The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)

[kryptonite 43]

Hi everyone,

 

Quick back story on my case. I had my interview in Montreal for IR1 on November 2, 2022. The officer gave me a 221(g) form and said they have to do some additional processing on my case (AP). He told me it was related to my refusal of entry to the US earlier this year in May 2022. This wasn't in my DS-260 as it happened after the fact. The reason the border officer gave me was that because my case is currently in the immigration process, I cannot cross until that is done. It was a bit strange because I had crossed multiple times before this just as a visitor but, I was told I couldn't do that anymore either. He said I wasn't doing anything illegal and it is just the law and that I should just wait for the immigration process to be complete.

 

Fast forward, I told this story to the interview officer on November 2nd and he told me this was the reason he is putting it into AP just to confirm my story. He said it shouldn't be any issue based off of what the story is but he has to do his due diligence. He kept my original police certificate and my passport. I asked him how long it would take and he said a few weeks but, could not say for sure. As of today is has been a little over 5 weeks. Last week on December 1st, I emailed the Montreal consulate and just yesterday (5 business days later) I got a response from them.

 

"Your case is currently under administrative processing. While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete."

 

Looks like it is just a generic response as nothing in their email mentioned any specifics from my case. The interview officer at the time told me that there was nothing I had to do and even in this email there was no direction provided so I'm assuming they are not waiting on any documents from me or anything like that. I know some people were told that they did not need to give any documents but after reaching out to them via email they realized that the consulate is actually waiting on stuff. That doesn't seem like the case for me.

 

Has anybody ever received a response like this before from them? Does responding to that email again even do anything? The CEAC last update date changed to the date they sent me the email but the status still says Refused. So they probably took a glance at my case when emailing me back.

 

P.S. I know this is the thread for DS-5535 but, I was told to visit it as people might have some good insight on AP. Reading all of your posts and how long you all have been waiting makes my 5 weeks of waiting sound like nothing. Congrats to those who have finally heard back - saw a few of those recently. 

[throwitaway 190]

20 minutes ago, kryptonite said:

Hi everyone,

 

Quick back story on my case. I had my interview in Montreal for IR1 on November 2, 2022. The officer gave me a 221(g) form and said they have to do some additional processing on my case (AP). He told me it was related to my refusal of entry to the US earlier this year in May 2022. This wasn't in my DS-260 as it happened after the fact. The reason the border officer gave me was that because my case is currently in the immigration process, I cannot cross until that is done. It was a bit strange because I had crossed multiple times before this just as a visitor but, I was told I couldn't do that anymore either. He said I wasn't doing anything illegal and it is just the law and that I should just wait for the immigration process to be complete.

 

Fast forward, I told this story to the interview officer on November 2nd and he told me this was the reason he is putting it into AP just to confirm my story. He said it shouldn't be any issue based off of what the story is but he has to do his due diligence. He kept my original police certificate and my passport. I asked him how long it would take and he said a few weeks but, could not say for sure. As of today is has been a little over 5 weeks. Last week on December 1st, I emailed the Montreal consulate and just yesterday (5 business days later) I got a response from them.

 

"Your case is currently under administrative processing. While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete."

 

Looks like it is just a generic response as nothing in their email mentioned any specifics from my case. The interview officer at the time told me that there was nothing I had to do and even in this email there was no direction provided so I'm assuming they are not waiting on any documents from me or anything like that. I know some people were told that they did not need to give any documents but after reaching out to them via email they realized that the consulate is actually waiting on stuff. That doesn't seem like the case for me.

 

Has anybody ever received a response like this before from them? Does responding to that email again even do anything? The CEAC last update date changed to the date they sent me the email but the status still says Refused. So they probably took a glance at my case when emailing me back.

 

P.S. I know this is the thread for DS-5535 but, I was told to visit it as people might have some good insight on AP. Reading all of your posts and how long you all have been waiting makes my 5 weeks of waiting sound like nothing. Congrats to those who have finally heard back - saw a few of those recently. 

That’s their template reply, it’s probably their most used one. They often update the date on your case when they reply to an email, at least they did with mine. They’ll just repeat the answer if you ask them again unfortunately.

[ice-qube 648]

8 hours ago, mymissingpiece said:

Omg guys!!! Our status just changed to APPROVED!!!!!!! I can’t believe we made it!!!! 😭 

Congratulations to you--now the "missing piece" is missing no more! hehe

[Ds553513 16]

Hi @kryptonite your experience and my experience is similar 

I already mentioned my experience on this platform.my interview was 21 October and did not got any response from embassy even my employer did not got any response.

embassy did not asked any documents.

I sent email this week regarding my case update but not receive any response.but actually you mention you sent email 1 December and they sent response on 8 December.I sent 6 and hopefully I will get next week .but I saw some people experiencing similar to our case.Montreal issues the visa in 10 week but right now holiday season may be little bit more .plz if you will receive any update plz inform us and if I will get any response I will inform you

thank you 

[throwitaway 190]

7 hours ago, BatmanFlow said:

OMG my moms visa is issued!!!! I cannot believe I saw those words on CEAC site. 
432 days after her interview, it’s been issued. 
 

man I’m so happy and thankful for this. 
 

on Tuesday my congressperson got a reply from embassy that they didn’t have my documents. I had sent everything and it was received by third party sorting facility on November 10. 

this Wednesday the date changed. It changed again Thursday. It changed again today. And two later later the status changed from refused to issued! 
 

what a hellish process and im really

hoping people see issues soon for their cases

 

When you see that word “issued” for the first time, it’s an incredible relief. I remember it well. Congrats! 

