Superluminal

Hi All. Happy to report I am in the US with the visa stamped. I have gone through the conversation the last couple of weeks and tried to update the spreadsheet with whats been stated. I have received minimal DMs, so I am doing what I can. For those waiting and who are new, the trend is definitely improving: This is a plot of wait time for document request vs interview date for the 33 people who have received a request in the logger (form 2023 onwards). I colored them by orange = IR/CR, blue = EB, and purple = K. There is a clear decrease in wait times. People in early 2023 were waiting 400-500 days for document request. People who interviewed early 2024 are waiting 200-300 days. Its still brutal but a needed trend. There is a clear trend upwards as of this June on the number of people getting requests from MTL. Hopefully the trend stays high. Now that this is past my wife and I, I expect I will be spending less time on this forum. I will likely unlock the tracker I've been maintaining and hand it over to the group, or give it to someone else who is interested in keeping it going. Please let me know. Thanks and good luck everyone.

I know it is super frustrating. I was basically in the same boat as you back in July, seeing lots of folks getting document requests who were well below me (and others) in the line. It would seem there isn't a ton of rhyme or reason why people are getting called for documents. I will say, given your unsolicited updates in June, you may want to try to have your husbands senator reach out to the consulate. Its quite possible they are ready to move forward, but they just haven't gotten around to it. The unusual waiting times also seem to occur for people after they've requested documents. I want 3 weeks for them to issue the visa after submitting docs. 604vancouver waited 3 days. Others are over 4 weeks right now. There does not seem to be any pattern.

Turns out my prediction was correct. CEAC says Issued now!

After having my passport for 3 weeks, I got a 2nd update. One on the 13th and one today. Still refused though. I had made a prediction something would happen on a Thursday. Wish us luck.

I inquired about hand delivering it and they said it was not possible and I had to use the courier. Hopefully others have had better luck as I have now waiting almost 3 weeks after the consulate received all of my documents. On the website of the senator there was an online form we filled out.

There are several Canada Post options available. I used the one at Young & Bloor, for instance. That one was on their list of approved couriers.

Not sure if you have everything ready, but I've had all my documents sitting with MTL for over 2 weeks now and no updates. If you have to get a medical, I would add 5 - 10 days on top of that

Two days according to a previous post. They got priority it looks like since they had a medical expiring in a week or two. So they will have to enter the US by then.

Consulate had my medical & documents in hand on the 29th. Got an update on the 29th, the 4th, and today and still refused. I'm holding my breath over here.

Thanks, worked fine! This whole process has shattered my confidence and I just wanted some reassurance from those who just did it

Hey those who have recently sent documents to Montreal (@Canucklehead, @ajxl888, @LYV, @northface, @4EverAp, @DS5535TXCAN), I had a question about the courier service. I got this info from the consulate: "We strongly encourage applicants to send ALL the required documents together to the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal using our courier service. This helps process mail more efficiently and helps avoid unnecessary delays. Detailed instructions on how to use the courier service may be obtained by contacting the Official U.S. Department of State Visa Appointment Service using the contact details here https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-CA/iv/information/contact_us." Based on that, I found this info on the website: Did you all get some Certificate to be able to send your documents? I couldn't find a direct link to what to do next, but logging in the consulate scheduling page, you can select an option to send more documents: But that results in this pretty nasty warning: Am I on the right path and I need to fill this out or are these unrelated and there is a different course of action I should be taking? Hoping to send all my documents on Monday. Thanks!

15 months and 4 days. I'm visiting my wife in the US right now so I will have to head back and then get my RCMP clearance + medical. RCMP takes a few weeks so I'll be lucky if I have everything resolved by mid September.

So we have a good update to share! We had our medical / RCMP / passport request from MTL. The request actually came through our Senator, who we asked to reach out on our behalf last week. We're elated since I think we are finally in the end game now. This reinforces a suspicion I had, which is the consulate sits on your clearance from the state department for a while until it is convenient for them to process your case. I wanted to make sure we didn't ask for senatorial help until our case was 'ripe' enough to get action by Montreal. The factors & recent timeline of events that led us to reach out were: - I emailed on April 30th and did not get a response, even though they updated our case in late May. - Many people around my vintage on the tracker were getting processed between late May and now. - I had another update on July 9th, but no additional follow up for a couple of weeks. - I had a hunch that either the May or July update was them receiving the clearance, but they had other priorities. - After waiting from July 9th for an organic update and document request, and it not coming, we felt we could now ask congress to inquire to help expedite things. - We used the Senator's webform for assistance on July 25th. - They confirmed they reached out to the consulate on July 29th. - We had an update on CEAC on July 30th. - Today (July 31st) we received an email from the senator with the documentation request, also explaining how the CO reviewed our file on July 30th. Given the very fast response after the senatorial outreach, I think it is safe to say they helped expedite things. I do, however, believe if we had asked for help months ago (before state department clearance), they would have received push back, making more difficult for them to reach out and expedite things when it is actually possible. All of this is anecdotal, but I'm sharing the details hoping that maybe it could help people decide when it is appropriate to seek outside assistance. Oh, and one more thing. since I was asked for RCMP check again, it is safe to say that they are probably only valid for 1 year.

As I understand it, DS-260 automatically re-opens after 1 year. Police Certificate is valid for 2 years.

Congrats! Do you mind sharing your DQ date, date you received the DS-5535, and when you returned it? I've added you to the tracker

As a side note, I just looked at the old spreadsheet and it is a hot mess.

Congrats for hearing back on the medical request! I'm sorry I don't have an answer to your question, but when did you hear back from them? I'll update the tracker.

Thats the old tracking sheet. I stopped using that and maintaining the other because of the chaos in there. Here is the one I am managing: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G2Uy4IANSzFvQVRiywS4djPaujgHSRCfzE0qZK0eQCM/edit?gid=0#gid=0 If you still see an issue in here, please send me a DM. Thanks

Congrats!! Updated. I haven't seen an update since the 9th. Still hoping for something soon!

I got an unsolicited update today. Here's hoping!

Done

Right you are. Didn't see you in the old spreadhseet. I've added you to the locked version.

Wow congrats! So happy to see lots of motion for a number of folks. I added some details since I don't believe we were tracking your case. See link below. Can you confirm the following: Visa Type: CR1/IR1 Documentarily Qualified Date: ??? Interview Date: May 5th 2023 Date Received DS-5535: ?? Date DS-5535 was sent back: ?? Did they request a resume from you? Did you file a WOM? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G2Uy4IANSzFvQVRiywS4djPaujgHSRCfzE0qZK0eQCM/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Congrats! Super happy for you. I updated the spreadsheet. Just to confirm - the spreadsheet says your interview was May 2023, but you wrote above that your interview was May 2022. Can you confirm which is correct. Thanks!

Awesome! Did you update your DS-260 or reclose it voluntarily after the 1 year mark or is this the first you've updated it?