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

[Shades8 36]

21 hours ago, mam521 said:

These aren't red flags.  People have worked on L1 visas before and people have to renew passports all of the time.  

 

Initially, it seemed the DS-5535's were targeted for people who were of a MENA background or had worked there or had a specific education type.  Then, it seemed to turn unto a random number generator.  Elderly parents who'd lived their entire lives on the farm on the Prairies, young children, just...random. 

 

Remember, too, that this thread is people who have come together to share their experiences.  It's a concentrated number of people for a specific reason.  There are plenty of other people who whisk through the process with no issues at all but they aren't here.  

 

Immi is hard.  It's an emotional rollercoaster. But you gotta make sure that you don't get pulled into the hype and try to logic yourself through so you don't set yourself up for failure.  

Thank you for that.   I’ve been reading about this whole AP/DS5535 thing and the stories of what people go through just sound horrible.  I feel bad for anyone struggling with this.  
One thing I decided to do to feel prepared just in case, was get my 15 year travel history together.  That’s freaking me

out because I’ve travelled so much.
Thanks again for the reassurance  

[Fayisa 21]

Wow it is really quite in here, i hope everyone see some movment soon.

[haruharu 10]

I feel like we probably won’t hear anything in December due to the holidays. 

[Fayisa 21]

18 minutes ago, Fayisa said:

Wow it is really quite in here, i hope everyone see some movment soon.

Quiet* 

[Leo The Great 137]

1 hour ago, haruharu said:

I feel like we probably won’t hear anything in December due to the holidays. 

 

56 minutes ago, Fayisa said:

Quiet* 

Our case is way behind in queue so just waiting  to hear good news from other members.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Leo The Great

[Daft_Cat 136]

Figured I'd check in here. I'm going for a spousal visa and have been in DS-5535 AP since my interview last February. My interview went fine - all boxes ticked and seemed to have a pretty good rapport with the consulate employee who interviewed me. Suddenly, right as it was time to clear me, she notified me that I'd be getting a few additional questions before a visa could be issued. Her demeanor changed pretty much on a dime and she became noticeably evasive when I pressed for details / timelines (though she did seem to imply that it was a random selection). I'm coming up on a year now, and we've basically had to put all our plans on hold. Career, family-planning, etc. All of it has had to come to a grinding halt while we wait this out. 

 

The DS-5535 itself was a nightmare to complete. I'm in my early-thirties, so I had to reach back all the way to my childhood to cover my travel history. I'm a fairly frequent traveler as well, so you can imagine how difficult this was (though I've never visited any countries in the MENA region, so at least there's that). When it came to the accounts used for payment and exact travel dates etc., I was basically at a complete lost barring the most general info. My parents don't keep those kinds of records, so it was impossible to triangulate that far back. I also attended grad school in the US, which meant I had to go to great care to frame my work history during that period in a way that wouldn't raise any red flags (it was all legal). All in all just a completely deflating experience that shouldn't have been necessary given that I had already cleared the USCIC and NVC portions of the immigration process.

Fortunately, our attorney believes that the nature of our case (and the majority of those placed in AP over the last couple years - seemingly at random) is such that our specific responses to the DS-5535 aren't super relevant to the ultimate outcome of the AP process. As ridiculous as it sounds, it's more of an excuse to keep us, and other unlucky applicants, in an extended holding pattern while they continue to deal with the post-pandemic backlog and capacity shortages. Apparently it is (or was) happening to a fairly sizeable percentage of applicants that interviewed in Montreal throughout 2022 and 2023. 

