Anyone recently had (or has scheduled) CR1 interview in either Montreal or Vienna? (merged topics)

[exp 17]

Hello,

 

I hate COVID! Sorry, I had to let this out.

 

On Oct 7, I finally received the message: NVC will work with the U.S. Embassy/Consulate General in MONTREAL, CAN to schedule an interview appointment for you. Once we have confirmed an interview date, we will send a notice to you, [...]. from NVC. I know usually you get an appointment within 2-4 weeks and then the actual interview within 1-3 months. I also know that stupid COVID created a huge backlog in Montreal.

 

• Does anyone have an interview scheduled in Montreal or recently had an interview and would share their timeslines? (when NVC approved the DS260 package, when you got the interview appointment and then you had the interview)

 

My issue is I am in Canada on a work visa (which is still valid for some time) but I am planning to move and COVID makes it a challenge to leave Canada (and return for the interview). I am Austrian citizen so I could always enter Austria without any issues and I am wondering if it's worth to transfer the case to the embassy in Vienna.

 

• Does anyone have an interview scheduled in Vienna or recently had an interview and would share their timeslines? (when NVC approved the DS260 package, when you got the interview appointment and then you had the interview)

 

If there is a large backlog in Montreal and I cannot expect my interview sooner than, say, mid 2021 and Vienna processes things faster and they have less traffic, then it might be worth trying to transfer my case to Vienna.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!!

 

PS: I know Montreal consulate was officially closed for a long time due to COVID whereas Vienna embassy was open; however, Vienna has a lockdown right now, so both embassies are closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[exp 17]

Hi,

 

I am Austrian/European citizen working/living in Canada right now. Hence about a year ago, when we started my greencard process we did put the US consulate in Montreal on the application. The current status is that the whole application is approved (incl DS-260) and NVC "is working with the US consulate in Montreal" for a visa interview but my interview is not scheduled yet.

 

I think the Montreal consulate has a large backlog. I am planning to leave Canada soon but as a non-resident I will have issues re-entering the country for my interview (particularly in case I am giving my my apartment and job here). I can always enter my home country. Currently I feel stuck in Canada and it's risky to leave.

 

Hence I am thinking of transfering my case to the embassy in Vienna. But I am not sure if it's worth waiting in Canada instead.

 

Has anyone transfered a case between different consulates before? How does it work, how painful is this and how long would this realistically take?

 

 

 

PS: This is an add-on question to:

 

 

 

 

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

You can't just embassy shopping, everything has its order. What makes you think Vienna embassy has no backlog? 

[SalishSea 17,829]

It can be a gamble, if you are wanting to do that just to try to get an earlier interview.  If you are actually moving back to Austria, and giving up your residency in Canada, you can certainly request a transfer.  

 

To my understanding, this is generally done at the consular level.  So once your file is sent to Montreal from NVC, the Vienna consulate can request the file.  

[Crazy Cat 41,857]

52 minutes ago, exp said:

Has anyone transfered a case between different consulates before? How does it work, how painful is this and how long would this realistically take?

