DaveyOntario

Hey everyone,

Most of you already know me from last year. Finally, I have a good news. My waiver I601 got approved on May 6.2011. Hurray!!!!!!!!

Thank God. Thanks everyone for the help. I sent my passport with the waiver to montreal in december. Vermont Centre received my waiver on March 8th and opened my file on March 28. They sent me a letter on April 1 for initial review and finally got approval in one month. I am waiting for my passport which montreal will sent me with the visa.

Miracles do happen!!!

thanks everyone for the wishes and help

Rosey, so happy to hear this. I would not wish the 601 process on anyone. Enjoy!

Dave

Hey Sweet,

I'm having a blast here! Just coined myself as a "Picker" hahahaha. Been hitting auction sales and setting up to flip stuff into Canada, etc..

I need to find some friends here for sure and my wife says they need to be crazy like me.

Hope all is well with you. Keep in touch!

Dave

It is a line of credit where monthly payments can be made over a term of 5 years or arrainged term. These funds can be used for a second mortgage or a down payment, and secured against the investment and not against the home. Now, if you are buying a home and want a reasonable rate with reduced magic of compounding,and need funds not invested but held for example in a money market account for starting a new business it makes sense to go this way. My point is to save cash and leverage against the investment to reduce the cost of the home. Keep the cash in the money market account for business expenditures and growth. The home will unlikely give you returns like the business hence no cash outlay like you suggested, in my situation of course. Yours may differ.

This was some awesome info! Thank-You!!

You are very welcome. I learned a lot from this site and enjoy offering any help I can to others. The journey in and of itself is difficult enough let alone starting a credit rating.

Go to gunbroker.com. I believe there is an FFL (Federal Firearms Licensee) finder on that website. Basically have to ship it to the FFL in the states so they can do the appropriate paperwork. They will charge per firearm to do that. (Varies widely, so get it upfront.)

Thanks so much for the website and good luck to you.

Davey

That's fantastic Davey! I am so happy to hear that you and your wife are FINALLY able to have a normal life together. I was wondering how y'all were doing.

Take care!

There you are Cheeks, thought you dumped me. I am having a difficult time slowing down, or the rest of the world is having a difficult time keeping up with me. Heck, I am only trying to make up 3 years of waiting in 1 month. What's wrong with that? HAHA Anyways, having lots of fun, enjoying the US, and still visiting Canada a couple times a week. Hope all is well with you and hubby......... Keep in touch silly girl.

Dave y

Hi folks,

My wife applied for a Bank of America credit card with me as a secondary card holder back in August 2010 while I was still in Canada. One month ago I arrived as an LPR into the US. By doing this I now have an excellent credit score because I ran the card balance up to 60-75% of the limit and paid it off totally each month. I was able to arrange financing with Ford Credit by having them check my Ford Credit rating in Canada hence obtaining a new vehicle. I do not have a job however I am starting a business which is very difficult over here especially as an immigrant trying to obtain credit. I have gone to 6 banks and credit unions looking for assistance with little luck. What I was able to do was open a money market savings account then get a secured card, dollar for dollar by securing the MM account and collecting interest. Other places would do the same however wanted me to pay 6% to borrow my money...UM, no thanks. If you have some money to invest Merril Lynch can set you up where you can open a credit line against your investments however this does not affect your credit score, but it is good for doing a down payment on a home, etc. without using up cash flow.

Davey

Hello folks,

Now that I am living in the USA as an LPR I would like to bring my hunting equipment in from Canada. I called the ATF and was told I can do this however I need to use a firearms Federally licensed importer.

Is anyone aware of where I may locate an importer of this nature in Michigan?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Davey

No, I didntt get receipt number

Good luck

Hi Rosey,

Call USCIS, ask to speak with a Tier 2 officer then plead your case and request a receipt number. When it is time to deal with Montreal Consulate email them with "Attention IV Unit Supervisor" in the subject line, and plead your case again. With me the Supervisor took on my case herself, completed it and had my Visa in the mail in less than a week. Quite frankly she tried to have it to me by Valentines Day however for some reason it got stuck at Canada Post for an extra day. Suffice it to say she had done more for us than our lawyer, the Senators office, and everyone I had spoken with at all the immigration offices together.

Emails from the Supervisor;

This is awesome news. Have a wonderful dinner and a great life in the USA.

Best wishes to you and your wife, thank you for your sincerity and kind words.

XXXXX

This is wonderful news. Please let me know once you have received it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best wishes

Just a short email to let you know the visa was issued on February 9, 2011. Hope you have received it.

