AndrewsN

I had my interview Sep 6th (EB1). I received a verbal approval from the officer at the consulate.
 
Yesterday morning I received a notice indicating that they will be holding my passport until after October 1st because they’ve hit their limit of Visas issued for the fiscal year. 

I’m just hoping that this means they actually get to work on it in the first week of October and not closer to November. 

I had my interview Sep 6th (EB1). I received a verbal approval from the officer at the consulate.
 
Yesterday morning I received a notice indicating that they will be holding my passport until after October 1st because they’ve hit their limit of Visas issued for the fiscal year. 

I’m just hoping that this means they actually get to work on it in the first week of October and not closer to November. 

I had my interview Sep 6th (EB1). I received a verbal approval from the officer at the consulate.
 
Yesterday morning I received a notice indicating that they will be holding my passport until after October 1st because they’ve hit their limit of Visas issued for the fiscal year. 

I’m just hoping that this means they actually get to work on it in the first week of October and not closer to November. 

Hello,  I am a Canadian citizen and currently residing in Canada. See below for my details:
 
EB3
PD : 25 June 2012
Country of chargeability : India
Documentarily Qualified : 26 April 2024
 
 
Thanks

You’re a legend. Thanks for sharing 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html
 
Looking through the statistics. Montreal historically have been doing about 400 total visas per month. In March they did 600. In April they did 800. 
 
Someone who had their interview said that they mentioned hiring more staff during their interview. 
 
As they have doubled their output of visas per month, it only makes sense more staff have been hired to see this vast increase. 

Anybody who has a visa available to them (i.e. whose PD is current) will be scheduled for an interview in turn. Anybody that doesn't have a visa available to them won't be, but that doesn't affect those who are eligible.
 
So EB-3 or EB-2 PD's aren't relevant to you at all, as long as EB-1 stays current then you're in the line for an interview. 

But what about if EB-3 is no longer current because of retrogression, but EB-1 is still current? Do they not send ILs to EB-1 while EB-3s wait for their date to become current? 
 
I ask because I'm EB-1 and am concerned that the EB-3 regression might affect me even though my PD is current. 

Looks like they were referring to EB3
 
Unfortunately, I’ve sort of stopped believing that priority of EB categories has any play. 
 

For now. But as it gets closer to the end of the visa year (September 30th), there is also a higher chance eb1 and 2 also retrogress. This is what happened last year. 

The feeling is mutual...I am Jan 2023. Right there with ya haha.

I imagine we will see some sort of movement over the next week or two. Them putting this information back on is some sort of indication that they are at least not falling behind where they were. It's not exactly a commitment to progress but it's positive communication nevertheless.

UPDATE:
 
https://ca.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/consular-operations-updates/
 
How long will it take to schedule my immigrant visa appointment?   
The U.S. Consulate General in Montreal is actively scheduling new immigrant visa cases in all categories, including Immediate Relative, fiancé(e)s, Family Preference, and Employment. Wait times for all Family Preferenceand Employment categories continue to be lengthy due to substantial backlogs. It is not possible to provide precise wait times for immigrant visa appointments, as facilities, staffing resources, and local conditions all affect capacity and scheduling. As of June 6, 2024, most Immediate Relative and fiancé(e) visa cases being scheduled for interview in Montreal were documentarily complete at the National Visa Center in March 2024; most Family Preference cases with visa numbers available that are being scheduled for interview were documentarily qualified in August 2023; and most Employment cases scheduled for interview were documentarily complete in January 2023.

Not sure if this has been shared already but good to see 121 green cards being issued under the Employment category at Montreal in April. It was 87 in March. 
 
Lack of transparency and consistency from Montreal consulate isn't great but they seem to be working towards clearing that backlog.
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html
 
 

You and me both! 

Hello All, 
We had our interview on May 23 and our visas were approved. 
Wanted to mention some information in here in case it is useful for others.
Our case was EB-2 NIW, DQ Nov 2022. Both born in Iran. We lived in US on F1 Visa for more than 4 years and had never entered US other than that. We didn’t have a job offer.
So the interview went great. As everyone mentioned here, one officer took our original documents and a copy of our passports. Asked general questions. Then we sat for the interview. 
The interview then took less than 30 minutes and it went smoothly. Officer was very nice during the interview. we were asked if we have a job offer (by both officers) to which we replied we are in the process and we do not have an offer yet. The officer asked about our past experiences and where we want to live and similar questions. 
He then took a couple of minutes taking notes after which he congratulated us and told us our Visas are approved. 
BTW around the MTL embassy is all under construction and it is a good idea if you get a nearby hotel or arrive sooner. 

All the best to everyone in this process. 

I have restored and older version, to fix this problem. I have had to do this twice recently. Please do not alter this spreadsheet unless you are inputting your own data. I think someone is attempting to 'sort' the spreadsheet, but is only altering one column and therefore messing up the whole spreadsheet. Unless you have anything to add, please don't alter it. 

Hi everyone. I’m new here but have been checking from time to time. 
EB1 with a DQ of Jan 5, 2023. So…also expecting to be in the next batch of ILs.
 
i know how frustrating this wait is…I’ll update when/ if I receive it

Hi everyone. I’m new here but have been checking from time to time. 
EB1 with a DQ of Jan 5, 2023. So…also expecting to be in the next batch of ILs.
 
i know how frustrating this wait is…I’ll update when/ if I receive it