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

[Abahoni 4]

2 hours ago, Kara.gana said:

Final update. It’s been a long stressful journey. We are thankful for this group that kept us going and provided many answers. 
IR1 visa for my husband.

February 5, 2022 I-130 submitted. 
November 25, 2022 case sent to Department of State. 
Interviewed Aug 1, 2023 and put in AP that day. Sent in DS5535 and I221G August 3, 2023. 
Had a handful of updates from Aug 2023 to July 2024, usually after email or Congressman enquiry. 
July 24, 2024 started seeing consistent updates, usually every few days. 
August 5, 2024 status changed to “expiring soon”

August 9, 2024 received medical, passport and photo request. 
August 22, 2024 passport and medical delivered to consulate. 
September 24, 2024 Status changed to Issued. 
September 27, 2024 Tracking number sent for passport

October 1, 2024 Passport and visa in hand!
 

Best of luck, and thanks for your update, iR5 visa DS5535 waiting since April 2023...

[as2023 7]

2 hours ago, Kara.gana said:

Final update. It’s been a long stressful journey. We are thankful for this group that kept us going and provided many answers. 
IR1 visa for my husband.

February 5, 2022 I-130 submitted. 
November 25, 2022 case sent to Department of State. 
Interviewed Aug 1, 2023 and put in AP that day. Sent in DS5535 and I221G August 3, 2023. 
Had a handful of updates from Aug 2023 to July 2024, usually after email or Congressman enquiry. 
July 24, 2024 started seeing consistent updates, usually every few days. 
August 5, 2024 status changed to “expiring soon”

August 9, 2024 received medical, passport and photo request. 
August 22, 2024 passport and medical delivered to consulate. 
September 24, 2024 Status changed to Issued. 
September 27, 2024 Tracking number sent for passport

October 1, 2024 Passport and visa in hand!
 

Is it a general rule that  after a  year of  filling up  ds260 it changes to "expiring soon "status

,or it's just random.

[DuBrun20 27]

Hello, this may be a dumb question but... how do we use the courier service to send the passport... We cannot find any information about how to do this in the request from the consulate just a statement that we should use their courier services. The link they provide us with that is supposed to allow us to request courier services is useless as far as I can tell. we ended up calling one of the customer services and they had us go to this website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/ and going through a whole process to get to this page. I just wanted to make sure that this is the process everyone else went through since it is so counterintuitive, and what did you put as your reason for request? Thank you in advanced. Somehow this keeps getting more complicated  

[DuBrun20 27]

I have one more question. My husband moved while we were waiting for the passport request, and our lawyer emailed the consulate to ask them to update his address and the courier location, but we never got a response from them about this. We want to make sure his address is accurate so that when they send the passport back he will have his proof of address that matches, and so that it will be sent to the right location, does anyone have any suggestions for this?

[Kara.gana 36]

15 minutes ago, as2023 said:

Is it a general rule that  after a  year of  filling up  ds260 it changes to "expiring soon "status

,or it's just random.

As far as I have understood from others in this group:

Your DS260 opens up at the one year mark. We went ahead and updated it at the 1 year mark and submitted it without any instruction from the consulate.

As far as I understand, the two are not related. Your status may change to “expiring soon” when the consulate is getting close to sending you the passport and medical request email. 
Many others that waited longer than a year had their DS260 open at 1 year then months later have their status change to “expiring soon”

 

[CarmenD 150]

4 hours ago, Kara.gana said:

October 1, 2024 Passport and visa in hand!

Congratulations 🥳  🎉 🥂🍾🍾🍾 We’re anticipating receiving ours today, Oct 2

[memeatball 0]

To send them back the passport, do you login to https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca and follow the "Consular Section instructed me to send more documents" from your appointment?

[Mango Pineapple 0]

Hey everyone,

 

I've been following this forum for a little while (it comes up a lot when searching for information about DS-5535) and I thought I'd post my administrative processing timeline since it appears to be getting close to resolving.

 

I had my interview in Montreal on June 3 this year, and at the end the agent told me to submit a DS-5535 form and then mail my passport to them. The way he worded it sounded like I was supposed to mail the passport right after the form, so that's what I ended up doing just a few days after my interview.

 

The issue is that last week I got an email from the embassy asking me to send them my passport. It seems that the agent working on my case must not have checked wherever they have it stored. I tried calling them but it appears to all be an automated message, and the message told me to contact montreal-iv-dv@state.gov, which I emailed that same day along with the tracking number as proof that they already received my passport. Does anyone know of a different way to contact the consulate? I've been seeing that people are not having much luck contacting that email, from receiving a generic response to no response at all.

 

 

June 3 - Interview / Rejected 221g
June 4 - Case updated
June 5 - Submitted DS-5535
June 6 - Mailed passport to consulate
June 7 - Passport received at consulate
June 10 - Case updated
June 14 - Case updated
June 18 - Case updated

 

Sept 5 - Case updated
Sept 19 - Case updated
Sept 24 - Case updated. Received email asking for passport. Emailed consulate tracking number as proof.

[ajxl888 38]

Hi All, 

 

For those who have received their visas and passports back and have made their way to the US: My visa stamp (I-551?) shows "IV Expires on January 22, 2025".  What is the process/protocol for extending or re-applying leading up to this expiration date?  Is this the expiration for just the stamp in the passport while I await my green card in the mail? 

 

Thanks!

[Mango Pineapple 0]

3 hours ago, memeatball said:

To send them back the passport, do you login to https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca and follow the "Consular Section instructed me to send more documents" from your appointment?

 

Yes, you should see the page that @DuBrun20 is seeing a few posts up, and eventually generate instructions on how to send your documents through Canada Post.

