Should I transfer from F2B to F1? Montreal

[neeuq 12]

Hello,

 

I am currently in F2B category.

DQ is Feb 11, 2021.
Priority date  is July 2, 2015.

I am waiting in the queue to get an interview at the Montreal, Canada consulate. I am wondering if I should change to F1 since my father (he is my petitioner) is a citizen now. Do you think it will help me move up the queue? My documents are all approved and qualified, I am just waiting to be called for an interview, and of course I want it to happen sooner than later.

Thanks
 

[payxibka 10,047]

41 minutes ago, queensl said:

Hello,

 

I am currently in F2B category.

DQ is Feb 11, 2021.
Priority date  is July 2, 2015.

I am waiting in the queue to get an interview at the Montreal, Canada consulate. I am wondering if I should change to F1 since my father (he is my petitioner) is a citizen now. Do you think it will help me move up the queue? My documents are all approved and qualified, I am just waiting to be called for an interview, and of course I want it to happen sooner than later.

Thanks
 

The petition is at NVC, so you let them know.  Montreal is notoriously slow regardless of visa type. 

[neeuq 12]

Just now, payxibka said:

The petition is at NVC, so you let them know.  Montreal is notoriously slow regardless of visa type. 

yes, i would definitely let them know. just wondering if DQ'd.   F1's get more priority than F2B's.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

49 minutes ago, queensl said:

Hello,

 

I am currently in F2B category.

DQ is Feb 11, 2021.
Priority date  is July 2, 2015.

I am waiting in the queue to get an interview at the Montreal, Canada consulate. I am wondering if I should change to F1 since my father (he is my petitioner) is a citizen now. Do you think it will help me move up the queue? My documents are all approved and qualified, I am just waiting to be called for an interview, and of course I want it to happen sooner than later.

Thanks
 

You can’t interview before you are current. F1 is only current to Nov 2014 at present, F2B to Sept 2015. I can’t see how moving from a category where you are already current to one where you probably have many months to get there, is going to speed up your case.

Edited July 20, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[nastra30 2,359]

14 hours ago, queensl said:

 I am just waiting to be called for an interview, and of course I want it to happen sooner than later.

At the moment your interview will happen sooner in F2B category than F1 based on priority date.

It's possible USCIS/NVC on their own may automatically upgrade you to F1 category. If that happens you have to write them asking to remain in F2B category because staying in F2B favors you.

[neeuq 12]

19 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

You can’t interview before you are current. F1 is only current to Nov 2014 at present, F2B to Sept 2015. I can’t see how moving from a category where you are already current to one where you probably have many months to get there, is going to speed up your case.

i am aware of this, which is why i ask.

but i also see it's current in the other bulletin - "dates for filing."

i'm also not sure how relevant the priority date is once you're documentarily qualified. because it seems they're giving interviews by when you got your documents approved/qualified. 

[neeuq 12]

5 hours ago, nastra30 said:

At the moment your interview will happen sooner in F2B category than F1 based on priority date.

It's possible USCIS/NVC on their own may automatically upgrade you to F1 category. If that happens you have to write them asking to remain in F2B category because staying in F2B favors you.

i'm not sure how relevant the priority date is once you're documentarily qualified. because it seems they're giving interviews by when you got your documents approved/qualified. 

NVC doesn't seem like they will automatically do it, because when i ask this question, they say if i want to do it, i'd have to send my dad's info. but they never properly respond to tell me if it would go faster bc of the changes in priorities since the pandemic started. 

this is what montreal consulate has said to me: 

An F1 to an F2B is still an F category and not considered tier one or two. You may have priority once the F categories start being processed. However, you will need to provide the proof of U.S. Citizenship to NVC to make the change.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

39 minutes ago, queensl said:

i am aware of this, which is why i ask.

but i also see it's current in the other bulletin - "dates for filing."

i'm also not sure how relevant the priority date is once you're documentarily qualified. because it seems they're giving interviews by when you got your documents approved/qualified. 

Nope, you cannot get an interview until your priority date is current in table A. The commentary in the visa bulletin also makes that clear: under table A it says “”Numbers are authorized for issuance only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the final action date listed below.” All table B means - and you even noted that is called the “dates for filing” table - is that you can submit documents in preparation for your number getting current in table A. So all you would be doing  by moving to F1 is swopping being somewhere in the current queue waiting for an interview slot to open, to moving to the front of a different queue where interview slots will only open in (depending on exact progress) maybe 10 months time.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

44 minutes ago, queensl said:

bc of the changes in priorities since the pandemic started. 

