Montreal embassy EB-2 interview wait time-Part 2

[Dip_eb 12]

Hello Everyone,

 

Do you know how long it takes to get the GC in the mailbox after entering US?

 

Thank you in advance.

[kachab 30]

58 minutes ago, Dip_eb said:

Hello Everyone,

 

Do you know how long it takes to get the GC in the mailbox after entering US?

 

Thank you in advance.

Hi @Dip_eb,

 

The USCIS says that they will print and mail the card within 90 days of the entry in the US or date of payment of the immigrant fee, whichever is later. However, mine took 8.5 months! Apparently that when it takes more than 90 days, it is usually a sign that the visa packet that we have to hand in at the border got lost or misplaced, or that the fingerprints were not taken properly. It doesn't seem to have been the case for me, but I never managed to find out why it got stuck and took so long.

 

If after 90 days you still don't have it, you should start calling them and filing an e-request straight away. The first few officers I spoke to just told me to wait a bit longer and never told me to file an e-request. I waisted a few months because of that. They take ages to respond to the e-requests and the responses are usually quite useless. They took 30 days to respond to my e-request and the response was that they need another 90 days to investigate why it is delayed! However, despite of that, it seems it is still the best way to get things moving eventually. Thankfully my GC was issued before then.

 

One year initially seems quite long for the temporary green card in the passport (stamped immigrant visa), but time flies by very quickly compared to how unresponsive the USCIS can be. If you don't get the GC before the one-year stamp expires, you need to get an appointment at an USCIS office to get another stamp for an extension of your temporary green card otherwise you will not be able to travel and get back in the US. Getting an appointment with the USCIS takes a long time and is also a challenge. Something not to be left at the last minute... 

 

From what I have seen on another VJ thread though, when everything goes smoothly, many people get the card within 45-60 days lately. Hopefully that will be the case for you. Last thing we want after waiting so long to get an interview at the consulate, is to have to fight again with the USCIS just to get them to print the card! 

[samq26 2]

4 hours ago, kachab said:

Yes, that's correct. I was actually in a situation very similar to yours. I had already been working for a few years in the US on non-immigrant work visas when I received my interview letter. The only government-issued ID I had other than my passport (which I obviously could not use to pick up at the post office!) was my NY driver's license. I remember it being a bit weird when I registered online though. I initially had the impression that the only way of getting it sent to a post office was if you had a Canadian ID and address, but it is not the case. The registration system is not really clear in my opinion. I had to read it a few times because the wording, which I don't remember exactly, was a bit weird. 

 

When I got to the post office, the first person who served me asked me if I also had a proof of my Canadian address. I told her I did not have any and someone more senior who was familiar with this passport pickup thing said I did not need any and that she just needed to check that my US ID matched the US ID I had registered with and that the Consulate gave them when they mailed my passport. 

@kachab As you mentioned that you already on work visa, so in interview do they ask you to bring/show all filed tax returns of last years and W2's ?

 

Thanks!!

Edited December 16, 2022 by samq26

[kachab 30]

8 minutes ago, samq26 said:

@kachab As you mentioned that you already on work visa, so in interview do they ask you to bring/show all filed tax returns of last years and W2's ?

 

Thanks!!

They did not ask to bring my tax returns and W2's but I had them with me just in case. At the interview they just asked me to give them the documents on the list here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MTL-Montreal.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

However, they asked me quite a few of simple questions about the visas I had been on in the past. They were mainly interested in finding out if I had overstayed any of these visas and if they had been obtained legitimately (what job and employer were they issued for and when, etc).  Any fraud there would be a reason for denying the GC. They already know all the answers to those questions, but they want to see if your answers match what they have on their screen. 

[Leeching Spouse 87]

 

5 hours ago, raisins said:

@TheMaverick As others have said there won't likely be any action. As a group, there was a coordinated effort earlier in the year where a big group of us all sent a coordinated email expressing our frustrations. Radio silence.

I don't see your information on the tracking sheet, have you added yourself for visibility: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yZKxht6igwJPXPU0EehKmmN2hx1g3EchEuB5G0yNO4/edit#gid=0

 

 

That is good news @Leeching Spouse hopefully you'll have a better experience there. Can you share where you transferred it, and do you have any expectations on your appointment? Would be curious to hear how easy/hard this process was, and I've always heard you get a new DQ date (essentially move to the end of the line).

Our DQ date was October 19 2022, so we are not really missing out much. We attempted to expedite our case as Physicians but were rejected unfortunately so went with this other route.

 

Our last straw was when we saw that Montreal did not move their EB at all this past month. Canada has continued to disappoint us time and again. 

 

This other country has a significantly shorter wait time and hence we wanted to try our luck. Our last resort is to AOS.

[ALC 61]

13 hours ago, Leeching Spouse said:

 

Our DQ date was October 19 2022, so we are not really missing out much. We attempted to expedite our case as Physicians but were rejected unfortunately so went with this other route.