 

 

12 hours ago, DuBrun20 said:

Hello, this may be a dumb question but... how do we use the courier service to send the passport... We cannot find any information about how to do this in the request from the consulate just a statement that we should use their courier services. The link they provide us with that is supposed to allow us to request courier services is useless as far as I can tell. we ended up calling one of the customer services and they had us go to this website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/ and going through a whole process to get to this page. I just wanted to make sure that this is the process everyone else went through since it is so counterintuitive, and what did you put as your reason for request? Thank you in advanced. Somehow this keeps getting more complicated  

 

This is the page I also saw when submitting my passport. If memory serves, I wrote something about when my interview was, and how during the interview an agent had requested that I send in my passport. They probably just want the exact source that asked you to submit documents (whether a person or an email) for their records. Afterwards, you'll generate a QR code that Canada Post will scan to create your shipping label, and there should also be one page that they require you put in your envelope along with the requested documents.

 

 

12 hours ago, DuBrun20 said:

I have one more question. My husband moved while we were waiting for the passport request, and our lawyer emailed the consulate to ask them to update his address and the courier location, but we never got a response from them about this. We want to make sure his address is accurate so that when they send the passport back he will have his proof of address that matches, and so that it will be sent to the right location, does anyone have any suggestions for this?

 

Do you have access to a page like this on that site? It might let you update your delivery address.

[Coco_2023 14]

54 minutes ago, Mango Pineapple said:

Hey everyone,

 

I've been following this forum for a little while (it comes up a lot when searching for information about DS-5535) and I thought I'd post my administrative processing timeline since it appears to be getting close to resolving.

 

I had my interview in Montreal on June 3 this year, and at the end the agent told me to submit a DS-5535 form and then mail my passport to them. The way he worded it sounded like I was supposed to mail the passport right after the form, so that's what I ended up doing just a few days after my interview.

 

The issue is that last week I got an email from the embassy asking me to send them my passport. It seems that the agent working on my case must not have checked wherever they have it stored. I tried calling them but it appears to all be an automated message, and the message told me to contact montreal-iv-dv@state.gov, which I emailed that same day along with the tracking number as proof that they already received my passport. Does anyone know of a different way to contact the consulate? I've been seeing that people are not having much luck contacting that email, from receiving a generic response to no response at all.

 

 

June 3 - Interview / Rejected 221g
June 4 - Case updated
June 5 - Submitted DS-5535
June 6 - Mailed passport to consulate
June 7 - Passport received at consulate
June 10 - Case updated
June 14 - Case updated
June 18 - Case updated

 

Sept 5 - Case updated
Sept 19 - Case updated
Sept 24 - Case updated. Received email asking for passport. Emailed consulate tracking number as proof.

This is the same email address I was asked to send my resume to after my interview.

Congrats on the passport request tho! 

What's you visa category? 

[CarmenD 150]

1 hour ago, Mango Pineapple said:

Hey everyone,

 

I've been following this forum for a little while (it comes up a lot when searching for information about DS-5535) and I thought I'd post my administrative processing timeline since it appears to be getting close to resolving.

 

I had my interview in Montreal on June 3 this year, and at the end the agent told me to submit a DS-5535 form and then mail my passport to them. The way he worded it sounded like I was supposed to mail the passport right after the form, so that's what I ended up doing just a few days after my interview.

 

The issue is that last week I got an email from the embassy asking me to send them my passport. It seems that the agent working on my case must not have checked wherever they have it stored. I tried calling them but it appears to all be an automated message, and the message told me to contact montreal-iv-dv@state.gov, which I emailed that same day along with the tracking number as proof that they already received my passport. Does anyone know of a different way to contact the consulate? I've been seeing that people are not having much luck contacting that email, from receiving a generic response to no response at all.

 

 

June 3 - Interview / Rejected 221g
June 4 - Case updated
June 5 - Submitted DS-5535
June 6 - Mailed passport to consulate
June 7 - Passport received at consulate
June 10 - Case updated
June 14 - Case updated
June 18 - Case updated

 

Sept 5 - Case updated
Sept 19 - Case updated
Sept 24 - Case updated. Received email asking for passport. Emailed consulate tracking number as proof.

Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov is the correct email to contact the Consulate for your situation.  It seems passports are requested even if already in their possession.  Not the first time I’ve read about this happening.  Good luck 🤞🏻 

[Pending DS5535 22]

Hi, we have been waiting for AP clearance (IR 5) since my interview Jan 2024. We asked the congressman first time in these 9 months last Friday and I saw a case update on Oct 1 (solicited update), but today is another update on Oct 2nd (unsolicited update).  I am hoping to see more unsolicited updates but let's see. My question is if anyone else has an unsolicited updates pattern after the congressman's inquiry. Thanks!

[tophy123 2]

hi all

how many unsolicited updates do people typically get before their passport is requested via email? not the ones at the beginning of submitting ds 5535 but close to them requesting passport again…

 

and does only the applicant get the email or sponsor as well? 

 

if those folks with recent passport requests can reply with timeline of updates in month leading upto passport request itd be nice!!

 

trying to not get our hopes too high after three updates in quick succession after mid sept .. want to know if this is likely to amount to nothing or rather a good sign?!

Edited October 2 by tophy123

[zero1331 6]

how many unsolicited updates have people received on average?      I have had 3 in one month now.   also is there way to check your complete update history or do you have to just track that yourself?    meeting June 20, black holed same day, case update on sep 7, 19 and 27th   no news from them or lawyer handling case. considering congressional help as this my lawyer has good luck with that.  I hit 4 months exactly on my medical tmrw.

Just now, tophy123 said:

hi all

how many unsolicited updates do people typically get before their passport is requested via email? not the ones at the beginning of submitting ds 5535 but close to them requesting passport again…

 

and does only the applicant get the email or sponsor as well? 

literally just posted about the same thing   hahah