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

[roshakky 13]

9 hours ago, jujubemom said:

The status turned to ISSUED this morning (Oct. 05)! My guess of these dates are: on Sept.9 or Sept.21 the final clearance came, but my case was not attended promptly. 
My husband contacted the congressman and their office sent an inquiry on Sept. 30th, that might helped. 

Good luck to all of you!

Did they keep the passport at the interview or did you send  it in? My husband and I are in the same situation. They requested resume and we were issued DS5535. They requested the passport pin September 15…but no updates yet. 

[addpeace 40]

1 minute ago, Icecreamcastles said:

Guess I'm the newest member of this grim gang.

Had my interview Oct 4, was told I was approved, but then on Oct. 5 was emailed the dreaded DS-5535. Still in shock.

After applying for K-1 back in April 2021 I thought there was a light at the end of this tunnel, but now there's nothing but uncertain darkness.

We will definitely look into filing a WOM, so lawyer recommendations are welcome. Also plan to request to have my passport returned.

I'm wondering if it is at all worth it to start over and file for a spousal visa instead.

If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them. In solidarity with everyone else in this unjust limbo.

Spousal visa wont get you any closer. It also is not a for sure thing that once you get to the interview part for spousal that you wont get hit with the DS5535 again.

 

As for the lawyer it seems like the most common ones are Goldstein and Hacking. Cost is right around 5-7k. 
 

Im sorry you are here. 

[throwitaway 190]

22 minutes ago, Icecreamcastles said:

Guess I'm the newest member of this grim gang.

Had my interview Oct 4, was told I was approved, but then on Oct. 5 was emailed the dreaded DS-5535. Still in shock.

After applying for K-1 back in April 2021 I thought there was a light at the end of this tunnel, but now there's nothing but uncertain darkness.

We will definitely look into filing a WOM, so lawyer recommendations are welcome. Also plan to request to have my passport returned.

I'm wondering if it is at all worth it to start over and file for a spousal visa instead.

If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them. In solidarity with everyone else in this unjust limbo.

The folks over at PIC law are the best, Chris saved us from our first lawyer (popular WoM choice on forums like this) that screwed our WoM up real bad. Spousal visa won’t help, the 5535 is tied to your passport and you will always get it with new visa applications (H1B, who renew every few years, get 5535 infinitum so long as they got it once). 

 

Asking for your passport back is fine, they’ll email you to submit it again when they’re ready.

[throwitaway 190]

10 hours ago, ConsistentCut said:

So now I'm hearing that under "previous passports" we were supposed to include expired Canadian passports? Is this true? I put N/A and "I have only held a Canadian passport" in my DS5535 email. How do I correct this? How do I even get a copy of an expired passport? Do I include the one when I was a kid, 30 frickin years ago???

 

Is there ever an end to this confusion? I'm about ready to throw in the towel. This almost isn't worth it.

The form states include all passports - meaning yes, every single passport you’ve ever had. I wasn’t sure I had all my passports so I had to contact Passport Canada (you can message me for their specialized email for this) for a certified letter showing my entire passport history. It took two months. 

[ConsistentCut 17]

14 minutes ago, throwitaway said:

The form states include all passports - meaning yes, every single passport you’ve ever had. I wasn’t sure I had all my passports so I had to contact Passport Canada (you can message me for their specialized email for this) for a certified letter showing my entire passport history. It took two months. 

It says any passport you have other than the one you applied with. My opinion at the time was this meant any other countries passport. All of your previous canadian passport numbers are listed at the bottom of your current one's photo page. I'm not sending them anything else. 

[throwitaway 190]

8 minutes ago, ConsistentCut said:

All of your previous canadian passport numbers are listed at the bottom of your current one's photo page. 

I don’t see any previous passport numbers under my photo. Also, was just trying to help and clarify for others that read this thread. Everyone I know that filled this form included all their passports, but you can obviously do whatever you want.

[Siarg 72]

1 hour ago, Icecreamcastles said:

We will definitely look into filing a WOM, so lawyer recommendations are welcome. 

Seconding PIC Law, you can see my previous post about them, they’re not a WoM churn firm. Communication with your attorney is key, especially if it’s your first time ever suing like most of us. 
 

You can also branch out and have a look on AVVO, there are many DC lawyers for immigration! 

[ConsistentCut 17]

16 minutes ago, throwitaway said:

I don’t see any previous passport numbers under my photo. Also, was just trying to help and clarify for others that read this thread. Everyone I know that filled this form included all their passports, but you can obviously do whatever you want.

