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

[candyg 33]

6 hours ago, Mmk2112 said:

Congratulations. What's the email you send for follow up

Yes,  I sent an email to follow up because I did not have an update for more than 10 months

Edited November 18, 2022 by candyg
Understood the question better

[stuckinlimbo 1]

16 minutes ago, LAMA9 said:

@lomnd sorry this is happening to you.  It must be very stressful that only one of you got the ds-5535.  Unfortunately as you can see by reading through pages and pages of posts, the ds-5535 is very unpredictable.  Before March 2022 there were some that were clearing without WOM suits filed, but after that only very, very few.  Since yours is a visa with an expiry (I am guessing DV?), you may have a better chance of not waiting as long as others here (some people are over a year of waiting now), but you can't count on that.  We waited 7 months and then filed a WOM and it took 3 months upon filing our case for the consulate to issue my visa.   It is a horrible process and I hope it resolves for you quickly, but there is just no way of knowing.  I would suggest after reaching 60 days of waiting, you reach out to the consulate asking for an update.  How much time do you have before your visa expires?  

My husband is the principal applicant of DV and his expires in March 2023. My daughter is a toddler so I don't really think US expects our family to be separated. Or they don't care about that? I'm hoping you're right that it would resolve quickly for me. Don't they process family applications together or at least simultaneously? Thanks!

[Ontarkie 14,309]

8 hours ago, lomnd said:

Hi. Does anyone have experience with how long it took for the spouse's passport with visa to be delivered after husband's (principal applicant) passport with visa have been delivered already? My husband received his passport on Nov. 10 and I'm still waiting for mine... I received the 5535. I just think it shouldn't be that long because there's an expiry on the visa. Thanks!

Just because your spouse and child got their visas does not  mean yours will arrive with them hope it does but be prepared if not. As you got the DS5535 and not them yours can be held up. 

Also please only ask your questions once. Posting it more then once is spamming a TOS Violation. 

 

3 hours ago, nyctor said:

Really? I did not know this - so if I cross to activate the visa, and turn around to come back to Canada right away (since I still have a place here), I lose healthcare? Even if I live here for next 5 months? This is confusing...

Once you activate your visa you state right there and then you are no longer a resident of that province. Their is no debate Health care in Canada is based on residency, many seem to confuse snowbirds who travel for vacation. THey do not move they are visiting, or students who are away for school. Again they do not move they are away temporarily for school.   When you cross the border with that visa you are saying you are moving. No if's and's or but's about it. If you tell the border you're not moving to the US and making it your home they will cancel your visa. 

Now that doesn't mean you can't cross and return to finish things up and such. But it does mean you are no a Canadian resident for health care or tax purposes. 

 

2 minutes ago, lomnd said:

My husband is the principal applicant of DV and his expires in March 2023. My daughter is a toddler so I don't really think US expects our family to be separated. Or they don't care about that? I'm hoping you're right that it would resolve quickly for me. Don't they process family applications together or at least simultaneously? Thanks!

Sadly they do not care. I do hope yours comes in soon but since you did get the DS5535 I would not be surprised if yours is held up. 

 

If it is held up have them both cross to activate it and they can return to wait with you. 

[Siarg 72]

3 minutes ago, lomnd said:

My husband is the principal applicant of DV and his expires in March 2023. My daughter is a toddler so I don't really think US expects our family to be separated. Or they don't care about that? I'm hoping you're right that it would resolve quickly for me. Don't they process family applications together or at least simultaneously? Thanks!

His immigrant visa expires in march, yours has no expiration yet because you have not been issued yet. You have interviewed, but you have no visa. Your husband can cross and activate his and your child’s, but you won’t be able to move until your visa is issued. 
 

I would really recommend you read through this thread if you haven’t already, because honestly there are hundreds of pages of people being separated from their family and children because of US immigration. They will do that and don’t care, many of the people in this thread have been separated from their families for extended periods. 
 

This is not a fast-resolving issue most of the time, and it is a very real possibility that your visa could still not be issued by the end of the fiscal year next year. Which means you could be unable to use DV to immigrate. 
 

I’m not saying that is going to happen, but last year there were many people that waited until the very end to get their DV visa, and many including my husband had to file lawsuits to get that. 
 

there is nothing you can do right now except wait, but I would start setting aside money now for the idea of filing a lawsuit (estimate around 5kUSD). If you save up over Months it’s a lot easier to stomach than getting to June and realizing you have to come up with a bunch of money. 

[Siarg 72]

Side note, @throwitaway went through this exact same situation with DV2022, he would be the best to answer your questions, DV is rare in this forum. 

[BatmanFlow 481]

45 minutes ago, lomnd said:

My husband is the principal applicant of DV and his expires in March 2023. My daughter is a toddler so I don't really think US expects our family to be separated. Or they don't care about that? I'm hoping you're right that it would resolve quickly for me. Don't they process family applications together or at least simultaneously? Thanks!

umm they dont care. my step dad got his visa. my mom was given DS 5535. my step dad had to immigrate to USA since his visa was expiring March 2022. My mom stayed back alone and is still there without a visa.

so yes, as others have mentioned, you could be separated and DS 5535 processing times are all over the place right now.

