longtimelurker

Thank you! In my case, he told me he was waiting on a few things on his end (that required nothing of me) and he would approve me later in the day or week once he was able to. He kept my passport so the intention to approve me once possible is obviously there.

This was an error- updated now

Hi there, you wouldn't have been able to tag me because I've only been lurking this forum for months/a year but have never actually had an account. Regardless, I've tried to do my part by updating the tracker. I was going to wait until I had further updates before doubling back and providing one big update but will provide all the details I can while they're still fresh. I arrived in Montreal the day before my appointment (Oct 20th) and stayed at a hotel about two blocks/a 5 minute walk from the consulate. The day before I made sure to stroll by the area just to familiarize myself with it. The consulate is right next to the Shoppers Drug Mart and across from the Michael Kors. My appointment was for 7:45am and I arrived for 7:30am and there was already a lineup outside that included 2 families and another person. They ask you for your passport and cross reference it with a list of appointments they have for the day. I didn't bring my phone, only an accordion folder with my documents in it. I did notice they were fairly lax with the bag restriction as the woman in front of me had a medium sized tote bag and brought it in. Once you enter, they ask for your name again and then give you two papers with the same number on it (i.e. #304) and a small laminated paper that outlines which documents to have ready for when you head upstairs. The documents are the same as the pre interview checklist. After that you go through security (place everything in a bin and walk through the metal detector). I accidentally brought a small pair of headphones in my pocket and they had me put it in the small lockers they have. It looks like they have about two dozen lockers so if you have an earlier appointment definitely feel free to bring your phone- they will have space for you to store it. Once you go through security you head up to floor #1. Eventually they'll call you up to a window. This is the document check list. You're going to hand over your piece of paper with a number and docs (I brought photocopies but they never asked for them) and they will just ensure everything they have is correct. They will also verify your phone number and US address. They had my lawyers info here but I had them update everything to the address where I'll be living and my phone number for simplicity. I just handed them over a piece of paper with this info. The girl at the desk commented about how when there are so few documents like in my case, she always thinks she's missing something so guess it was all straight forward. After that I took a seat and a short while later they called me up to another window for fingerprinting. Simple as that and then I sat down again. A short while later I got called up for the third and final time to another window. He asked me to raise my hand and confirm that everything that I was saying was true. After that he asked me questions very specific to my case around where I was born (ROW), citizenship, the sort of work that I do. Overall, it felt like he wanted to ask me MORE questions but things were so straightforward that there really wasn't much left to say. He took my fingerprints one more time and then told me he plans to approve me later today or later in the week. He was nice and overall, there's no reason to be nervous. I did check my status and it looks like as of yet there hasn't been any movement (my account status still says: appointment). It took WAY less time than I thought. I had even asked my hotel to extend my checkout to 1pm but I was out of there just before 9am. A few tips: - HAVE YOUR DOCUMENTS IN ORDER. When I arrived there was a family scrambling frantically. It seemed like they were looking for a document they couldn't find. I think this is especially important if there's multiple people (i.e. kids, spouse) to have all your ducks in a row. If you're EB2 NIW, don't feel the need to bring every single document. I last minute decided against bringing my original degrees with me because they're oversized and I was concerned about folding them. In the end, they have your entire file with copies of everything in it. - When you're in the seated area make sure you sit in a seat where you can actually see the screens. It turns out they had been calling my number up for 5 minutes for my interview but I had no idea because I couldn't actually see a screen.