 

We finally bit the bullet on a WOM in September after a handful of stock replies from the consulate. Our attorney filed through PN where my wife's domicile is listed. We received a request for extension last month, so not a terrible sign at least. It's been radio silence otherwise. Before the request for an extension, the consulate tried to argue that the DS-5535 is equivalent to a "final decision", and no further timeline is owed. Apparently this is a new tactic they're using to try to dismiss. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Daft_Cat

[ak47 32]

11 minutes ago, Daft_Cat said:

Figured I'd check in here. I'm going for a spousal visa and have been in DS-5535 AP since my interview last February. My interview went fine - all boxes ticked and seemed to have a pretty good rapport with the consulate employee who interviewed me. Suddenly, right as it was time to clear me, she notified me that I'd be getting a few additional questions before a visa could be issued. Her demeanor changed pretty much on a dime and she became noticeably evasive when I pressed for details / timelines (though she did seem to imply that it was a random selection). I'm coming up on a year now, and we've basically had to put all our plans on hold. Career, family-planning, etc. All of it has had to come to a grinding halt while we wait this out. 

 

The DS-5535 itself was a nightmare to complete. I'm in my early-thirties, so I had to reach back all the way to my childhood to cover my travel history. I'm a fairly frequent traveler as well, so you can imagine how difficult this was (though I've never visited any countries in the MENA region, so at least there's that). When it came to the accounts used for payment and exact travel dates etc., I was basically at a complete lost barring the most general info. My parents don't keep those kinds of records, so it was impossible to triangulate that far back. I also attended grad school in the US, which meant I had to go to great care to frame my work history during that period in a way that wouldn't raise any red flags (it was all legal). All in all just a completely deflating experience that shouldn't have been necessary given that I had already cleared the USCIC and NVC portions of the immigration process.

Fortunately, our attorney believes that the nature of our case (and the majority of those placed in AP over the last couple years - seemingly at random) is such that our specific responses to the DS-5535 aren't super relevant to the ultimate outcome of the AP process. As ridiculous as it sounds, it's more of an excuse to keep us, and other unlucky applicants, in an extended holding pattern while they continue to deal with the post-pandemic backlog and capacity shortages. Apparently it is (or was) happening to a fairly sizeable percentage of applicants that interviewed in Montreal throughout 2022 and 2023. 

 

We finally bit the bullet on a WOM in September after a handful of stock replies from the consulate. Our attorney filed through PN where my wife's domicile is listed. We received a request for extension last month, so not a terrible sign at least. It's been radio silence otherwise. Before the request for an extension, the consulate tried to argue that the DS-5535 is equivalent to a "final decision", and no further timeline is owed. Apparently this is a new tactic they're using to try to dismiss. 

Very sad to know this. I am in the same queue waiting since March and will be completing 9 months in the next week. 

 

Totally agree that we are just put on hold.

 

Are you waiting to hear back on WOM ?

[Daft_Cat 136]

Just now, ak47 said:

Very sad to know this. I am in the same queue waiting since March and will be completing 9 months in the next week. 

 

Totally agree that we are just put on hold.

 

Are you waiting to hear back on WOM ?

 

Yeah, pretty much. They requested an extension last month and that will expire around early Jan. Our attorney is actually pretty optimistic (we filed in PA, which seems to have spared us an immediate motion for dismissal), but my wife and I are expecting the worst.

[CondorMantis 2]

6 minutes ago, Daft_Cat said:

 

Yeah, pretty much. They requested an extension last month and that will expire around early Jan. Our attorney is actually pretty optimistic (we filed in PA, which seems to have spared us an immediate motion for dismissal), but my wife and I are expecting the worst.

I hope your WOM retainer agreement with your lawyer includes fighting the motion to dismiss if it happens, there has been several court orders denying motions to dismiss, including one in Pennsylvania
https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/tsunami-of-judges-deny-state-department’s-motions-to-dismiss

[Daft_Cat 136]

9 minutes ago, CondorMantis said:

I hope your WOM retainer agreement with your lawyer includes fighting the motion to dismiss if it happens, there has been several court orders denying motions to dismiss, including one in Pennsylvania
https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/tsunami-of-judges-deny-state-department’s-motions-to-dismiss

It does not, but our attorney was very transparent about the increasing odds of a motion to dismiss and the additional costs therein (he tailored his strategy around this - hence the filing in PA over DC). My wife and I decided it was our best shot regardless. In the likely event that we do receive a motion to dismiss, the additional retainer to fight it is not nearly as expensive. Having said that, we're already a year in... so we may opt instead to just let it go in the hopes that our case ends up at the top of the pile sooner than later. Though the link you provided does offer up a good reason to consider pushing forward should it come to that!

