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

[Kirank 4]

Hello,

Does anyone know when the interview letters for Jan be out? Is it usually the first week?

Thank you!

[YYZ&MIA 117]

Hi everyone! I crossed in December and received my SNN shortly after despite the holidays. I am looking to open a USA bank account in the USA and start building my credit. I’ve been with TD in Canada for years and I was thinking of opening one in the USA.. can anyone offer some advice or input regarding the best account\credit cards ? Thank you in advance 🙂

[MJ & FEK 44]

next week 

Edited January 3, 2022 by MJ & FEK

[Budzmaroo 26]

3 hours ago, Kirank said:

Hello,

Does anyone know when the interview letters for Jan be out? Is it usually the first week?

Thank you!

When were you DQ’d?

[ME_RHEDZ77 269]

15 hours ago, YYZ&MIA said:

Hi everyone! I crossed in December and received my SNN shortly after despite the holidays. I am looking to open a USA bank account in the USA and start building my credit. I’ve been with TD in Canada for years and I was thinking of opening one in the USA.. can anyone offer some advice or input regarding the best account\credit cards ? Thank you in advance 🙂

For helping building credit history, I would suggest becoming a Costco Member and get their Citi visa card. With all your $ spent you will also get points and will receive cash check reward at the end of the year, like in Canada. If you are in to travelling like me, I had Bank of America Travel Rewards Card no annual fee. All the points I earned I can redeem it with any travels or hotel bookings or rent a car. BOA will show to even previous charges (i.e. 1 year past) of travels/hotel/rent a car that you can redeem it.   

[Ilovecancun29 17]

On 12/11/2021 at 7:55 PM, From_CAN_2_US said:

Here's my detailed description of my interview experience:

 

Interview experience:

 

My appointment was at 9:30am. I arrived at the consulate at 9:15 and saw a REALLY long queue of people already gathered there. When I joined the queue they were still calling people with 8:30 appointments, so I knew we had a long wait ahead. There is no shelter for the queue outside, so come prepared for the  weather. It happened to be snowing that day and -10 degrees, but I guess that's still better than rain. They let people in one by one, as people from inside left, in the order of their interview slot AND their spot in the queue. I ended up being called in at 11:15.

 

Once inside, they ask for your ID (I showed my passport), and ask if you are in compliance of all the COVID protocols of the province of Quebec. Then you go through an airport like security. I was carrying a tote bag/ reusable shopping bag with my documents in binders, my inhaler, phone wallet, a cardigan and a sanitary pad. I was wearing a parka, an analog watch and my wedding ring. All of this, except my phone, I was allowed to take with me upstairs. I was asked to put my phone in a locker. Note - No backpacks, laptop bags, even if there is no laptop inside. The lockers are not big enough to hold them and you can't take them upstairs. No electronics of any kind is allowed upstairs, even headphones need to go into the locker.

 

I took an elevator to the 2nd floor where I was directed to go to window 6. Here you hand in your passport(s) and 2 photos. I gave my old passport explaining that was the passport in the name on my interview letter, and then gave the new passport, explaining it had my name updated to my married name. It was accepted, no hesitation, and I was given a slip with a number on it. I was told to wait for the number to be called on the screen and go to the corresponding window shown.

 

The waiting room was crowded, almost all seats were taken. People were packed together with no physical distancing. There are water fountains and 2 washrooms (one was out of order that day).

 

My number was called around 12:15 pm to head to window 8. The person at the window asked me my full name. Then asked who was petitioning me, and asked my husband's full name. Then they asked if this was my first marriage and also my husband's first marriage. They then took my fingerprints (digital). Next, they collected my original birth certificate, our original marriage certificate, and all the original police certificates from the various countries I have lived in since age 16. They didn't ask for any copies acknowledging that they see everything was uploaded on Ceac. My 2 photos were returned (not sure why they need 2 if they just take a copy), given the domestic violence pamphlet to read, and was told to wait for my number to called once again.

 

Around 1:00pm, I was called to window 3, where my actual interview took place. It lasted about 5-7 minutes. They started by asking my name and then taking the oath. Questions:

1. Who is petitioning me?

2. When did I first meet my husband?

3. Where did I meet him? (On a dating website, when I was living in Singapore)

4. Which dating website? (OKCupid; then some encouragement for me to elaborate, to which I described in brief, our entire courtship)

5. When did you get married?

6. How did you arrange your wedding during the pandemic? (With great difficulty...but then elaborated)

7. Who attended your wedding?

8. What do you do for work? Is that what you intend to do after moving to US?

9. What does your husband do for work?

10. Why were you in Bahrain as a child? (My parents were there from before I was born)

11. Why were your parents in Bahrain?

12. At what age did you leave Bahrain? How long did you live in India?

13. Where did you study in India? (Here we had a short conversation about they had lived in Bangalore for a few years and loved it; how one of their kids was born there.)

