ANOTHER question...

[Misty1979 0]

I'm trying to play my trip to Montreal...yes it's way off in December, but I like to plan waaay ahead lol. (Plus you save huge on plane tickets sometimes if you book early.)

Anyways, I'm already in the US visiting right now, and will most likely be here until the interview. (Yes it's a very long visit, but I'm going to be helping my MIL clean up and sell her place, plus we have all this new paperwork for the co-sponsor deal I have to help with, and I don't really have any pressing business calling me back to Canada, so why not?)

Anywhooo... the problem lies here: If I were to buy a plane ticket to Montreal, I would need to go back to my home city and wait for the visa in the mail afterwards, then have another ticket to come back here. I checked prices out, and a multi-city ticket like that is going to cost about $900. To put it gently, there is no way in hell we can afford that right now. We could rent a car and drive, but that is 15 hours of driving, and also my husband can't miss those particular days at school to drive me there. I wouldn't want to do that whole drive alone, because knowing myself, I will surely get lost and end up in Mexico.

After all that rambling, my question is this: Since I have to give them an Xpress post envelope anyways to mail out my visa in, could I just write my Montreal hotel address on there and wait for the visa there? I'm sure if I waited in Montreal it would only take a day or two to arrive, so the extra hotel days would be very cheap. That would at least save the plane ticket from Montreal to Victoria. My MIL also may be wanting to tag along for the trip, so we could end up driving there, so waiting for the visa there really would be the easiest option for me right now. Does anyone know if that is possible?

[L_n_O 3]

yep!

ppl have done that in the past.. plus, since it's in MTl itself, you'll get it super fast!

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

[trailmix 77]

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

[Misty1979 0]

yep!

ppl have done that in the past.. plus, since it's in MTl itself, you'll get it super fast!

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

Was that sarcasm I detected in the above phrase, or will Montreal really deliver it within 2-3 days? My interview is on a Thursday, so that only leaves a 2 day time-frame for them to have it delivered to me unless I want to pay big bucks to stay the whole weekend Or...maybe they would let me come in and pick it up myself? Has anyone ever tried that?

[L_n_O 3]

yep!

ppl have done that in the past.. plus, since it's in MTl itself, you'll get it super fast!

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

Was that sarcasm I detected in the above phrase, or will Montreal really deliver it within 2-3 days? My interview is on a Thursday, so that only leaves a 2 day time-frame for them to have it delivered to me unless I want to pay big bucks to stay the whole weekend Or...maybe they would let me come in and pick it up myself? Has anyone ever tried that?

no sarcasm

they WON'T let you come and pick it up

but you can't rely on them mailing it out to you that day or the day after

what if they just don't get around to it til monday?

you're gonna need a back up plan

there's a hostel in montreal that's close by and super cheap!

little ghetto but safe.

(although that might just be the princess in me; I have stayed there one night)

[samaci 0]

I would come up with another option. Yes, it can be delivered fast if you are in Montreal, but that all depends on how long it takes them to get your package together and off to the post office. It was 5 days after my interview, that my package was accepted at the post office in Montreal, then in Vanc 24 hours later. You could end up spending alot of money on a hotel room, just waiting for it.

I paid $800. for my flight to Montreal from Vancouver and I searched for 2 weeks straight. Your muliple city ticket sounds like a good price to me! But I know it sux having to go all the way there, spend the money, for a 5 min interview!!! Nothing like moving to another country and having more debt!!!

[Misty1979 0]

Yeah, I've been searching around all night for other options, so I'm sure something will turn up. If my MIL does decide to come, we most likely will just end up staying there a week or so since she will want to see the city anyways, otherwise I will end up doing the multiple flight thing. Planes scare me, so three long flights in less than 2 weeks is going to be VERY interesting lol. Hellooooo alcohol and sedatives....

[Mary&Trev 0]

try www.sidestep.com

I was going to fly to Toronto from NC and home from Montreal and the cost was about $550

Mary

[BobsBride 0]

Hello,

I emailed Montreal inquiring if I could provide ANY Canadian address for my visa to be sent to (I've resided in VANC and am staying with family in the Maritimes until my interview date ) and they said YES; those who are already residing in USA usually wait in MTL for that visa and then promptly return to USA with it. It may be the best recourse to advise the hotel/motel you are at that you are expecting it within 2-3 days and HOW IMPORTANT that document is to you and that you must be alerted as soon as it arrives :-).

