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

[leo18 23]

10 hours ago, Allis0n said:

I had my medical with Dr. Lee two weeks ago (they took my photo at the medical), and today I had my interview where I presented a different passport photo I had had taken. It did not seem to be an issue - no one said anything about the photo in my medical and the passport photo being different.

Thank you so much for clarifying! 

[YYZ&MIA 117]

13 hours ago, KStene22 said:

DQ May 23

Interview: Feb 8th 10:00 am  APPROVED!

 

What may be less common about my case is that we had to reestablish my husband’s domicile, and were approved with no issues.  

 

Here are some quick notes on my process:

 

1. Security was the same as everyone else’s description.  Airport style security, kept my phone.  

2. Went to window 7 where I was asked for my passport.  Sat down.  

3. Called to window 4, and was asked to submit originals of my birth certificate, marriage certificate and 1 passport photo.  He also asked if my AOS needed any updating.  I said my husband changed employers but he said that was ok and didn’t change anything.  He then asked who lives at the address we intend to live at in the US (since we are both in Canada).  Sat down. 

4. Called to window 11 for the final interviewing process.  

   1. Oath and fingerprints

   2. She commented she hadn’t seen a SK marriage certificate in a long time.

   3. Since my husband lives in Canada she asked about his US citizenship.  I explained he was born in the US and came to college in SK, then stayed after marrying me.  She said we would talk about our US plan at the end.  

   4. How did you meet?

   5. Why are you wanting to move now, after having been married for almost 11 years?

      • I explained that after getting married I had 2 years left of my degree in Regina, then we stayed for financial reasons, then we started our family.  Our first 3 kids were born within 3.5 yrs and life felt chaotic - at this point she interjected and said, “I did the exact same thing!  I know exactly what you’re talking about.” and that was it.

   6. What does your husband do for work? - He is a cabinet maker and finish carpenter.

   7. Do you have a joint sponsor and who is he to you?

   8. Then she said, “What are all of these documents I see that you’ve submitted?  Wow.”  I told her we followed a list of things to reestablish my husband’s domicile and tried to provide everything on the list.  

      • We provided proof that we were preparing to list our Canadian residence, emails to prove communication with local employment connections in the US, a rent-to-own agreement for the family ranch property which includes the family home as well as a cabinetry shop, pics of the shop, bank statements, proof of PO box ownership, letter of intent to homeschool our oldest child, and prepared passport applications for our four kids. 

      • She only looked through the bank statement, PO box and lease agreement.  When we talked about the lease agreement I explained that it is family land which we would be the 4th generation to own, and that it includes a family home as well as the cabinetry shop that my late Father-in-law worked out of.  She seemed to immediately put the pieces together herself, remembering that my husband is also a cabinet maker, and I didn’t even have to tell her that my husband planned to work out of the shop.  She said, “This looks great.  I’m just going to put a note at the bottom here that you’ve met the requirements.”

   9. Do you have Birth Abroad certificates or passports for your children?

      • I said we had all the paperwork ready but hadn’t been able to go to the consulate yet due to COVID.  She was very nice and gave me info on how to get my kid’s paperwork expedited in Calgary (closest to us).  

   10. She checked that my medical was in, and said she would be able to approve my visa!  

 

I had uploaded updated versions of my husband’s taxes, our joint sponsor’s 2019 tax transcript and W-2, our lease agreement, and my joint sponsor’s license, which had expired.  I was not asked to show any of these.  

 

She also let me know that at my first entry into the US I would have another interview, and to expect it to be about 30 minutes.

 

So grateful for this forum!  We have done everything ourselves from start to finish thanks to the experiences of others posted on here.  

 

Thank for you for the thorough description of your interview experience and congratulations   What stood out to me is the part that she told you that at your first entry into the US, you would have another interview. Is that normal 

[YYZ&MIA 117]

17 hours ago, Ptitchou said:

Thanks! 

 

I didn't drive here, I took the train. Toronto to Montreal is about 6 hours by train and since I bought in advance, it cost $100 round trip. 

 

I am staying at the Sheraton, which is less than a 5 minute walk from the consulate. There's a Provigo grocery store around the corner from here, so I picked up some food and water for my room last night. 

 

I can't offer advice on parking, but I can say that my last experience with driving to Montreal on a summer visit, we had such a huge difficulty with parking that we vowed never to take the car here again. 

You said you took the train from Toronto to Montreal. Were you able to cross provinces without any issues and without having to quarantine ? I am having a tough time following the restrictions which seem to be changing on a weekly basis. 

