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

[Ds553513 16]

 

Hi all

i received this response from embassy from my last fellow up on case status 

I don’t know why they put me again Ap . My first Ap was 7 March 2023. It is normal response. They did not respond me I am clear the first Ap 

plz share your experience 

thank you so much 

Hello,

 

Thank you for your inquiry.

 

Your case is still under administrative processing after being refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act on October 1, 2024. 

 

Many factors can trigger the need for administrative processing, including when concerns are raised after the applicant’s biographic or biometric information is processed through national security screening tools, consular screening tools, or at the discretion of the adjudicating officer.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visas will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you with more information as soon as we can.

 

As soon as the administrative processing is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

 

[Maussanais 12]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:24 PM, 221gM said:

Congratulations! Did you receive a notification email for the 'issued'?

No, but my status changed to issued on the "Visa Status Check" website.

[Maussanais 12]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:24 PM, 221gM said:

Congratulations! Did you receive a notification email for the 'issued'?

No but it's issued on the "Visa Status Check" website.

[Angiw 1]

On 9/26/2024 at 2:05 PM, Angiw said:

Hey guys.

 

Unfortunate to be a new member here in this thread.

 

EB-1A, Chinese Citizen, Canadian PR, Ph.D. from US, Materials Scientist in Canada

DQ: March, 2023

Interview: Sep 16, 2024

 

My CV was asked during interview, and I was given 221(g) with my passport back. The only requested document was my DS-5535.

 

The officer gave me two OF-194 sheets. One is 12-2010, on which they required Passports x2 (mine and my spouse's) under "you must present the documents listed above and/or the following information", and the other one is 06-2017, on which only the 221g, AP and 5535 squares were ticked. No instructions regarding passports are provided.

 

I filled the form (more like a questionnaire) online yesterday, and send message to my lawyer for confirmation. The lawyer said I should mail the passports immediately to them since it is requested.

 

So, I am quite confused. Do I actually need to mail the passports now, or I should wait for the processing of my DS-5535, and wait for notifications from the consulate?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hey everyone,

 

Got an update this morning. I am here to again ask if anyone has clue.

 

BG: I am EB1A main applicant with spouse, interviewed on September 16, 2024 and was requested DS 5535. I uploaded the required information through the webpage later September. CEAC information for our cases has remained "Refused" since then.

 

I checked CEAC again this morning around 9 am. It showed "refused" and last update was Oct 30/31 (cannot remember which date exactly).

 

Then, I just received a phone call from my spouse saying she received emails around 11 am from consulate (donotreply@usvisa-info.com) saying "We are writing to request the following documents for you and your spouse to move forward with your immigrant visa application: · Passport "

 

Two consecutive emails arrived, almost identical with the only change being "Processor Comments" in one and "Consular Section Comments" in the other.

 

Then, I checked CEAC again. It is still "refused" but the last update is now today Nov 4th.

 

Then, I checked usvisa-info.com, in my account, the "current status" still shows "appointment"; but in my spouse's account, it shows "send documents".

 

Therefore, I have a couple questions:

 

1. Does this likely indicate that our IV is basically approved and only waiting for our passport to put sticker on?

2. Why the email was only sent to my spouse, not me, the main applicant?
 

[Bhndl 0]

Hi everyone 

my interview date-feb/15/2024

i recieved passport request nd remedical request on September/26

im getting medical done on nov/5

how do i send my passport to Montreal embassy which address nd what kind of mail or do i have to write anything or just simply put passport in envelope 

thanks in advance 

[candy895 4]

2 hours ago, Bhndl said:

Hi everyone 

my interview date-feb/15/2024

i recieved passport request nd remedical request on September/26

im getting medical done on nov/5

how do i send my passport to Montreal embassy which address nd what kind of mail or do i have to write anything or just simply put passport in envelope 

thanks in advance 

There should be a link in the email they sent you giving you detailed instructions. 

[sundim 38]

Updating my timeline of CEAC updates:

Interview Friday May 17 2024

Tuesday May 21 (after sending completed DS-5535)

Friday May 24

Friday May 31

Friday June 7

Tuesday June 18 (after phone number update)

Tuesday June 25

Thursday August 1 (after passport update)

Wednesday August 7

Friday August 9

Tuesday August 13

Monday August 19

Monday October 21

Tuesday October 22 (received email to submit passport, sent Oct 23)

Tuesday October 29

Monday November 4

 

My medical expires on Friday Nov 8 so this is very tight timing if they're going to send my passport back to me this week.  Crossing my fingers!

