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

[acmanu 68]

18 hours ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Yes. The Consulate emailed with an explanation stating the deportation note. My husband has never been deported and is definitely not this person. I’m SO infuriated. We’re lawyering up.

That is so weird and I am sorry to hear about your experience. Even if name and DOB was same, the fingerprints should have told a different story. Anyways good luck to you and hope this straightens out! 

[pooj97 89]

19 hours ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Yes. The Consulate emailed with an explanation stating the deportation note. My husband has never been deported and is definitely not this person. I’m SO infuriated. We’re lawyering up.

That's just so insane. Keep us updated and let us know what happens. 

[Tofu 343]

3 hours ago, legendqueue said:

APPROVED

 

I got back to my room and collapsed to my knees and just sobbed for 5 minutes, like I'm a big emotional dude but didn't realize how much tension needed to come out haha.  Messaged my wife with the "Welcome to the United States of America" letter and she called and we talked and laughed and cried for 20 minutes.

 

Usual process that everyone here mentions: clock's broken, room is super quiet and dull, staff are totally nice.  Passport taken, wait 45+ minutes, documents taken, wait maybe 15 minutes, then interview.  I was asked about how we met which ended up being a rambling tale as it usually is, and about what wife does for work.  Fingerprints taken, handed over most recent pay stub and tax return from my wife, and then she said congratulations there's no problems here and that was it.  I'm having problems believing it was only really two questions but I guess we talked about stuff based on the questions so I probably answered stuff indirectly.

 

I was able to change my flight just to leaving at 16:00 today so quickest cross-country trip ever.

 

YAY SO HAPPY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

HR I love you, I'll update my timeline shortly.  Wife and I figured out yesterday that today is DAY NINE HUNDRED of our process.  900 days since we mailed the original petition.  And it's done, my God it's finally done, I'm going to cry again, thanks VJ, you guys have been great and I'll be sticking around for some time for support and stuff.  Sorry to the one person I randomly got cross at that one time, that's not me normally and I still feel bad for that.  Thank you all for direct support and for your stories and data and everything else.

 

Like many others, I am also bawling reading this review!! Very happy for you and your wife! congratulations, and stay safe!

[Jay&Sid 211]

@legendqueue @2Ps

Congratulations & best of luck for your next chapter of life.

[campri 0]

I crossed the borders January 5th and no sign of neither GC nor SSN. I called the SSN office to know if I have at least any registration in their system and they said no. I scheduled an appointment for Feb 22nd and hoping they can process my SSN there.

[Lovepeace0303 310]

Any good immigration lawyer suggestions preferably in SF Bay Area? Money isn’t an issue. DM me. 

[AnkitShah20 32]

5 minutes ago, Lovepeace0303 said:

Any good immigration lawyer suggestions preferably in SF Bay Area? Money isn’t an issue. DM me. 

https://khandelwalaw.com 

Not around Bay Area but I was referred to this by someone. You can try. Good luck. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by AnkitShah20

[Dkw 41]

Quick question for clarification! Ontario Long Form, certified copy of Birth Certificate- is yours on legal sized paper or is yours a plastic type material (like our money)? 

The one I have and that has been accepted at NVC is a on legal sized paper. Has both my parents info and birth information, online it says it is an actual certified copy meant for immigration/visa. However, I came across someone else who has a plastic type BC from Ontario so now I’m worried I may have the wrong one.

[summertime2 43]

Just now, Dkw said:

Quick question for clarification! Ontario Long Form, certified copy of Birth Certificate- is yours on legal sized paper or is yours a plastic type material (like our money)? 

The one I have and that has been accepted at NVC is a on legal sized paper. Has both my parents info and birth information, online it says it is an actual certified copy meant for immigration/visa. However, I came across someone else who has a plastic type BC from Ontario so now I’m worried I may have the wrong one.

I have the legal-sized paper Ontario birth certificate, not laminated. It was not raised as an issue during my interview on Monday.

[Hawk Riders 814]

1 hour ago, Dkw said:

Ontario Long Form, certified copy of Birth Certificate- is yours on legal sized paper or is yours a plastic type material (like our money)? 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Allis0n said:

I have the legal-sized paper Ontario birth certificate, not laminated.

The plastic wallet card is wrong for these purposes; the legal-sized paper is correct. 

[Mike83 1]

Hi VJ Family,

 

I would like to ask about Domicile since my wife wasn't living in the US for the past 10 years among which past 1.5 years in Canada with me, however, she's willing to come back and found a job just now and I am expecting my interview in 2 months. I am wondering is 2 months of work, lease (with roommate), new driving license, and few bills would be acceptable to show domicile and that she is willing to go back live in the states before the interview?

 

Thanks a lot

[Coco Beau 39]

Hey all, 

 

My interview is on Friday and I’m just getting nervous that I am not going to have something they ask for. I have everything on the checklist but did anybody bring photos or chat/email history with their SO? 
 