14. How long did you live in Singapore?

15. What did you do in Singapore?

16. When did you move to Canada?

17. How did you move to Canada? (Express Entry)

18. In all the countries you have lived in, have you ever been charged with a crime or refused entry?

19. In all the countries you have visited, have you ever been charged with a crime or refused entry?

 

The interviewer was checking their screen periodically, and at the end of the questioning, I heard them express "oh" after some clicks. My heart stopped, but I guess it was a positive "oh," because immediately after they said, "Your visa has been approved". I couldn't hear anything they said after that in all the excitement in my head, except the words "2 to 4 weeks," as they handed me a piece of paper with instructions about receiving my passport back. No "Welcome to America" paper. They saw me hesitate, so they asked, "any questions?" I said I brought with me a copy of my DS-260 with updates marked up and they told me not to worry about it. So I thanked them and left.

 

Everyone at the consulate were efficient, courteous and helpful. The queue outside could be better managed by security. There were no clear instructions given, and we had to figure out the plan by observation, and organise ourselves. Luckily all the applicants waiting cooperated with each other.

 

I was out of the consulate around 1:20, so the entire thing took about 4 hours.

 

Travel:

I took VIA Rail from Toronto Union Station to Montreal Centrale and return.  Departed on the 8:32 train on the day before the interview and returned on the 16:56 train on the day of the interview. The return train (train 69) is somehow nicer than the onward train (train 62). I got lucky, as the trains were on schedule. Train station is a 7 minute walk from the consulate.

 

Hotel:

I stayed at the Best Western Ville Marie. It was a 6 minute walk from the consulate, 13 minutes from train station. The price was affordable, and it sufficed for a 1-night stay, but if I had to do it again, I would spend $10/$20 more and stay at another place such as the Novotel. Best Western was clean, and staff was quite helpful. The rooms are renovated in the last 5 -7 years, but the HVAC is old. The corridors are old too. I am a light sleeper the noise from traffic on Peel Street kept me up almost the entire night.

 

Places to Eat:

I had breakfast at Boulangerie Au Pain Dore and lunch at Reuben's Deli and Steakhouse. Both good. Wish I had more time to try more food as the city seemed to have a lot of great places.

 

 

 

 

Hi! thanks for your post! I haven't made up my mind- on if I take the train and wear a chin diaper for 5 hours, or drive comfortably . I was going to drive initially  with my husband,  but I don't want to take any chances driving into Montreal with American plates in case there is police checkpoints like in the past. I read a few posts of applicants  turned back at the freeway into Montreal, with the American Citizen in the car, practically was denied access to their own consulate. You were lucky to be able to try different restaurants, my appointment its on Jan 11, so I don't think staying until the 13 will be the greatest, I was really excited about Montreal and wanted to take advantage of the trip to do some sightseeing, but would be more like being stranded in a city where you have to eat like a dog outside on the street with the lockdowns being in place just like in Ontario.  I live in Niagara and I was thinking of parking in Pearson and taking the train to UNION, would you recommend any other garage parking closer to UNION?

[Hawk Riders 814]

22 hours ago, Kirank said:

Hello,

Does anyone know when the interview letters for Jan be out? Is it usually the first week?

Thank you!

please complete your timeline here https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=397490

[affy 35]

Hello! Super new to this forum - looking for guidance during this process as my husband and I are very unsure what to expect. For clarity, I submitted the DS-260 in November (packet 3) and haven't heard back anything since then. How long does it usually take to be deemed "documentarily qualified"? Is there anything I should know about the time between submitted everything and getting the notice? Further, our lawyers submitted us under some sort of "exceptional circumstances" process. Is this a real thing? The further we get into everything the more I find it hard to believe this will be finished anytime soon... any help or guidance anyone could provide for someone in my situation would be greatly appreciated! 

[ME_RHEDZ77 269]

27 minutes ago, affy said:

Hello! Super new to this forum - looking for guidance during this process as my husband and I are very unsure what to expect. For clarity, I submitted the DS-260 in November (packet 3) and haven't heard back anything since then. How long does it usually take to be deemed "documentarily qualified"? Is there anything I should know about the time between submitted everything and getting the notice? Further, our lawyers submitted us under some sort of "exceptional circumstances" process. Is this a real thing? The further we get into everything the more I find it hard to believe this will be finished anytime soon... any help or guidance anyone could provide for someone in my situation would be greatly appreciated! 

Hello and welcome to the biggest support community here in VJ.

 

Before anything else, kindly complete your timeline here https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=409660.

 

On your timeline it shows that NVC received your application/case from USCIS in Nov. Not sure whether you have submitted all the required Civil documents, paid AOS and IV bill. From the date you have completely submitted IV package (Civil Documents etc.) that will be your reference date. You may check time to time the NVC timeframes here https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=409660. Sometimes the NVC system may record wrong or different date in their system of your actual submittal date. This case happened to me, wherein when I check the NVC timeframe, my submittal date was already passed but still not yet received a notice for documentarily complete/Documentarily qualified. I called NVC and what they told me is that there was an error in their system and shows my documents were submitted on a latter date and not covered on the cut-off date shown on the timeframe. I was advised just to wait since there's nothing day can do.

