part IV, the big IR1/CR1 DQ'd message group...

[Temp_Xyz 26]

4 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

The fact that it is impossible for your wife to get a police clearance without returning to India, sounds to me (not a lawyer) as reasonable grounds for a waiver. But a waiver or any further actions are not straightforward and can take time and/or may require a lawyer's assistance. The other possibility (and this is just a heads up, may not happen) is your wife being issued a DS-5535.

 

For Montreal, email here: Montreal-iv-dv@state.gov

Don't bank on a response, and if you get one, it maybe that they are unable to advise before the interview.

 

For NVC,  submit a query here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

It can take a few months for them to response and it is likely to be a generic response saying it is up to the consulate.

 

Thank you for the information. I really appreciate it!

 

 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

12 minutes ago, Temp_Xyz said:

On their website for  'Police Clearance Certificate Checklist', it states as the following:

FYI, the Consulate General of India's website also says that police certificates will not be issued for foreigners (non-Indian citizens) who have previously resided in India. But I know of one such Canadian who managed to get a police certificate after waiting for 6 months. So I wouldn't take what is on their website as gospel. 

[HaileyJade 5]

2 hours ago, Hawk Riders said:

@HaileyJade, interview date the 8th or 9th?

interviews, @DMV, @juliemct, @annieb, @RoundRobin29 or anybody else?

December 8th

[DGF 730]

8 hours ago, ifh said:

The consulate responded to my email and they asked me to reach out the NVC to get the status of my case… I’m so confused, I spoke to the NVC this morning and they told me that all was good on their end and that my case was in line to be scheduled for an interview and that basically it is in the consulate hands.  
Who schedules the interview NVC or the consulate ??? 

The consulate tells the NVC how many interview slots they have available and the NVC fills those with the list of people in DQ order (or at least that's how it's supposed to work). This is the NVC's problem. Good luck, hopefully escalating to a senator will help!

 

5 hours ago, Temp_Xyz said:

Quick question:

 

My wife is in Canada as an asylum claimant, and her home country (India) is extremely unhelpful towards those who have claimed asylum. She submitted her PCC request in April 2021, and it's still stuck in limbo, where as one of her friends applied for PCC around the same time and received it within a couple weeks. She called a couple weeks ago and was told it's still with the consulate in Toronto. The address on her passport no longer exists (new apartment buildings has been built), but that issue is secondary. We told NVC the situation and they accepted our explanation with the following response:

 

I don't think India has any plans to give her the PCC. Will this pose any issues during the interview? We have submitted Canadian PCC.

If it is not possible to get a document (which it seems that it is not from other's posts) that will be accepted. I'm not entirely sure what needs to be done, but I don't think it requires a waiver. I think you just need to show that you did everything in your power to get the PCC. If possible, getting a letter from the Indian consulate or police saying the PCC cannot be obtained would likely go a long way. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

6 minutes ago, DGF said:

 

If it is not possible to get a document (which it seems that it is not from other's posts) that will be accepted. I'm not entirely sure what needs to be done, but I don't think it requires a waiver. I think you just need to show that you did everything in your power to get the PCC. If possible, getting a letter from the Indian consulate or police saying the PCC cannot be obtained would likely go a long way. 

Now that I am reading this, I agree - it is sound advice. Best of luck @Temp_Xyz

[canuckchic 34]

7 hours ago, ifh said:

No worries, whatever I can do to help. Write to the NVC using this link : https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

Fill out all the information and write your request in the message box. It’s the only way to communicate with NVC via email. 

 

I sent over a private message in hopes we can keep each other updated about any progress we make. 

[MiloPinkman 23]

Submitted everything on Aug 29th and still not DQ'd anyone else having similar issue? 

[Temp_Xyz 26]

10 hours ago, DGF said:

If possible, getting a letter from the Indian consulate or police saying the PCC cannot be obtained would likely go a long way. 

Thank you for the reply. Although Indian Consulate rarely provides anything in writing, we will go there and see if we can get it in writing.

 

I was looking at the PCC requirements on NVC website, and it's mentioned "If you're 16 or older and have lived in your country of nationality for more than 6 months AT ANYTIME IN YOUR LIFE". Does this include living in India before she was 16? And is it cumulative 6 months or still consecutive 6 months?

 

 

==

 

Also, this is the address history we have provided in NVC:

MAY 2015 - NOV 2015 -- USA -- Turned 16 in SEP 2015

NOV 2015 - MAY 2016 -- INDIA [11/20/2015 - 05/11/2016] -- 9 days LESS than 6 months

-- Her passport shows entry of Nov 20 2015, and her I-94 record shows entry for May 12, 2016

 

She has not returned to India since then.

 

Unfortunately, when filing the petition with USCIS, we accidentally mentioned the following in her I-130A:

NOV 2015 - MAY 2016 -- INDIA [11/20/2015 - 05/29/2016] -- 9 days MORE than 6 months

-- NVC asks only for months and year, and not the day

 

Also, in the I-130's Beneficiary's Entry Information portion, I have missed a digit when giving her passport # (i.e. I put L134567 instead of L1234567).

-- It was her expired passport and she has gotten a new passport since then. New passport info was provided to NVC

 

Would any of this come to bite us?