Heading to Montreal tomorrow, so nervous and excited. 

[JACHA 42]

Alright Folks, here it goes....

 

APPROVED!!!!!

 

Interview: Wednesday, Feb 10, 2021 @ 7:45am 

 

All I could think of while walking to the consulate and waiting in the room was how accurate everyone's experience was and was trying to make mental notes so that I could come back here and share my experience! haha

 

So here's my experience (If you don't want to read it, in summary, it was like everyone else's experience) 

- Stayed at the Sheraton Hotel. Literally a 2 minute straight walk down the road.

- Got to the line about 5-10 minutes before my interview time. There we 2 people ahead of me. 

- Security Guard asked to see my passport, interview confirmation letter and asked me 3 Covid screening questions

- Allowed me inside to where I had to go through a metal detector and put my stuff through a scanner (Same as TSA at the Airport)

- A small locker thats perfect just to fit your phone was available. Put it in, take the key, and return it on your way out.

- Went upstairs and was asked to go to Window 7 to drop my passport off. Side note - in my head I pictured this waiting room as some old dimly lit type office, however it was very new, clean and fairly big- very similar to a new medical office.

 

The interview

- Called up and the associate asked for the required documents - Birth Certificate (Long-Form), Marriage Certificate, Police Record, 1 Passport Photo

- He verified my address and my spouses address. Her's did change and he manually recorded it. I also had uploaded an updated I-864EZ with the new address. He also had me take my finger prints (4 left, 4 right, 2 thumbs). FYI - They don't wipe these down.

- Then he gave me the domestic violence pamphlet and told me to sit back down. 

- I got called up one more time to me with a different individual. This is where I had to take the Oath.

- Here's a summary of questions he asked - Verify your name and date of birth. Who is your Petitioner? When did you meet and When did you get married? Where did you get married? Who was at your wedding? Who were the witnesses? What does your spouse do? What do you do? Are you planning on applying for jobs when you move to the states? Where are you going to live? Who else lives there? Do the other people who live there work? Did you get this pamphlet (Domestic Violence)? Did you read it? In one or two lines can you explain to me what it talks about? 

- Then the associate gave me back my documents from before (Marriage certificate, Birth Certificate, etc.) and handed me the "Welcome to USA" Letter. And advised me that my passport should be mailed back within 3-4 weeks. (Even though I paid for courier service). I think this is a generic timeline they give. 

- I did ask him when he thinks I could expect my physical green card and Social Security Number but he said he's not sure, it's a different department that handles that. 

- Then made my way out, down the elevator and go my phone from the locker. 

- I finished and was out by 8:49am . So total time was about an hour. I expect this to be a little longer if your interview if it's in the afternoon. I was in the first batch of interviews so by the time i was getting out the room became way more full.

 

Here is the BIGGEST PRO TIP (and I think it should be added to the FAQ)  - UPLOAD ALL YOUR DOCUMENTS TO CEAC BEFORE YOUR INTERVIEW!

- A friend of mine who did his interview 2 weeks ago told me he had uploaded all his docs prior to coming and the lady behind the desk said "Thank you so much, not a lot of people upload there documents, this helps alot".

- Most the time they spend is scanning all our docs if its not in the system already. So you can speed up the process if you upload and label everything correctly. 

- Some things I uploaded that helped  were

      - IRS Tax Transcript 

      - IRS Wages and Earnings

      - W2's

      - 1040's

      - My Passport photo

      - Wifes Passport and Birth Certificate 

     - My Passport

     - Revised I864EZ

     - DS260 Confirmation Page

 

^ All this is on top of what you had already submitted initially. And don't worry about the documents being "Accepted" . It's okay to have them in the "Submitted" state. The goal is we're trying to save them from doing more work of scanning documents. If you save them time, they'll save you time!

 

All in all, I owe VisaJourney and people like @Hawk Riders a lot for this thread as well as the Google Sheets Tracker and FAQ. Honestly, unless your case is complex, you do not need a lawyer. This thread had everything you need to get approved and was my guiding light the last 6-8 months when we didn't know what was going on during the pandemic. I encourage everyone to keep this thread going and the tracker going forward for those after us - Pay it forward!

 

Now I look forward to getting my passport back, getting my physical green card and my SSN. I hope they automatically send me the SSN and I don't need to set-up an appointment with the SSN office.

 

Open to answer any questions you may have. Remember the Pro Tip above! 

[Balpreet 4]

Hello  everyone I saw I got interview on 22 march dq is 8 july. My pcc is expiring on 7 march . Should i update on ceac or bring it on interview day. Thanks and good luck to all

[Hawk Riders 814]

8 hours ago, Balpreet said:

My pcc is expiring on 7 march . Should i update on ceac or bring it on interview day?

Do both. With a new one!

 

8 hours ago, Coco Beau said:

but did anybody bring photos or chat/email history with their SO? 

Nobody is asked for this.