IR-1/CR-1 Montreal DQ'd private message group goes public part 3

[OG Fan 21]

Hi,

 

I've been following this thread and its previous iterations for almost a year now, but haven't been able to get our DQ date (Oct 20, 2020) on the spreadsheet because the message board won't allow me to send messages to @Hawk Riders. If we could be added, it would help the spreadsheet better reflect the current numbers for October 2020 DQ folks and better predict the next rounds of ILs. If everything stays on track, we're hoping to get our IL letter in August-- this group has been such a help to us, especially with managing our expectations. With so little information from the consulate itself, this has been our only source of reliable information. Thank you so much for keeping it going! Wishing everyone luck in the process and I hope we can be reunited with our families soon!

[ME_RHEDZ77 269]

27 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

My wife flew in from the US last week and the guidelines are very clear here in Ontario that she needed to get a PCR test (before flying and at the airport on arrival).

But now she needs to take a test in order to return to the US, and we can't seem to find any information about which one is acceptable. If a rapid test is good enough, based on the price, that's the one she'd get.

Does anyone know which one is required by the US?

I entered back to US last May and just had Covid-19 Viral Rapid Antigen test

 

Covid-19 test required by CDC travelling in to US

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel-during-covid19.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

 

What types of SARS-CoV-2 test are acceptable under the Order?

Passengers must be tested with a viral test that could be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Examples of available NAATs for SARS-CoV-2 include but are not restricted to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), nicking enzyme amplification reaction (NEAR), and helicase-dependent amplification (HDA). The test used must be authorized for use by the relevant national authority for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the country where the test is administered. A viral test conducted for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, including DOD contractors, dependents, and other U.S. government employees, and tested by a DOD laboratory located in a foreign country also meets the requirements of the Order.

Can I get a rapid test?

Rapid tests are acceptable as long as they are a viral test acceptable under the Order.

 

TESTING REQUIREMENTS POSTED IN AIR CANADA SITE

https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/covid-19.html#/region-1

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by ME_RHEDZ77

[ME_RHEDZ77 269]

24 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

My wife flew in from the US last week and the guidelines are very clear here in Ontario that she needed to get a PCR test (before flying and at the airport on arrival).

But now she needs to take a test in order to return to the US, and we can't seem to find any information about which one is acceptable. If a rapid test is good enough, based on the price, that's the one she'd get.

Does anyone know which one is required by the US?

I entered back to US last May and just had Covid-19 Viral Rapid Antigen test

[alphabetagamma 102]

1 hour ago, rainbow-skies said:

Hey! I don't know if you heard, but I wanted to share this with you and other travellers! 

 

On July 12th, Pearson Airport started pre-departure testing at their airport 7 days a week. Switch Health does the testing and they claim the rates are reduced. https://switchhealth.ca/en/travel/book/pearson

I still am opting to do mine at Fogal Pharmacy (Medionerx pharmacies) because it is less expensive. But want you to have options on your next trip the to US.

 

Regards,

 

Melissa

Hello. Thank you for this update too. Appreciate it. 

I see the rates are a bit high at the airport. I have a question though. Is Rapid Antigen good after Covid vaccine? I was told by someone that the test result might be positive due to antibodies present in the body. So better to get PCR test done. I'm not sure how true is this statement but just bringing it out. 

[rainbow-skies 130]

26 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

My wife flew in from the US last week and the guidelines are very clear here in Ontario that she needed to get a PCR test (before flying and at the airport on arrival).

But now she needs to take a test in order to return to the US, and we can't seem to find any information about which one is acceptable. If a rapid test is good enough, based on the price, that's the one she'd get.

Does anyone know which one is required by the US?

PCR is really the only acceptable one for Ontario.

 

To go to USA, CDC has indeed approved PCR or antigen. They also say you can do Rapid tests that are viral.....so PCR and Antigen can be done rapidly

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

[rainbow-skies 130]

Just now, alphabetagamma said:

Hello. Thank you for this update too. Appreciate it. 

I see the rates are a bit high at the airport. I have a question though. Is Rapid Antigen good after Covid vaccine? I was told by someone that the test result might be positive due to antibodies present in the body. So better to get PCR test done. I'm not sure how true is this statement but just bringing it out. 

That is a good question and im not sure.  I would definitely love to know the answer or science to that if anyone knows

[alphabetagamma 102]

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/can-you-test-positive-covid-19-test-after-getting-vaccine

 

 

WHAT ABOUT ANTIBODY TESTS AFTER VACCINATION?

If you get the COVID-19 vaccine and then get tested for the infection, would you expect an antibody test to be positive (as a sign you have antibodies) or negative (to prove you haven’t caught the disease)? In reality you could have either, but neither would have a bearing on whether the vaccine was effective.

The vaccine causes your immune system to produce antibodies, which could in theory show up as positive on an antibody test. Even if you believe you had never been infected, this result could also mean you had previously been infected with COVID-19 and been asymptomatic, and so cannot be relied upon to indicate that the vaccine has caused immunity. In addition, even when your body does produce antibodies after vaccination, they can take a few weeks to build up and then levels can drop off again, so they may be present in undetectable quantities that don’t show up on an antigen test.

