sheeshkabelle's US Immigration Timeline

Petitioner's Name: Camille Beneficiary's Name: Trent VJ Member: sheeshkabelle Country: Canada Last Updated: 2012-08-15 Add Comment to Timeline Register or log in to follow this timeline

Immigration Checklist for Camille & Trent:

USCIS I-130 Petition:       Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:     USCIS I-751 Petition:   USCIS N-400 Petition:

IR-1/CR-1 Visa Event Date Service Center : California Service Center Transferred? No Consulate : Montreal, Canada Marriage (if applicable): 2010-06-12 I-130 Sent : 2011-06-08 I-130 NOA1 : 2011-06-16 I-130 RFE : I-130 RFE Sent : I-130 Approved : 2012-03-02 NVC Received : 2012-03-12 Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : 2012-03-29 Pay AOS Bill : 2012-03-29 Receive I-864 Package : 2012-03-30 Send AOS Package : 2012-03-30 Submit DS-261 : 2012-03-30 Receive IV Bill : 2012-04-02 Pay IV Bill : 2012-04-02 Send IV Package : Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : Case Completed at NVC : 2012-04-09 NVC Left : 2012-05-04 Consulate Received : 2012-05-07 Packet 3 Received : Packet 3 Sent : Packet 4 Received : 2012-05-03 Interview Date : 2012-06-04 Interview Result : Approved Second Interview (If Required): Second Interview Result: Visa Received : 2012-06-07 US Entry : 2012-08-07 Comments : payment had to be resubmitted. *CSC processing took 260 days because CSC 'misplaced' our file. (info per my US congressman) Processing Estimates/Stats : Your I-130 was approved in 260 days from your NOA1 date. Your interview took 354 days from your I-130 NOA1 date.

Port of Entry Review Event Date Port of Entry : CDN-USA Border POE Date : 2012-08-07 Got EAD Stamp : Biometrics Taken : Harassment Level : 5 Comments : The first CBP officer at the booth was pretty intimidating and asked more questions than the CO did during our interview!

Member Reviews:

Consulate Review: Montreal, Canada Review Topic: General Review Event Description Review Date : June 5, 2012 Embassy Review : It was a cold rainy morning, but we hoofed it the 10 minute walk to the Consulate. I did not sleep well the night before, my stomach was in knots and I felt like I was going to throw up all night, and that morning. We made it about a quarter to six and waited... Two more Visa Journey members showed up shortly after we did. I didn't get their names but they were both there for K-1 interviews. It would be really nice if they put benches out there!! We all huddled by the door to stay out of the rain. More showed up about seven and lots had bags, cell phones etc that we knew they couldn't get in with. They finally let us in at 7:30 and we were first! The little guy at the door asking for our appointment letter and courier confirmation. At first we couldn't understand what he was asking for, it sounded like he was saying Career, not Courier. But we got it figured out. We got through security and the two other ladies sat by the elevator with us, we were all wondering what happened to everyone else. It seems they were turned away because they either had the banned items on them, or they did not sign up for the DHL/Loomis service. A group of five of us were let on the elevator and we got C-1! (Everyone was awesome about not trying to shove people out of the way, we all went in in the order we arrived) We found seats and chatted until they started calling numbers. First they called C-4 and we all looked at each other confused. They went backwards from arrival numbers at the document intake windows. We were called up fourth but our document intake was fast. I had everything organised and ready. (What I did was put all the original documents I knew they would need in a separate folder, and then all the other stuff was in a big accordion folder.)The document intake lady asked for the AOS documents and as I handed her the things for our joint sponsor she kept handing it back to me saying she had it. I know she didn't, she took mine, and the I-864a for my brother in law but not the I-864 for my sister. We took our seats and I told Mr. Sheeshka I'd give it to the person doing our interview. After a five or so minute wait we were called up. We had a very nice blonde lady that immediately made us feel at ease. She swore us in, then took a look at our folder of stuff. I saw our original I-130 package and it made me smile, it was a long time since I had seen that stuff! The CO was having issues with getting the finger print scanner to work on her computer so she had us move to another window. Then she said she was going to get prints from the other people waiting because she wanted to get it done while the software was working. We had to wait about 15 minutes for her to get that done. While we stood there she had a stack of papers on her desk, and Mr. Sheeshka was trying to read the top papers, I had to poke him in the ribs to stop because it wasn't our paperwork!! Finally the CO comes back and says "Ok tell me how a lady from Russellville, TN meets, falls in love and marries a guy from Calgary." So we told her the story, and Mr. Sheeshka was brilliant. She then basically went over the questions from the DS-260, then asks how many marriages it was for both of us. First for him, third for me, so she asks to see my original divorce decrees, good thing I had that big ol' folder with us!! Then she asked Mr. Sheeshka, "Why did you marry a woman who had been divorced twice with four kids" His answered melted my heart, "Because I love her, I love the kids, I knew she was the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, you can't help who you fall in love with" She smiled at that, then asked how well he gets along with the kids and liked that he and the youngest are so close (Mr. Sheeshka's been around since he was 5 months old) She then said she could hold his passport until after June 12th and a IR-1 visa would be issued, or she could issue a CR-1 that day and we could enter on an IR-1. Then she said "wait, let me find out what would be better" she left for about 5 minutes then came back and said, "I'm worried he'll fall through the cracks and somewhere along the line he's going to be misplaced. I'm going to issue the CR-1 today and put a letter on top of the file that says if you enter after June 12, 2012 then you are to be issued an IR-1 permanent resident card" She then said congratulations and slid the Welcome to The United States letter under the window. We thanked her. As I walked through the waiting room I showed the fellow VJ members still waiting our letter and a thumbs up. It was about 9:00 when we got on the elevator, when the doors closed I burst into tears. Mr. Sheeshka hugged and kissed me, I think he was near tears himself. When we got off the elevator, people looked at me funny, I'm sure they thought we were denied. As we walked back to the hotel we met up with Saylin at the corner of St. Urbain and St. Rene Levesque. She walked with us to the hotel so we could put our folder up and I changed into my awesome Canadian Wives of VJ t-shirt so Saylin and I matched We went to Tims across the street and had donuts coffee and hot chocolate. And we chatted about everything. After breakfast we went back to our hotel and I crashed until 530pm lol Rating : Very Good