The attorney did note that the judge assigned to our case is historically friendly to the cause, and he has a good working relationship with the state attorney as well. Fingers crossed, but fully expecting the worst (which has been a good rule of thumb throughout this entire process).

Edited December 7, 2023 by Daft_Cat
additional context

[CondorMantis 2]

9 minutes ago, Daft_Cat said:

It does not, but our attorney was very transparent about the increasing odds of a motion to dismiss and the additional costs therein (he tailored his strategy around this - hence the filing in PA over DC). My wife and I decided it was our best shot regardless. In the likely event that we do receive a motion to dismiss, the additional retainer to fight it is not nearly as expensive. Having said that, we're already a year in... so we may opt instead to just let it go in the hopes that our case ends up at the top of the pile sooner than later. Though the link you provided does offer up a good reason to consider pushing forward should it come to that!

The attorney did note that the judge assigned to our case is historically friendly to the cause, and he has a good working relationship with the state attorney as well. Fingers crossed, but fully expecting the worst (which has been a good rule of thumb throughout this entire process).

I hope your case will start moving before the deadline.
Would you mind sharing the name of the lawyer you worked with? I contacted a few and I want to go with Curtis Morrison for now, he charges an additional $1000 to fight the motion to dismiss. 

[Daft_Cat 136]

1 hour ago, CondorMantis said:

I hope your case will start moving before the deadline.
Would you mind sharing the name of the lawyer you worked with? I contacted a few and I want to go with Curtis Morrison for now, he charges an additional $1000 to fight the motion to dismiss. 

 

We went with PIC Law. I believe they were recommended in this thread earlier (I've been a lurker for a while). Highly recommended, regardless of how this all turns out. My wife and I weren't sure whether to file, and had a couple different consults with them over a few months (we were only charged for the initial one). They were super transparent up front, and have been very communicative and engaged throughout. They also did a great job tailoring their strategy to the specifics of our case (though with the frequency of WOMs these days, I'm sure many firms out there have figured out all the angles). I don't remember the exact quote to fight the motion to dismiss, but it was definitely higher than $1000 (though not ridiculously higher - maybe around $2k). 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Chancy
removed 3rd-party link -- indicated client relationship

[ak47 32]

1 hour ago, Daft_Cat said:

 

We went with PIC Law . I believe they were recommended in this thread earlier (I've been a lurker for a while). Highly recommended, regardless of how this all turns out. My wife and I weren't sure whether to file, and had a couple different consults with them over a few months (we were only charged for the initial one). They were super transparent up front, and have been very communicative and engaged throughout. They also did a great job tailoring their strategy to the specifics of our case (though with the frequency of WOMs these days, I'm sure many firms out there have figured out all the angles). I don't remember the exact quote to fight the motion to dismiss, but it was definitely higher than $1000 (though not ridiculously higher - maybe around $2k). 

When did you file WOM ? Was it after the intial 6 month wait.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Chancy
removed 3rd-party link from quoted text

[ak47 32]

1 minute ago, ak47 said:

When did you file WOM ? Was it after the intial 6 month wait.

Just found the answer in the earlier reply..In september..so you did wait 6 months..

[Daft_Cat 136]

3 minutes ago, ak47 said:

When did you file WOM ? Was it after the intial 6 month wait.

 

I filed it in September, so I was 7 months in. State Attorney filed a request for an extension at the nine-month point. I'm at the 10 month point now. Interview was in Feb. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Daft_Cat