[221gM 8]

On 11/2/2024 at 9:31 PM, Ds553513 said:

 

Hi all

i received this response from embassy from my last fellow up on case status 

I don’t know why they put me again Ap . My first Ap was 7 March 2023. It is normal response. They did not respond me I am clear the first Ap 

plz share your experience 

thank you so much 

Hello,

 

Thank you for your inquiry.

 

Your case is still under administrative processing after being refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act on October 1, 2024. 

 

Many factors can trigger the need for administrative processing, including when concerns are raised after the applicant’s biographic or biometric information is processed through national security screening tools, consular screening tools, or at the discretion of the adjudicating officer.

 

While we cannot predict when the processing of your visas will be completed, please be assured that the Consulate and the State Department are aware of your concerns and will contact you with more information as soon as we can.

 

As soon as the administrative processing is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case.

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

 

I got the similar response after the congressman's inquiry today. My case is IR1 and I had the interview in January 2024. Early October I got the request from the consulate for the second medical and the passport and submitted them on Oct. 15th. I am wondering if anybody received the similar response from the consulate in a similar situation of mine?

 

"We acknowledge receipt of the documents provided. This case was refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and is currently under administrative processing. As soon as the administrative processing is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case.

 

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.

 

We hope that this information is helpful in replying to your constituent's inquiry."

[221gM 8]

On 10/23/2024 at 12:51 PM, JanMontrealDS5535 said:

I have sent my passport on Oct 15th and received delivery notice on Oct 16th.

Today, I received congressman's reply saying embassy is still waiting for the passport.

Here is the response:

 

"The requested documents have not yet been received by our office.

 

All mail directed to the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal is received at an offsite mail processing facility. It takes additional time before the mail actually reaches the Visa Unit. If applicants do not send the mail using our courier service, longer mail processing delays may be expected. 

 

Once additional documents are received, an adjudicating Consular officer will review the case taking into consideration the additional evidence provided. As soon as the review is complete, the Visa Unit will provide you with further details regarding the status of the visa application."

 

No idea how long does mail facility takes to deliver a mail in same city.

 

 

 

On 10/23/2024 at 12:53 PM, DS5535TXCAN said:

 

if this is an immigrant visa for CR1/IR1, on the AIS website you can view the tracking number on the first page once you sign in. Its called "Courier-In Shipping Number". 

 

We sent our passport back in August, 15, and took a month for them to reply and confirm they recieved our "documents", even though we were bugging them about any other documents (ex. medical and passport photos). Only for the consulate to request additional documents 2 months after intially requesting the passport. For reference: passport photos were submitted on Oct 13 and medical exam sent to consulate today, although completed almost 2 weeks ago .

 

So my trust in consulate responses is not 100% as they just use templated cookie-cutter responses for all, especially if they already responded to you. Its likely your documents were delivered and just pending consular review. I would wait another week and get your congress to send an inquiry as to the status of the case and if there is any other pending items.

 

 

 

any update on your case? I am wondering what the consulate replied to you on the confirmation of document receival. I got a response from them today on it. However, it pretty much resembles what I received right after they put me in AP. I am wondering if my case is back to square one. 

 

'We acknowledge receipt of the documents provided. This case was refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and is currently under administrative processing. As soon as the administrative processing is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case.

 

 

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.'

Edited November 5 by 221gM

[DS5535TXCAN 43]

2 hours ago, 221gM said:

 

any update on your case? I am wondering what the consulate replied to you on the confirmation of document receival. I got a response from them today on it. However, it pretty much resembles what I received right after they put me in AP. I am wondering if my case is back to square one. 

 

'We acknowledge receipt of the documents provided. This case was refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and is currently under administrative processing. As soon as the administrative processing is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case.

 

 

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.'

Take their response with a grain of salt.  - The consulate is proving to be very very inconsistent with its email responses and visa issuance. I think this is a cookie-cutter reply to your congressmens inquiry. Try getting your senator involved as well. 

 

For our case, we received two conflicting responses in one day (literally within 10 mins of each other). The first response was to our own inquiry and the consulate responded that they received my document (passport) and pending consular officer review and that they would contact us if anything else is required.  The second response was that our case was reviewed and AP was cleared and they are now requesting another medical and passport photos, this response was after we had the senator inquire for us, mind you this is after they initially requested our passport back in August when AP first cleared.

 

As of this moment, the consulate has all our documents as of Oct 23 and we are waiting for visa issuance. Our last case status update was last Friday Oct 29. Hoping this week we see the case status update to ISSUED, but I am not holding my breath.  - I hope this helps! 