Edited November 18, 2021 by Temp_Xyz

[usaBoundSud 21]

I was able to register for the appointment this morning.

[alphabetagamma 102]

1 hour ago, usaBoundSud said:

I was able to register for the appointment this morning.

Thanks for the heads up. I  did mine too just now. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

5 hours ago, MiloPinkman said:

Submitted everything on Aug 29th and still not DQ'd anyone else having similar issue? 

You can check NVC timeframes here:

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

 

It currently says " Current case review time: As of 15-NOV-2021, we are reviewing documents submitted to us on 18-AUG-2021."

 

Looks like they haven't gotten to applications submitted on Aug 29 yet, but are close.

Edited November 18, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

2 hours ago, Temp_Xyz said:

Thank you for the reply. Although Indian Consulate rarely provides anything in writing, we will go there and see if we can get it in writing.

 

I think a screenshot of what they have on the website "No passport or consular services are available to claimants of refugee status in BLS Centers." might help, but it is not conclusive. BLS is a third party agent. If this is all it says, it could be implied that asylum claimants can obtain these services directly from the consulate. So it really would help to get something more concrete from them. On the other hand if you can prove that the consulate is just not accepting any applications directly right now due to Covid, and only through BLS, then that would also support your claim of inability of getting the Police clearance.

 

2 hours ago, Temp_Xyz said:

I was looking at the PCC requirements on NVC website, and it's mentioned "If you're 16 or older and have lived in your country of nationality for more than 6 months AT ANYTIME IN YOUR LIFE". Does this include living in India before she was 16? And is it cumulative 6 months or still consecutive 6 months?

 

 

Reads to me like if India is the beneficiary's nationality, the time before she was 16 counts. Odd, because they are expecting a child to have a police record?

 

2 hours ago, Temp_Xyz said:

==

 

Also, this is the address history we have provided in NVC:

MAY 2015 - NOV 2015 -- USA -- Turned 16 in SEP 2015

NOV 2015 - MAY 2016 -- INDIA [11/20/2015 - 05/11/2016] -- 9 days LESS than 6 months

-- Her passport shows entry of Nov 20 2015, and her I-94 record shows entry for May 12, 2016

 

She has not returned to India since then.

 

Unfortunately, when filing the petition with USCIS, we accidentally mentioned the following in her I-130A:

NOV 2015 - MAY 2016 -- INDIA [11/20/2015 - 05/29/2016] -- 9 days MORE than 6 months

-- NVC asks only for months and year, and not the day

 

Also, in the I-130's Beneficiary's Entry Information portion, I have missed a digit when giving her passport # (i.e. I put L134567 instead of L1234567).

-- It was her expired passport and she has gotten a new passport since then. New passport info was provided to NVC

 

Would any of this come to bite us?

I don't think any errors in i130 would be an issue at this point, when it has been approved.

 

What matters now is the DS-260 and any errors you made on that can be corrected during the interview.

Edited November 18, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

1 hour ago, usaBoundSud said:

I was able to register for the appointment this morning.

Thanks for letting us know. I decided I'm going to call NVC tomorrow morning to confirm what name and passport details to enter before registering (just to be safe).

 

The warning, "Any discrepancy will result in delays in the return of the applicant’s documents" scared me, especially with the one-off delays in return of passport we have witnessed in the last month.

Edited November 18, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

Just read this on a consulate review that was just posted by @Quanger,  where the CO that interviewed them said "He was moved from Toronto to Montreal temporarily to help with the increase in cases being processed in Montreal."

 

Thanks for this anecdote, as this helps us understand how Montreal has been interviewing so many applicants recently. Also sad to see that it is temporary. 

 

It looks like MTL has reduced the back log to 6 months at this point. I hope they can reduce this backlog further to 2/3 months at least, before they let go of the temporary staff. That being said, considering we were at 11 month backlog just 2 months ago, it would still be a win even if they maintain it at 6 months, by managing to cover 1 month of DQs per month going forward.

[Quanger 9]

 

4 hours ago, Temp_Xyz said:

I was looking at the PCC requirements on NVC website, and it's mentioned "If you're 16 or older and have lived in your country of nationality for more than 6 months AT ANYTIME IN YOUR LIFE". Does this include living in India before she was 16? And is it cumulative 6 months or still consecutive 6 months?

 

I had a similar question because I was born in China and immigrated to Canada before 16. But my attorney assured me that I did not need a police certificate from China. According the Foreign Affairs Manual 9 (https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050404.html), 9 FAM 504.4-4(A)  (U) Basic Document Requirements, section 7 Police Certificates:

 

(7)  (U) Police Certificates: If the applicant is 16 years of age or old, they must obtain an original or certified copy of a police certificate for:

    (a)  (U) Their country of nationality, if they lived in the country of nationality for more than six months at any time in their life;

    (b)  (U) Their current country of residence, if different from nationality, if they have lived in that country for more than six months; or

    (c)  (U) Their previous country or countries of residence if they were 16 years or older at the time they lived there and lived in that country for 12 months or more; and

    (d)  (U) Any city and/or country where they were arrested for any reason, regardless of how long they lived in that city or country and regardless of age at the time of arrest.

    (e)  Present and former residents of the United States do not need to submit any U.S. police certificates.