The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (split)

[Ontarkie 14,376]

2 hours ago, john1231 said:

I am in for the 200 day party - getting there soon 🤐🙃 Does anyone have experience of trying to ask for expedite processing? Will partner's surgery be a good enough emergency for the US visa admin processing if the partner doesn't have any family members in the US to help out after surgery? 

Cannot expedite AP, Montreal normally does not do many expedite to begin with.

 

Go visit it will be your best bet.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Ontarkie

[ice-qube 649]

55 minutes ago, john1231 said:

I am in for the 200 day party - getting there soon 🤐🙃 Does anyone have experience of trying to ask for expedite processing? Will partner's surgery be a good enough emergency for the US visa admin processing if the partner doesn't have any family members in the US to help out after surgery? 

I have no idea who told you that can expedite administrative processing. To my knowledge, there is no provision for this unlike other stages, unfortunately. That makes it extra infuriating, as if it weren’t already.

[DS5535 135]

2 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

Cannot expedite AP, Montreal normally does not do many expedite to begin with. Go visit it will be your best bet.

They won't let you in. They have a few 9 foot goons manning the vestibule 

[Ontarkie 14,376]

1 minute ago, DS5535 said:

They won't let you in. They have a few 9 foot goons manning the vestibule 

I meant to go visit the US when surgery time. 

[john1231 6]

Cannot visit the US as I need a visa (don't have Canadian passport). 

 

Interesting, i see that embassies in a few countries (not Montreal) say this: "Except in cases of emergency travel (i.e. serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family), before making inquiries about status of administrative processing, applicants should wait at least 180 days from the date of interview or submission of supplemental documents, whichever is later." source 1 (saw in a few other places)

 

So makes me think that in case of emergency they might be a bit faster 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

1 hour ago, john1231 said:

Cannot visit the US as I need a visa (don't have Canadian passport). 

 

Interesting, i see that embassies in a few countries (not Montreal) say this: "Except in cases of emergency travel (i.e. serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family), before making inquiries about status of administrative processing, applicants should wait at least 180 days from the date of interview or submission of supplemental documents, whichever is later." source 1 (saw in a few other places)

 

So makes me think that in case of emergency they might be a bit faster 

This is interesting and may support your case. The surgery is being performed on your USC spouse? If so, I suggest putting together evidence such as your spouse’s medical documents regarding the surgery plus information about their requirements for recovery and how it is hard for them to cope without you there. Send this to the consulate. You may also try getting your senator/ congressperson to endorse you.

 

I hope it works. In the recent past, we have seen a number of cases where there was surgery/ illness on the part of USC where expedites were approved for interviews. These were all non AP cases, but I see no harm in you trying. 

[Ontarkie 14,376]

5 hours ago, john1231 said:

Cannot visit the US as I need a visa (don't have Canadian passport). 

 

Interesting, i see that embassies in a few countries (not Montreal) say this: "Except in cases of emergency travel (i.e. serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family), before making inquiries about status of administrative processing, applicants should wait at least 180 days from the date of interview or submission of supplemental documents, whichever is later." source 1 (saw in a few other places)

 

So makes me think that in case of emergency they might be a bit faster 

Well that is not so easy then.  

There is a reason I bet that Montreal doesn't have that listed on their site. 

 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

24 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Well that is not so easy then.  

There is a reason I bet that Montreal doesn't have that listed on their site. 

 

I suspect it is because AP and DS 5535 lasting over 180 days was not common at Montreal until recently, unlike in some “high-risk” countries.

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

4 hours ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

This is interesting and may support your case. The surgery is being performed on your USC spouse? If so, I suggest putting together evidence such as your spouse’s medical documents regarding the surgery plus information about their requirements for recovery and how it is hard for them to cope without you there. Send this to the consulate. You may also try getting your senator/ congressperson to endorse you.

 

I hope it works. In the recent past, we have seen a number of cases where there was surgery/ illness on the part of USC where expedites were approved for interviews. These were all non AP cases, but I see no harm in you trying. 

@john1231

 

An additional note - I don’t believe that the consulate would compromise on the security check despite any expedite that may be approved. 
 

The only way the approval would be faster is if the consulate has already received security clearance but waiting on the consulate for final processing. We have seen this happens often, where the security clearance is obtained and then visa issued about a month later. It is possible there are cases just sitting there at the consulate waiting even longer after security clearance is obtained. In these situations it appears a nudge from a senator/ congressperson helps in making the consulate act faster. I think an emergency situation if brought to their notice would be similar.

 

In short, if your security clearance (which depends on various external agencies/ countries) is not complete, I personally don’t think an expedite is possible. But if your security clearance is complete it could help.

 

Good luck. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you to not be able to be there to support your spouse…

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[BatmanFlow 481]

any data point on the longest  wait for a DS 5535 to be approved so far? wondering how long some have waited

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

31 minutes ago, BatmanFlow said:

any data point on the longest  wait for a DS 5535 to be approved so far? wondering how long some have waited

The longest I have seen for Montreal cases is 14 months (see below).

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=257606

 

The longest I have seen worldwide cases is 4 years (this was a case from Pakistan).

Edited April 14, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[BatmanFlow 481]

1 hour ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

The longest I have seen for Montreal cases is 14 months (see below).

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=257606

 

The longest I have seen worldwide cases is 4 years (this was a case from Pakistan).

aw man brutal timeline. i wish we would hear some sort of movement in any of our cases. radio silence lately and its depressing

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

21 minutes ago, BatmanFlow said:

aw man brutal timeline. i wish we would hear some sort of movement in any of our cases. radio silence lately and its depressing

If you noticed, this person had a second interview. So must have been something complicated with their case.

 

I hope it won’t be anything close to this for people on this thread.

Edited April 14, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[john1231 6]

23 hours ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

@john1231

 

An additional note - I don’t believe that the consulate would compromise on the security check despite any expedite that may be approved. 
 

The only way the approval would be faster is if the consulate has already received security clearance but waiting on the consulate for final processing. We have seen this happens often, where the security clearance is obtained and then visa issued about a month later. It is possible there are cases just sitting there at the consulate waiting even longer after security clearance is obtained. In these situations it appears a nudge from a senator/ congressperson helps in making the consulate act faster. I think an emergency situation if brought to their notice would be similar.

 

In short, if your security clearance (which depends on various external agencies/ countries) is not complete, I personally don’t think an expedite is possible. But if your security clearance is complete it could help.

 

Good luck. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you to not be able to be there to support your spouse…

 

Thanks @From_CAN_2_US @Ontarkie, indeed it is difficult the wait and surgery. Probably won't help but worth a try- i guess desperate times call for desperate measures  We already got the senator to email them but they got the same generic reply. I will see how it goes.

 

Yeah, I am worried that my extensive travel and living in several countries might take forever to get the clearance. Plus, the war is probably causing further backlog in DC given the increased asylum cases. 

[herecomestherain 77]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:15 AM, ohmygod said:

there are no additions to DS5535 list after February. Did they not hand out any in March? If I see Dani's spreadsheet, we have only until end of February

So far there have been 4 in March that I've seen.