option of doing nothing outside of talking about it on VJ, or doing something which *might* improve things. There's not really much to lose out of doing that, and at least 'fighting' for it, is better mentally speaking than feeling that the process is completely set in stone on how long it can take.

 

Also I note that your state is Kentucky which has probably one of the politicians that probably gives the least c**p about their constituents, so the experience may be different for others.

 

The immigration debate right now has mostly focused on those without status, and while I completely sympathize with the situation of people fleeing persecution and who arrived in the US as children, it should be absolutely right that fairly adjudicating immigration through the established programs should be part of that debate too. Unfortunately it's been completely glossed over, and as a result the administration has been getting away with murder on this. The facts are that the administration is forcibly keeping US Citizens away from their families until their case is fished out of a unknown black hole. There is absolutely no reason not to have some degree of transparency regarding the process. The reason that the Consulate is completely lazy regarding our interviews is that no one has held their feet to the fire and held them to account. An unaccountable agency of government has no bounds on how slow and lazy they can be. DoS should publish how it should reduce the backlog, and it should open an IV unit at Vancouver. I genuinely don't believe there isn't a solution to this, it's more that they don't want to solve it because they feel that there is no need to do so despite happily taking our fees and mountains of personal information.

Edited October 23, 2020 by CanadaDude

[kburbasaur 60]

I made my official crossing on October 13 and just got my SSN to my US address today - WIN! Now let's see if the green card comes quick too.   The border agent at YYZ told me each time I come back into the US they'll have lots of questions until my official green card is issued, so let's see!

[Dbrennan 121]

Does anyone know if shoppers drug mart will provide some kind of proof that you got your flu shot if you get it done there? Or would it be better to just go to my gp?