[From647to909 15]

48 minutes ago, affy said:

Hello! Super new to this forum - looking for guidance during this process as my husband and I are very unsure what to expect. For clarity, I submitted the DS-260 in November (packet 3) and haven't heard back anything since then. How long does it usually take to be deemed "documentarily qualified"? Is there anything I should know about the time between submitted everything and getting the notice? Further, our lawyers submitted us under some sort of "exceptional circumstances" process. Is this a real thing? The further we get into everything the more I find it hard to believe this will be finished anytime soon... any help or guidance anyone could provide for someone in my situation would be greatly appreciated! 

You can check my timeline for relevant dates as well, but ours took 3 months almost exactly from when we submitted everything to the NVC until we got documentarily qualified. 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

4 hours ago, Ilovecancun29 said:

Hi! thanks for your post! I haven't made up my mind- on if I take the train and wear a chin diaper for 5 hours, or drive comfortably . I was going to drive initially  with my husband,  but I don't want to take any chances driving into Montreal with American plates in case there is police checkpoints like in the past. I read a few posts of applicants  turned back at the freeway into Montreal, with the American Citizen in the car, practically was denied access to their own consulate. You were lucky to be able to try different restaurants, my appointment its on Jan 11, so I don't think staying until the 13 will be the greatest, I was really excited about Montreal and wanted to take advantage of the trip to do some sightseeing, but would be more like being stranded in a city where you have to eat like a dog outside on the street with the lockdowns being in place just like in Ontario.  I live in Niagara and I was thinking of parking in Pearson and taking the train to UNION, would you recommend any other garage parking closer to UNION?

Yes, I was lucky that Covid was more under control when I interviewed allowing me to dine at a few restaurants. I doubt that’s possible or safe to do now.

 

Personally, I found the train rather convenient. It wasn’t too crowded, I wasn’t seated next to anyone either on the onward or return journey, so I felt relatively safe.

 

As for parking, I recommend you check out the following website. There are several covered overnight parking garages available at pretty reasonable cost. I don’t know much about parking adjacent to Union, but I live about a 15 minute walk from Union and there is a good green p parking in the George Brown College building by my house that my husband uses sometimes. (carpark 286)

 

https://parking.greenp.com

 

[MJ & FEK 44]

For those worried about interviews being canceled, I think we might be in the clear (at least for those like me who have our interviews scheduled for January). They updated the website yesterday: https://ca.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/consular-operations-updates/

but the operations remain the same for Montreal  I think that this is a good sign, I feel like they would have made changes/announcements by now, especially since I think some people have interviews this coming Friday!

Edited January 5, 2022 by MJ & FEK

[mam521 2,113]

On 1/3/2022 at 4:06 PM, YYZ&MIA said:

Hi everyone! I crossed in December and received my SNN shortly after despite the holidays. I am looking to open a USA bank account in the USA and start building my credit. I’ve been with TD in Canada for years and I was thinking of opening one in the USA.. can anyone offer some advice or input regarding the best account\credit cards ? Thank you in advance 🙂

This has been discussed at length, many times.  

 

Credit isn't hard to build, once you start.  However, getting started is the difficult part.  See if you can set up a TD cross border banking package and get a US credit card based off of your Canadian credit.  Then, add your Social.  It should allow you to have a much higher credit limit based on your Canadian credit, but will allow you to build US credit.  

 

I've had no issues with Chase bank in the US.  I find them easy to deal with and they are practically everywhere.  My friend banks with Bank of America and seems to have no issues there.  My former mortgage was services through WellsFargo and it was a farce.  Not a huge fan and they've had data breach issues in the past.  

 

On 1/4/2022 at 1:53 PM, affy said:

Hello! Super new to this forum - looking for guidance during this process as my husband and I are very unsure what to expect. For clarity, I submitted the DS-260 in November (packet 3) and haven't heard back anything since then. How long does it usually take to be deemed "documentarily qualified"? Is there anything I should know about the time between submitted everything and getting the notice? Further, our lawyers submitted us under some sort of "exceptional circumstances" process. Is this a real thing? The further we get into everything the more I find it hard to believe this will be finished anytime soon... any help or guidance anyone could provide for someone in my situation would be greatly appreciated! 

Did your lawyer state why your petition was filed as a DCF?  What is the exceptional circumstance for needing the immigrant visa ASAP?  

[canuckchic 34]

Hopping on a plane to Montreal tomorrow morning for my interview on the 7th!

[MJ & FEK 44]

14 minutes ago, canuckchic said:

Hopping on a plane to Montreal tomorrow morning for my interview on the 7th!

awesome, let us know how it goes!! Ours is the 12th. So happy they havent been canceled.