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Canada US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 4.2
/ 5
1672 Review(s)
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| Montreal, Canada |  Review #5749 on March 2, 2010: |
sdw
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Got to the Consulate around 6. wanted the A...LOL We were there about 10 minute before anyone else showed up. Was cold by 7:30 I couldn\'t feel my toes. Guard opened the doors at about 7:35, wanted passports and interview letters, checked them and told us to go in. Told to empty our pockets into a tray then given another for our coats. Once everything was cleared to take back we did so. Got our letter A. Told to got downstairs to waiting room, sat there for maybe 5 minutes. Taken upstairs in the elevator told to wait to be called up to the counter about 8. Once there we were asked for original documents and copies( we did EP). Asked to sit down for a few minutes until the woman came back for my finger prints. After finger prints done we were asked to have a seat in the waiting room and wait to be called into room 7 or 8.
Waited until 9:30 or so to be called into room 7. The room is quite small and we were 4, but we all fit. After putting our coats and stuff down we were swore in. Took my thumb print to make sure I am me.
Then we asked
When and how we met?
Where we live? both hubby and myself.
How often we see each other?
How far apart do we live from each other?
Hubby was asked about insurance.
Kids were asked if they liked NY.
The she said everything was in order and Welcome to the US.
Everyone there was super nice.
(updated on March 2, 2010)
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #5734 on February 26, 2010: |
andyw1
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We got to the Consulate around 6:45 AM and were second in line (I think FIFO was there first) and we all huddled under the doorstep to keep out of the snow. People started arriving around 7pm started lining up on both sides of the door. When the guards opened up at about 7:30, everyone had to move to left hand side of the door (as you look at it). The guards were very friendly, but only allowing a couple of people to go through the door at a time. As we went in, we had to show invitation letter and passport. Once inside the security area, they check our names against a list and gave us a letter, first couple got a A, we got a B. (you have to put your stuff through the x-ray and you walk through a metal detector).
We went down to a small waiting room, with a photo-booth incase you’ve forgotten your pictures (only 4$ for four) and waited for another security guard to come. After about 5 minutes, the room had filled up, and people with letter A, B, C, D, E were invited to go with the guard in the lift. This seemed to be a very slow lift, but it takes you to the 19th floor (great views of a snow covered Montreal) and were directed to sit and wait till we were called. I think that we were sitting down ~ 7:50
There were 3 parts to the interview: Document review, finger printing and interview.
Document Review: After waiting for a little bit, we were called to window #11. The guy was pleasant and friendly, but told me to relax (because I wasn’t laughing at his jokes and I was nervous. I handed in
1 - Express Post Envelope
2- Medical Report (without the X-Ray)
3 - Pictures
4 – Original and translation of my Birth Certificate (which he copied for me as I’d forgotten to bring additional copies)
5 – He asked for updated financial information including 2009 W2 (he commented that he was impressed we’d started doing our taxes – which we hadn’t, just had the W2)
6 – I gave him an updated copy of the DS230 and I864 since things had changed since we first submitted.
He asked a couple of questions, name of father and mother and places I had lived and compared it to information on the forms. After that we went back to the waiting room (~8:20) while he reviewed the docs
Letter A were called up to do finger prints and then shortly after we were called. Nothing to that, putting left hand fingers on the pad, then right hand, and then the two thumbs. Takes about 2 mins and then it’s back to the waiting room.
At about 8:45 they called letter "A" and then shortly after letter “C”. We were called up just after letter “A” had left.
The interview room is very small, with a low chair, useful for putting your documents on, but not for sitting and talking with the interviewer (it’s like going to the bank). The interviewer was a nice guy and was really friendly and put you at ease. We both raised our right hand and took the oath. After that he asked us:
- What did you meet?
- What did we do
- Do we have kids
He then went through the file and gave me my originals back.Then he reached down and pulled out a paper and said, "Welcome to USA" and told us that we would get paperwork in the mail and then should just cross the border. The actually green card would be triggered at that point and mailed to the address in the US. I asked if I could stay and pick up the visa but he said no, that it would be mailed and I should get it early next week. After that we left and headed back to the hotel, back there at 9:30.
The staff at the consulate did their best to make us (me, I was nervous) feel comfortable and the whole experience was very easy.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #5733 on February 26, 2010: |
sdhiman
Rating:
· 3 people found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I hope people find this review useful, especially the ones doing Electronic Processing since its still new thing in Montreal!
