IR1 / CR1 - Montreal Timeline to Interview

[birdnerd 5]

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.

Further to what OBX has said,

Everyone applying to immigrate from Canada has to go through the Montreal consulate, except for people applying for a fiancé/e visa (K-1), those are split between Montreal and Vancouver, depending on your province of residence.

US citizens residing (legally) abroad have the opportunity to do as you did, and file directly to their local consulate - for the first part of the process. That is, your I-130 petition. Once you have approval for that, then you send your application for an immigrant visa, this is the DS-230. Again, you will be sending yours directly to the Montreal consulate, not to the National Visa Center. The day you send back your DS-230 is roughly comparable to the 'Case Complete at NVC' date for the regular filers (if you are looking at the IR-1 Timeline to Interview' thread.

This whole process is supposed to be the easiest, fastest way to sponsor your spouse, however something appears to have happened in Montreal to severely impact not just DCF, but pretty much everybody's interview dates. Although it differs significantly, DCF filers worldwide are having interviews as quickly as 11 days after they submit their application, whereas some of the people on our thread have been waiting as long as 130-160 days.

Edited August 2, 2010 by birdnerd

[Jeremy&Kathy 4]

We were case complete at NVC on June 4th and it's been over 2 months now waiting for an interview date.

I just called the Dept. of State today and they said "nope, not yet" and forwarded me to the NVC. I spoke with an NVC operator and she told me that they schedule interview on the 2nd week of each month, for the following month. I could tell from the tone in her voice that she was reciting this from a cheat sheet she had in front of her. Who knows if this is true, but if it is, then our best chance of getting a September interview will be during next week, the 2nd week of August.

Trailmix stopped updating the timeline spreadsheet so I haven't seen it in awhile. Is anyone planning to keep things up to date? I had suggested awhile back that we use a Google spreadsheet, which would be much faster and easier to maintain, but 2-3 people said they preferred Trailmix's tried and true method. Now that Trailmix is no longer doing this, what do you guys think? I would be glad to set it up initially.

Jeremy

[NBtoPitt 2]

I'm all for the Google spreadsheet idea. Let me know if you start one, I'd like my info added

[Canadiandggal 49]

We case completed In may, And I will be extremely surprised if We get a interview for sept, I am now thinking october. I hate this but nothing we can do

[Married2009 32]

We were case complete at NVC on June 4th and it's been over 2 months now waiting for an interview date.

I just called the Dept. of State today and they said "nope, not yet" and forwarded me to the NVC. I spoke with an NVC operator and she told me that they schedule interview on the 2nd week of each month, for the following month. I could tell from the tone in her voice that she was reciting this from a cheat sheet she had in front of her. Who knows if this is true, but if it is, then our best chance of getting a September interview will be during next week, the 2nd week of August.

Trailmix stopped updating the timeline spreadsheet so I haven't seen it in awhile. Is anyone planning to keep things up to date? I had suggested awhile back that we use a Google spreadsheet, which would be much faster and easier to maintain, but 2-3 people said they preferred Trailmix's tried and true method. Now that Trailmix is no longer doing this, what do you guys think? I would be glad to set it up initially.

Jeremy

We got our email the last week of May, for July 13th. Bwoo, FireRay and Zenaxe also got their email (for the 4th week of April), the last week of May.

[CanAmBride 5]

A K1 in the Canadian Portal just got her interview date in Montreal for September 29. So that means that they are assigning, but I haven't heard of any CR-1s getting dates for September. SOOO FRUSTRATED!!!

[mtlgato 2]

I found that frustrating too. I don't begrudge the K-1s their interviews, but it is infuriating to think that Mtl could pass over ALL of August and Setember without ANY CR1/IR1 interviews??????!!!!!!!!!!!

How can we not start to feel persecuted at a certain point? I thought this was supposed to be a good type of visa, but it seems like it's really absoulutely the lowest of the low...

C.

A K1 in the Canadian Portal just got her interview date in Montreal for September 29. So that means that they are assigning, but I haven't heard of any CR-1s getting dates for September. SOOO FRUSTRATED!!!

[zenaxe 22]

We got our email the last week of May, for July 13th. Bwoo, FireRay and Zenaxe also got their email (for the 4th week of April), the last week of May.

Our case completed Apr 23rd and we were notified May 27th of the July 27h interview. NVC had previously told us that they only book during the first two weeks of each month but that's not the case.

Good luck to all waiting for interviews.

[NBtoPitt 2]

Any developments on the Google doc?

[Jeremy&Kathy 4]

Any developments on the Google doc?

Ok, YES! Here it is:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AoHUzXDIb8k7dHkzeldWSHFTdHY1ak1KR0RVWmhNaVE&hl=en&authkey=CKnQx7gC

I imported it straight from the last posted update in this topic from a couple weeks ago. I have not edited the data yet. I set the permissions so that anyone with the link can go in there and edit the spreadsheet. Everyone, please feel welcome to go ahead and start updating your info!

Jeremy

[Jeremy&Kathy 4]

Ok, YES! Here it is:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AoHUzXDIb8k7dHkzeldWSHFTdHY1ak1KR0RVWmhNaVE&hl=en&authkey=CKnQx7gC

What I meant to say is that I have not added anyone's recent data to the spreadsheet yet. You'll notice that I sorted it by Done@NVC. If people would rather sort it by a different column, we can discuss...

Jeremy

[Jeremy&Kathy 4]

I've added the green row highlighting for people who have their interview dates.

I've also added Sweetcheeksss and PixelUlu.

[Jadenjewel 9]

Nice job! Well its 344 days today since filing our I130 and hard to believe no interview date.

[OBX 51]

Ok, YES! Here it is:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AoHUzXDIb8k7dHkzeldWSHFTdHY1ak1KR0RVWmhNaVE&hl=en&authkey=CKnQx7gC

I imported it straight from the last posted update in this topic from a couple weeks ago. I have not edited the data yet. I set the permissions so that anyone with the link can go in there and edit the spreadsheet. Everyone, please feel welcome to go ahead and start updating your info!

Jeremy

Well done! Now there just needs to be a lot more green in there!

[NBtoPitt 2]

Love the sheet! I'll be keeping an eye on it.