The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)

[Sisa24 20]

9 hours ago, Audra Rose said:

Has anyone had success with writing a Republican congessman for help? That's all we have in my state. Should I even bother?

It doesn’t do anything from my experience & others’ experiences

[CarmenD 150]

36 minutes ago, Sisa24 said:

It doesn’t do anything from my experience & others’ experiences

I second that 

[Matt777 2]

21 hours ago, sikeDS-5535dbyMTL said:

Alright folks, final update as promised!

 

Officially crossed over today, July 17th on an IR1 (airport crossing). No secondary required, was amazed that I only had to stay at the counter for all of maybe 5 mins until I got a "congratulations, welcome to the US" response from the border agent.

 

- Jan 30, 2024 interview with 221g DS 5535 refusal.

- Filed WOM June 5, 2024, defendants served June 21, 2024

- Passport requested back July 2 - flew to Montreal to hand deliver passport on the 5th. I had a back and forth email exchange with them the 3rd letting them know I was coming in person on the 5th. - Showed up first thing at 730am and came back to retrieve passport at noon same day.

 

Do I think my WOM played a factor? Yes, and I don't regret spending the money one bit. 
 

I wish the best of luck to everyone! 

 

Congratulations! I was interviewed on Feb 23, 2024, and was refused. I filled out the office form, which is apparently DS 5535, and additional documents were requested from my wife. I got the impression that my case would be "pending documents" rather than "AP" as described at:  https://ca.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/after-you-receive-your-visa/ and expected to hear back by the end of April, 2 months after the additional documents were delivered and the forms were submitted; however, after almost five months, I have not heard back yet. In response to my question, the officer told me that everything about my case will be done at Montreal Consulate.

 

If you don't mind, could you share the contact info. of the law firm that you used for filing WOM? Thank you!

Edited July 18 by Matt77

[Matt777 2]

On 6/23/2024 at 11:11 PM, tdot2nj said:

Its been 7 months since my interview and receiving the DS-5535 and still no progress. I filed a WOM which was dismissed last month citing that I haven't been waiting long enough. Luckily the lawyer gave me half my money back. I feel like the wait is never ending. I have talked to congressmen and no progress. Overall this process is defeating and I can’t help but wonder when this nightmare will end. 

 

Edited July 18 by Matt77

[crooked-i 4]

On 6/4/2024 at 7:38 AM, sundim said:

I'm sorry this is causing you anxiety.  If I could go back and do it again, I would have been prepared with my DS-5535 info ready to submit ASAP (in your case, resume info for you as well), instead of rushing to do it while processing the bad feelings that come along with being refused.  Another thing I would have done was to prepare a plan for what happens after the interview.  I didn't make travel plans, but I also wasn't ready to stay in Canada for another year (big mistake).  I'm fine now, but in retrospect I should have had a backup plan.  If your wife doesn't get flagged, then no harm done.  If she does, then you're ready!  For me, being prepared and planning helps manage my anxiety.  I don't think you're doomed, just prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  Good luck to both of you 🍀

 

Hi all,

Just wanted to give an update on our case since i'm sure there's a lot of people who are reading this thread in a similar situation as my wife and I worrying about AP. My wife has been issued her visa, just got her tracking number today. We were worried because she was of Pakistani origin, we've traveled to Muslim countries(Turkey, Jordan, Qatar), and I have an engineering job. But luckily we didnt get DS-5535 and the interview went smoothly and she was issued a visa. So if you are reading this and have anxiety like I did, like this post says above, you aren't doomed. Just be prepared and have a plan if you do get AP. This is the most you can do.

 

Best of luck to everyone here who is in AP, wish you guys a speedy process. I read the last few pages, happy for all the people who had movement recently on their case.

[Cholte cholte 20]

Hi,

 

Thank you for the information. it certianly gives hope to us who have a DS 5535 pending.

[APRIL2023 59]

I decided to write to the consulate given the strings of lucky peeps who interviewed back in 2023 and had recently got their visa. My interview was in April 2023. Email inquiry was sent early June and a follow-up one sent a week ago. Below is the standard response I received today, with a status updated to todays date. Upon reading closely, I noticed “aim to reduce the time required for CERTAIN types of AP”. I still don’t understand how my case can be different, given our legitimate marriage and two children holding Canadian/American citizenship. 
 

****
 

Thank you for your inquiry.

   

The duration of administrative processing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to refine our visa application, assessment, and security screening procedures. We continue to aim to reduce the time required for certain types of administrative processing.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation

[anotherstuckinap 5]

29 minutes ago, APRIL2023 said:

I decided to write to the consulate given the strings of lucky peeps who interviewed back in 2023 and had recently got their visa. My interview was in April 2023. Email inquiry was sent early June and a follow-up one sent a week ago. Below is the standard response I received today, with a status updated to todays date. Upon reading closely, I noticed “aim to reduce the time required for CERTAIN types of AP”. I still don’t understand how my case can be different, given our legitimate marriage and two children holding Canadian/American citizenship. 
 

****
 

Thank you for your inquiry.

