The Big IR-1/CR-1 DQ'd Message Group (Part V)

[MapleSyrup2007 10]

1 hour ago, HoneyBadger26 said:

We are in the same boat - hubby in Canada, daughter and I in NY. This will be our fifth Christmas apart, third since our marriage and second since sending in our I-130. It's frustrating for sure.

 

That is so hard! 5 Christmas' apart. I had no idea how long this process would take when we decided to make this commitment. 

[tonyrako 20]

23 hours ago, MapleSyrup2007 said:

We were DQ'd July 25th. At first, after looking around on here and reddit, I was hoping that we would have received an IL by now. Doesn't seem that way now though. I am beginning to think that hubby will not have his interview until January. It is so hard for both of us, him living in Canada without his family, me and the kids here in NY. I check my emails and the consulate website way too frequently. I have this sinking feeling in my gut that once the ILs do go out, we will not be apart of that group, and will have to wait until 2024. Our second Christmas apart .... it is nice to have a community of people that understands. I told hubby this feels like the end of pregnancy, when you know it will eventually end, but it drags on forever and you have no control over when it happens and everyone asks you if the interview has been scheduled or if it has happened already and I am like - uh if it was scheduled or if it happened you would know, please stop asking! Anyway, rant over. Thanks for "listening".

Its nice to have the community to hear where others are at. Our daughter was born in June of last year and she and my wife are in Canada while I'm in Michigan 10 hours away. My daughter has only spent a couple weeks in her home (here in MI) and that was when she was only a couple months old so she really has no idea what her home is like. I have her room all ready for her but for months it has just been an empty room. I was so hopeful that we would spend Christmas together this year, but it is looking unlikely. Maybe we will all get good news next week. Good luck everyone.

[Shades8 36]

Positive thoughts that this week a round of ILs go out.
I don’t expect I will get one this month, but I just want to know that they haven’t skipped a whole month at least!   

[thinpea 32]

Hi guys, 

My interview is on November 17th so I've obviously been preparing a bunch but I have run into some questions so I figured I would make a post:

1. My husband got a new job so I was planning on uploading a new I-864 to the CEAC portal but I was just curious if uploading new documents will affect my interview date? I doubt it will but I just want to double-check.. 

2. I got my medical done at the beginning of this month and the Dr office just emailed me saying it was shipped to the embassy. Does anyone know if I'll be notified when they receive it? Or if I am able to access tracking?

[mam521 2,113]

1 hour ago, thinpea said:

Hi guys, 

My interview is on November 17th so I've obviously been preparing a bunch but I have run into some questions so I figured I would make a post:

1. My husband got a new job so I was planning on uploading a new I-864 to the CEAC portal but I was just curious if uploading new documents will affect my interview date? I doubt it will but I just want to double-check.. No, shouldn't impact it. 

2. I got my medical done at the beginning of this month and the Dr office just emailed me saying it was shipped to the embassy. Does anyone know if I'll be notified when they receive it? Or if I am able to access tracking? The only way to find out is to e-mail the consulate and we all know they don't answer for 6+ weeks.  You will definitely find out at your interview. 

 

As for everyone else, I know you are disappointed with the whole process here because Montreal is traditionally one of the slowest Consulates around.  I was stuck in that cycle.  I had to move from our family home in the US back to Canada and ended up with a "bonus" Christmas in Canada when our case took forever (as in 634 days forever).  I was extremely lucky though as I had an interview on the last week the Consulate would offer interviews before cancelling all remaining interviews for March which turned into more than a year, thanks to covid.  In hindsight, it was a small blip in time compared to the rest of our lives.  The silver lining here is you can potentially travel to visit your spouses or them visit you during the holidays.  

 

Immigration is a privilege, not a right and sometimes we have to find the strength of patience we didn't know existed to navigate this challenging time.  As a person who's made it through to the other side, it's finite.  I promise.  Even if you can't see it now, it is.  

[MRJ9987 31]

1 hour ago, mam521 said:

 

As for everyone else, I know you are disappointed with the whole process here because Montreal is traditionally one of the slowest Consulates around.  I was stuck in that cycle.  I had to move from our family home in the US back to Canada and ended up with a "bonus" Christmas in Canada when our case took forever (as in 634 days forever).  I was extremely lucky though as I had an interview on the last week the Consulate would offer interviews before cancelling all remaining interviews for March which turned into more than a year, thanks to covid.  In hindsight, it was a small blip in time compared to the rest of our lives.  The silver lining here is you can potentially travel to visit your spouses or them visit you during the holidays.  

 

Immigration is a privilege, not a right and sometimes we have to find the strength of patience we didn't know existed to navigate this challenging time.  As a person who's made it through to the other side, it's finite.  I promise.  Even if you can't see it now, it is.  

Thanks for your words of encouragement.  And what luck having the last week interview before all the other ones being cancelled!  😵

 

You mentioned that Montreal is one of the slowest consulates around - I thought it was still better than some of them.  I am reading other people's posts where waits are measured in years and not months for the appointment?  