People who are legally residing outside their home country usually interview there (where they reside).  But you can also transfer the case to your home country.  In pre-Covid times, some cases took a few weeks to a few months for the transfer.  Who knows how long it would take now, because I assume you would go to the back of the queue.  I would contact NVC and your home country consulate to coordinate the transfer.  But as @Jorgedig  and @NancyNguyen said, it would certainly be a gamble.  I'm sure every consulate has a backlog.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[Ryan H 3,812]

~~~Similar topics merged; please do not start multiple threads on the same topic.~~~

[exp 17]

 

You can't just embassy shopping, everything has its order. What makes you think Vienna embassy has no backlog?

Well, I'm not embassy shopping.
I described my situation: I currently live and work in Canada but will leave.

During normal times I would not ask this question. I would just leave Canada and return for my interview once it's scheduled.
You are probably aware that due to COVID borders close. Travel is not as easy as it used to be and the future is uncertain.

I do not know if Vienna has no backlog. My personal feeling is that Vienna has not so much backlog because Austria is smaller and fewer people want a Greencard; besides it seems Montreal consulate was closed for many months for non-emergency services whereas Vienna embassy stayed largely functional. Again, this is just a feeling but I'd appreciate any personal experience from either of these two places.

 

It can be a gamble, if you are wanting to do that just to try to get an earlier interview.  If you are actually moving back to Austria, and giving up your residency in Canada, you can certainly request a transfer.  
To my understanding, this is generally done at the consular level.  So once your file is sent to Montreal from NVC, the Vienna consulate can request the file.  

No. With the uncertain COVID situation I may not be able to re-enter Canada any more for my interview once I leave.
This is my issue. I can always enter Austria. Of course, if I can get an earlier interview that way, even better. But my question is more how likely/severe a delay is.

I am not "actually" moving back to Austria. However, I do have a home there.

People who are legally residing outside their home country usually interview there (where they reside).  But you can also transfer the case to your home country.  In pre-Covid times, some cases took a few weeks to a few months for the transfer.  Who knows how long it would take now, because I assume you would go to the back of the queue.  I would contact NVC and your home country consulate to coordinate the transfer. But as @Jorgedig  and @NancyNguyen said, it would certainly be a gamble.  I'm sure every consulate has a backlog.

Do you know what the process is for that?
Do I need to file forms for that? Do I have to deal with USCIS?

~~~Similar topics merged; please do not start multiple threads on the same topic.~~~

It is not the same topic: The first question is about recent personal experiences for two particular consulates.
The second one is a general question about transfering a case from one embassy to another.
In other forums it is appreciated not to merge multiple questions into a single thread. I did not know that this is different here.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

 

 

 

[betzzymathew 20]

Hey man, 

Unfortunately I do not know about Vienna wait times. But in Montreal, they are processing cases DQ'ed in March 2020. They have started to pick up pace but its impossible to predict when your interview will be. 

 

To tranfer case to another country, fill out askNVC form and request a transfer. I transferred my case from India to Canada, pre-DQ AND had to submit my passport, legal residence documents and proof of Domicile. They gave me a new case number in 2 months (Processing times have since been improved, right now it is 7 days). In your case, I do not know what the place in line for DQ will be after transfer, is it the original DQ date or the date of transfer. 

 

I do not know what your final intent is, but as you said, returning back to Canada for just the interview with Covid might not be easy, however that route depending on backlogged Vienna is might be  the faster route to Permanent Residency. 

Is it possible to extend your status in Canada ? Maybe even implied status for some more time ? That may help for staying in Canada for a few more month. 

[exp 17]

27 minutes ago, betzzymathew said:

Hey man, 

Unfortunately I do not know about Vienna wait times. But in Montreal, they are processing cases DQ'ed in March 2020. They have started to pick up pace but its impossible to predict when your interview will be. 

 

Thanks for this info, this is very helpful! I didn't know about the term DQ, looked it up now and saw it means "Docmentarily Qualified". I received an email Oct 1 with the subject "Notice regarding your Immigrant Visa Case becoming Documentarily Qualified" and the content "The National Visa Center (NVC) received all of the fees, forms, and documents that are required prior to attending an immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy/Consulate General overseas. NVC will work with the U.S. Embassy/Consulate General in MONTREAL, CAN to schedule an interview appointment for you. Once we have confirmed an interview date, we will send a notice to you, your petitioner and attorney (if applicable). [...]". Does this mean I got DQ'ed Oct 1?

 

Well, this doesn't look great either. This means assuming situation does not change significantly I cannot expect the interview in muss less than 6 months, correct?

 

There are actually two things: (1) receiving the information when the appointment is (2) the actual interview. When you say "they are processing cases DQ'ed in March 2020", do you mean (1) or (2)? Based on your experience, when could I at least expect to know when the interview is? (Knowing now that it will be in June would be much more helpful than knowing in April that it will be in May for my planning!!)

 

27 minutes ago, betzzymathew said:

 

To tranfer case to another country, fill out askNVC form and request a transfer. I transferred my case from India to Canada, pre-DQ AND had to submit my passport, legal residence documents and proof of Domicile. They gave me a new case number in 2 months (Processing times have since been improved, right now it is 7 days). In your case, I do not know what the place in line for DQ will be after transfer, is it the original DQ date or the date of transfer. 

