appleblossom

Entering as a visitor though, not entering on your immigrant visa and becoming a LPR.

No, OP says it was issued in November and expired in March. I think it’s absolutely worth a try.

There was a bigger backlog then which thankfully has been reduced, it used to be 2 years from DQ to IL, now it’s half that.

If she overstayed by 8 months then she triggered a 3 year ban, which presumably was still in effect when she tried to enter 2 years ago? When were her first two visits and how much time between them? If they said she abused her B visa privileges then it sounds as though they were close together and they suspected she was trying to ‘live’ in the US on a tourist visa. Or possibly they suspected she was working? How did she support herself for so long without income? I don’t see her getting any visa for a long time with that history, ideally she’d leave it a few years before trying again.

That just tells you that the agent hasn't got a clue what they're talking about, Tier 1 agents rarely do. Your kind of visa is an immigrant visa, and every single IV holder has to have it endorsed before the expiry date - you've been given the links to tell you that above from official sources, but for ease they are below again. https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/temporary-i-551-stamps-and-mrivs This is the step by step process for your type of visa, step 12 is what you need to look at - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-12-after-the-interview.html From the Montreal immigrant visa page - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MTL-Montreal.html And this page says the following - https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/visa-waiver-program/requirements-immigrant-and-nonimmigrant-visas An intending immigrant must present the immigrant visa at a U.S. port-of-entry prior to the expiration of the immigrant visa. An intending immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident once the immigrant visa and accompanying paperwork is reviewed and endorsed by a CBP Officer. As said above, you're not currently a Legal Permanent Resident ('green card holder') so no green card can be sent to you. You're just a visitor with a visa you never used.

Contacting Montreal and hoping they don't just say 'tough luck, start again if you want another visa'.

OP says visa issued in November and valid until March in his post above. So definitely expired and never used it seems.

OK, so not sure what you mean by 'maybe will get lucky', you certainly won't be sent the green card as you are NOT a permanent resident of the US. You never used the visa, and never activated your status. You need to contact Montreal urgently and beg and plead for them to reissue the visa. Best of luck.

So are you saying it's definitely not been stamped before expiry? Have you checked it? I'm just hoping for your sake that it has been on one of those US visits and maybe you just didn't notice!

I certainly wouldn’t trust any answer from a Tier 1 rep. But perhaps the OP did ‘activate’ his LPR status and just doesn’t remember. I hope so for his sake anyway!

Great. Now you just need to check the visa in your passport and make sure it's been endorsed prior to the expiry date on it.

Honestly, don't use Grok or any kind of AI! It's already given you duff info. If the agent wasn't a Tier 2 agent (i.e. your query wasn't escalated) then they are just call centre agents and have no info in front of them really, so I'd take that with a pinch of salt. But you can easily check, if the visa has been endorsed then it will have a stamp with your admission date and A number either on it or right next to it. If it has then you're all good, if not then the visa has expired and they won't send your GC as you're not yet a LPR of the US. Also, you can check using the receipt number from when you paid the fee, what does that status say on this page? https://egov.uscis.gov

I would just use the form you did last time, and mention in that that you've already applied but had no response. Good luck!

So not only are they making up figures to try and get you to sign up with them (there is no way of them knowing the situation of applicants etc), but they're also suggesting that your gf commits immigration fraud?!? It is an interview under oath, and any lies could result in a lifetime ban from the US. I would run, not walk, from this company as they sound dodgy as hell. Just get her to apply on her own, be truthful, and see what happens.

Congrats! I don't think I've ever seen anybody say SB-1's are always denied, but the general advice on VJ is to just get yourself on a plane if the GC is still valid. We've seen people who've been out for many, many years be admitted with no issues. Hope your move back to the US goes smoothly.

You won't have your GE approval, as you can't be approved without an interview. But you can be interviewed on arrival in August and then hopefully be approved and it for future trips. I'd recommend the MPC app if you don't have it already, lots of family and friends from the UK have used it when visiting us and breezed through immigration, you get to skip the huge line and it's just much easier.

You should be contacted either way but yes, plenty are rejected. I'd chase it up if you've definitely heard nothing (assume you've checked your junk/spam folder?) as you should have had a decision by now.

I would personally. A waiver for what?

I'd find one via AILA personally - https://www.aila.org

Leaving aside that it's mind blowingly bad for the environment, then yes, if you're relying on it for immigration legal advice. We've seen several people on the forum be given duff advice by AI and assumed it's correct, when it's not. Only ever go with what a qualified and experienced immigration lawyer tells you.

Even if there wasn't a ban in place, you couldn't assume your visas would be issued after interview. It's always possible that you can be rejected after Admin Processing is done after the interview, the ban makes no difference to that. Once the visa is issued and in hand, then you know you're good.

I would go to the interview, and then it’ll be put in to Admin Processing until the ban is lifted. Are you still an eligible derivative or have you aged out?

What card?

When exactly was she DQ’ed? Has she been receiving the standard ‘60 day letter’ every couple of months since then? And just to confirm, you’re a US citizen?

The petition was your bit but now it’s their visas to apply for so let them crack on with it! Shame about the 3 year old but at least by the time your sibling is eligible s/he will be an adult so they don’t need to worry about leaving him/her alone.