Wait outside the Consulate: We got to the Consulate around 7 AM and didnt expect to be the first in line! There were 3 people already in line and soon after the line started to grow long pretty quickly. The light inside the consulate turned ON around 7:20 am which gave us some hope that soon the doors will open! It wasnt good weather to be waiting outside but anyways around 7:30 am the guard opened the door and asked everyone to move to the left side to line up. We already knew which side the line forms so we were on the right side (left) to begin with!! The guard looked at the interview letter and let us in.
Security: When inside, you have to go through security and again they confirm to make sure your name is on the list of people to be interviewed that day. The security guy had me scared for a bit because he couldnt find my name at first!
Waiting Room: After you go through security, you go downstairs and wait for the guard to come take you to the 19th floor. We got letter "C" because the woman ahead of us did not bring her dependants to the interview. I felt bad for her since she seemed surprised when the guard outside asked her about dependants. Back to waiting area, there is a picture booth for people who forgot to bring pictures. After waiting for a few minutes, the guard asked people with letters A, B, C, D and E to follow him to the elevator and took us to the 19th floor. We were asked to sit down in the far right hand corner of the room.
Document Collection: After waiting for a little bit, we were called to window #10. The woman there was VERY pleasant and had me give her the following in order:
1 - Medical Report (without the X-Ray)
2 - Express Post Envelope (she was so nice that she reminded me to note down the tracking number which I had already done!)
3 - Original DS-230
4 - Original and photocopy of Marriage Certificate
5 - Original PCC
6 - Original and photocopy of my Birth Certificate
7 - Photocopy of my passport biographic page (I couldnt find it at first so she told me not to worry and that she will make a copy herself)
8 - Financial documents (I-864 + Tax Return + Employment letter + Paystubs) ** She didnt specifically asked for anything, just asked me for financial documents
9- Pictures
She had a copy of all documents I sent in during NVC stage and entered the information on her computer. Then she asked me to do fingerprints and confirmed everything was allright. We were asked to go back in the waiting room and wait to be called for interview. I noticed that since we did EP, this first document collection/entering information on computer took longer than other people but then we did everything including fingerprinting in 1 time and didnt have to go twice.
Back to waiting room: It was 8:45 am and they just called letter "A" yet so I was expecting my call to be around 9:15 but before letter "B", they called us to the interview room #7. I still dont understand why they called "C" before "B"
Interview Room: It was a small room, we were asked to place our documents folder, purse etc on the chair sitting in the room on the left hand side. The interviwer was a really nice woman with a very warm smile. She asked me if I wanted my husband to be in waiting area or to be here with me in interview room. Ofcourse I wanted him to be there so then she asked us to raise the right hand and take the oath. After that she asked us the following questions:
- What do you do? (My husband)
- When did you propose (My husband and then asked me to confirm if that was "about" right?)
- How did you guys meet? (Me)
- Do you have health insurance (My husband)
Then she said, "Welcome to USA" and I said outloud, "that's it"??!! She laughed & said yes you are done and yes she knows its a long wait but its all done now! My husband told her that I was worried and nervous but even he didnt expect it to be such a short interview!
I asked her if I can pick up the visa in person but I was told it will be mailed and the max time for me to get it is 2 weeks. She said she knows I will get it before but she always says 2 weeks. We collected our documents and left the room. I could not believe that we were done so quickly!! We left the consulate and were back in the hotel by 9:20 AM.
This was a wonderful experience and everyone at the consulate did their best to make us feel comfortable! Now the wait for visa begins!!!
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #5722 on February 25, 2010: |
fifo
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We were first in line at about 6:30, before another VJ'er. They let us in some time between 7:30 and 7:45, and the wait felt surprisingly short. Given the time we invested waiting for this interview, I'm not sorry at all to have arrived this early (even when we were still on west coast time!)
The security process is the same as other reviews describe, and the view is amazing once they take you upstairs on the elevator. Since we were first we were called first to the window where they check your documents and take your Xpresspost envelope. She asked if my husband had an updated police certificate, but he didn't, and she didn't seem too concerned about that.
She said it would be a short wait, and what felt like a few minutes later, she called my husband up to get his fingerprints taken. I went to the window with him though it was totally unnecessary, and I was amazed at how lightning quick the fingerprinting was.