Also a negative result even after vaccination can occur because the antibody test (also called a serology test) might be detecting antibodies to a different part of the virus, such as the nucleocapsid protein, to the one targeted by the vaccine, like the spike protein. This is why the US CDC advises that serology tests should not be used to test for immunity.

 

[annierob 194]

27 minutes ago, OG Fan said:

Hi,

 

I've been following this thread and its previous iterations for almost a year now, but haven't been able to get our DQ date (Oct 20, 2020) on the spreadsheet because the message board won't allow me to send messages to @Hawk Riders. If we could be added, it would help the spreadsheet better reflect the current numbers for October 2020 DQ folks and better predict the next rounds of ILs. If everything stays on track, we're hoping to get our IL letter in August-- this group has been such a help to us, especially with managing our expectations. With so little information from the consulate itself, this has been our only source of reliable information. Thank you so much for keeping it going! Wishing everyone luck in the process and I hope we can be reunited with our families soon!

Same DQ date as me. Positive thoughts for an IL soon!

[Hawk Riders 814]

...inbox cleared; future messages should be receivable...

[Kai G. Llewellyn 832]

I'm looking at getting a Covid test to return to Canada for my interview and the PCR tests around here seem to be a bit of a wildcard of taking up to 5 days to get a result. Walgreens offers the ID NOW NAAT test which guarantees results in 24 hours, has anyone tried this for entering Canada. Canada confirms that they accept NAAT tests, but I'm not sure if the ID NOW at Walgreens is covered by that.

[Twiz&Toz 240]

3 hours ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Oh yes, I just saw that. So there are three cases on the chart scheduled on August 25.

Looks like k1 is around the same Dq dates as us. Hope this means they step up more cases for our class. Did some thinking at this rate by feb Dq dates it will be about a 13-14 month backlog 

[Twiz&Toz 240]

2 hours ago, alphabetagamma said:

Hello. Thank you for this update too. Appreciate it. 

I see the rates are a bit high at the airport. I have a question though. Is Rapid Antigen good after Covid vaccine? I was told by someone that the test result might be positive due to antibodies present in the body. So better to get PCR test done. I'm not sure how true is this statement but just bringing it out. 

No you won’t test poss from getting the shot as it’s not a live form of covid. We had to contact health Canada months back when my mom got covid symptoms long after her first shot 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

33 minutes ago, Twiz&Toz said:

Looks like k1 is around the same Dq dates as us. Hope this means they step up more cases for our class. Did some thinking at this rate by feb Dq dates it will be about a 13-14 month backlog 

Personally I think it could go either way, with my gutt saying the wait time will Reduce  by Feb 2022 to possibly 6/7 months... Reasons for my optimism:

1. Montreal being in green zone and future further lifting of restrictions allowing the consulate to work at closer to full capacity. More people allowed in waiting areas, and more staff physically in the office.

2.  The order from DoS to reduce backlogs (or atl east maintain them) from April 30 can't be ignored. There may have been an adjustment period between May and now where they are bringing K1 up to speed because they were more neglected than CR1/IR1 in the past, but I think they are catching up now, and going forward can focus a little more on reducing CR1/IR1 backlog.

3. Like I speculated before, there maybe fewer DQs in Nov/Oct/Jan/Feb because of people not being able to get married or opting for AOS due to being out of work (or difficulty of living across border with closure) like someone else hypothesized. This may mean that Consulate can race through the interviews of these 4 months... ofcourse if on the flip side of that K1 cases have increased (for reasons of border closure), then that would not help us, as that would balance out the reduction in DQs.

 

Only time will tell... With May 2021 DQ, I am mentally preparing myself for a wait between 7 to 15 months (which of course is a ridiculously big range, but it is the way it is).

Edited July 14, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[Fobosdaemios 24]

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/flying-canada-checklist/covid-19-testing-travellers-coming-into-canada#arrival-testing

 

Arrival test results

If you qualified for the fully vaccinated exemption, you’re not required to quarantine until you get your results.

 

So I found that written on the site above from Canada travel restrictions.

 

How I read it is if you're fully vaccinated,  you're NOT required to quarantine unless your test results come back possitive. 

 

Could anyone correct me if I'm wrong?

Edited July 14, 2021 by Fobosdaemios

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

7 minutes ago, Fobosdaemios said:

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/flying-canada-checklist/covid-19-testing-travellers-coming-into-canada#arrival-testing

 

Arrival test results

If you qualified for the fully vaccinated exemption, you’re not required to quarantine until you get your results.

 

So I found that written on the site above from Canada travel restrictions.

 

How I read it is if you're fully vaccinated,  you're NOT required to quarantine unless your test results come back possitive. 

 

Could anyone correct me if I'm wrong?

This was exactly my understanding too. But I have no real life experience of it, and others here who have travelled have said otherwise. Very confusing....