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

[Danii 312]

5 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I've been reading this thread for a while and first of all, I'm sorry you all are going through this.

 

I see you're considering filing a writ of mandamus but I'm wondering if contacting your congressional district representative could be an option before going through with a lawsuit and spending all that money.

 

 

I'm currently waiting for one congresswoman to get back to me, I hope they'll reply before 60 days of my interview 😂 I've read that there isn't much they can do except get a longer version of the "sorry we know this process is long but we will update you once we're ready" email. I know it's still worth a shot though. Have you had success with that? Is reaching out to a senator better/the same? 

[deep2ca 77]

I am willing to wait 120-150 days. My interview was on Oct 25th, 21.  If its not resolved by then I will be proceeding with a Mandamus law suit. However, I remain positive it will get resolved within 90 days. 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by deep2ca

[Allaboutwaiting 2,502]

7 minutes ago, Danii said:

I'm currently waiting for one congresswoman to get back to me, I hope they'll reply before 60 days of my interview 😂 I've read that there isn't much they can do except get a longer version of the "sorry we know this process is long but we will update you once we're ready" email. I know it's still worth a shot though. Have you had success with that? Is reaching out to a senator better/the same? 

I've seen a good number of successful cases around the forum: things finally moved once the congressperson was involved, sometimes "too soon" after the contact, which makes people think it was just a coincidence.

But I'm certain it is not a waste of time putting them to work on it.

[ice-qube 648]

On 11/30/2021 at 1:52 PM, deep2ca said:

I have read online about countless people who were stuck in AP for over a year, some even for two years, either due to requiring a DS-5535 or for any other reason.  I doubt any of us will have to go down this road, but I discovered that if you file a Mandamus lawsuit the US Consulate is forced to complete its "Additional / Administrative Processing" within 60 days.

 

 

Supposedly you do not have to wait for a reasonable amount of time, you can file a Mandamus lawsuit immediately after being placed in AP. If you google "Mandamus Lawsuit DS-5535" there are lots of success stories, one couple even had their visa processed within 7 days of filing the lawsuit. 

 

You can read more about it here: https://nimerlaw.com/about-mandamus/

 

I also discovered that in January 2021, the Biden government got rid of PP 9645 & 9983 which was a discriminatory ban on entry to United States introduced by the Trump government. But that has resulted in the state department handing out DS-5535 like its candy even though it was initially designed to only affect 1% of applicants. There is on going litigation regarding this. 

In my opinion, the immigration lawyers who are telling people that they don't need to wait should be viewed with great skepticism. There are many honest and straight-up lawyers, but there are also a boatload of dishonest or downright crooked ones, and the fact is, these people have a financial incentives, in the form of billable hours, that do not depend on the success (or lackthereof) of outcomes for their clients. Writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy and an extremely expensive one, to boot.  

[ice-qube 648]

8 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I've seen a good number of successful cases around the forum: things finally moved once the congressperson was involved, sometimes "too soon" after the contact, which makes people think it was just a coincidence.

But I'm certain it is not a waste of time putting them to work on it.

Not to be a naysayer, but: How likely is a congressperson, whose constituents number in the tens to hundreds of thousands, depending on location, to actually get involved with most people's immigration cases? 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,502]

2 hours ago, ice-qube said:

Not to be a naysayer, but: How likely is a congressperson, whose constituents number in the tens to hundreds of thousands, depending on location, to actually get involved with most people's immigration cases? 

First and foremost it is their duty. Second, from those hundreds of thousands just a portion is going through some immigration process, from that amount a percentage is facing issues and from those, just a few will decide to contact them. Third thing to consider is that they do not deal with the situation directly but delegate the responsibility to an employee.

 

They're paid to serve the people so put them to work -whether they're good at it or not is another matter-.

 

Once again, the forum has a good number of cases where a congress person was involved when things went awry and they had a positive outcome.

[Ontarkie 14,019]

Congressman or other elected officials have a section of their staff for these situations. If it's something like your file fell off the pile and ended up under many other files. Then for sure they can help. Security checks not so much. Unless the checks are done and the CO just forgot to put the last stamp of approval on it.  The best part is this is usually pretty fast and free to give it a shot. It sure doesn't hurt to try. 

 

Same thing with the the lawsuit - they can't force security checks to be bypassed. If the security checks are not done and they are forced to make a decision they have no choice but to deny the case.  Just like above if things are complete and someone just forgot about your case then yes the lawsuit will help. 

 

Personally I cannot see the cases in Canada taking 3 yrs like some other countries. If another country is involved with the security checks Montreal can only move as a fast as the other country's co operation. This does delay things a lot and there is no way around security checks. 

[Danii 312]

28 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Congressman or other elected officials have a section of their staff for these situations. If it's something like your file fell off the pile and ended up under many other files. Then for sure they can help. Security checks not so much. Unless the checks are done and the CO just forgot to put the last stamp of approval on it.  The best part is this is usually pretty fast and free to give it a shot. It sure doesn't hurt to try. 