Ya I'm not arguing with you. There is no definitive answer because there isn't anyone "inside" we can talk to. When the guy told me to send it in "asap, like today" it precluded running around collecting expired passports.

 

They know your passport history in Canada when they see your bio page. It's functionally the same passport, just an updated version. I instantly assumed they meant other passports from other countries. THAT would make some sense, I guess.

 

So that's what they got. If they want anything else, they can specifically ask.

Edited October 6, 2022 by ConsistentCut

[jandeep7519 0]

19 hours ago, BatmanFlow said:

Oh wow

 

i think your guys case is the only one that moved from October without a WOM being filed 

Yes, looks like it. No idea what the reasoning is, as with the rest of this process! 

17 hours ago, jgauthi242 said:

In terms of what you should do, it's always just an opinion, but I would say: (1) have the US citizen email them on your behalf, (2) tell them you sent the passport back on X using their preferred courier, it was delivered on Y (include screenshot), and tell them to confirm that they've received your passport (even better if you can get signature confirmation from courier), (3) remind them that your police certificate is expiring on Z (i.e., a polite way to tell them to do their *!@#*$# job), and (4) ask them to confirm that they don't need anything else from you.

 

Assume the worst, which is that they won't issue the visa by the time the police certificate expires and request another one. That way, when they fail to do their job for the Nth time, you already have the new document ready. And, if you don't end up needing it, even better.

 

16 hours ago, BatmanFlow said:

not that i have heard anything for my mom's case yet, but seeing that its taking 2-4 weeks to get new police certs, i have asked my sister to get that done for my mom proactively. this way we will have one less thing that will delay us once we get the email to send in all the information they request

Thank you for your insight! Yes, we requested a new Police Clearance Certificate from the RCMP early September, so we should get that in soon, hopefully! Wish we could just send it in proactively as well, so they have it instead of losing another 2-3 weeks or possibily more.  

Edited October 6, 2022 by jandeep7519

[jujubemom 0]

1 hour ago, roshakky said:

Did they keep the passport at the interview or did you send  it in? My husband and I are in the same situation. They requested resume and we were issued DS5535. They requested the passport pin September 15…but no updates yet. 

They kept my passport, otherwise the status cannot be "issued" if they don't have my passport.
Your status should be changed to issued soon since our interview dates are close. Now my guess is that my clearance comes on Sep 9 and yours Sep 15, so give it another week.
Maybe try to contact them to remind them the case.

[jujubemom 0]

On 9/28/2022 at 4:13 PM, Siarg said:

Hey everyone, good news! We FINALLY got our issuance and crossed the border last night to get the visa stamped. I will give a rundown here because VJ doesn't have a category for Diversity Visa on the timeline. I also understand that many people have been waiting longer than us, but please realize that Diversity Visas are only able to be issued until September 30th for each year, after that you are unable to obtain the visa and have to enter the lottery again. We entered for the 2022 DV in 2020, so we have been waiting 2 years for this.

 

Interview: June 9th 2022, Principal applicant was issued, beneficiary (Canadian citizen spouse) was Refused/221g/AP/DS-5535.

 

There was no obvious reason for why the "extreme vetting" was required, as with many people in this forum. No criminal history, no TAL degree or job, no travel history. It is possible there was a name check match as they have a common spanish last name.

 

We realized through this group that DS5535 can take an unlimited amount of time, and even worse: Montreal had a 50-60% AP refusal rate per interview. Yes, that's right, for every DV interview montreal did, there was a 50% chance of being placed on AP. We figured this out from the CEAC data collected for DV by consulate on xarthisius' website. Anecdotally in Montreal DV group chats, every person we spoke to except for 1 had been given the DS535. Many are Canadian citizens.

 

We hired a cheap lawyer (do not reccomend) and filed a Writ of Mandamus in July, thinking it would be a backup if they delayed until September to get us an issuance before the cutoff time. That first case was a mess, was transferred between courts and largely ignored by the government. It literally just showed up in a new district yesterday. Through this whole time we got the standard template emails of "We cant tell you anything just wait" when we tried to contact Montreal. The only variation we received was a recommendation that I activate my visa without my spouse. I don't think they understand how emotionally devastating this process is, and the lack of transparency could make anyone go insane.

