INTERVIEW DE-BRIEF: We were rejected...and I'm thrilled!

[kemijo 0]

Hi all,

FYI, My first thread asking for info on US domicile (and a great many other things) is here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry3411400

My wife had her interview yesterday in Montreal. I'll spill the beans in case it will be helpful for anyone. This is a long, multi-faceted story, but for now I'll try and focus on the interview itself. It might be confusing as I'm leaving out the details that led to some of our actions.

Firstly, the important bit: We were turned down...but very gently I fully expected to not receive the visa yesterday, but in the end what they requested will be easier and faster to get than what I initially assumed might be a problem.

Here's a rough time line rundown of what preceded the interview.

February 17 - mailed I-130 to Toronto Consulate (not sure why, I believe I could have just dropped it off).

Approx end of April (guessing): I-130 interview, and approval

Letter dated May 8: I-130 approval letter, case being sent to Montreal

Letter dated May 22: Packet 3 - Montreal has received our case and asks that we collect the necessary documents

Approx end of August: mailed back Packet 3 saying we have what we need to proceed.

Letter dated Oct 1: Interview scheduled for Nov 3.

We dropped the kids off at their grandparents and drove to Montreal from Toronto (5 and a half hours). After nearly running out of gas at 2:30 am in the middle of B.F. nowhere, we fueled up again and arrived at Travelodge at about 3:30 am, enough to get 3 hours sleep. If you knew what I was doing during the day, you'd know this is much, much worse than it sounds. But that's another story.

The next morning we were at the doors at about 7:15. We were let in at about 7:45. After security we went to an elevator waiting room, and the first three (including us) were taken up the elevator at 8 am.

After a short wait we were called to a window. This was the gatekeeper. He makes sure you have what you are supposed to have before you can proceed. Let's just say that we didn't follow the instructions to a T. He was polite, stern, slightly annoyed but forgiving...had the air of a disappointed father. "Do you have all of your original documents AND a photocopy of each one?" We did not have photocopies. He made sure to let us know that we did not follow the instructions, sighed, and went and did the copies himself. Another thing we were missing was the Canada post mailer envelope. My wife brought one but it was the wrong size. He gave us that look again and said "hang on, let me see if I have one" and returned with a replacement. I am grateful to that guy...he could have turned us away for a few things, but always found a way for us to at least continue. He never changed his demeanor and was always pleasant to speak to. In the end there were two things he told us we would definitely need to send in later.

We need to resend the I-864 from our joint sponsor. We had a bit of a debacle securing one, and ended up going through 3 different people. We aborted the first before receiving anything, a week before the interview. The second sent us everything next day Fedex, but upon reading realized they might be ineligible. As a backup, I secured another one on Sunday, that would have to be emailed and faxed to us. On Monday evening, we literally had our shoes and jackets on while I was printing the last parts of this sponsor's ID before jumping in the car to go to Montreal. In the end, this backup sponsor was the only one that was acceptable, but we need to send in the original.

The second thing we were told we didn't have was a police record from the UK, as we lived there for a couple years. We got one from Toronto where we are from and live now but completely overlooked that we would need one from the UK. Also relatively easy to get.

He specifically asked what we had for US domicile. This is in contrast to another VJ thread where someone had a guy that said he didn't even want to see it. I was relieved when he asked. He also asked if I had filed my taxes, which I have - another long story. I gave him photocopies of my 1040s for 3 years. The sponsor had sent us one transcript (2008), because the IRS screwed up and sent her the wrong ones (!) for the previous years. We didn't have time to get them again, but what we had was enough.

I am most pleased that our proof of domicile was accepted. Some things they looked at more than others, but they seemed satisfied by everything as a whole. We had:

- a lease agreement

- email correspondence from a potential employer (NOT a job offer, but shows that I have been in contact). I also explained that I am in the "highly skilled" worker category with over a decade of experience, and it would be rare for a studio to make an offer for a position so far in the future. They seemed to be ok with that.

- a bill statement from a US cell phone I signed a 2 year contract for (not going to actually use the phone till we get there)

- documentation from HSBC for our application to open a US bank account. This is not the same as a US money account...this account will actually be at a branch in the US. HSBC can open it remotely, but you have to fill out forms, pay $200 US, and it takes some time (approx 20 days) to actually open. Ours isn't open yet but signing up of curse shows intent.

- our kids US passports. I applied for their citizenship at the same time as the I-130. We went to Buffalo and got their certificates of citizenship on Oct 21. While still in Buffalo, I applied for their SSN and got the US cell phone contract. Once we had the certificates we applied for the passports at the Toronto consulate and they arrived in the mail last week, just in time for the interview.

- our kids' SSN receipts...see above.

- a letter from my wife's principal (she is a school teacher) stating tat he is aware of her intent to leave at the end of this school semester pending her acquisition of a visa. I have no idea if they looked at this or not, but it cost nothing.

- moving truck quote from Upack.com

Obviously the lease is the big one, but they did seem to spend time looking at each item. I think it was that we had enough things, and many of them are substantial enough (either cost money, are not easy to get without effort, or both) that it looked complete.

After the "gatekeeper" saw us about 2 or 3 times (asking us to sit in the waiting room between each time) we were asked to enter a small booth room with a lady. She more or less went through everything again. She was VERY nice and personable, and reiterated what we were missing but made it clear that this was minor. She asked when we were moving, and then said "Hmm...I miiiiiiight be able to accept the faxed I-864 if this were the 11th hour before your move...but you'd need the UK police record anyway...moving in January? Pfft, you've got time, no worries." She also said to mail these two missing docs with a letter stating our moving date, so they can prioritize the visa, as they have several thousand to go through. She said it would take about a month to respond to us once we get her what they need, so we should be ok with our plans. She asked us how we met, which I'd guess is just to see the reaction. Most married couples would smile or blush or be embarrassed which is probably the right reaction.

We were finished about 10 am, rejection letter in hand, and couldn't be happier (except for kicking ourselves for totally overlooking the UK police record).

There is SOOOOO much more to this story, as one month ago I thought were ready, and within days I couldn't imagine being less prepared. It's a very good thing I am unemployed as this would have been IMPOSSIBLE to do if I had a full time job. We could have taken months to collect what we needed but we ended up getting it ALL in the last 3 weeks. I had other things/people I was involved with and they all had to be shutdown to get this done. My family kept remarking at how much I am doing in a short period. I've never spent so much money on paperwork in my life...this process can get extremely expensive.

By far though...the main thing that made made it all work was this website in general, and the the responses I got from Trailmix specifically (in the thread I linked to above). She converted my situation from "no chance" to "good chance" and I have no doubt that had she had more info on what we were missing, it could have been even closer. I can't thank you enough for giving me all that info, pointing me to relevant threads, and not giving up when I "thought" I knew what I was talking about. I learned very quickly to just do what you said This would have been a disaster had it not been for your help! You rock!

Anyway that's it...couple more things to do, but the hard part is over. I'll be back when we get approved. If any masochists want more detail of our journey, feel free to ask. Also, sorry if this is convoluted or confusing...I'm beat If anything is unclear just ask.

Ken

[trailmix 77]

Hey, that's great news

Yes, it's too bad about the police certificate, but as you mention, the items you now have to supply are easy and then you will be on your way

Great review!

[Lona.C. 16]

wow yes if he wanted to be a jerk he could have denied you , glad he was one of the nice guys and everything went well , CONGRATULATIONSSSSSS :)

[Lona.C. 16]

I meen congrats on the future aproval since you arent realy aproved yet , but i know its going to be ,

since the docs they need are easy to get