Best wishes

Please submit these by mail, they will be reviewed up on receipt. You may send your envelope to my

attention so I can work on your file asap and submit it for issuance.

Thank you for your continued patience.

As you can see, she was very kind and helpful so don't lose hope and don't give up. Try anything! Ignore the ones who tell you to wait your turn.

My wife and I are so happy now that we can live together like normal family. Got my Green Card, SSC Card, Drivers License, 725 Credit Score (PM me if you want to know how to do this), our offer was accepted on a new (to us) home, Ford Credit allowed me to finance a new truck. We are having a blast.

This all because of my friends here who helped us conquer the challenge.

If you need help with anything please let me know.

Davey

Thanks everyone, it sure did feel good to cross into the US Friday until I approached the booth for inspection. No welcome to the US. The guy just ripped on me and then my wife. Went inside and met with the supervisor. He welcomed me to the US, shook my hand as he processed the paperwork in a short period of time.

referring to the i601 waiver: where do you find the USCIS file #?

Hi ulechka,

Have you submitted an I-601 Waiver? If so how long ago because it can take a month to get a receipt number? If you have not gotten your receipt number call USCIS and ask for it. Be sure to speak with a Tier 2 Officer. They will verbally give you the receipt number and then you can track your I-601 on the USCIS website.

Hello folks,

Just want to thank all of you who assisted us through this very long journey. Exactly 3 years and 3 months to the day since we began. My Visa arrived today via Express Post, and I am thankful to the Senator Liaison and Consulate Supervisor for expediting our case. Our patience ran out months ago so we began firing in every direction to facilitate a reasonable outcome.

If you hesitate, YOU WAIT.

Dave and Wife

Hello,

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help. I'll try to explain the situation.

My girlfriend who lives in Canada(Toronto) and has a valid Passport was coming to visit me(in Florida) for a week last month. She was not allowed to board her flight out of Toronto because they said " it looked like she was trying to move to the US...She had a one way ticket because I was going to pay for her return ticket(she has very little money)...Im not sure if they actually "denied" her...but she said something like they let her retract her attempt to come here and they gave her a piece of paper with the reason that she could not go.

So long story short, We still want to spend a week together but she is way too scared to go through US customs again in Toronto. I guess they were pretty rude too... I was doing some research and saw that there are flights from smaller airports in Canada that fly right to Florida. It looks like only CBSA(Canada Border Services Agency) will check her there and then she will fly into Florida(i dont even know if this matters). I'm not sure if US Customs checks you when you land In the US either.

I was just seeing if anyone had any experience with any related problem like this. I definitely dont want to book a roundtrip ticket for her and lose it again. And I most certainly dont want either of us getting in trouble because I do plan on marrying soon. I am open to anyones suggestions as well if my idea is not so good....

Thank you so much for your time. God Bless

Hi,

Perhaps she could cross the border in Windsor by car then purchase a flight ticket at Detroit airport. All she needs is to be honest and have ties to Canada with no criminal record or US immigration related issues.

is the age gap will be a problem during interview for K1 petition? I am 24 and my fiancee is 57 i dont mind about our age gap i know to my self how i feel to him and how much i love him and he feel the same way too so our age gap wont bothering us specially our relationship...

My question is, when it comes to the CO interview they will ask about it or not? thank u in advance good luck to all

Hi Roseles,

Age gap was not a problem for me, and my wife is a USC. We have a little less of a gap than you folks.

Good Luck!

Hello sir

I am still waiting since last 15 nov,2011.I dont know how long takes time.

JIGISHA

Thanks for the response JIGISHA. Were you approved without any problems or administrative review?

Hello VJers,

Still slowly moving forward here but have an issue at the Montreal Consulate with my mailing address.

Does anyone know the latest phone number and email address for the Immigrant Visa Unit?

Thanks folks!

Dave

hey I sent my I601 waiver to Montreal embassy with my passport that's what my consulate officer told me at interview time. I haven't received any receipt number.

embassy received my waiver on 21 december. I called USCIS couple of times but they are saying that they dont have any info. They already approved my case so now embassy will do all the procedure. i am stuck..I dont know who to talk now.

I have my I-130 receipt number and when i entered my receipt number to check my case status and it says that we have approved your case on July 19, 2010. and the blue circle is post decision activity.

any thoughts

Hey Rosey,

It took Montreal a month to send my 601 to USCIS Vermont. A receipt number will be available after it arrives in Vermont and they are supposed to mail it to you. I suggest you call USCIS and ask for the receipt number and this way you can track the touches and progress

Good luck!

