IR1 / CR1 - Montreal Timeline to Interview

[zenaxe 22]

Congratulations!!! I have to say I am extremely jealous! You are so luck to have gotten your interview in a reasonable amount of time! Good luck to you and your sweetie!

Thank you!! I do understand your frustration. MTL is really really slow and there's no way you guys should have to sit for 10 weeks or longer after case complete. My heart goes out to you. It seems that lucky cut off was with case completes in April... we were notified in May for July. The May case completes are in a perpetual holding pattern and that really sucks.

I hope you guys hear soon. It would be great to have a Sept interview. It seems only two people on VJ have Aug interviews thus far. I haven't checked the timelines lately...

[mtlgato 2]

Yes, congrats to all the recent interviewees. I'm glad the interviews were easy...though how frustrating is it to wait this long for a such a very short, very easy interview?

I am one of those May people still waiting. And, in fact, I had SIF at NVC on April 22. For some reason, it took till May 12 for my SIF to turn into a "case complete." Why that was, nobody can tell me. But it's meant that instead of interviewing in July, I'm STUCK waiting goodness knows how long.

This just isn't right. At this rate, Mtl will never clear its famous backlog. As far as we can all tell, there's just nothing happening on the scheduling front.

Anyway, yeah: I say this just isn't right.

C.

And, as far as I can tell from our conversation with my husband's congresswoman's aide, there's absolutely zero interest in this situation on the part of politicians.

Thank you!! I do understand your frustration. MTL is really really slow and there's no way you guys should have to sit for 10 weeks or longer after case complete. My heart goes out to you. It seems that lucky cut off was with case completes in April... we were notified in May for July. The May case completes are in a perpetual holding pattern and that really sucks.

I hope you guys hear soon. It would be great to have a Sept interview. It seems only two people on VJ have Aug interviews thus far. I haven't checked the timelines lately...

[FireRay 1]

And, as far as I can tell from our conversation with my husband's congresswoman's aide, there's absolutely zero interest in this situation on the part of politicians.

Well, that should never have been uttered. Their job is what the people say their job is. If someone who ELECTED them needs them, they should be there to help them (within reason)

Hmm, do I smell some bad press for said congress person? I would think the opposing party would eat something like that up.

-------------------------------

As for the waiting period, it sucked...and the ammount of money that it costed for that trip, and hotel costs etc. It costed quite a bit, for an interview that really lasted all of 5 minutes. (Now I am not complaning that it went so smoothly LOL)

I am just glad its over.

[mtlgato 2]

Unfortunately, I wouldn't WANT the opposing party (the Republicans) to make hay out of anything to do with my situation. I think they would probably twist the story into something I would want nothing to do with. I can just hear it now: "All these Mexicans in the country illegally, and gov-mint red tape prevents this nice, family-minded, WHITE [which would prob not actually be said, but rather implied], not-poor, family-minded wife kept waitin on an immigration interview all this time..." Repeat: I would want NOTHING to do with a story that would be spun in such a way.

My husband has been a big supporter of his democratic congresswoman, and regularly gives money to the DNC. The congresswoman in question could prob be reminded of that fact...and, yes, we were a little shocked by the callousness of her aide's response to our letter...but I'd be very reluctant to go to the media or whatever...

****

Yeah, the trip to Montreal--esp. once you factor in hotel rooms, food, etc.--is going to cost us a lot of money too. I'm not really too upset about that part, because I like visiting Montreal. But obviously it's a real hardship for lots of people, and just doesn't altogether seem to make sense.

And I definitely wouldn't wish a nastier/ harsher interview for you...but the easiness of the interview does tend to accentuate the absurdity of the situation.

Anyway, thanks for your expression of sympathy/ understanding. I appreciate it!

Congrats again!

C.

Well, that should never have been uttered. Their job is what the people say their job is. If someone who ELECTED them needs them, they should be there to help them (within reason)

Hmm, do I smell some bad press for said congress person? I would think the opposing party would eat something like that up.

-------------------------------

As for the waiting period, it sucked...and the ammount of money that it costed for that trip, and hotel costs etc. It costed quite a bit, for an interview that really lasted all of 5 minutes. (Now I am not complaning that it went so smoothly LOL)

I am just glad its over.