There is no difference in “priorities” between F1 and F2B. From the DoS statement on issuance priorities:

 

Tier One: Immediate relative intercountry adoption visas, age-out cases (cases where the applicant will soon no longer qualify due to their age), and certain Special Immigrant Visas (SQ and SI for Afghan and Iraqi nationals working with the U.S. government)

Tier Two:  Immediate relative visas; fiancé(e) visas; and returning resident visas

Tier Three: Family preference immigrant visas and SE Special Immigrant Visas for certain employees of the U.S. government abroad

Tier Four: All other immigrant visas, including employment preference and diversity visas

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/immigrant-visa-prioritization.html
Both F1 and F2B, as you have reported Montreal has already told you, fall into the same tier (family preference, so tier 3).

 

 

[neeuq 12]

9 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Nope, you cannot get an interview until your priority date is current in table A. The commentary in the visa bulletin also makes that clear: under table A it says “”Numbers are authorized for issuance only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the final action date listed below.” All table B means - and you even noted that is called the “dates for filing” table - is that you can submit documents in preparation for your number getting current in table A. So all you would be doing  by moving to F1 is swopping being somewhere in the current queue waiting for an interview slot to open, to moving to the front of a different queue where interview slots will only open in (depending on exact progress) maybe 10 months time.

where did you get 10 months from? 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

16 minutes ago, queensl said:

where did you get 10 months from? 

The difference in priority dates in the latest visa bulletin between what is current now for F2B vs F1. Of course there is no guarantee it will stay the same gap, F1 could either speed up or slow down vs F2B over that time. But IMO opinion the gap makes no difference, what matters is that you are in a category that is current right now for you and the one you are thinking of changing to isn’t, and you will get no change in priority from changing categories. I honestly don’t understand why you are even considering this. The difference is why we have so many people applying to retain F2B rather than move to F1 because the latter has been roughly a year slower than F2B for quite a while now.

[master69 0]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

The difference in priority dates in the latest visa bulletin between what is current now for F2B vs F1. Of course there is no guarantee it will stay the same gap, F1 could either speed up or slow down vs F2B over that time. But IMO opinion the gap makes no difference, what matters is that you are in a category that is current right now for you and the one you are thinking of changing to isn’t, and you will get no change in priority from changing categories. I honestly don’t understand why you are even considering this. The difference is why we have so many people applying to retain F2B rather than move to F1 because the latter has been roughly a year slower than F2B for quite a while now.

Great info, thank you 🙏. 

[nastra30 2,359]

2 hours ago, queensl said:

i'm not sure how relevant the priority date is once you're documentarily qualified. because it seems they're giving interviews by when you got your documents approved/qualified. - No, getting interview is not based on when you become DQ. It's based on when you priority date becomes current.

NVC doesn't seem like they will automatically do it, because when i ask this question, they say if i want to do it, i'd have to send my dad's info. but they never properly respond to tell me if it would go faster bc of the changes in priorities since the pandemic started. - Sometimes, NVC will get word from USCIS that petitioner is now a US citizen so 

this is what montreal consulate has said to me: 

An F1 to an F2B is still an F category and not considered tier one or two. You may have priority once the F categories start being processed. However, you will need to provide the proof of U.S. Citizenship to NVC to make the change. - Yes, family preference F1 and F2B falls under the same tier. Your priority date will stay the same if you switch between F1 and F2B category. Nonetheless, to get an interview the priority date will have to be current under the category you fall under. So with the same priority date for both F1 and F2B, you are currently current in F2B vs F1. Meaning, all things staying the same you will get an interview sooner in F2B category than in F1. Therefore, as of today, it benefits you to stay put in F2B category.

 

•  

 

 

[neeuq 12]

1 hour ago, nastra30 said:

 

 

this is really helpful, thanks. when they get notified someone becomes a citizen, would they send me an email or message about it?

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

The difference in priority dates in the latest visa bulletin between what is current now for F2B vs F1. Of course there is no guarantee it will stay the same gap, F1 could either speed up or slow down vs F2B over that time. But IMO opinion the gap makes no difference, what matters is that you are in a category that is current right now for you and the one you are thinking of changing to isn’t, and you will get no change in priority from changing categories. I honestly don’t understand why you are even considering this. The difference is why we have so many people applying to retain F2B rather than move to F1 because the latter has been roughly a year slower than F2B for quite a while now.

gotcha. i thought you meant that family preference interviews will start in 10 months. 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

22 minutes ago, queensl said:

 

gotcha. i thought you meant that family preference interviews will start in 10 months. 

I’m not sure why they implied that they aren’t issuing any F visas (at least that was my understanding of “once the F categories start being processed”, because the issuance statistics for Montreal show they are. I assume they are issuing in proportion to what the queue looks like because there are a lot (relatively) of F3 and F4 and not very many F1 or F2 (though I am led to believe the “FX” category is also F2). Obviously IR are the largest categories https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JUNE 2021 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

(Note that even in a normal year they do not issue a huge amount of F1 and F2 through Montreal, example same month  a couple of years back they issued 9 F1s, 3 F2s and 10 FXs. So I am not sure they are really even strangling these categories much, more like they are just not making up for the backlog? )