I had my interview yesterday. It went well. My appointment was 7:45am. I joined the line up outside of the consulate at 7:40 and they took me right in. There were five people ahead of me so I waited about 15 minutes to go to the first window. The agent was very nice. She asked for my original birth certificate, RCMP criminal record check, employment letter, passport photos and financial documents. I had brought my previous 4 years of tax returns so I gave those. She didn't specify what type of financial documents they wanted, she left it up to me. After taking finger prints I went back to the sitting area and waited for the next agent. About 20 minutes.
The second agent was also very nice. He had me do the oath that everything was truthful, then asked me some details about my job and the company I work for (I currently work/live in the US on an H1B but started with that company in Canada). He also asked for my travel history for the last five years, any instance of being in trouble with the police or issues crossing the border in the past. I previously had an issue crossing the border for a TN visa due to incomplete paperwork. I explained that and he moved on. After a few more routine questions he told me I was approved but that something hadn't been transmitted into my file and he couldn't hit submit until that was done. He said it was a routine thing and that he would process everything by the end of the day as soon as it was final. Nothing was needed on my part.
I left the consulate at 8:43 so it was just over an hour in total. I was a bit nervous that the final approval was still pending. At about 1pm on the same day I logged into CEAC and the status had changed to issued, so all was well. This morning I got a notification via email that my passport has been released and I was given a tracking number. So far it isn't searchable on the Canada Post website, but hopefully it will be by the end of the day.
All in all my experience was good. The system is easy to navigate. The only downside to the whole morning was that I planned to have some coffee at the Second Cup down the street before my interview but they opened late.