[zenaxe 22]

As a side bar, I bet that the actual face to face time during the interview process was 5-7 minutes with the security guards including the guy at the front door at opening, screening just after walking in the building, and the escorting of people up there elevator - 10 minutes max. Then I had maybe 10 minutes submitting my documents, then maybe 3 minutes during fingerprinting. The interview itself was also about 10 minutes give or take.....a chunk of that time was in waiting to be called and time in between.

So ya after all the hoopla and all that's involved beginning with the initial filing of the petition to the cost of the hotel and flight to Montreal, the medical etc....all of the tap dancing etc and really you end up with about 30 minutes of face to face time while in Montreal......but then again....visas get approved and we do the happy dance

But given what we have to go through, it is of interest to note just how little direct time is spent when you get to the interview stage. I was asked maybe four questions. I'm glad it all went very very smooth and that MTL staff were excellent, but ....

Good luck to all and here's hoping you get interview dates asap

[birdnerd 5]

Wow, no interview dates assigned this whole month? Yeesh.

Edited July 30, 2010 by birdnerd

[CanAmBride 5]

Has there been an entire month in Canadian VJ history when NO interviews get assigned at the Montreal Consulate? What could possibly be going on there??? Are there just not going to be any September interviews??

[mtlgato 2]

Yep: there has indeed been an entire month with *NO* interviews assigned for Mtl for VJers. It's very, very discouraging.

My best guess is that the problem has to do with people not working at max capacity in the summer months. Of course, from our perspective, it seems that the Mtl consulate can ill afford to get even further behind than they already are...

But, I don't have any special insight into the inner workings, etc. And I don't know whether or not there might still be Sept. interviews assinged in the next couple/ few weeks.

I personally can't accept a Sept. interview ('cause I'm really, really pregnant now)...but I just hate to see things grind to a standstill at Mtl! It fills me with a feeling of despair.

C.

Has there been an entire month in Canadian VJ history when NO interviews get assigned at the Montreal Consulate? What could possibly be going on there??? Are there just not going to be any September interviews??

[sammy060382 1]

Hi guys,

This is a great thread. But it does leave my head scratching a bit. I feel a bit stupid but i'm just wondering what these acronyms represent:

NOA2

RFE

As well, i'm just curious how you would know the date of when your application is done at the NVC. I haven't gotten to that stage yet, so maybe it's obvious, but with the process i've encountered so far, it seems like you usually know very little about the status of your application.

I'm in the process of sending in the DS-230 form along with the checklist. The checklist says you need to have the I-864 form ready but it doesn't say you need to send it in, yet it appears that a lot of people are sending their I-864 form around the same time they send in their DS-230 form. Should I be sending in the two forms at the same time?

Finally, according to this thread, people are getting interviews pretty quickly at the Montreal consulate, yet people in this thread seem to be having a lot of trouble. I'm trying to figure out what the difference may be. There seems to be more steps in this thread, perhaps the people in the other thread are missing something. Anyone have any idea?

Thanks in advance,

- Sam

[OBX 51]

Hi guys,

This is a great thread. But it does leave my head scratching a bit. I feel a bit stupid but i'm just wondering what these acronyms represent:

NOA2

RFE

As well, i'm just curious how you would know the date of when your application is done at the NVC. I haven't gotten to that stage yet, so maybe it's obvious, but with the process i've encountered so far, it seems like you usually know very little about the status of your application.

I'm in the process of sending in the DS-230 form along with the checklist. The checklist says you need to have the I-864 form ready but it doesn't say you need to send it in, yet it appears that a lot of people are sending their I-864 form around the same time they send in their DS-230 form. Should I be sending in the two forms at the same time?

Finally, according to this thread, people are getting interviews pretty quickly at the Montreal consulate, yet people in this thread seem to be having a lot of trouble. I'm trying to figure out what the difference may be. There seems to be more steps in this thread, perhaps the people in the other thread are missing something. Anyone have any idea?

Thanks in advance,

- Sam

I am not familiar with the DCF process (DCF forum would most likely be the best place for information on that). Regarding the wait for a Montreal interview, I would doubt anyone waiting in this thread would agree that they are getting interviews quickly. Most are waiting 2 to 3 months and longer after NVC completion. Good luck!

