spousalsponsor

We received my husband's SSN in the mail 9 calendar days/7 business days after activating his visa. We activated it January 14 and the card arrived January 23.

We just crossed by land this evening and paid the fee online earlier today, which was pretty easy following the link on the paper that came back with my husband's passport. They say you can pay it anytime between receiving the visa and activating it (or after if you don't mind delays receiving the green card).

They contacted the consulate via email.

Today we picked up my husband's passport with IR1 visa inside. We did not receive tracking until today. This morning we saw on the AIS site and via donotreply@usvisa-info.com that the documents were "ready for pickup." Sharing our full timeline with updates for reference: Married: June 2021 Filed I-130: May 25, 2022 Case approved by USCIS: June 7, 2023 DQ: August 15, 2023 Interview & DS-5535 requested: Jan 18, 2024 DS-5535 sent: Jan 19, 2024 Unsolicited updates: Jan 26, Jan 31, Feb 5, Feb 7, Feb 21, March 6, March 7, April 8, August 13 Medical, passport, & photo request: Sept 6, 2024 Medical delivered: Sept 18, 2024 *delay on our side to renew passport and submit L1 visa application* Passport & photos sent: October 29, 2024 Passport and photos delivered (courier tracking): October 30, 2024 Passport and photos officially received: November 20, 2024 Unsolicited update: November 26, 2024 CEAC status changed to “issued”: December 27, 2024 Picked up visa after learning that morning it was ready: January 9, 2025 Sharing these details from the visa itself in case they are interesting: - "clearance received 30 July 2024" (we only received word September 6, 2024 that AP was cleared) - issue date listed as 8 January 2025 (vs December 27 2024 on CEAC) - expiry date is 11 March 2025 (6 months after the most recent medical, as expected) Also to note: my Senator's office reached out to the consulate yesterday (8 January) to ask when the visa would be ready. I didn't think it related to the timing of receiving the visa in hand, though seeing the IV issue date as yesterday makes me wonder a little... Anyway, it seems they are working on moving these visas along! Hoping there are more issued and received in the coming days.

Congratulations!! Great news. We received "issued" status for my husband on December 27 and have not yet received tracking information. Hopefully soon 🤞🏼

Sharing happy news: we finally received the coveted "ISSUED" status for my husband's IR-1 immigrant visa! On a Friday between Christmas and New Years, no less. Our timeline is below for reference: Married: June 2021 Filed I-130: May 25, 2022 Case approved by USCIS: June 7, 2023 DQ: August 15, 2023 Interview & DS-5535 requested: Jan 18, 2024 DS-5535 sent: Jan 19, 2024 Unsolicited updates: Jan 26, Jan 31, Feb 5, Feb 7, Feb 21, March 6, March 7, April 8, August 13 Medical, passport, & photo request: Sept 6, 2024 Medical delivered: Sept 18, 2024 *delay on our side to renew passport and submit L1 visa application* Passport & photos sent: October 29, 2024 Passport and photos delivered (courier tracking): October 30, 2024 Passport and photos officially received: November 20, 2024 Unsolicited update: November 26 Status changed to “issued”: December 27, 2024 We will update the thread when we receive documents in hand. Some notes: - For those waiting for news after submitting the passport/medical, it DOES seem like they are working through the files, but it is truly at a snail's pace. The wait is awful, especially the delay between the tracking saying it was delivered and accepted by Steve (😅) and the Consulate actually acknowledging receipt many weeks later. - We've been in touch with my Senator who has followed up with the Consulate at various points during the last couple of years. I'm not convinced it made a difference, but it definitely didn't hurt. The last time they reached out was before American Thanksgiving, so it didn't correlate with the visa being issued. - We applied for an L1 visa as well earlier this year. That was approved December 12. We are now still waiting for documents for BOTH visas to arrive by post. We will likely activate the L1 first and then once health care is established in the USA I will officially move with our baby to join my husband. Luckily we are moving 20 minutes south of the border so we can easily go back and forth by car.

Hope it's two years! 🤞🏼 My husband's second police certificate was issued January 2024, so if it's just one year we may have to do it for a third time...

It seems there is a lot of variation, but ours was confirmed as reaching the visa unit November 20 after it was received October 30 (we sent it October 29). This is ~15 business days from the offsite processing facility to the visa unit. (Sample size =1 but hopefully helpful!)

Not yet. It seems the time to "issued" is variable, so we're trying to give it some time. Will definitely share when it changes. Let us know when your passport is officially received!

We experienced a similar delay in receiving acknowledgement of my husband's passport delivery. This is our timeline: October 29: Brought passport & photos to courier BLS Montreal, who uses Purolator October 30: Tracking via Purolator showed delivery and signature from "Steve" November 5 & 13: Multiple solicited emails to us and my senator with the exact language you quoted regarding the offsite mail processing November 22: Email via my senator's office indicating that the passport & photos had been received November 20 I feel like if your has been signed for, it must be true that it's in a pile somewhere and someone WILL touch it soon and connect it to your spouse's case. I hope soon 🤞🏼

We're in the same situation -- sent my husband's renewed passport along with the old one which is now invalid, explaining in an email what we were doing. Your response is reassuring that this shouldn't cause additional delays! 🙏🏼

Hope it goes quickly. When you say it arrived, is that just from tracking or did you get an email too? (We saw my husband's passport was delivered Oct 30, but as of a few days ago the consulate told us they still didn't have it.)