[Family One 49]

20 hours ago, thinpea said:

1. My husband got a new job so I was planning on uploading a new I-864 to the CEAC portal but I was just curious if uploading new documents will affect my interview date? I doubt it will but I just want to double-check.. 

Your feeling is correct.  The interview date does not change once you are "DQ'ed," regardless of how many updated documents you upload.  It would be advisable to upload the new I-864, as well as any other documents you want the officer to see, such as updated income tax transcripts, etc.

[mam521 2,113]

19 hours ago, MRJ9987 said:

Thanks for your words of encouragement.  And what luck having the last week interview before all the other ones being cancelled!  😵

 

You mentioned that Montreal is one of the slowest consulates around - I thought it was still better than some of them.  I am reading other people's posts where waits are measured in years and not months for the appointment?  

Relatively speaking, 5 months between DQ and interview is a long time.  The majority of consulates, it's like a month or 2 max.  Montreal, despite being a neighbour consulate, takes a long time.  It doesn't make complete sense, but it is what it is.  

 

I do feel really awful for all of you waiting.  Like I said, we'd prepared to be in Canada for one Christmas, but ended up with a "bonus" second Christmas.  The CBP and CBSA agents would just shake their heads because hubs had flown all of our Christmas tree decorations in extra baggage home after our first Christmas, anticipating we'd all be reunited at our US home, only to turn around and have to haul them back.  It was disheartening, but we made the best of it.  We took advantage of being able to go tubing in the Rockies (we were in AB), took a lot of photos of the beautiful snow capped peaks and the evergreen trees blanketed and tried to really soak in the White Christmas.  The snowless Christmases in Texas where you can bbq in flip flops on December 25th is a bit weird when you've always had snow growing up.  We tried to cherish it because it would inevitably be changing - it's easy to get hung up in the negative, but it's also important to live in the moment and find the small wins and silver linings.  

[ind2can 11]

DQ'd on July 26th. Was hoping to hear something from them this month, but it looks like it'll have to wait until January. Has anyone gotten any December dates at all? 

[HoneyBadger26 56]

5 hours ago, ind2can said:

DQ'd on July 26th. Was hoping to hear something from them this month, but it looks like it'll have to wait until January. Has anyone gotten any December dates at all? 

I haven't seen anyone here or on Reddit say they've even gotten an IL this month 😕

[Shades8 36]

1 hour ago, HoneyBadger26 said:

I haven't seen anyone here or on Reddit say they've even gotten an IL this month 😕

Me neither!!  Which sub reddits do you check? I was looking at USCIS and Nationalvisacenter.  I found threads in both those from people DQ’ed in July saying they haven’t received anything this month.  So annoying.  Why are they skipping a whole month???

[MapleSyrup2007 10]

I have been following a couple of threads, I know of over a dozen who were DQ'd in July, ranging from the 10th, to the 27th... hubby and I were DQ'd July 25th and nobody has heard anything. I was hopeful that maybe there would be something this morning since it is the last Wednesday of the month. Honestly, this is a horrible mind game. The patterns in the past from Montreal haven't been followed at all this month. I am beginning to believe that we will not be reunited until the New Year, which is so discouraging. When we got the email in July that we were DQ'd I was sure we would be all together for Christmas this year! I had a good ugly cry yesterday. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by MapleSyrup2007

[HoneyBadger26 56]

23 minutes ago, MapleSyrup2007 said:

I have been following a couple of threads, I know of over a dozen who were DQ'd in July, ranging from the 10th, to the 27th... hubby and I were DQ'd July 25th and nobody has heard anything. I was hopeful that maybe there would be something this morning since it is the last Wednesday of the month. Honestly, this is a horrible mind game. The patterns in the past from Montreal haven't been followed at all this month. I am beginning to believe that we will not be reunited until the New Year, which is so discouraging. When we got the email in July that we were DQ'd I was sure we would be all together for Christmas this year! I had a good ugly cry yesterday. 

We were also optimistic we would be together at Christmas, but it looks like it's not meant to be. Can't help but be angry at the lack of transparency in this process.

[Shades8 36]

They don’t have any accountability, so they can get away with a really crappy process and service levels.  Who’s going to force them to make the immigration process better?  No one cares but the people trying to immigrate.  They want it to be complicated and slow.  

Edited October 25, 2023 by Shades8

[GCMontreal 0]

Seems like they updated the consular operations website but not the status of scheduling interviews:

https://ca.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/consular-operations-updates/

 

It is not possible to provide precise wait times for immigrant visa appointments, as facilities, staffing resources, and local conditions all affect capacity and scheduling.  As of September 29, 2023, most Immediate Relative and fiancé(e) visa cases being scheduled for interview in Montreal were documentarily complete at the National Visa Center in June 2023; most Family Preference cases with visa numbers available that are being scheduled for interview were documentarily qualified in April 2021; and most Employment cases scheduled for interview were documentarily complete in January 2021.