I have a question for you if I may:

It appears in the dates you have listed that for your " case completed " in June/07 - and then your interview is not until Dec 6, does that mean it actually takes approx 6 months for NVC to get that interview for us in MTL?

My case was completed Spt 21 and we've been told that there are no interview dates available in Oct and Nov but they have not given us a date. Did you have to wait several months to even get notification of that date or were you told it several months in advance? How long before the interview date were you notified of that date?

This would be MOST helpful to know. This waiting is so difficult, keeping one's life in limbo.

Kind Thanks & Regards

Lori

bcnaturalgal@gmail.com

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Hello,

I emailed Montreal inquiring if I could provide ANY Canadian address for my visa to be sent to (I've resided in VANC and am staying with family in the Maritimes until my interview date ) and they said YES; those who are already residing in USA usually wait in MTL for that visa and then promptly return to USA with it. It may be the best recourse to advise the hotel/motel you are at that you are expecting it within 2-3 days and HOW IMPORTANT that document is to you and that you must be alerted as soon as it arrives :-).

I have a question for you if I may:

It appears in the dates you have listed that for your " case completed " in June/07 - and then your interview is not until Dec 6, does that mean it actually takes approx 6 months for NVC to get that interview for us in MTL?

My case was completed Spt 21 and we've been told that there are no interview dates available in Oct and Nov but they have not given us a date. Did you have to wait several months to even get notification of that date or were you told it several months in advance? How long before the interview date were you notified of that date?

This would be MOST helpful to know. This waiting is so difficult, keeping one's life in limbo.

Kind Thanks & Regards

Lori

bcnaturalgal@gmail.com

My parents are IR5s and their cases were completed on July 27. On October 18 we received word, telephonically, that the interviews had been scheduled for December 19. That's two months in advance. I received the interview notice in the mail on the 22nd of this month for my father (two copies of the same letter) and on the 23rd (a copy of my mother's notice) and on the 24th (a second copy of my mother's notice). Some people have received word a few weeks in advance and others have had a more reasonable time to be be prepared for the interview.

[Misty1979 0]

As of late, it has been taking about 6 months to receive an interview. However, back in February, the norm was about 2 months from case completion to interview. They seem to have caught up quite a bit on their backlog now, so I'm *guessing* it won't take as long as six months anymore. Usually they give you notice of your interview about a month ahead of time (they do their scheduling at the second week of every month, for the following month.)

For some reason this time, they decided to schedule 2 months in advance, I think just to satisfy some of us who had been waiting so long.

And welcome to VJ! Nice to see some new members rolling in. We're a pretty friendly bunch around here, so feel free to ask away if you have any questions

[Mephys 2]

yep!

ppl have done that in the past.. plus, since it's in MTl itself, you'll get it super fast!

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

Was that sarcasm I detected in the above phrase, or will Montreal really deliver it within 2-3 days? My interview is on a Thursday, so that only leaves a 2 day time-frame for them to have it delivered to me unless I want to pay big bucks to stay the whole weekend Or...maybe they would let me come in and pick it up myself? Has anyone ever tried that?

A little late to answer that question, but I was living in Montreal. It all depends on how fast they mail it out, but to get it it's 1 day. I had my interview on April 4th 2007 (wednesday) and thought I would get it only the week after because they said they would mail it on the 5th, and the 6th through the 9th was the easter week-end and the post office would be closed. But they mailed it the same day, so the post office received it on the 5th ( I wasn't home to receive it) and fortunately they let me pick it up the same day, even though usually it's not before the next day at 12 pm.

So if they put it in the mail fast, should take you 1 day

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

yep!

ppl have done that in the past.. plus, since it's in MTl itself, you'll get it super fast!

(sorry I keep catching all your questions)!

I swear I disappeared from VJ for the last 2 hours!

(I ate lunch and watched Deal or No deal!!!!!!)

Was that sarcasm I detected in the above phrase, or will Montreal really deliver it within 2-3 days? My interview is on a Thursday, so that only leaves a 2 day time-frame for them to have it delivered to me unless I want to pay big bucks to stay the whole weekend Or...maybe they would let me come in and pick it up myself? Has anyone ever tried that?

A little late to answer that question, but I was living in Montreal.

It's never too late to answer a question, besides I like the kittys.

[Krikit 1,164]

One other thing you can do while you're at the interview is to tell the interviewing officer your situation and ask if there's anything he/she can do to help you out. They did for us.