Edited November 5 by DS5535TXCAN

[g_canadian 9]

Finally the Status for my case has been updated to "Issued"!

 

Interview: Jan 10, 2024

DS 5535: May 24, 2024

Multiple Unsolicited Updates: Aug/Sep 2024

Passport, Second Medical, Photos Requested: Oct 10 2024

Medical Done: Oct 15, 2024

Passport Sent: Oct 17, 2024

Passport Delivered: Oct 18, 2024

Medical Delivered: Oct 25, 2024

Additional Case Updates: Oct 22, Oct 25, Oct 31

Status Updated to Issued: Nov 5, 2024

 

Awaiting Courier Tracking number now. I hope you all get your own good news soon!

[sundim 38]

Good news for me today!  I got a call from the US consulate in Montreal and they instructed me to make a plan to pick up my passport in person because my medical expires on Friday.  The alternative would be to do another medical and wait 2 months for issuance.  No thanks!  I'm flying to Montreal tomorrow, picking up my passport Thursday morning and then flying to the US from Montreal. YAY!

[AndrewsN 26]

On 11/4/2024 at 8:40 AM, Angiw said:

 

Hey everyone,

 

Got an update this morning. I am here to again ask if anyone has clue.

 

BG: I am EB1A main applicant with spouse, interviewed on September 16, 2024 and was requested DS 5535. I uploaded the required information through the webpage later September. CEAC information for our cases has remained "Refused" since then.

 

I checked CEAC again this morning around 9 am. It showed "refused" and last update was Oct 30/31 (cannot remember which date exactly).

 

Then, I just received a phone call from my spouse saying she received emails around 11 am from consulate (donotreply@usvisa-info.com) saying "We are writing to request the following documents for you and your spouse to move forward with your immigrant visa application: · Passport "

 

Two consecutive emails arrived, almost identical with the only change being "Processor Comments" in one and "Consular Section Comments" in the other.

 

Then, I checked CEAC again. It is still "refused" but the last update is now today Nov 4th.

 

Then, I checked usvisa-info.com, in my account, the "current status" still shows "appointment"; but in my spouse's account, it shows "send documents".

 

Therefore, I have a couple questions:

 

1. Does this likely indicate that our IV is basically approved and only waiting for our passport to put sticker on?

2. Why the email was only sent to my spouse, not me, the main applicant?
 

Hey Angie,

 

Thanks for posting your update. I really hope you're right about point #1. I've read from other forum users that their visas got issued 1-2 months after their passport is requested. I don't recall a post showing a faster turnaround. *** CORRECTION- the post just before showed about a 2 week turnaround to "Issued" status! 

 

I'm an EB1A applicant as well (and had my interview on Sep 6th). I got a 221g (no DS 5535 requested). I'm a Canadian citizen but was born in Russia. I'm very curious to continue following your timeline because it would appear we may be under a similar type of processing (country of origin perhaps being the reason). The difference is that they kept my passport at the consulate...so I have no metric of timeline to go by.

 

Anyway, congrats on the request to send your docs back in! I'll be on the look out for your updates. You're the closest example I have to gauge anything off of.

 

 

Edited November 5 by AndrewsN

[AndrewsN 26]

3 hours ago, sundim said:

Good news for me today!  I got a call from the US consulate in Montreal and they instructed me to make a plan to pick up my passport in person because my medical expires on Friday.  The alternative would be to do another medical and wait 2 months for issuance.  No thanks!  I'm flying to Montreal tomorrow, picking up my passport Thursday morning and then flying to the US from Montreal. YAY!

Exciting stuff!! Big congrats! Get on that jet and try to enjoy the trip!

[DuBrun20 27]

Big congratulations to everyone getting issued - ours was just issued today as well, I almost can't believe it!!!

 

Here is our CR1/IR1 timeline for reference:

Jan 19: interview, received 221g with a link to the ds-5535

Jan 29: ds-5535 submitted

Feb 8-15: 3 unsolicited updates

May 29: August 13 - 3 unsolicited updates

Sept 20: senator sent email to inquire about status

sept 24: unsolicited update

sept 25: update with passport/medical request sent through senator

oct 4: tracking says passport was delivered, new medical completed

Oct 11: confirmation that medical results sent

Oct 15-25: 4 ceac updates, one accompanying email to senator that they received medical but have not yet received the passport 

Nov 5: ISSUED 

 

This has been such an awful process. I'm really hoping for the best to everyone still in it, and thank you so much to everyone for sharing their experience here, it really helped me to get through this