dmitrych
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Ninja7324 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 4)
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Hi everyone, for those who have an option of Adjustment of Status after receiving DS-5535, I'm happy to report that my experiment is over: I applied for AOS on February 26, and it got approved today. My original interview at the consulate was on September 18, 2023 (details are in the spreadsheet), which means by now I would've probably been approved at the consulate as well. So it appears AOS didn't save time in my case, but it did save money on airplane tickets, and it was a safer option for me. I could find only one other report in the whole internet of what happens with AOS after DS-5535, so I hope my report will be helpful. Feel free to ask me privately to keep this thread on topic.
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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CarmenD reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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I received an interesting response from the consulate today that might be relevant for people in DS-5535 who are considering AOS. For context, I've been in DS-5535 processing since September, recently I applied for AOS from within the US (based on my L1 status) and sent a message to the consulate to withdraw the case from the consulate so that it can continue to be processed as AOS instead. After almost a month, this was their response: "Thank you for contacting us regarding this matter. As soon as your I-485 petition is approved by DHS, please send us a copy of your approval notice so we can return your case to USCIS to be processed there. Regards, OP03" I'm not sure if they actually meant I-485 *receipt* notice... Since I-485 approval happens after all the processing is done, so what they said doesn't seem to make sense. I guess I'll send them the receipt notice just in case. Just sharing my experience.
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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ajxl888 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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I started the process of sponsoring my wife for a Canadian permanent residency in 2019, she received it in less than a year, and now she already got her Canadian citizenship at the beginning of 2024. I prepared all her Canadian and my US immigration forms by myself, and I think the Canadian process is simpler, faster and has much more predictable timing. In the US, no matter whether you apply for green card through consular processing or AOS, you have no clue how much you'll have to wait. (While it's useful for the participants of this thread to know of alternatives, feel free to ask any remaining questions in a DM to me, so that we don't derail the thread).
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Icecreamcastles reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Leo The Great reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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APRIL2023 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Ah, so that's probably why. I never heard of border officers issuing DS-5535. I myself got an L1 status similarly as a Canadian at the border. And then in a few months I got DS-5535 at the consulate for the IR1 visa, so I suspect I would've also gotten DS-5535 if I chose to go to a consulate for my L1 visa. Their processes are a big mess that doesn't make sense - the consulate issues DS-5535 while the border officers don't.
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Wait, so you already have H1B visa in your passport, and it didn't end up with DS5535? If so, that's interesting, because the opinions I heard before is that if someone ended up with DS5535 for one visa, they will get it for any other consulate-issued visa too. Edit: ah wait, you were never technically asked the DS-5535 form, right? You mentioned before that you sent it on your own, so it's not clear whether they actually needed it in the first place?
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Inveigh reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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I'm not sure why you state it with such certainty (there's a mess with all the DS-5535 form variations, so maybe there's a variation that does ask for MTL consulate case number), but both the PDF DS-5535 and the forms.office.com link that Montreal consulate sent me do ask for the DS-260 barcode number. The MTL case number is not what they call the "barcode number".
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CarmenD reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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I find the wording really weird, "you have not established that you are eligible for a visa" - as if it's our fault they haven't finished their security checks. They're really bending the meaning here, abusing the wording that was originally meant only for exceptional cases, and making a mess by claiming that 221(g) AP is the "final denial" of a visa. All of that only so that they can avoid the responsibility when sued and ignore the 221(g) AP cases when publicly praising their efforts in reducing the processing times..
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Was there any other recent activity on your case? Any notifications from the consulate? Or did you notice it's reopened only because you logged into your account? As Leo The Great said, when the consulate is ready to finish the processing, they ask to update the DS-260 if it's older than a year (for which your DS-260 has to be reopened). I don't recall anyone in this topic mentioning DS-260 being reopened without any other activity though.
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dmitrych reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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I don't think your plan to renew the passport works the way you expect, since DS-260 will already ask you for all countries you traveled to within the last 5 years. Also, the consulate doesn't have time or need to go through all the stamps in your passport and enter them into the system, otherwise they would've at least asked for passport stamps and translations ahead of time, which they don't. The system will decide whether to give you DS-5535 based on the entered information, most of the time it doesn't seem to be interviewer's decision. So I think it won't matter whether you renew your passport or not.
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mam521 reacted to a post in a topic:
The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal Only. Post here and support each other (PART 3)
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Looks like Ontarkie is hinting we should not derail the thread. I know that in my case there's no fraud concern, because I'm in a dual-intent status, but I'd recommend you to discuss the details of your case with a lawyer to make sure nothing else is missed. I'll message you in a DM about the timelines. Or maybe if there's enough of us coming from DS-5535, then maybe we can create a whole new thread in the AOS section of the forums?
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Hi everyone, Just an update: I decided to file AOS from within the US. I've been already here on a dual-intent visa, so I guess I'm lucky I have this option with no conflict about immigrant intent. This also means I'm throwing away the progress made through consular processing, and betting that my AOS will take less than about 8 more months my consular processing would've taken. At least I won't have to fly again for the visa, and for the repeat medical which just expired. I guess I will be a guinea pig and find out how it goes (and will let you know).
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I don't know why, so I can only guess. But I personally don't think it was intentional, it might've been just a side effect because of the criteria they use to trigger DS-5535. Just for example: - Maybe it happens that Canada accepts more people with backgrounds on the Technology Alert List (a bunch of medicine-related backgrounds, robotics, AI and vaguely related things like software development, etc), and those are the people who then also end up applying for US visas. - Maybe people in Canada happen to be from a more diverse set of countries they were born in, and some of those countries might be scrutinized more. Somewhat related, maybe the names of immigrants from Canada are more diverse and happen to be redflagged more as a potential match to known criminals. - Maybe there happens to be more information collected by the government and various agencies about people from Canada, and the more data there is about you, the more probability some minor thing ends up triggering the automated "red flag". And it might be not just one single reason, it might be a combination. Anyway, it's all just wild theories, and your guesses are probably as good as mine.
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That document is from 24 years ago. While it provides some background, I doubt it's helpful for predictions, because things have changed a lot. Montreal requests DS-5535 much more often since 2021.
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I think your case is a bit unusual because they only requested the resume without the DS-5535 form. I can't tell if they're going to decide that a closer more thorough look is needed by another agency, or if they will approve it as is. Both of these outcomes were seen in the past.
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I read the whole 3 parts of this thread (more than 400 pages), and from what I've seen, my theory is that "pending a review by a consular officer" means the next action has to be done by the officer *in* the consulate, rather than the consulate waiting for a response from other agencies. It might not mean the case is definitely going to get approved soon (in 1-2 months maybe), but the likelihood is higher.