Siarg
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Siarg reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Siarg reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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igoyougoduke reacted to a post in a topic:
Writ of Mandamus
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Jordanian Bride reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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ice-qube reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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ice-qube reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Yes not for your fiancé in particular - but the reason that Montreal is strict on ALL immigration. Canada has a reputation of being easy to move to, as well as easy to get through fraudulently. It’s possible that because of this, USA is super strict on everyone coming from Canada even Canadian citizens and Canadian-born. It’s just a theory, personally behaving been part of many immigration group chats for the last year, Canada absolutely has an international reputation for being lax on immigration.
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mam521 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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LAMA9 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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Siarg reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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I was a Diversity Visa, so I had to have a result as quickly as possible. We had been on 5535 waiting for months and the deadline to be issued a DV visa is September 30th. I actually filed a WoM and TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) at the same time. The TRO is to get a court response forced, and not allow them to delay. We got our visa issued within 1 week. Received the visas/passports in the mail a week later. I contacted Chris and he handled it all for us, and Alex stepped in for a day when Chris was away. Just let him know your situation, your plan, the relevant dates, etc WoM is pretty standard and straightforward, the part where having a good lawyer is the relationships they have with the District attorneys of the court. Lazy lawyers don’t do that, but Chris knew the clerks and DAs etc
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- montreal k-1
- montreal canada
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No need to apologize, almost everyone here has had the same or very similar situation happen to them. When you’re placed in AP, it very much appears that Montreal does a SAO (Security Advisory Opinion) which is essentially what 5535 is. Montreal has a reputation for doing this more than almost any other consulate in the world, and nobody knows exactly why. There have been theories, but honestly the thing that makes the most sense to me is that Canada is very easy to immigrate to. There are people that move to Canada just to be closer to America. Basically whenever you’re placed in AP at Montreal, there are two “pathways” your AP goes. One is with your consular officer, keeping note of your case and what they need to follow up on. The other is DOS background check. This seems to have been the cause of everyone’s issues, and became very obvious when the Afghanistan withdrawal took over as priority #1 over any other background check. Thousands of visas put into a pile that wasn’t moving, and then 1-2 years of cases backed up by putting them all into the “we’ll do this after the background check” pile. In this group the wait time varies from 4 months to over a year. Most of the movement has been due to lawsuits, with the occasional organic case movement. Obviously it’s up to you, but if you want to have this resolved in the next few months, I would recommend filing a lawsuit if you can. A lawsuit guarantees something will happen, waiting could be another year. I’m very pro-lawsuit after experiencing it here, in DV, and in multiple visa categories. The most happy people are the ones that file a lawsuit and almost everyone wishes they did it earlier.
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- montreal k-1
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Usually non-5535 is because of a missing document or questions about validity of documents. if everything was all good and nothing seemed weird, it is probably the same background check as 5535 anyway. The questionnaire usually doesn’t give them much new information
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I’ll +1 for PIC Law - you might’ve seen my post about them but it was way back. They’re a genuine immigration law firm that deals with complex issues and know the ins and outs. As others have mentioned, you only deal with actual lawyers, not assistants or paralegals. I personally communicated with mostly Chris Casassaza and Alex Isbel. They’re fantastic, not expensive and actually competent. Many of the popular names you see mentioned in forums and group chats are what I call “churn firms” that charge 5k+ USD to submit the same copied and pasted documents with some personal details changed. Really gross behaviour in my opinion. PIC writes it specifically based on your case, your information, relevant laws and case history that apply to your situation. I’m framing my copy of the lawsuit. edit: anyone that ONLY files WoM, in my opinion, is a lazy lawyer. If there is an entire law firm set up to file one of the simpler legal filings in bulk, you’re paying them to file paperwork and not do much else.
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- montreal k-1
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Siarg reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)
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They are both illegal, the “digital nomad” is just usually overlooked. It’s not even a grey area, it’s not allowed in essentially every country with a tourist visa, but it’s not really monitored. If you are actively pursuing an immigrant visa, I would advise you to stop working remotely for extended periods on a tourist visa. If this were to be pressed, investigated or even asked during your interviews or background checks, you could be denied. And if you lie, and they know you lied, it could be denied. You haven’t found some secret that nobody had ever considered, it’s illegal to do any work in the US on a tourist visa. “Canadians are reminded that U.S. law requires entrants to qualify for the desired stay and purpose of travel at the time of their initial entry. A visitor who intends to live, work, or study in the U.S. and who does not disclose this information to the Consular or CBP officer beforehand may be permanently barred from the United States“