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

[AP_since_May2023 37]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:06 PM, northface said:

 

Consulate VO can not identify you until finger print in interview.  I think AP equalvent to USCIS process for green card application in domestic US (up to 180 days).

 

Guessing VO return a few cases like us to USCIS to check again, if I were a reviewer of USCIS ,need to repeat task, my face also turning red. 

 

You kena AP too?

[northface 30]

2 hours ago, SGtoMurica said:

 

You kena AP too?

Yes.  Every one in this thread got AP / DS5535.

[AP_since_May2023 37]

18 minutes ago, northface said:

Yes.  Every one in this thread got AP / DS5535.

I never officially got the DS-5535 form, but 

 

On 12/27/2023 at 2:56 PM, LetsGoFast said:

 

I have a very similar situation as @Bestbest7. Here is my timeline until now. I am still struggling about what's the next steps...

 

My DQ date was 12/01/2021. 

And I received the interview invitation letter on 05/19/2023 for a interview on 07/26/2023.

My case was under EB2-NIW category. I went to the interview together with my husband on 07/26/2023 and received 221g. I received it before for my L1 visa in Dec 2022, so I was not very surprised about that. We was asked to fill out a form online through a link provided on the 221g form and we filled the form out on the same day as the interview. The question were all about the addresses, travel histories in the past years (I don't remember what the form is called exactly). The officer did not collect our passports and told us that we can get back to the US with our valid L1 and L2 visas.

 

So we went back to the US. Then I received the email for mailing back our passports on 10/24/2023. The email is very brief and did not mention what was the time range that we should mail our documents back.

We went back to Canada on 11/01/2023 and mail the passports back to Montreal Consulate upon their instructions through Canada Post.

Then the timeline became strange..

 

11/02/2023 - We mailed passports through Canada Post.

11/07/2023 (Tue) - The tracking showed that the documents were delivered. - Actually the consulate collect the mails from a third-party facility every Monday. So we missed the mail collection for that Monday. And the next Monday is Canada holiday, so our documents stayed in the facility until 11/20/2023. (We confirmed this by calling the third-party facility, my husband found their phone number through Google Map by using their address).

Since 11/02/2023, we sent emails to Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov (usually takes 2 weeks to get a response) a few times to check if they received our passports.

11/21/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/08/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they did not receive the documents yet. They said it takes time to transit from the facility to the visa unit of the consulate.

12/07/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/21/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they acknowledged the receipt of our documents and the documents were pending review by an officer.

12/18/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/06/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they acknowledged the receipt of our documents and the documents were pending review by an officer.

 

In between we really worried that our passports were lost and luckily they were delivered to the visa unit.

However, I did not expect that the process for getting the visa stamp takes that long according to the records in  http://docs/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1jV7rzX2eCRVoEDRhOtN9a6hDoHRLNEf1P3ZGZbQ0_Dc/htmlview. I was pregnant and will have a baby due in June 2024. So I have to go back to the US for some necessary prenatal tests in a certain range of time. Thus, we made a very hard decision to request our passports back.

 

12/13/2023 - we sent an email to the consulate to request our passports back and has not heard anything back since then.

1. Does anyone know that if this can work and how long does it take to get our passports back??? 

2. Is that possible to fly to Montreal to take our passports back directly from the consulate to make it faster???

3. Did we make a correct decision? I found out this forum stream this morning and realize that "mailing back the passports" is almost the last step...

4. Our medical check was done in early June this year so according to the half year validity, it has expired. After asking for the passports, will the consulate request us to do a second medical check?

 

Thank you all and have a wonderful holiday for everyone!

 

Did you mail your passport to the Montreal Consulate while you are in the US? How would you enter Canada without your passport?

 

Will they mail it back to you in the US?

19 minutes ago, northface said:

Yes.  Every one in this thread got AP / DS5535.

I never officially got the DS-5535 form, but they did ask information that was similar. The frustrating thing is that most of that information was already provided in the DS-260 form. So I am not sure what else they are looking for.

[LetsGoFast 13]

2 hours ago, SGtoMurica said:

I never officially got the DS-5535 form, but 

 

 

Did you mail your passport to the Montreal Consulate while you are in the US? How would you enter Canada without your passport?

 

Will they mail it back to you in the US?

I never officially got the DS-5535 form, but they did ask information that was similar. The frustrating thing is that most of that information was already provided in the DS-260 form. So I am not sure what else they are looking for.

"Did you mail your passport to the Montreal Consulate while you are in the US? How would you enter Canada without your passport?"

No, I went to Vancouver and mail them the passports from here. So I am still in Vancouver now.