 

We had spent the last 4 months heavily researching everything we could about 9FAM, 5535, lawsuits, INA sections etc and had talked to other lawyers about our options. Every lawyer we spoke to in the group chats/forums were quoting us up to 15k USD to do a last-minute lawsuit. I truly believe some of them are preying on people's desperation the closer it gets to the DV deadline. One even quoted us 6k USD, then a week later said "now it is 12k USD".

 

We made the decision to try to find a lawyer that would help us for the original quote of 6k USD. We went on pacermonitor and searched through all of the WoM lawsuits that were filed in DC recently and emailed around 20 with our story, and our budget. We got a few replies, but the fastest to reply was Christopher Casazza from PIC Law. We had a consulatation with him and he agreed to file our Temporary Restraining Order/Writ of Mandamus for us. Please be aware that a TRO is not always applicable, but in our unique circumstance, it was. We had all of our correct documents, one of us was approved, the candian refused and in AP for 4 months, the only requirements to DV eligibility outside of coutnry is high school graduation. If anyone is looking for a lawyer outside of the standard reccomended lawyers, I would really, really, really strongly reccomend this lawfirm (PIC Law). Many of the other lawyers (Goldstein, Hacking, Nimer, Murthy, Raju) seem to be WoM churn firms. No judgement on that, but having filed with Raju, then filing with Chris Casazza, there is a HUGE difference when you pick an attorney that actually cares about your case. If you're like me, I want to be able to talk about the lawsuit, not just file it and forget. PIC Law is a genuine immigration lawfirm and not a WoM churn farm trawling forums for desperate people.

 

Long story short, we filed the lawsuit, and a week later we had the visa approved. The "CLEARANCE RECEIVED" date is September 20th, CEAC updated to issued on September 21st, and on the physical visa it was printed on September 22nd. DOS contacted Montreal and then asked us to dismiss the lawsuit because it was issued. These lawsuits really seem to be what everyone thinks, the case is just sitting there and the lawsuit prioritzes your clearance. 

Once we received the passport in the mail, we went straight to Niagara and crossed to stamp the visa. After 4 months of fried nerves, it is finally over and we can't believe it. Looking at the Montreal issuance rates, with 1 day left (because they're taking a vacation on Sept 30th), it really seems to me that this lawsuit was 100% responsible for us getting our visa approved in time. There are 149 DV Cases issued (249 visas) and 27 cases on 221G/5535 (49 visas). It is very possible that 49 people lose their chance of getting a green card because of Montreal's high 5535 rate. They sped up towards the end of the year, but wow. It is horrific what they are doing, and apparently mostly to Canadian citizens.

 

Once more, I can't thank Christopher Casazza enough. I can't post a link here, but Chris, Alex Isbel (two name partners) and Caitlin Costello all helped with our visa at the lawfirm PIC Law (Philadelphia Immigration Lawyers).

So it took about a week from getting issued to get the passport?

[Siarg 72]

Yeah, they mailed in on a Thursday, then it was held over the weekend (delivered to the wrong post office apparently) then delivered Tuesday. 
 

it was actually delivered Monday but the post office wouldn’t give it to us because they hadn’t processed it yet. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Siarg

[Mmk2112 34]

15 hours ago, jujubemom said:

The status turned to ISSUED this morning (Oct. 05)! My guess of these dates are: on Sept.9 or Sept.21 the final clearance came, but my case was not attended promptly. 
My husband contacted the congressman and their office sent an inquiry on Sept. 30th, that might helped. 

Good luck to all of you!

Congratulations. Could you please share which congressman you contacted

[jujubemom 0]

21 minutes ago, Mmk2112 said:

Congratulations. Could you please share which congressman you contacted

Hi, my husband contacted the congressman who represents the area where we live.
I think if you don't live in that area, the congressman will not take the case...

You can find the congressman who is in charge of your residence area here: https://www.house.gov/representatives#:~:text=Also referred to as a,population of the 50 states. 

2 hours ago, Siarg said:

Yeah, they mailed in on a Thursday, then it was held over the weekend (delivered to the wrong post office apparently) then delivered Tuesday. 
 

it was actually delivered Monday but the post office wouldn’t give it to us because they hadn’t processed it yet. 

That's very good news! Thank you for the prompt reply!

[herecomestherain 77]

Last week I got updates almost every day in the CEAC tracker and this week I’ve gotten nothing. I really thought I was going to get an email this week telling me to go redo my medical

 

For the people who have been asked to to their medical again and are about to be approved: before they emailed you did you get spurts of activity and then no update on CEAC? Or did everything just happen in the same week?