POE Review: CDN-USA Border Event Description Entry Date : 2012-08-07 Embassy Review : FINALLY! Early in the morning we arrived at the Emerson, Manitoba/Pembina, North Dakota border crossing. We handed over our passports and my husband stated he was there to activate his permanent resident visa. Oh holy cow. The CBP officer asked more questions than the CO did at our interview in Montreal. Asked how we met, how long we have known each other, how long we were married, when was the interview...Then asked "What kind of marriage is it that you have spent two years apart in different countries?" "Well, sir the kind that was loving and the best we could do legally, given the circumstances" (jerk) He finally asked for our 'do not open envelope' and told us where to go inside. We parked our SUV and trailer where we were told and went inside. A different CBP officer had Mr. Sheeshka's envelope open and was going through it. He told us to have a seat. It seemed to take forever before he moved, he kept flipping through the manual and I thought to myself 'Great, he's new.' He then got on the phone and had a senior officer come out, from what I could hear, the first guy wanted to deny entry because the original I-130 was not in the package. The older, senior officer explained to him that everything is electronic now, all that will be in the envelope is copies and the originals have already been shipped off to USCIS. Whew.. He then calls my husband up for finger prints and has him sit back down. Then calls him back up a few minutes later to sign some things and asks about anything that needs to be imported. Hubby told him his personal stuff in the trailer and his motorcycle. We handed over the Certificate of Origin and the compliance letter from Triumph (which he really didn't look at) and had us fill out the paperwork. He made sure the VIN number we wrote matched the Certificate, stamped it and then stamped hubby's passport. The officer then asked about importing the truck and we explained it was bought and is licensed in Tennessee already. (We were told by the CBP officer that the trailer did not need any paper work because it was not a motorized vehicle.We haven't tried to register either the motorcycle or the trailer yet, so not sure if that's true) I saw the dreaded CR-1 stamp on his visa and I pointed out he was eligible for IR-1, not CR-1 since it was over two months since our second anniversary. The officer said that he will get an unconditional IR-1 and if it comes as a CR-1, what to do about it. I still have my doubts that he will get the correct card in the mail. We thanked him and headed out the door, to find the doggy sniffing down our truck and trailer. That officer said everything was okay and to drive safe. At Midnight Thursday the 9th, two and a half days and 3,200 miles later, we finally arrived home. (we also had a stop in South Dakota and had supper with Saylin!) Today (August 14th) Mr. Sheeshka's Social Security Card arrived in the mail. We still haven't received his welcome to the USA letter yet! That was surprisingly FAST! Harassment Level : Low

Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!



*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.

** Not all cases are transfered

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