Renters - How did you plan your move?

[Seth.n.Amelia 1]

I am the beneficiary in an I-129F petition.

We expect our petition to be approved and adjudicated soon.

I have the ability to end my tenancy at any time starting two months from this point.
I have the ability to move in with my parents to conserve resources when those two months are up.
I am afraid of giving notice and then occupying space at my parents for 'longer' than expected.

At what point do I start assuming the affirmative with regards to my process and give notice on my apartment?

Assuming the interview goes well, is it safe to begin planning to do so when the interview is in sight?

[OldUser 6,624]

The process has a lot of variables.

When your visa is issued but before you fly, that's obviously the safest time to give notice.

[appleblossom 2,476]

24 minutes ago, Seth.n.Amelia said:

I am the beneficiary in an I-129F petition.

We expect our petition to be approved and adjudicated soon.

I have the ability to end my tenancy at any time starting two months from this point.
I have the ability to move in with my parents to conserve resources when those two months are up.
I am afraid of giving notice and then occupying space at my parents for 'longer' than expected.

At what point do I start assuming the affirmative with regards to my process and give notice on my apartment?

Assuming the interview goes well, is it safe to begin planning to do so when the interview is in sight?

 

Once the visa is in hand, I wouldn't do it before personally. 

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

From reading on here I believe the waiting time for interview for Canadians is about a year.

its helpful to post the country and read former posts and embassy reviews 

Good luck but don't cut your ties to Canada too fast as everything USCIS does is slow

Visa in hand is advice USCIS gives

[Seth.n.Amelia 1]

35 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

 

its helpful to post the country and read former posts and embassy reviews 

 

Yes, I am from Canada. 

I am having some trouble figuring out what interview times are and comparing the data, or even knowing which sources to consult for establishing an interview timeline.
Some folks say Montreal is a long wait, others have been very short....

I have these two pages:
Fiancé(e) - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Canada

Visa Appointment Wait Times

The latter link simply says 'Emergency Appointments Only' for all categories and so it is not particularly helpful.

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

the "emergency wait times " are for nonimmigrant visas like tourist ,  temp workers,  crew, etc.

yours is different than these visas 

[mam521 2,058]

Montreal is slow.  You'll be in the queue for a while considering you only filed in July.  It's one of the reasons the CR1 is often recommended, especially dealing with Montreal.  

 

If you have the option to extend the lease at least 6 months to keep your rent in check, I'd consider that.  Don't give up your place until your visa is issued.  You don't know how long approval will be, how long interview scheduling will be or if you'll land in a long AP.  The consulate never recommends making plans until a visa is issued.  

 

The other advantage is a lease agreement is a reasonable tie to Canada, in case you want to visit the US.  Crashing at your parent's place is not.  

[carmel34 3,621]

1 hour ago, Seth.n.Amelia said:

Yes, I am from Canada. 

I am having some trouble figuring out what interview times are and comparing the data, or even knowing which sources to consult for establishing an interview timeline.
Some folks say Montreal is a long wait, others have been very short....

Cases are all unique, so it is difficult to compare, but you can go to the Canada portal here on VJ, and see timelines for members who have shared their dates.  You can search by K-1 visa and also for Canada.  There are some recent cases that have been in the 7-9 month range from filing the petition to K-1 visa interview.  Last year it appears to have been much longer, 12-18 months.  So plan for the worst, hope for the best.  Montreal is also known to randomly give a dreaded DS-5535 form at the interview, which can slow down approval by many months, check out this thread:

 

[Seth.n.Amelia 1]

23 hours ago, carmel34 said:

 Montreal is also known to randomly give a dreaded DS-5535 form at the interview, which can slow down approval by many months, check out this thread:

 

I have never heard of this before.

When you say 'randomly' - what is the prevalance we are talking about?
1 in 20?

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Moved to the Canada Forum, from K1 P&P - as the topic is not K1 processing but how to plan for the eventual move.~~

[Seth.n.Amelia 1]

19 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

~~Moved to the Canada Forum, from K1 P&P - as the topic is not K1 processing but how to plan for the eventual move.~~

Thanks, I didn't think to put it there!

 

On 11/12/2024 at 2:27 PM, carmel34 said:

 dreaded DS-5535 form 

 

Yeah - I have never heard of that form before, it's definitely a consideration. Very curious about the prevalence of that being issued, and I wonder if MTL is going to gear up in light of the fact that there has been an uptick in applications of late.

[mam521 2,058]

2 hours ago, Seth.n.Amelia said:

Yeah - I have never heard of that form before, it's definitely a consideration. Very curious about the prevalence of that being issued, and I wonder if MTL is going to gear up in light of the fact that there has been an uptick in applications of late.

Montreal hasn't geared up since before the pandemic.  There's a couple of years worth of processing times and 120 days + from DQ to interview is pretty much the norm.  The DS-5535 isn't adjudicated in Montreal - those are all sent centrally.  Montreal just likes to hand them out like Halloween candy, it would seem.  

[Seth.n.Amelia 1]

On 11/14/2024 at 1:26 PM, mam521 said:

 Montreal just likes to hand them out like Halloween candy, it would seem.  

Man, so these are like... common common?

Like I should expect it and prepare all the answers ahead of time common?

[mam521 2,058]

12 minutes ago, Seth.n.Amelia said:

Man, so these are like... common common?

Like I should expect it and prepare all the answers ahead of time common?

DS-5535 is a form of extreme vetting.  They will want like 15 years of travel history and some other garbage.  The cases are sent to a central repository where a select team reviews them.  It seems like Montreal hands out a lot, or were handing out a lot, but that may just be reflective of statistics because the community here is fairly active so there's talk about it.  It does appear that Montreal is bad for skirting the buck and finding excuses for delays.  It's 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other and I do think, to their defense, it's a fairly busy consulate.  

 

If your name is common, AP takes longer, in general.

If you've visited for a period of time or worked in a MENA country, AP takes longer and the risk of DS-5535 is higher. 

If you have a job on the Technology Alert List (TAL), you are at higher risk of being handed a DS-5535.

If you're from a MENA country (sometimes even 1st gen Canadian) and have a TAL job, you're at higher risk.   

 

Occasionally, it's just a random number generator and elderly or children are chosen.  Crapshoot, really.  It's just important to know about it so you can adjust your expectations, if needed.  Many people are still just moseying on through with no issues.  It's those that are unaware that are really blind sighted, so that's why people mention it.