 

Same thing with the the lawsuit - they can't force security checks to be bypassed. If the security checks are not done and they are forced to make a decision they have no choice but to deny the case.  Just like above if things are complete and someone just forgot about your case then yes the lawsuit will help. 

 

Personally I cannot see the cases in Canada taking 3 yrs like some other countries. If another country is involved with the security checks Montreal can only move as a fast as the other country's co operation. This does delay things a lot and there is no way around security checks. 

Just want to correct that if the security checks are not complete, they will not deny your case. Instead, they will most likely file for an extension and do not have to make a decision within 60 days. It has happened to a few people, sometimes there are even 2-3 extensions granted by the judge. If you are denied, it is not because you rushed them into a decision but because of an issue with your actual case. I've even seen one instance of a case being dismissed and no response was given by the consulate. However, they got movement on their case 1-2 months later and then approved. 

 

So far, I've seen three people at Montreal who waited (some currently waiting) over 1 year. These cases had interviews before Jan 2021, so their cases might be different than ours, no way to tell. Each case is unique, nothing is guaranteed. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Danii

[Ontarkie 14,019]

5 minutes ago, Danii said:

Just want to correct that if the security checks are not complete, they will not deny your case. Instead, they will most likely file for an extension and do not have to make a decision within 60 days. It has happened to a few people, sometimes there are even 2-3 extensions granted by the judge. If you are denied, it is not because you rushed them into a decision but because of an issue with your actual case. I've even seen one instance of a case being dismissed and no response was given by the consulate. However, they got movement on their case 1-2 months later and then approved. 

 

So far, I've seen three people at Montreal who waited (some currently waiting) over 1 year. These cases had interviews before Jan 2021, so their cases might be different than ours, no way to tell. Each case is unique, nothing is guaranteed. 

Your right about the extensions. 

 

[DrJanko10 101]

4 hours ago, Danii said:

So far, I've seen three people at Montreal who waited (some currently waiting) over 1 year. These cases had interviews before Jan 2021, so their cases might be different than ours, no way to tell. Each case is unique, nothing is guaranteed. 

Do you know any case details from these 3 people? I'm just asking to see if there are any similarities with mine, for peace of mind.

[Danii 312]

27 minutes ago, DrJanko10 said:

Do you know any case details from these 3 people? I'm just asking to see if there are any similarities with mine, for peace of mind.

One couple had to file a hardship waiver. I'm not sure what that means but she explained that her case is complicated. Another lady didn't know why she was refused, but I think she was born in or originally from Iran, and Iran was on the travel ban. I think that ban was either still in place at that time or just revoked. I don't know why she's still waiting since the ban has now been fully revoked. Maybe she's been approved but hadnt updated Visajourney in a long time. The last guy didn't know why he was selected. He was a Canadian citizen with no ties to other countries. That was the most concerning case. He filed WOM almost 1.5 years after his interview. 

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Danii

[DrJanko10 101]

6 minutes ago, Danii said:

One couple had to file a hardship waiver. I'm not sure what that means but she explained that her case is complicated. Another lady didn't know why she was refused, but I think she was born in or originally from Iran, and Iran was on the travel ban. I think that ban was either still in place at that time or just revoked. I don't know why she's still waiting since the ban has now been fully revoked. Maybe she's been approved but hadnt updated Visajourney in a long time. The last guy didn't know why he was selected. He was a Canadian citizen with no ties to other countries. That was the most concerning case. He filed WOM almost 1.5 months after his interview. 

 

Thank you. We're reaching out to Hacking this weekend to schedule a consult. My wife reached out to her senator but she hasn't heard from them yet, so she will also try her congress person, to see who's faster. Do you know if that last guy got a positive outcome after the WOM? or did he also not update his status on here?

[Danii 312]

1 hour ago, DrJanko10 said:

Thank you. We're reaching out to Hacking this weekend to schedule a consult. My wife reached out to her senator but she hasn't heard from them yet, so she will also try her congress person, to see who's faster. Do you know if that last guy got a positive outcome after the WOM? or did he also not update his status on here?

No problem! I'll be speaking to Hackings team next week too. I just got a response today from my husband's congresswoman, she asked us to fill out a form. Will let you know if that does anything. The last guy did get a positive outcome! The pandemic got in the way (he filed March 2020 😭), but eventually when things opened up, his case got processed/approved because of WOM. 

[Federico 147]

9 hours ago, DrJanko10 said:

Do you know any case details from these 3 people? I'm just asking to see if there are any similarities with mine, for peace of mind.

Something common I see from people who are not from the middle west is they are almost all engineers, that’s my case and I heard about someone else from my country and he’s engineer too.

[Federico 147]

1 hour ago, Federico said:

middle west

Middle east**