[Travelingpharm 33]

9 hours ago, SASAS said:

It sounds like your husbands case is undergoing administrative processing. Is he a Canadian citizen? 

Thanks for the reply.

 

No, he is not a Canadian citizen, but has been in Canada as a legal permanent resident for more than 30 years.  

 

Would being a non-Canadian citizen make a difference in processing?

[Hawk Riders 814]

3 hours ago, YYZ&MIA said:

...at your first entry into the US, you would have another interview. Is that normal?

it's going to secondary with CBP. 

Everybody has to do it. 

[Hawk Riders 814]

10 hours ago, M Brown said:

Should I bother driving to the border and back, or just have them hold everything until I’m ready to cross permanently?

multiple people have asked and discussed this over this thread and the last one. please conduct a forum search.

it is also addressed in the FAQ.

[YYZ&MIA 117]

12 minutes ago, Hawk Riders said:

it's going to secondary with CBP. 

Everybody has to do it. 

Has anyone on here been denied during secondary with CBP? Imagine going through all this and the CBP officer has a bad day and goes ops never mind.

[State and Maine 190]

13 hours ago, M Brown said:

 

Should I bother driving to the border and back, or just have them hold everything until I’m ready to cross permanently?

New released restrictions for land border crossings go in effect feb 15th which means you have to get a pcr test to enter Canada. I would assume if you drove down and active your visa you’ll be on US soil and will have to obtain a test to cross back into Canada 

[Skaur0609 145]

6 hours ago, YYZ&MIA said:

You said you took the train from Toronto to Montreal. Were you able to cross provinces without any issues and without having to quarantine ? I am having a tough time following the restrictions which seem to be changing on a weekly basis. 

Hi my husband also took train from Toronto to Montreal January 26. He had no issue. 

[mam521 2,062]

34 minutes ago, State and Maine said:

New released restrictions for land border crossings go in effect feb 15th which means you have to get a pcr test to enter Canada. I would assume if you drove down and active your visa you’ll be on US soil and will have to obtain a test to cross back into Canada 

Not only the testing, but you have to have a Quarantine plan.  They can deny you entry at the border, too, especially if you don't demonstrate a sound quarantine plan and they are suspicious that you're just going to turn around and leave.  

[SASAS 122]

7 hours ago, Travelingpharm said:

Thanks for the reply.

 

No, he is not a Canadian citizen, but has been in Canada as a legal permanent resident for more than 30 years.  

 

Would being a non-Canadian citizen make a difference in processing?

They run everyone’s name for background checks. Sometimes non citizens have to go through additional background checks. It’s not often but it can happen. 

[DGF 730]

7 hours ago, Travelingpharm said:

Thanks for the reply.

 

No, he is not a Canadian citizen, but has been in Canada as a legal permanent resident for more than 30 years.  

 

Would being a non-Canadian citizen make a difference in processing?

There are some extra background checks done before the visa is issued. These sometimes require reaching out to the person's country of birth/citizenship if it's not Canada, which depending on the infrastructure in place in that country can add additional processing time. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by DGF

[Travelingpharm 33]

1 minute ago, DGF said:

There are some extra background checks done before the visa is issued. These sometimes require reaching out to the person's country of birth/citizenship if it's not Canada, which depending on the infrastructure in place in that country can add additional processing time. 

 

17 minutes ago, SASAS said:

They run everyone’s name for background checks. Sometimes non citizens have to go through additional background checks. It’s not often but it can happen. 

Thank you both for your input. 
 

We did receive a reply from the consulate today.  They now have issued him a 221G: refused for administrative processing.  
 

He is a Mexican citizen. Not sure how that impacts things. 
 

This is so upsetting. And now they have his passport too!  

[mam521 2,062]

23 minutes ago, SASAS said:

They run everyone’s name for background checks. Sometimes non citizens have to go through additional background checks. It’s not often but it can happen. 

I think someone back in the days of the PM group had an instance where there was someone who had the same name as them show up and that "dual identity" had some sort of criminal background. It all worked out, but the powers that be had to establish that they weren't the same person.  

 

@Travelingpharm if he has a "common" Mexican name, that could definitely create challenges in ensuring that the person they are looking at isn't someone else.  It will just (annoyingly and apprehensively) take a bit more time.  

[Emilini 10]

Has anyone, since September had to reschedule their appointment?  How did it go?  Is it possible?  How long did you have to wait to get a new appointment and how far ahead did you have to look?