[BatmanFlow 481]

3 hours ago, throwitaway said:

 

When you see that word “issued” for the first time, it’s an incredible relief. I remember it well. Congrats! 

Thanks. It truly is! I hope and pray people in here still waiting get to experience it soon. Especially, unfortunately, the one waiting the longest now @ice-qube

[mymissingpiece 22]

22 hours ago, ice-qube said:

Congratulations to you--now the "missing piece" is missing no more! hehe

Thank you!!! I actually got my screen name from a song called My Missing Piece by Vance Joy. It’s about a couple in a long distance relationship during the pandemic. 
 

If you haven’t heard it before, I’m sure it’ll hit you guys in the feels as much as it does for me: 

 

[PNWUnited 15]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:56 AM, BatmanFlow said:

OMG my moms visa is issued!!!! I cannot believe I saw those words on CEAC site. 
432 days after her interview, it’s been issued. 
 

man I’m so happy and thankful for this. 
 

on Tuesday my congressperson got a reply from embassy that they didn’t have my documents. I had sent everything and it was received by third party sorting facility on November 10. 

this Wednesday the date changed. It changed again Thursday. It changed again today. And two later later the status changed from refused to issued! 
 

what a hellish process and im really

hoping people see issues soon for their cases

Congratulations!!! Should only be a matter of days now Ours changed to issued on the 8th and will be arriving today (all the way to Vancouver B.C) so looks like your mom should have a visa in hand in no time. So happy to hear you got that Christmas miracle!!

[BatmanFlow 481]

5 hours ago, PNWUnited said:

Congratulations!!! Should only be a matter of days now Ours changed to issued on the 8th and will be arriving today (all the way to Vancouver B.C) so looks like your mom should have a visa in hand in no time. So happy to hear you got that Christmas miracle!!

Congrats on your visa! And awesome it delivered fast! 
 

and yes we are so happy about the timing of the issuance. Thanks again for sharing your timeline and the number to call see if embassy picked up the documents from sorting facility 

[Jandee7519 1]

13 hours ago, PNWUnited said:

Congratulations!!! Should only be a matter of days now Ours changed to issued on the 8th and will be arriving today (all the way to Vancouver B.C) so looks like your mom should have a visa in hand in no time. So happy to hear you got that Christmas miracle!!

Congratulations to you and your family!! 
Quick question- Do they email when the passport has been shipped? We were issued on the 6th, but haven't heard anything since. 

[ice-qube 648]

A lot of you having good luck nowadays! Congratulations to all who are ending their long nightmares with immigration. Just send some luck my way.

[F3MTL 9]

Hi, have there been any recent approvals without a WOM? We’ve been stuck for around 6 months now (petitioned 14 years ago, it’s been a really long journey). We were thinking of going the senator or WOM route after the officially 6 month mark. Does anyone have an estimate timeline for how many months after submitting DS-5535 you can message your senator or file a WOM?

[throwitaway 190]

36 minutes ago, F3MTL said:

Hi, have there been any recent approvals without a WOM? We’ve been stuck for around 6 months now (petitioned 14 years ago, it’s been a really long journey). We were thinking of going the senator or WOM route after the officially 6 month mark. Does anyone have an estimate timeline for how many months after submitting DS-5535 you can message your senator or file a WOM?

@BatmanFlow’s recent issuance was non-WoM I believe, it was about a year-ish?

 

You can do either of those things now, although I don’t have much faith in senators being able to help. 

[F3MTL 9]

1 minute ago, throwitaway said:

@BatmanFlow’s recent issuance was non-WoM I believe, it was about a year-ish?

 

You can do either of those things now, although I don’t have much faith in senators being able to help. 

Oh nice, that’s good! I believe @BatmanFlow reached out to a congressperson, right? 

 

My senator in my state has a specific section on his website called “Help with a Federal Agency”. I looked into it, and there’s a dedicated form for immigration-related issues. I think we’ll try to fill that out and go from there. I figured it might be a good idea to try that out before pursuing a WOM.

 

 

[BatmanFlow 481]

1 hour ago, throwitaway said:

@BatmanFlow’s recent issuance was non-WoM I believe, it was about a year-ish?

 

You can do either of those things now, although I don’t have much faith in senators being able to help. 

yep pretty much a year on the dot when they cleared WOM. then a month later they emailed me asking for documents.

 

57 minutes ago, F3MTL said:

Oh nice, that’s good! I believe @BatmanFlow reached out to a congressperson, right? 

 

My senator in my state has a specific section on his website called “Help with a Federal Agency”. I looked into it, and there’s a dedicated form for immigration-related issues. I think we’ll try to fill that out and go from there. I figured it might be a good idea to try that out before pursuing a WOM.

 

 

its worth a shot getting them involved. you never know.