Dave

thats great davey! cross your fingers for me it does the same! did u get an email notification when they approved it? or did u find out with a letter?

so what now for you? do they send your green card after? or continue with your I-485?

Jen,

I got an email notification plus a letter in the mail. Now I need to wait for my Passport request then submit it and wait for it to come back. Once I have that back I can enter the US and submit my paperwork to begin production of the green card.

If you have an approved i601 waiver Davey, Im almost positive (cant think why it wouldnt be) your visa is ready to be processed now.

I am thinking the same since my Visa was approved in December of last year, and my Passport was sent in to be stamped, then in February I was requested to file the I-601 which is now approved. One would think that after this amount of time the Visa paperwork would be complete or it would have been completed last December so hopefully the Passport just needs to be stamped and the documents sent to me.

I was able to get a case status on the uscis website. right now it says inital review,when i first logged on it said Acceptance. and it also updates "touch" I just checked it now and its been updated from 1/6/11 to now 1/14/11 the next progress is a decision then post decision activity. so its like the other applications. I also get email and text updates.

this is what is currently says- so it is giving me something to go by!

Initial Review

On December 29, 2010, we received this I601 APPLICATION TO WAIVE EXCLUDABILITY, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or contact our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators

Hi Jen,

Yea, I had the same thing as you after I put in my receipt number, was able to watch for a touch and update. When my I-601 was approved the blue dot jumped from initial review to post decision activity hence missed a step....hmmmm...

Oh!! This just came to me too - the TB test is only valid for six months.

I'm pretty sure you'd have to have another one of those.....

And, not to be pessimistic or anything (cause you know I'm routing for you Dave) but we had an approved expedite and STILL Montreal managed to d**k around with my resubmitted paperwork for 8 weeks. Just prepare for the worst so if you get quicker results you'll be excited instead of having your hopes up too high and getting frustrated/depressed.

Sweet,

Wow, glad you mentioned that about the TB test. Sorry but I can not prepare myself for the worst, people will ask me if I am sick....LOL.....The important thing was the 601 being approved. I can deal with some drama and (*&^%$#$%^&*(*&^

Thanks again

Hate to dash your optimistic thoughts, but the VISA apparently wasn't approved... or you would be here. Now you will be again dealing with the consulate staff after USCIS shuffles your paperwork back to them. No telling how long it will take for it to get back from Vermont. I cannot understand why they don't electronically transmit this stuff.

If the medical and police certificate are older than a year... its pretty common practice for them to request new ones. If it were me, although the medical is over $100 bucks, I would probably go ahead and do that to instead of waiting for them to ask for it.

Brokenfamily, thanks for the info. I will go ahead and do the medical. If my Visa was NOT approved was I lied to, or, was the I-601 an after thought? This is where I am confused. Is there somewhere that says something about a visa not being approved until the completion of an I-601 waiver?

My optimistic thoughts are not dashed and I am just fine, but somewhat confused.

In my opinion, I seriously doubt that Montreal is as speedy as the UK consulate. Sadly, I think the timeline Davey posted is probably more accurate.

Do you have to redo your medical, AOS, etc Davey?

Sweet,

Another thought I have is that since my Visa has already been approved for 13 months the submission and return of my passport could be much shorter. Keep in mind the waiver request came after the approval so one would think a stamp, stuff the envelope, and ship out could be completed in a very short period of time.

This may also negate any medical or records update.

Thoughts please ANYONE!

Here I go again being my optimistic self.....

The situation you describe is not so much a severe financial loss as it is a severe inconvenience...and that's not a reason to expedite your petition approval. Also, an expedite will just speed up the approval of your petition, it will do nothing to speed up your NVC and interview process.

IMO, losing a house to me would be a severe financial loss, especially if the DP was significant. I have read where a petition CAN be expedited throughout the entire process.... 100 percent of the shots you don't take, YOU MISS.... I concur with Rich & Jenny..

In my opinion, I seriously doubt that Montreal is as speedy as the UK consulate. Sadly, I think the timeline Davey posted is probably more accurate.

Do you have to redo your medical, AOS, etc Davey?

Sweet,

I have not been requested to do a new medical nor been requested to provide a current RCMP record check however I have a fresh one on hand just in case.

Hopefully the rest of the journey goes smoothly.

Montreal is and has been slow for quite a period of time.