[LetsGoFast 13]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:56 PM, LetsGoFast said:

 

I have a very similar situation as @Bestbest7. Here is my timeline until now. I am still struggling about what's the next steps...

 

My DQ date was 12/01/2021. 

And I received the interview invitation letter on 05/19/2023 for a interview on 07/26/2023.

My case was under EB2-NIW category. I went to the interview together with my husband on 07/26/2023 and received 221g. I received it before for my L1 visa in Dec 2022, so I was not very surprised about that. We was asked to fill out a form online through a link provided on the 221g form and we filled the form out on the same day as the interview. The question were all about the addresses, travel histories in the past years (I don't remember what the form is called exactly). The officer did not collect our passports and told us that we can get back to the US with our valid L1 and L2 visas.

 

So we went back to the US. Then I received the email for mailing back our passports on 10/24/2023. The email is very brief and did not mention what was the time range that we should mail our documents back.

We went back to Canada on 11/01/2023 and mail the passports back to Montreal Consulate upon their instructions through Canada Post.

Then the timeline became strange..

 

11/02/2023 - We mailed passports through Canada Post.

11/07/2023 (Tue) - The tracking showed that the documents were delivered. - Actually the consulate collect the mails from a third-party facility every Monday. So we missed the mail collection for that Monday. And the next Monday is Canada holiday, so our documents stayed in the facility until 11/20/2023. (We confirmed this by calling the third-party facility, my husband found their phone number through Google Map by using their address).

Since 11/02/2023, we sent emails to Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov (usually takes 2 weeks to get a response) a few times to check if they received our passports.

11/21/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/08/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they did not receive the documents yet. They said it takes time to transit from the facility to the visa unit of the consulate.

12/07/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/21/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they acknowledged the receipt of our documents and the documents were pending review by an officer.

12/18/2023 (inquiry sent on 11/06/2023) - The consulate responded and saying they acknowledged the receipt of our documents and the documents were pending review by an officer.

 

In between we really worried that our passports were lost and luckily they were delivered to the visa unit.

However, I did not expect that the process for getting the visa stamp takes that long according to the records in  http://docs/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1jV7rzX2eCRVoEDRhOtN9a6hDoHRLNEf1P3ZGZbQ0_Dc/htmlview. I was pregnant and will have a baby due in June 2024. So I have to go back to the US for some necessary prenatal tests in a certain range of time. Thus, we made a very hard decision to request our passports back.

 

12/13/2023 - we sent an email to the consulate to request our passports back and has not heard anything back since then.

1. Does anyone know that if this can work and how long does it take to get our passports back??? 

2. Is that possible to fly to Montreal to take our passports back directly from the consulate to make it faster???

3. Did we make a correct decision? I found out this forum stream this morning and realize that "mailing back the passports" is almost the last step...

4. Our medical check was done in early June this year so according to the half year validity, it has expired. After asking for the passports, will the consulate request us to do a second medical check?

 

Thank you all and have a wonderful holiday for everyone!

A little bit updates:

I saw the last update date change to Dec 28, 2023 for both of us and on Dec 29, 2023 morning, we received an email for asking for new medical exams.

 

For the inquiry that we sent to get back the passports, there is no reply yet.

We decided to do the new medical exams no matter whether they agree to mail back our passports or not.

[northface 30]

19 hours ago, LetsGoFast said:

A little bit updates:

I saw the last update date change to Dec 28, 2023 for both of us and on Dec 29, 2023 morning, we received an email for asking for new medical exams.

 

For the inquiry that we sent to get back the passports, there is no reply yet.

We decided to do the new medical exams no matter whether they agree to mail back our passports or not.

 

My friend, you already close to final stop. If I were you, just do whatever they requested and waiting to get back the  stamped  passport. No bother to create new issues.

 

You might check the web page of MTL, as the page said on Nov 29, the roughly process time is 3 months. That may include case updates such as review, medical and clearance etc.

[AP_since_May2023 37]

20 hours ago, LetsGoFast said:

"Did you mail your passport to the Montreal Consulate while you are in the US? How would you enter Canada without your passport?"

No, I went to Vancouver and mail them the passports from here. So I am still in Vancouver now.

You have been working from Vancouver since November 2? Your employer is extremely understanding

[ShawnK 82]

Very disturbing to see (as per the tracker) that even Feb 2023 interviewees haven't received a request for an updated medical. This is getting worse than anything we've seen in the past. 

 

 

 

Even with a higher risk of motion to dismiss, it might be our only chance to move forward.

