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

[Hoffmaya 124]

47 minutes ago, Dbrennan said:

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?

Absolutely. I actually got my flu shot at Shoppers and they gave me a paper that can be used as a proof since it includes type of vaccine, date, physician name, location etc.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Hoffmaya

[Tofu 343]

46 minutes ago, Dbrennan said:

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?

In Saskatchewan they give you a little card evidencing that you’ve received it. 

[Jacqueline H 33]

On 10/23/2020 at 1:42 PM, Hawk Riders said:

Someone in this thread reported receiving theirs surprisingly rapidly.

Thank you, good to hear.

[Jacqueline H 33]

On 10/23/2020 at 10:10 PM, Dbrennan said:

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?

I just asked the pharmacist and he wrote a note stating the vaccine given and the date.  This is accepted. 

[Lovepeace0303 310]

Praying for some good news tomorrow/this week! I hope to wake up to interview date news from our fellow Jan DQs! ❤️🙏🏽

[Abhikochar 102]

26 minutes ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Praying for some good news tomorrow/this week! I hope to wake up to interview date news from our fellow Jan DQs! ❤️🙏🏽

Good luck to everyone. I hope all the Jan DQd get their letters tomorrow. Fingers crossed for you all.

[ns84 0]

I hope we all get our interview letters soon too...been very hard

[Abhikochar 102]

My cousin works for a government agency in the U.S. and I was told because of the upcoming elections, everything is held up at the U.S. Consulate. Is this right? Is this the reason that we are not hearing back on Interview dates for a few weeks now? Any thoughts ..

[rafale1973 141]

30 minutes ago, Abhikochar said:

My cousin works for a government agency in the U.S. and I was told because of the upcoming elections, everything is held up at the U.S. Consulate. Is this right? Is this the reason that we are not hearing back on Interview dates for a few weeks now? Any thoughts ..

I personally don’t think so, I don’t see why there would be any links. I think the consulate are just lazy and not doing their job as much as they should. 
 

it’s bureaucracy! 

Edited October 26, 2020 by rafale1973

[Tofu 343]

1 hour ago, Abhikochar said:

My cousin works for a government agency in the U.S. and I was told because of the upcoming elections, everything is held up at the U.S. Consulate. Is this right? Is this the reason that we are not hearing back on Interview dates for a few weeks now? Any thoughts ..

My guess is no.... Election is on November 3rd and they have interviews scheduled up to November 9th.

[Lovepeace0303 310]

What are they doing? They have 3 interview dates open to fill for spouses (Nov 18, 23, and 30). That is if they continue doing 1x a week on Monday for spouses based on previous scheduling. Goodness, WAKE UP! 

[Cath&Claire 150]

On 10/21/2020 at 9:52 PM, shammykay said:

I have created a massive database for the Immigrant Visa statistics by month plus a visualization of Montreal vs. London for 2019 & 2020.  This is a start of what we could use for social media campaigns / advocacy.

 

EXCEL DATABASE --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JjNOMFN1ypFVMGzYMn7e3jcJ_CUWZt3W/view?usp=sharing

GRAPH LONDON vs. MONTREAL --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/14qDtq1C-J84MIRAjODRbMp4KuqyfpamO/view?usp=sharing

Good day to you!  Hope everyone reading had a good weekend! 
 

@shammykay, are you able to make a table that compares the UK rates to CAN rates so we can post to the consulates social media and to send via email?  Something compact like the one I posted last week? 
 

If anyone is afraid to use their own social media to message the consulate, make a new one that isn’t identifiable.  This week is the week we should inundate them with messages if we don’t see movement.  I know people are frustrated.  This isn’t what we had in mind when choosing to move to be with our spouses.  
 

 

[mam521 2,011]

On 10/25/2020 at 10:00 AM, Jacqueline H said:

Thank you, good to hear.

Ours took 178 days.  It's all over the board. 

[Todd@Alya 45]

I am including for the benefit of this group the some of the stats I included in the letter to my senator. Hopefully this information is useful for advocacy from the rest of this group.

 

 

"The average waiting period for an IR1/CR1 interview since 2013 has been 80 days (2.5 months). However, the average waiting period for an interview at the Montreal Consulate General (MTLCG) by late 2019 was 6 months and that has increased to over 300 days (10 months) due to the pandemic (shown below in Figure 1). In fact, the MTLCG has only within the last month scheduled interviews for families who were document qualitied (DQ) for an interview as of December 2019. 

 

While at first glance it may seem that the current COVID-19 pandemic is the main cause of increased waiting times at the MTLCG, there is more to the story. If you compare the monthly average number of IR1/CR1 immigrant visas issued over time in Canada and a peer group country of the UK the delays and backlog started to build up in mid-2019 when the MTLCG fell significantly behind in its visa issuance. 

 

The situation was made worse when the MTLCG delayed opening by two months relative to London despite similar public health policies in the two countries. As a result, IR1/CR1 applicants in the UK are not currently experiencing a backlog and are waiting the normal 2.5 months on average for an interview. This is a direct result of their consistently well-run operation and earlier restart from the pandemic relative to Montreal.

 

The MTLCG has never acknowledged what happen in 2019 that caused them to nearly stop issuing IR1/CR1 visas that has resulted in today’s significant backlog. The Consular General in Montreal abruptly left earlier this year and one theory is that he was not a good manager. Another theory is that it was actually the breakdown in US/Canada trade relations at the core. Finally, there is a theory that the US Ambassador to Canada caused the disruption when she departed in 2019."

[Cath&Claire 150]

26 minutes ago, Todd@Alya said:

I am including for the benefit of this group the some of the stats I included in the letter to my senator. Hopefully this information is useful for advocacy from the rest of this group.

 

 

 

"The average waiting period for an IR1/CR1 interview since 2013 has been 80 days (2.5 months). However, the average waiting period for an interview at the Montreal Consulate General (MTLCG) by late 2019 was 6 months and that has increased to over 300 days (10 months) due to the pandemic (shown below in Figure 1). In fact, the MTLCG has only within the last month scheduled interviews for families who were document qualitied (DQ) for an interview as of December 2019. 

 

While at first glance it may seem that the current COVID-19 pandemic is the main cause of increased waiting times at the MTLCG, there is more to the story. If you compare the monthly average number of IR1/CR1 immigrant visas issued over time in Canada and a peer group country of the UK the delays and backlog started to build up in mid-2019 when the MTLCG fell significantly behind in its visa issuance. 

 

The situation was made worse when the MTLCG delayed opening by two months relative to London despite similar public health policies in the two countries. As a result, IR1/CR1 applicants in the UK are not currently experiencing a backlog and are waiting the normal 2.5 months on average for an interview. This is a direct result of their consistently well-run operation and earlier restart from the pandemic relative to Montreal.

 

The MTLCG has never acknowledged what happen in 2019 that caused them to nearly stop issuing IR1/CR1 visas that has resulted in today’s significant backlog. The Consular General in Montreal abruptly left earlier this year and one theory is that he was not a good manager. Another theory is that it was actually the breakdown in US/Canada trade relations at the core. Finally, there is a theory that the US Ambassador to Canada caused the disruption when she departed in 2019."

Great letter! Are you going to personalize it and how it has impacted you and your spouse?