When the fingerprints were done, she said they'd call us into a room in a little while, and the wait there seemed like a few minutes again. (I was devoting more energy to staying calm than watching the clock ) The next part was the interview, and the first surprising thing was that I wasn't expecting to be standing the whole time. I did read that the interviewer would be behind glass, but I also was picturing us seated and no such luck.
The interview consisted of a few general questions about how we met, and then we started to get into the details of when exactly my husband had lived in the US. He was there on a variety of visas, each time with moves back to Canada, so it was rather complicated. He asked for an original of one of my husband's visas and the stamps in his passport for the other visas, though instead of those we had some little slips of paper that were apparently equivalent.
He seemed to look perplexed at the documentation we were providing, and he excused himself and disappeared into a room behind him. But it ended up being nothing too serious since he came back and said (though still with the concerned look on his face and reaching down and to his right) "Based on the information you've provided..." that my husband's visa was approved. Then he handed us the welcome to the US letter, and explained we'd get the visa mailed to us in our Xpresspost envelope sometime next week.
We were back in our hotel room a few blocks away by about 9:20, so the whole process didn't take long at all. Honestly, after all the waiting, the whole thing was pretty anticlimactic. Not that I'm complaining about that, of course!
All in all, I'd say the people we dealt with were courteous, though the woman who took the documents and fingerprints was friendlier than the interviewer. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the waiting area was. It was cleaner and newer feeling than most government buildings you see that are populated by surly workers and look like they haven't been touched since the 70s. They also had a rack of US government-related reading materials in the waiting area and some vending machines. They even had a suggestion box (!) though it didn't have any papers or anything to write with. Still, having a suggestion box at least indicates that someone cares!
To all those reading this because you're about to go through this process, best of luck! At least for me it wasn't nearly as trying as I was imagining.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #5712 on February 21, 2010: |
rockbebe
Rating: 
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
First of all, I just want to say thank you to other fellow visajourney members. The information you provided helped get ahead a great deal for my CR1 interview in Montreal.
Second, you MUST:
1. Bring Prepaid express envelope 12'x15' (Fill in the "TO" portion only)You can buy the envelope at the Shoppers on the same block as the embassy. The Post Office staff are super friendly and have dealt with plenty of us!
2. Bring 2 photographs
3. SHOW UP EARLY, as it is a FIRST COME, first get interviewed
4. Bring secondary information just in case, I wasn't asked, but one gentleman I was with was denied his visa because he didn't provide any secondary information!
My interview was during the third week of February. I went to the embassy the night before to get my bearings and how long it would take for me to walk from the metro. If you get off at Square-Victoria, you only have to walk two and a half blocks to the Embassy.
On the day, I showed up at 6:30am, and was the first one in line for 15 minutes. Only at 7:15 did the line start to form. We were let in at 745 and had to go through security. Being first, I was given a card with the letter A; and was first to be called to hand in my paperwork, give my fingerprints, and be called for my interview. Once I was inside, the whole process took about an hour and a half.
Inside:
1. They request your information from the P4 Appointment letter they sent you. Do bring your spouse's most recent Federal Tax Form. Asked for my medical envelope, not my xray (that is for the border), my passport, Xpresspost envelope, my DS230 part I, marriage certif, birth certif, and photographs. (10 mins)
2. Wait and they call you for your fingerprints. (2 mins)
3. Wait until called to interview room. Nice chap asked me only a few questions, and was really, really nice!
Q. How did you meet your husband?
Q. When and where did you meet your husband?
Q. When did you get married?
Q. Where do you plan on living?
After 10 mins he said, "Let me be the first to congratulate and welcome you to the United States!" Was fabulous! He did mention that I will receive my visa in the mail within 2 days, and that I would have to move all my stuff down when I cross the border!
(15 mins)
All in all, the staff at the Montreal Embassy were very friendly and extremely helpful. They seemed to appreciate the fact that I was there first, score one!
Note:
The other people I was with were not greeted with the same courtesy as they failed to bring any supporting evidence of a relationship, I had brought mine but he didn't ask me, some forgot their envelope and others were surprised to be asked about their relationship with their spouse and weren't polite with the immigration officers.
Just be friendly, smile, and dress a little nicer than you usually do, and it'll be a very smooth process.
Good luck to you all!
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