 

You have to hire a firm that is willing to push back, that may be the only way forward. I think Red Eagle Law and Goldstein are both good when it comes to that. 

 

Another thing to keep in mind, if it looks like Trump is leading the polls, we will see a ton of new applications and lawsuits as people desperately look to get status before he is in.

 

He has already said some very tough travel bans would be implemented on day 1. He is also known to cut staff at embassies/DOS,  a lot of people at the DOS quit under his administration. It's never recovered.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by ShawnK

[northface 30]

52 minutes ago, ShawnK said:

Very disturbing to see (as per the tracker) that even Feb 2023 interviewees haven't received a request for an updated medical. This is getting worse than anything we've seen in the past. 

 

 

 

Even with a higher risk of motion to dismiss, it might be our only chance to move forward.

 

You have to hire a firm that is willing to push back, that may be the only way forward. I think Red Eagle Law and Goldstein are both good when it comes to that. 

 

Another thing to keep in mind, if it looks like Trump is leading the polls, we will see a ton of new applications and lawsuits as people desperately look to get status before he is in.

 

He has already said some very tough travel bans would be implemented on day 1. He is also known to cut staff at embassies/DOS,  a lot of people at the DOS quit under his administration. It's never recovered.

 

 

 

But.  as I knew in 2022, it takes ~3 months to clear AP/DS5535 for IV, even in 2023, DOS cleared most NIV visa security within 60-70 days. Fyi: https://www.checkee.info

 

might they DOS change priority? Don't believe DOS under staff

[ShawnK 82]

1 hour ago, northface said:

 

But.  as I knew in 2022, it takes ~3 months to clear AP/DS5535 for IV, even in 2023, DOS cleared most NIV visa security within 60-70 days. Fyi: https://www.checkee.info

 

might they DOS change priority? Don't believe DOS under staff

Don't know anymore man.

 

I got little kids and my spouse has been so strong, but now, after 8 months, I'm seeing her start to break. Raising little kids alone isn't easy, sure, I visit,  but it is not the same.

 

 

I just daydream about the day I finally get that visa in my hand and clear US customs. 

 

Kind of a nerdy example  but I think I'll feel like frodo when he finally woke up in Rivendale and everyone was laughing.

 

 

[northface 30]

8 hours ago, ShawnK said:

Don't know anymore man.

 

I got little kids and my spouse has been so strong, but now, after 8 months, I'm seeing her start to break. Raising little kids alone isn't easy, sure, I visit,  but it is not the same.

 

 

I just daydream about the day I finally get that visa in my hand and clear US customs. 

 

Kind of a nerdy example  but I think I'll feel like frodo when he finally woke up in Rivendale and everyone was laughing.

 

 

 

Brother, have sympathy for your situation, as we are in the same boat . Hopefully a change in new year, just ahead next couple days ....

 

 

[ShawnK 82]

2 hours ago, northface said:

 

Brother, have sympathy for your situation, as we are in the same boat . Hopefully a change in new year, just ahead next couple days ....

 

 

Thanks man, I'm truly praying for everyone here. It's so cruel to hold up people like that.

 

I feel all your pain. I can feel the agony in this thread.

 

 

 

[AP_since_May2023 37]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:56 PM, northface said:

 

But.  as I knew in 2022, it takes ~3 months to clear AP/DS5535 for IV, even in 2023, DOS cleared most NIV visa security within 60-70 days. Fyi: https://www.checkee.info

 

might they DOS change priority? Don't believe DOS under staff

I don't see too many IVs on that website. Where did you find the information about most AP for IVs clearing in 3 months? My understanding is that most APs have been taking almost 6+ months since 2022.

[APRIL2023 59]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:14 PM, ShawnK said:

Don't know anymore man.

 

I got little kids and my spouse has been so strong, but now, after 8 months, I'm seeing her start to break. Raising little kids alone isn't easy, sure, I visit,  but it is not the same.

 

 

I just daydream about the day I finally get that visa in my hand and clear US customs. 

 

Kind of a nerdy example  but I think I'll feel like frodo when he finally woke up in Rivendale and everyone was laughing.

 

 

I can empathize with you guys too. Hang in there everyone!! Hopefully things will change up a bit in the new year! 

[AP_since_May2023 37]

On 12/26/2023 at 6:39 AM, APRIL2023 said:

So you plan to mail in your Canadian passport once you are back in US? How does that work? I thought you need your passport in hand while inside US as Canadian? I’m curious to know as I might be in same situation where I can’t afford to wait in Canada for long period of time just for them to return my passport (once my whole AP is cleared). 

 

Why don't you consider doing I-485 since you're already in the US?