[throwitaway 190]

6 hours ago, ice-qube said:

I guess I am really last man standing here, huh?

Not for long at least

[throwitaway 190]

10 hours ago, Tiabeanie said:

Good morning,

 

Can someone provide me an email of how to get in contact with the embassy?

Out of curiosity how long did it take to have the embassy get back to your email?

montreal-iv-dv@state.gov (Immigrant visas only)

About a week

Edited November 19, 2022 by throwitaway

[ice-qube 649]

2 hours ago, throwitaway said:

Not for long at least

I honestly wish i had that optimism at this point. The US govt were served, they now have till Jan 14 to respond. Based on what i have been seeing, there is a trend for them to continue throwing every delay tactic (extensions, motions to dismiss, etc) in the book rather than adjudicate, soooo…at this point it looks to me that i will continue to languish many more months. And i can’t tell you it feels great.

[Mmk2112 34]

6 hours ago, candyg said:

Yes,  I sent an email to follow up because I did not have an update for more than 10 months

what was the embassy email you used

[LAMA9 118]

14 hours ago, ice-qube said:

I honestly wish i had that optimism at this point. The US govt were served, they now have till Jan 14 to respond. Based on what i have been seeing, there is a trend for them to continue throwing every delay tactic (extensions, motions to dismiss, etc) in the book rather than adjudicate, soooo…at this point it looks to me that i will continue to languish many more months. And i can’t tell you it feels great.

@ice-qubedon't lose hope and you have many reasons to be optimistic!  You have your decision date!  Most people now are getting a ~60 day length of time for decision date 1 (myself included) and everyone is getting a second decision date (mine was another 60 days! but only 2 weeks of that second extension was used).  Even with all the case motions, the consulate is still requesting documents and the cases are still going through in an average of 90-130 days of filing.  The suit is doing its job.  The WOM is not as fast as it used to be as Montreal has been slammed with them and they can't keep up - but they are still working and we have yet to see a denial coming out of our VJ group of applicants (so much for real security threats - lol).  You have to keep the faith!  What you have invested in is WAY better than still sitting in limbo wondering if your file has even been opened in over a year, which is likely the reality you could still be languishing in had you not filed.  Given the data, you will very well have your passport in hand by end of January/early Feb!  You've got this.  If you can go spend the holidays in sunny Florida and get excited for your new life out of this dismal weather and concrete jungle!  

[candyg 33]

13 hours ago, Mmk2112 said:

what was the embassy email you used

Oh, sorry I misunderstood you. I used their general email. You're most likely going to get a generic response too.

Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov

[Rosinasaur 58]

I got tracking information yesterday saying my visa is on its way!

October 4, 2021: Interview. Informed we would get questions by email.
October 10th, 2021: DS5535 Submitted

December 2021 - May 2022: Multiple emails exchanged with consulate saying we were still in administrative processing

March 2022: Congresswoman's office give us a lot of false information and then ghosts us a lot. We also mailed our senator and they never got back to us.

June 2022: Started Lawsuit Process with Goldstein

July 14, 2022: Lawsuit filed

Aug 4, 2022: Lawsuit served

Sept 19, 2022: Motion filed to dismiss lawsuit

Early October: Goldstein submitted counterargument

November 16, 2022: CEAC updated to Approved
Nov 18, 2022: CEAC now Issued, tracking received

 

I would not really recommend filing with Goldstein. We never spoke directly with a lawyer. Our questions were mostly ignored by email or answered incorrectly ("we don't know" would have been a better and acceptable answer tbh). We had to fill in many forms stating what hardship we've been through which took ages. 

 

I'm glad we're almost at the other side. I wish the best of luck to all of you!

[Waitinghere 0]

Hello everyone,

 

I was looking for some help here. I had my interview in October and had my passport taken, with officer giving me instructions on what to expect after having visa approved. Later that day I was phoned by embassy informing me that I am to undergo administrative processing with no further requests made. Since then I have been placed under this status, with no passport and no updates to be given. I am now wondering if anyone else had a similar situation, also, can I request to have my passport back and is it a possibility to try to cross the border again with a  while waiting in AP.

 

sorry for the many questions, just a confused person here. It definitely has been a long frustrating journey…

[Tiabeanie 39]

10 hours ago, Waitinghere said:

Hello everyone,

 

I was looking for some help here. I had my interview in October and had my passport taken, with officer giving me instructions on what to expect after having visa approved. Later that day I was phoned by embassy informing me that I am to undergo administrative processing with no further requests made. Since then I have been placed under this status, with no passport and no updates to be given. I am now wondering if anyone else had a similar situation, also, can I request to have my passport back and is it a possibility to try to cross the border again with a  while waiting in AP.

 

sorry for the many questions, just a confused person here. It definitely has been a long frustrating journey…

Hi there I'm going through the same situation as yourself. I had my interview the end of October and was told I was being placed in administrative processing and they kept my passport and police certificate. The last update on CEAC was the day of my interview. I'm frustrated and feel left in the dark. Just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in this experience and I'm hoping we get back our passports soon.