Does MENA country always mean consulate does AP?

[Ksamwise20 4]

Hi all, I was reading the Canada forum and read stories that if you are a male and are from a MENA country (even if you are a Canadian citizen), the consulate will do Additional Processing (form DS-5535) which can take 6 months+ after the interview. I am a worrier by nature and wondering if anyone has skipped this process or is it inevitable? My husband has been a Canadian citizen for decades but was born overseas and came here as a child. 

 

The kids and I were planning to move to the US before his interview and I was okay waiting a few weeks but honestly feel defeated that this could be a possibility. I'm considering staying in Canada together till he gets his visa and do everything I can to successfully make an intent to re-establish domicile and hope Montreal accepts that (notarized and official for lease at my parents house, I already opened a bank account last year, go after I-130 gets approved and get drivers license, voting record, etc and look for a US-based remote IT job (my field) . 

[Boiler 44,061]

Everyone goes through normal AP

 

There is no way of being certain what could attract longer investigation, even MENA covers a wide spectrum.

[pushbrk 12,343]

1 hour ago, Ksamwise20 said:

Hi all, I was reading the Canada forum and read stories that if you are a male and are from a MENA country (even if you are a Canadian citizen), the consulate will do Additional Processing (form DS-5535) which can take 6 months+ after the interview. I am a worrier by nature and wondering if anyone has skipped this process or is it inevitable? My husband has been a Canadian citizen for decades but was born overseas and came here as a child. 

 

The kids and I were planning to move to the US before his interview and I was okay waiting a few weeks but honestly feel defeated that this could be a possibility. I'm considering staying in Canada together till he gets his visa and do everything I can to successfully make an intent to re-establish domicile and hope Montreal accepts that (notarized and official for lease at my parents house, I already opened a bank account last year, go after I-130 gets approved and get drivers license, voting record, etc and look for a US-based remote IT job (my field) . 

No, where you were born and only lived as a child is not necessarily an issue and probably won't be.  Not all MENA countries are on the list for mandatory extensive AP anyway.  What's the country and how old was he when he left?  Has he spent much time back there as an adult?

[Ksamwise20 4]

17 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No, where you were born and only lived as a child is not necessarily an issue and probably won't be.  Not all MENA countries are on the list for mandatory extensive AP anyway.  What's the country and how old was he when he left?  Has he spent much time back there as an adult?

He was born in Libya (never had citizenship there because FIL was just working there as an engineer) and went with his parents to Bangladesh (their actual country) at 5 years old and then at age 9 immigrated and naturalized as a citizen in Canada 30 years ago. 

[pushbrk 12,343]

42 minutes ago, Ksamwise20 said:

He was born in Libya (never had citizenship there because FIL was just working there as an engineer) and went with his parents to Bangladesh (their actual country) at 5 years old and then at age 9 immigrated and naturalized as a citizen in Canada 30 years ago. 

Sounds like a total non-issue to me.  Unless he lived there with Bangladesh was East Pakistan, it's not even MENA anyway.  I doubt he's that old. LOL

 

[carmel34 3,545]

Lots of Canadian-born citizens are getting the dreaded DS-5535, you will see this when you check the Canada portal.  Some of those cases have been held up a very long time because of it.  Montreal is not targeting Canadian citizens born abroad, it seems like a random thing.  You are right to be focusing on evidence to show strong intent to re-establish a US domicile, because Montreal is super-strict on that issue.  Some US citizen spouses have had to move to the US before their Canadian partner to overcome this hurdle.  Good luck with the rest of the process!

[Redro 4,603]

On 5/4/2022 at 6:44 AM, Ksamwise20 said:

Hi all, I was reading the Canada forum and read stories that if you are a male and are from a MENA country (even if you are a Canadian citizen), the consulate will do Additional Processing (form DS-5535) which can take 6 months+ after the interview. I am a worrier by nature and wondering if anyone has skipped this process or is it inevitable? My husband has been a Canadian citizen for decades but was born overseas and came here as a child. 

 

The kids and I were planning to move to the US before his interview and I was okay waiting a few weeks but honestly feel defeated that this could be a possibility. I'm considering staying in Canada together till he gets his visa and do everything I can to successfully make an intent to re-establish domicile and hope Montreal accepts that (notarized and official for lease at my parents house, I already opened a bank account last year, go after I-130 gets approved and get drivers license, voting record, etc and look for a US-based remote IT job (my field) . 

Don't borrow trouble. 

Your husband might be asked to fill out the DS-5535 and he might not. 

Your best bet is to set up strong proof of domicile and move to the US before he goes to interview because they might decide to issue a 221g  and that will draw out the process, too.

Currently it seems like AP in Canada takes about 6 weeks- this is if a 221g is issued for reasons other than DS-5535. So, if they don't like your intent to re-establish domicile evidence you could be looking at a long separation regardless. 

If your husband does receive the DS-5535 cross that bridge when you come to it and change your plans accordingly. but be aware some Canadians have been waiting for an answer for nearly 6 months whilst others received an answer back sooner. So, you won't really be able to plan how to proceed until after the interview. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by ROK2USA