This is also very helpful! I am thinking of contacting the embassy in Vienna, maybe they can tell me at least something wrt to backlog.

How do you know it's 7 days right now? Is this based on your current case or is this information available somewhere?

 

27 minutes ago, betzzymathew said:

 

I do not know what your final intent is, but as you said, returning back to Canada for just the interview with Covid might not be easy, however that route depending on backlogged Vienna is might be  the faster route to Permanent Residency. 

With "that route [...] be the faster route to PR" you, you mean not transferring but staying in Canada and wait it out?

 

27 minutes ago, betzzymathew said:

Is it possible to extend your status in Canada ? Maybe even implied status for some more time ? That may help for staying in Canada for a few more month. 

Hard. I can stay with my work permit until summer (I think) but I cannot work. Also to myunderstanding I cannot leave the Country which is bad, for example in case of emergency home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[betzzymathew 20]

10 hours ago, exp said:

Does this mean I got DQ'ed Oct 1?

Yes, this means you are DQ'ed Oct 1. Traditionally this is the date which your postion in queue is used for interview allocation. 

 

10 hours ago, exp said:

(1) or (2)?

Refer to this, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LvnDvX95_tfWtTvsJJM49PDPPvPKal0WG2rgdZHhsz0/edit#gid=255923754

This is the spreadsheet which contains data of when date was communicated and when interview was in Montreal. 

 

10 hours ago, exp said:

Based on your experience, when could I at least expect to know when the interview is

Sorry bud, as my attorney advised , there are no predictions or guarantees with US immigration. I can comment on my case. My DQ date is June 1st 2020 and I expect my interview to be in April 2021. And Your mileage may vary. Take a look at the spreadsheet and probably you can make a guess. Also the number of interviews conducted in a month will vary month by month . 

 

10 hours ago, exp said:

This is also very helpful! I am thinking of contacting the embassy in Vienna, maybe they can tell me at least something wrt to backlog.

No harm in trying, but embassy may or may not volunteer this information. A more sure bet is to scrape through different immigration forums and get an idea on what dates Vienna is processing at. 

10 hours ago, exp said:

How do you know it's 7 days right now? Is this based on your current case or is this information available somewhere?

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html

Since its NVC, its the time taken to reply to mails. As of now, they are responding in 7 days. 

 

10 hours ago, exp said:

With "that route [...] be the faster route to PR" you, you mean not transferring but staying in Canada and wait it out?

 

Yes. A thing to remember is, not all consulates have the same staffing. Canada has relatively high staffing and they generally process more cases. As you said, Vienna might not have a lot o people applying for Green Card, but that also means their staffing is relatively low, so you might not necessarily come out faster with Vienna. Ofcourse, anomalies exist everywhere (Sweden and Denmark), so please make an educated guess. 

 

10 hours ago, exp said:

Hard. I can stay with my work permit until summer (I think) but I cannot work. Also to myunderstanding I cannot leave the Country which is bad, for example in case of emergency home.

 

Understandable. That is your choice to make. IWas in bit of a same situation. Work Permit was expiring, so applied for my Permanent Residency and that gave me 6 months of implied status. I was ok with not leaving Canada for the entire time, but ofcourse, to each their own :)  

[exp 17]

thank you! Wow, this is probably the most helpful information on the process I received so far. And the most scary one.

 

I wish I would have known about this spreadsheet and the statistics a year ago before I applied. It's insane, Canada seems to be the slowest based on the stats! I thought Canada would be the fastest, being just next door and having close ties, but the opposite seems to be the case.

 

And based on the spreadsheet, indeed I cannot expect the interview happening before fall. Wow. That's shocking. Previously I was under the impression that the bulk of the time is spent in USCIS/NVC.

 

This certainly brings me closer with my thoughts of trying to move the case.

 

 

 

[Jestia 0]

If you are looking for a timeline, we finished everything with NVC first week of January, and would of probably had our interview in March. On November 16th they gave us an interview date of December 9th.