It's truly so bizarre. Are you in Montreal too?

Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov They don't respond right away but will eventually.

Curious if this is the BLS Montreal courier office or one in a different location? We sent my husband's passport and photos on October 29 from BLS Montreal (literal STEPS from the Consulate), and see through the Purolator tracking that it was signed for and delivered the next day, October 30. However, as of November 13, the consulate is telling us they still have not received it (they suggest delays via their offsite mail processing...). So, it was "delivered" after we sent with BLS Montreal but somehow it hasn't been "received." 😅

Same with us -- my husband (Canadian with pending IR-1 visa after 5535) and I (American living in Canada until visa comes) and our baby (dual) cross frequently by land to spend time with my family and stay at our second home. There has never been a question about his pending visa application. The only consideration we have is the number of days he's present in the US as a visitor and the fact that he doesn't have permission to work there, so we're always prepared to answer questions about that and make sure we state when he's going back to Canada. They sometimes ask why we cross so frequently but visiting family and friends has never raised any eyebrows. Otherwise just normal customs stuff.

Great, that makes sense. We did it via a courier (BLS Montreal) and they forgot to give us tracking (they use Purolator), so we went in person today to ask for the tracking. Passport was delivered October 30 but as of November 5 the consulate had not logged it. They said in an email: "All mail directed to the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal is received at an offsite mail processing facility. It takes additional time before the mail actually reaches the Visa Unit." (Including this detail here in case someone else is in or has been in a similar situation.)

Thank you for your reply. We used the prepaid documents at a courier (BLS Montreal, which is literally blocks from the consulate 😭) to submit the passport. We did not get a receipt, but simply have a copy of the barcode that accompanied the envelope. Did you see an update on the AIS site only once you saw it was delivered, or was there a pending tracking number that showed up before it was delivered?

Quick question -- for those who have recently sent their passports to the consulate, how are you seeing the tracking information? We do not see anything on the AIS site and we learned that my husband's has still not been received as of today (via our senator's inquiry). Our timeline for reference: Filed I-130: May 25, 2022 Case approved by USCIS: June 7, 2023 DQ: August 15, 2023 Interview: Jan 18, 2024 DS5535 sent: Jan 19, 2024 Unsolicited updates: Jan 26, Jan 31, Feb 5, Feb 7, Feb 21, March 6, March 7, April 8, August 13 (minimally) Medical, passport, & photo request: Sept 6, 2024 Medical delivered: Sept 18, 2024 Passport & photos sent: October 29, 2024 [delay while we renewed passport & applied for L1 visa still in process - that's another story!]

We had already been in touch with them for several months, so I sent them a quick note when we weren't sure when exactly we would receive the passport.

To close this loop -- we received a notice on September 4 that the passport would be sent by courier, and on September 5 a note that it was available for pick up. We will pick it up today. ***In the meantime, we had reached out to our Senator's office to help move things along, and today they told us that our AP is complete and the consulate needs an updated medical and two photos...! We have not heard this from the consulate directly, but I assume we will soon. We have an update on CEAC today and the status is still "Refused." We will still pursue the L1 visa as the application is almost ready to submit, and this will give us flexibility for my husband to be in the states while our daughter and I finish up some health care stuff in Canada before we officially activate the green card. Seems things are really moving forward! Our basic timeline for reference is below: May 25, 2022. I-130 filed. June 7 2023. Approved. August 15, 2023. Documentarily qualified. January 18, 2024. Interview, AP same day. 14 updates since then including today (Sept 6), ~3-4 solicited. September 6, 2024. Request for updated medical, 2 photos, and passport with 6 months to expiry. (We had re-done the RCMP check in December 2023 just before the interview so that is probably still active.)

Does anyone have recent experience requesting their passport back from the Montreal consulate WITHOUT the visa? Context: We're waiting in AP for my husband's IR1 visa to be processed. He was interviewed January 18, 2024, and the DS-5535 AND passport were requested on the spot. We submitted it all immediately, feeling optimistic that they wanted his passport right away. Now are applying for an L1 visa for him and need his passport back to submit that application. This is our timeline of the passport request -- we're wondering if this is normal: August 26. We requested the passport to be returned by emailing montreal-iv-dv@state.gov August 26. Received reply stating that it would be returned by courier and to consult https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/iv/information/contact_us with any questions and for tracking info. August 27. Checked ais.usvisa-info.com for information and saw no new tracking info. August 30. Called Montreal contact number (438-793-1947) who told us they can't help with the request, and said to email canada.visas@gdit-gss.com. August 30. Emailed canada.visas@gdit-gss.com, received the following request for further information: Passport number DS-160 Confirmation number IVR Account number Date of birth Nationality Full name as it appears in the passport The type of visa for which you are applying for The Consulate (and ASC if applicable) where you scheduled your appointment(s). Address you want your documents to be sent to Please also verify that the information you are providing now is the same information used when creating your account August 30. Provided requested information. September 2. Received another email reply stating: "We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for providing your information. We have escalated this case to the appropriate department. This case will be investigated and you will be notified after we have found a solution." Is this the normal process for receiving the passport back? It seems incredibly roundabout and the most recent email makes it seem like there is a problem. Thanks for sharing any recent experiences with this!