 

Our last straw was when we saw that Montreal did not move their EB at all this past month. Canada has continued to disappoint us time and again. 

 

This other country has a significantly shorter wait time and hence we wanted to try our luck. Our last resort is to AOS.

If you are comfortable sharing, which consulate are you doing it through? Otherwise, can you share if you have ties to that country? I asked my lawyer the same question, and it seemed like one really need to have some sort of a tie (citizenship, PR, work visa, etc.) in order to move consulate. 

Thanks!

[Leeching Spouse 87]

15 minutes ago, ALC said:

If you are comfortable sharing, which consulate are you doing it through? Otherwise, can you share if you have ties to that country? I asked my lawyer the same question, and it seemed like one really need to have some sort of a tie (citizenship, PR, work visa, etc.) in order to move consulate. 

Thanks!

Yes we have citizenship in that country

[3LabMom 76]

I inquired with another post if we were able to move our case there, this is the response I received - "Thank you for your email. Foreign Services Posts are required to accept and process immigrant visa applications for aliens who are residents or former residents of their consular district.  Applications from other countries may be accepted discretionarily if the workload permits and there appears to be genuine hardship involved."  They were unable to accept our application at this time.  Might be worth trying other posts if you have been a resident of another country.  Too bad there are no options for those of us who were previous residents in the US.

[JustHopeful 40]

On 12/16/2022 at 11:50 AM, Leeching Spouse said:

Yes we have citizenship in that country

@Leeching Spouse Great! We are considering this. Do you need to write to the embassy of the county we want to move our case to OR  to NVC requesting them to move our case. Do we provide proof of citizenship/residency while requesting the move ? Please let us know the process it will be helpful. Thanks !

[pilot787 23]

10 hours ago, JustHopeful said:

@Leeching Spouse Great! We are considering this. Do you need to write to the embassy of the county we want to move our case to OR  to NVC requesting them to move our case. Do we provide proof of citizenship/residency while requesting the move ? Please let us know the process it will be helpful. Thanks !

So, I sent the same inquiry, and the response was that we can move our case to one of the following countries: 

country of citizenship

country of residency 

country of last residency, if you reside in USA right now. 

 

All of those with a proof. My husband has French citizenship, and its the embassy in Paris that is working on employment immigrant visas. The problem is, I cannot find anywhere, what is the wait time in French embassy. What if it is even longer than in Montreal.. 

If anybody has any ideas how to find out, please, let me know....

[Leeching Spouse 87]

13 hours ago, JustHopeful said:

@Leeching Spouse Great! We are considering this. Do you need to write to the embassy of the county we want to move our case to OR  to NVC requesting them to move our case. Do we provide proof of citizenship/residency while requesting the move ? Please let us know the process it will be helpful. Thanks !

Sure, Write to NVC to request them to move it, if your case is still at NVC. Check CEAC status. 

[TheMaverick 50]

Stats for November is out:

 

CR1	33
CR2	2
DV	4
E1	18
E2	20
E3	79
EW	5
F1	50
F2B	13
F3	67
F4	125
FX	65
I5	6
IR1	104
IR2	10
IR5	60
IW	1
SQ1	2
SQ2	1
SQ3	1

[ak47 32]

59 minutes ago, TheMaverick said:

Stats for November is out:

 

CR1	33
CR2	2
DV	4
E1	18
E2	20
E3	79
EW	5
F1	50
F2B	13
F3	67
F4	125
FX	65
I5	6
IR1	104
IR2	10
IR5	60
IW	1
SQ1	2
SQ2	1
SQ3	1

Do the Eb numbers give any good sign of progress ? Sorry for my knowledge on E1, E2 & E3.

Edited December 20, 2022 by ak47

[Leeching Spouse 87]

2 minutes ago, ak47 said:

Do the Eb numbers give any good sign of progress ? Sorry for my knowledge on E1, E2 & E3.

It’s around the same as before. I’ll post the graph when I’m home. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Leeching Spouse

[TheMaverick 50]

1 minute ago, ak47 said:

Do the Eb numbers give any good sign of progress ? Sorry for knowledge on E1, E2 & E3.

Not too good, the entire focus was on family category. All the E1, E2,E3 are EB categories

Consulate	Visa	Count	Percentage
Montreal	CR1	33	4.95
Montreal	CR2	2	0.30
Montreal	DV	4	0.60
Montreal	E1	18	2.70
Montreal	E2	20	3.00
Montreal	E3	79	11.86
Montreal	EW	5	0.75
Montreal	F1	50	7.51
Montreal	F2B	13	1.95
Montreal	F3	67	10.06
Montreal	F4	125	18.77
Montreal	FX	65	9.76
Montreal	I5	6	0.90
Montreal	IR1	104	15.62
Montreal	IR2	10	1.50
Montreal	IR5	60	9.01
Montreal	IW	1	0.15
Montreal	SQ1	2	0.30
Montreal	SQ2	1	0.15
Montreal	SQ3	1	0.15