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Hi all, I have received my passport yesterday. My visa expires on September 19th so I’m flying to the US during the weekend. A note to everyone, my visa has a note on it saying “Clearance received on 30-July-2024” and this date is in line with the first unsolicited update I got which was 5-Aug-2024. So I am sure many of you have the clearance already but it’s a matter of time the consulate asks you to send them your passport. Keep bombarding them with emails and ask your congressman to send them emails. Thank you everyone for the amazing support, good luck all!

My case was updated to issued today. How long will it take for me to receive my passport?

Received an email from the consulate on Tuesday September 3rd requesting my passport and they informed me they are ready to issue my visa but it will expire on September 19th because my medicals expire on that date. They asked me if I am able to travel to the US before the 19th and I said yes. I sent them my passport and they received it on Wednesday September 4th then I communicated with them through email and they told me they will reach out to me once the visa is issued. I received a case update on the 4th and today on the 6th, but still it shows refused on the system. Fingers crossed I need to get my passport before September 19th and fly to the US! Anyone had a similar case like me? NB: My interview was on 18-Apr-2024 and have been in AP/DS-5535 since then.

My interview was on 18-Apr-2024 and I got unsolicited updates on Aug 5th and 13th. Fingers crossed, I’m seeing lots of good news on the group.

Hi folks I can see that there is a bunch of cases being resolved at Montreal. My interview was on 18-Apr-2024 and I have seen an unsolicited update on August 5th. I’m not sure if there was any other update earlier in August. Is there anything that changed that’s causing a lot of cases getting resolved lately?

I have provided my comments. I hope this will be helpful, but I highly doubt it.

No I didn’t, I only answered their questions. B1/B2 visa that I have since 2021 I got it from saudi arabia. I have traveled multiple times to the US using it. This is the first time I have such issue due to the fact that I’m in backgroud checking.

I showed all proofs (lease, work, return ticket, etc.). The officer was convinced of my intentions, but they consulted with the department of state and they told them that I am currently under background checking. He asked me a lot of questions, almost about every detail of my life since I was born.

I’m under AP (DS-5535) since April 2024. Today morning I was not allowed to travel to the US to visit my wife for the weekend and I was coming back on Monday May 20th. The US CBP officer at Toronto Pearson airport gave me a white paper titled “withdrawal of application for admission/consular notification” pursuant to section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) in the end of the investigation. I spent around 2 hours in secondary investigation in total. The CBP officer asked me a lot of questions about my background, and he was convinced that I’m going for a visit after I proved it to him (He gave me thumbs up and he was about to return my passport to me). But after couple of minutes he got a call and didn’t give me the passport. Then after around 15 mins, he came back to me and informed me that they have reached out to the Department of State and they were informed that my case is currently under background checking. The questions he asked were so detailed and I believe this is the kind of questions that should be asked during the IV interview. Unfortunately, during the interview they only asked me 2-3 basic questions and gave me DS-5535. I told him that I wasn’t asked about that much details during the interview and he told me “It seems that I am doing their work”. He seemed not happy about the situation as well. He told me that this is way above him and he advised me to take the white paper he gave me to the US consulate in Toronto and speak to them. This is heartbreaking. What are your thoughts everyone?

It’s definitely related to the country of origin. I’m from Lebanon, and this is why I was given the DS-5535. No other reason. I think they haven’t even bothered checking my background, because if they did I’m 99% sure I would have got the visa: Well educated, Very high paying career, multinational (US) company for around 10 years, visited the US a lot of times (max stay is only 10 days). I’m also Christian, which they can obviously see on my birth certificate. Not saying that religion should be a deciding factor but that special clearance was created to mainly target muslim/middle eastern countries after 9/11. So based on all of this info, I can confirm that country of origin is the deciding factor for DS-5535.

From what I’m reading the DS-5535 is taking between 6 months to 2 years. So I just filled the form and won’t bother thinking about it anymore as my wife decided to move and live with me in Canada. Not sure if her move to Canada will impact the sponsorship that she has filed already for me, but who knows, we might not move to the US anymore even if I end up getting the immigration visa.

My interview was on Apr 18, 2024 in Montreal and I have officially joined the DS-5535 boat. I wonder why they drag people to interviews when they have already have a decision made about their case. I could really tell that the interview was just a formality, the officer only asked me like 2 questions. And then she told me we need some more information from you please use this link to fill it and she gave me the passport. The US immigration system is super inefficient unfortunately.

I’m an Electrical Engineer. I work in construction management. I’ve been living in Canada for less than a year only as a PR. Why do you think my chance is low to average?

I’m not a dual citizen. I’m a Lebanese citizen, living in Canada as PR. I’m an Engineer.

Hi everyone, my interview in Montreal is in April (CR1 category) and after reading here I got worried about being put into administrative processing because I’m from the Middle East. Do you guys know how high my chances are to be put in AP because I’m from the Middle East?