[sammy060382 1]

I am not familiar with the DCF process (DCF forum would most likely be the best place for information on that). Regarding the wait for a Montreal interview, I would doubt anyone waiting in this thread would agree that they are getting interviews quickly. Most are waiting 2 to 3 months and longer after NVC completion. Good luck!

Hi OBX,

Sorry - i'm using quick relatively speaking. It seems compared to the individuals in the other thread, 2 to 3 months is quite fast.

Thanks,

- Sam

[OBX 51]

Hi OBX,

Sorry - i'm using quick relatively speaking. It seems compared to the individuals in the other thread, 2 to 3 months is quite fast.

Thanks,

- Sam

No need to apologize, I'm long past the Montreal stage.

I feel for all of you waiting; I found the wait for the interview the most stressful part of the process. I wish you all the best of luck for a speedy date. Hang in there it will come!

Edited August 2, 2010 by OBX

[birdnerd 5]

Hi guys,

This is a great thread. But it does leave my head scratching a bit. I feel a bit stupid but i'm just wondering what these acronyms represent:

NOA2

RFE

As well, i'm just curious how you would know the date of when your application is done at the NVC. I haven't gotten to that stage yet, so maybe it's obvious, but with the process i've encountered so far, it seems like you usually know very little about the status of your application.

I'm in the process of sending in the DS-230 form along with the checklist. The checklist says you need to have the I-864 form ready but it doesn't say you need to send it in, yet it appears that a lot of people are sending their I-864 form around the same time they send in their DS-230 form. Should I be sending in the two forms at the same time?

Finally, according to this thread, people are getting interviews pretty quickly at the Montreal consulate, yet people in this thread seem to be having a lot of trouble. I'm trying to figure out what the difference may be. There seems to be more steps in this thread, perhaps the people in the other thread are missing something. Anyone have any idea?

Thanks in advance,

- Sam

You are filing DCF, there are far fewer steps involved (no waiting for I-130 approval from USCIS, no sending documents to NVC, etc.) As such, you don't need to be familiar with terms like NOA2 (which is the I-130 approval). The I-864 you mark off on the checklist that you mail in, then bring the actual form to your interview.

As for wait times, the DCF thread is comprised of people waiting for interview dates scheduled by the consulate itself, whereas the people who file the regular way get their interviews scheduled by NVC, hence the reasonably regular (if still painfully slow) scheduling spurts. The only thing we are 'missing' is having someone at Montreal actually pick up our paperwork and slot us into an available timeslot.

Edited August 2, 2010 by birdnerd

[sammy060382 1]

You are filing DCF, there are far fewer steps involved (no waiting for I-130 approval from USCIS, no sending documents to NVC, etc.) As such, you don't need to be familiar with terms like NOA2 (which is the I-130 approval). The I-864 you mark off on the checklist that you mail in, then bring the actual form to your interview.

As for wait times, the DCF thread is comprised of people waiting for interview dates scheduled by the consulate itself, whereas the people who file the regular way get their interviews scheduled by NVC, hence the reasonably regular (if still painfully slow) scheduling spurts. The only thing we are 'missing' is having someone at Montreal actually pick up our paperwork and slot us into an available timeslot.

Hi birdnerd,

So if I understand correctly, the people in this thread are filing through the NVC but still having interviews in Montreal. I didn't even know there was that option. Why are some people filing directly with the NVC whereas others through the Montreal? Is it that the people filing with the NVC are actually directly filing within the U.S.?

Thanks,

- Sam

[OBX 51]

Hi birdnerd,

So if I understand correctly, the people in this thread are filing through the NVC but still having interviews in Montreal. I didn't even know there was that option. Why are some people filing directly with the NVC whereas others through the Montreal? Is it that the people filing with the NVC are actually directly filing within the U.S.?

Thanks,

- Sam

Direct Consular Filing (DCF) is the unofficial term for filing an I-130 petition via a Consulate overseas and is available for those couples whose USC spouse is residing outside of the US with their non-US spouse. The majority of us had spouses currently residing in the US so DCF was not an option for us. We had to file our I-130 through USCIS, wait for that approval (NOA2) then send all of our paperwork into NVC, wait for that to be completed and then wait for an interview to be scheduled in Montreal. A different process from DCF.