   

The duration of administrative processing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to refine our visa application, assessment, and security screening procedures. We continue to aim to reduce the time required for certain types of administrative processing.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation

For what it's worth - I fully agree and also do not understand how the vast majority of the cases in DS-5535 processing are inherently different than most standard cases. Not really certain they know either, unfortunately they will never share that information and don't really have to answer for it.

 

I think when they say 'certain types' they're referencing the DS-5535 'Supplemental Questions for Visa Applicants' - as there has been lots of discussion about improving processing times through automation. There are other types of Administrative Processing, but they seem to be processed significantly faster.

 

Not really sure we've seen any real changes coming through as far as how quickly these cases are being processed (if anything, things have continued to progress in the opposite direction due to a very serious backlog). They probably really are trying to make some positive changes - I really hope so, but we'll have to continue waiting to see if they work I suppose.

 

Just my two cents.

Edited July 19 by anotherstuckinap

[ak47 32]

1 hour ago, APRIL2023 said:

I decided to write to the consulate given the strings of lucky peeps who interviewed back in 2023 and had recently got their visa. My interview was in April 2023. Email inquiry was sent early June and a follow-up one sent a week ago. Below is the standard response I received today, with a status updated to todays date. Upon reading closely, I noticed “aim to reduce the time required for CERTAIN types of AP”. I still don’t understand how my case can be different, given our legitimate marriage and two children holding Canadian/American citizenship. 
 

****
 

Thank you for your inquiry.

   

The duration of administrative processing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to refine our visa application, assessment, and security screening procedures. We continue to aim to reduce the time required for certain types of administrative processing.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation

Same here, i interviewed in later half of March 2023 and still no updates.

[DS5535_Child 14]

Quote

For what it's worth - I fully agree and also do not understand how the vast majority of the cases in DS-5535 processing are inherently different than most standard cases. Not really certain they know either, unfortunately they will never share that information and don't really have to answer for it.

 

FWIW, I don't think anyone knows, including the people in charge.

This type of system is a typical AI problem, where you put in a bunch of data with known "bad actors" and try to predict the next bad actor.

 

Silly example: It could be that the system decides that people who's family name starts F and are born in August and are Canadian or Madagascarian of origin. are more likely to be bad actors, but fundamentally the system is as good as the person writing it and I doubt anyone has any way or incentive to make it better.

[cala2023 70]

3 hours ago, APRIL2023 said:

I decided to write to the consulate given the strings of lucky peeps who interviewed back in 2023 and had recently got their visa. My interview was in April 2023. Email inquiry was sent early June and a follow-up one sent a week ago. Below is the standard response I received today, with a status updated to todays date. Upon reading closely, I noticed “aim to reduce the time required for CERTAIN types of AP”. I still don’t understand how my case can be different, given our legitimate marriage and two children holding Canadian/American citizenship. 
 

****
 

Thank you for your inquiry.

   

The duration of administrative processing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to refine our visa application, assessment, and security screening procedures. We continue to aim to reduce the time required for certain types of administrative processing.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visa will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you as soon as the processing is complete.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation

Keep an eye on the updates next week. We did get that standard response as well when I sent them an email but as I mentioned before a few days later our unsolicited updates started. Fingers crossed, I hope you start to see some movement!

[Pending DS5535 24]

On 7/19/2024 at 6:46 PM, cala2023 said:

Keep an eye on the updates next week. We did get that standard response as well when I sent them an email but as I mentioned before a few days later our unsolicited updates started. Fingers crossed, I hope you start to see some movement!

 

On 7/19/2024 at 6:46 PM, cala2023 said:

Keep an eye on the updates next week. We did get that standard response as well when I sent them an email but as I mentioned before a few days later our unsolicited updates started. Fingers crossed, I hope you start to see some movement!

 

On 7/19/2024 at 6:46 PM, cala2023 said:

Keep an eye on the updates next week. We did get that standard response as well when I sent them an email but as I mentioned before a few days later our unsolicited updates started. Fingers crossed, I hope you start to see some movement!

I renewed my passport, do I have to send the new passport # to Montreal Consulate? If yes, should I send it via email? I would appreciate if anyone share a similar experience of sending new passport # to consulate. Thanks!

[Irish89 44]

5 hours ago, Pending DS5535 said:

 

 

I renewed my passport, do I have to send the new passport # to Montreal Consulate? If yes, should I send it via email? I would appreciate if anyone share a similar experience of sending new passport # to consulate. Thanks!

Hey there. I renewed my passport 7 months ago while in AP for DS5535. I DID NOT send the consulate any information about my new passport. When the consulate emailed me requesting my passport last month I simply sent both my new passport and old passport with a little hand written note attached explaining that my previous passport had expired.

[Kara.gana 36]

My husband is coming up on 1 year mark of waiting. Is there anything we need to do with documents or anything else to keep the file active? 

[cala2023 70]

2 hours ago, Kara.gana said:

My husband is coming up on 1 year mark of waiting. Is there anything we need to do with documents or anything else to keep the file active? 

No nothing at this point you need to do. When they are ready to proceed they will email you with instructions on what they require you to resubmit and/or update.